The Earthly knight's words echoed in the silent forest like a roaring thunderclap, but Gray remained unmoving, frozen in place as if his entire body had turned to stone. He didn't dare even twitch, hoping the shadows of the towering trees might conceal him a little longer.
A gust of wind shook the leaves above his head, sending a few weak, yellowish leaves spiraling down towards the ground, where they landed with a soft rustle. The forest fell silent once more, except for Gray's heart, which was roaring like a war drum.
After watching his words be completely ignored, a deathly cold look appeared on the Earthly knight's face.
The muscles in his body suddenly contracted as if they were ready to explode at any time with tremendous power.
"I don't care who you are," the knight growled, his voice colder than the winter's chilling wind, "but this is your last chance. Come out; maybe I will let you keep your miserable life."
Although the Earthly knight talked about surrendering, his actions were completely different. The knight slowly moved towards the tree behind which Gray was hiding.
The knight's steps were quiet and slow as if he was walking on air instead of the ground.
Gray's heart rate instantly shot up like a rocket, and his palms started to get sweaty holding the rusty dagger. He prepared himself for the worst.
From what he had seen, the people of this world were weird, almost bestial, not to mention the knights—they were nothing more than monsters in human skin.
But he couldn't afford to panic. Not now.
Thinking about these things, Gray's grip on his rusty dagger tightened as if he was holding the most precious thing in the world.
Just as he steeled himself, the Earthly Knight vanished. One second he was there right in front of his eyes, and the next, he was gone—like a shadow swallowed by the night.
Gray forgot to breathe. His eyes darted around, frantically searching for his enemy. Where—
Boom!
The tree behind which Gray was hiding exploded, sending bits and pieces of splintered wood flying in all directions.
The sound of intense ringing filled his ears, and his vision blurred from the resulting shockwave that hit his face.
"Stop! Are you trying to kill me? An unawakened civilian?" Gray said, while hurriedly moving to the side. All this time, his eyes remained completely focused on the Earthly knight's figure.
Suddenly, Gray's pupils constricted. "This man," he muttered under his breath.
The Earthly knight didn't seem to be in a hurry as he watched Gray's actions with interest.
Once he heard Gray's words, the knight's eyes turned cold, and he slowly said, "So what if I kill you?"
The utter disregard and apathy made Gray clench his fist in anger. The Earthly Knight didn't seem to consider him a living being, but livestock meant to be killed at will.
The knight in front of him was a complete psycho.
Gray's thoughts moved rapidly; he was trying his best to find a chance to escape.
'How do I successfully escape?' The thought of fighting didn't even cross his mind.
He wasn't stronger; his only weapon was one step away from falling apart.
Gray moved his gaze and looked past the Earthly knight. The Ashwood trees stood tall, unaffected by his perilous situation. As he was gazing at his surroundings, his eyes landed on the traps quietly hidden beneath the grass that he had set up before to hunt the cub.
"Die! You arrogant piece of shit," Gray suddenly seemed to have lost his cool and threw his only weapon, aiming directly at the Earthly knight's eye.
There was no way someone unawakened like him could defeat an Earthly Knight; he could only resort to such drastic means.
Of course, he still had one more dagger hidden in his clothes for such emergency situations.
Immediately after the rusty knife left his grip, Gray made a mad dash toward the location where the density of the traps was the highest.
"You fool!" The Earthly Knight muttered after catching the rusty dagger between his pincer-like fingers.
And with a slight force, the dagger exploded as if it was made of powder.
Clang!
From behind his back came the sound of something breaking. Most likely his rusty knife.
However, Gray had already expected something like this to happen in his head, so he didn't turn back to look.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Suddenly, Gray heard a voice sounding similar to that of a ghost from the abyss. He immediately ducked and rolled to the side.
"Stop struggling little lamb."
At this time, the Earthly Knight ghostly voice reverberated throughout the surroundings; his voice seemed to be filled demonic bewitchment.
The voice almost made Gray's mental defences collapse.
Just as Gray was about to take a look around, he suddenly felt a rough and calloused hand grabbing his ankle.
In the next moment, the world around him spun. Gray's body drew a semi-circle in the air, and then his body hit the rough floor with a bang.
Gray immediately grimaced in pain; something sharp seemed to have pierced his chest, and crimson blood was starting to flow out of the fresh wound.
"Damn! Fuck, not right now," Gray cursed in a loud voice, but what came out was only a small whimper.
The world around him started to lose color and spin, and his legs were starting to go weak.
He was going to faint!
"This can't go on!" Gray muttered in his head; his thoughts were starting to become sluggish.
If he fainted right now, he was as good as dead.
Gray's eyelids were starting to grow heavy as if someone was forcibly trying to close them.
However, what Gray feared didn't come true; the Earthly knight didn't attack.
"Pfft! So pathetic," the Earthly knight muttered and spat on Gray's face in disgust after watching his performance.
Gray didn't even feel the drop of wet liquid landing on his body, as if his skin had become numb.
"Ah! Now that I look at you closely, you do look familiar." The eyes of the Earthly knight suddenly seemed to light up as he remembered something important.
"That face, and the hair color..." The Earthly Knight suddenly seemed to have started muttering something incomprehensibly.
"Don't tell me you are the grandson of Legendary Knight Rudolf?" The Earthly Knight suddenly spoke after thinking for a moment.
However, Gray's blood turned cold after hearing the Earthly Knight's words. He could feel unimaginable hatred in those simple words.
"Am i really going to die?
"Just after i got the chance to live my dream life?' Gray thought with a self-deprecating smile on his lips.