As he led Cecelia through the dark expanse of the jungle, Blaine could only stumble his way through.
Unlike the battle zone they just left, Blaine couldn't use the bright lights of the blaster rounds to guide his way forward.
While they were annoying to constantly redirect, they let him see where he was going.
However, those were no longer an immediate concern for Blaine.
Having already slipped between a row of trees, their pursuers could no longer line up a clear shot to fire at them.
Unfortunately, this didn't mean that the two of them had gotten away scot-free.
In fact… Things were only going to get worse from here.
The beams of light, while being dangerous, were not nearly as powerful as those of a 2-Star.
Instead, they more closely resembled that of a 1-Star.
This could only mean one thing.
They were never trying to kill him… Or, to be exact, they weren't trying to kill the person with him.
Their goal was to capture Cecelia, and that too alive.
While that worked in Blaine's favour, given that he didn't already die, things would get a lot worse once the enemy started earnestly pursuing the two of them.
Meanwhile, all Blaine could do was run as fast as he could, hoping to put some distance between himself and his pursuers and ultimately lose them.
Something which was easier said than done.
Feeling that their current pace was too slow, Blaine suddenly stopped and fell to one knee.
Surprised by his actions, Cecelia stopped and looked at the youth, puzzled.
He had long since let go of her wrist, as the latter didn't seem to like it, nor did she need him to pull her along anymore.
Raising one of his hands, he pointed to his back and gestured to her.
"You want me to get on your back?" Cecelia asked quizzically.
Blaine nodded his head.
"…Would it let us travel faster?"
Blaine once again answered with a silent nod.
Sighing to herself, Cecelia relented.
"All right."
Awkwardly climbing onto his back, Blaine looped both of his arms under her knees, carrying her piggy-back style.
While one could argue that a princess carry would be more fitting since she was an actual princess, Blaine and Cecelia were certainly not such people.
Furthermore, in the worst-case scenario, Blaine could let go of Cecelia, and the latter could still latch onto him one-sidedly, freeing Blaine to use his sword, albeit being quite cumbersome.
However, if Blaine carried her in his arms, there was no way he could feasibly wield his sword.
As soon as Cecelia was securely on his back, Blaine broke into a sprint, using the faint glimmers of moonlight that slipped past the leafy canopies as his only source of light.
Being only able to tell if something was in front of him moments before he reached it was a horrible handicap for Blaine.
Unfortunately, he couldn't just simply turn on a flashlight.
If he did, that would instantly reveal his position.
As he ran away from the sounds of combat, Blaine heard another sound piercing through the night's veil.
"SCREEEEEE"
Although not too close, it originated from the direction Blaine was running towards.
Blaine's eyes briefly lit up as a sudden idea flashed across his mind.
Instead of turning around and going in another direction, Blaine seemed to charge straight at the noise.
He even seemed to be running faster.
Cecelia's face froze as she realized this.
"W-where are you going? Didn't you just hear that horrible screech?"
Hastily trying to get his attention, she started rapidly tapping his shoulder.
"H-hey… Come on… Turn around!"
Once again, her bodyguard seemed too deaf to hear her words.
It wasn't long before a horrible thought entered Cecelia's head.
'No! No one is that crazy.'
But the longer she sat on the idea, the more weight she gave it.
"Surely you aren't planning to…"
Sadly for her, Blaine indeed did plan on doing the very thing she feared.
Cecelia couldn't help but feel that instead of getting a piggy-back ride… She had climbed into a living deathtrap.
It wasn't long before Cecelia's fears came true.
As Blaine ran further and further, a large silhouette began to contrast against the rest of the dark forest.
Although Cecelia couldn't see it, she could tell one thing.
She didn't want to touch that abomination, even with a ten-foot pole.
Summoning a translucent green construct behind him, Blaine slipped past the creature, using the cover of night to his advantage.
If the large creature turned out to be nocturnal… Well, that would certainly be unfortunate.
As the two youths held their breaths, trying not to make a single noise, they sneaked past the creature.
With their odour-masking scent, it was highly unlikely that the creature could tell them apart by scent.
They could evade its senses as long as they remained silent and unseen.
After getting far enough away, the two breathed a sigh of relief.
Even Blaine had tiny beads of sweat on his face.
Cecelia debated pulling out her Power Analyzer but ultimately decided against it.
It wasn't their problem anymore.
Blaine willed his green energy construct to topple over as if on cue, producing an audible noise of shattering glass.
Alarmed by the sudden noise, the creature roused itself and hurriedly dashed toward the sound's origin.
It wasn't long before Blaine and Cecelia heard the sounds of combat thunder behind them.
By the sounds of blaster fire and monster shrieks, it was evident their newly made monster friend was keeping their pursuers busy.
"…I can't believe that worked," Cecelia couldn't help but mutter to herself.
Using the window of opportunity, Blaine continued to run as fast as he could, all the while carrying Cecelia on his back.
After several minutes of this, a small moonlit clearing appeared in the distance.
Seeing this, Blaine fell into thought.
While he was safely hidden in the jungle's cover, he would be far easier to spot if he stepped into the clearing.
However, in return, Blaine would be able to run faster and put more distance between himself and his pursuers.
Since they could all enhance their bodies with mana, trying to outrun them with pure physical strength was impossible.
After debating his choices for a moment, Blaine dashed into the clearing.
As soon as he stepped into the moonlit expanse, he quickly noticed something sticking out.
There happened to be a somewhat sizable hill in front of him, and not only that… It seemed to have a cave.
However, entering it would be downright suicidal in their current situation.
Not only did they not know what horrors lurked inside, but going into a cave would effectively seal off any hope for escape.
Cecelia seemed to share Blaine's inner sentiments as she looked at the cave warily, praying that her bodyguard didn't get any more crazy ideas.
However, as Blaine was about to run past it, the roar of blaster fire stopped him.
Hastily pulling up a wall of green energy, Blaine managed to protect Cecelia behind him.
But moments later, several more beams of light flew in their direction.
Hastily letting go of Cecelia's knees, Blaine turned around and pulled out his sword.
Instead of awkwardly clinging to his neck, Cecelia quickly let go and dropped to the floor with a thud.
Luckily, this quick thinking earned Blaine enough time to safely deflect the oncoming barrage.
As soon as the last beam of mana was safely redirected, Blaine focused his attention in the direction of the sudden attack.
Then, three soldiers in camo-coloured combat uniforms stepped out of the trees behind him.
One of them eyed the two youths and smiled lightly.
"Don't you think the chase has gone on long enough? It's time we end this."