260 Harden Your Heart, Francis!

Butler Francis could already see that the trees becoming sparser, it means he is very near to the edge of the forest.

But just when he was going to head out of the forest, he saw the tracks of the horses changing direction to the right. They did not head out of the forest as he had thought.

Francis: "!!!"

'Dammit!. they must have planned it. This assassin is definitely with Danny since only his men would appear in such a large quantity beside the WhiteConch territory and cooperate with the killer on his ass... What should I do?' Francis didn't want to stay inside the forest because then he would then be unable to counter the hidden assassin at all and also be constantly targeted by him, wanting to consume his Qi.

Francis decided to go out of the forest and see if the assassin follows him. If no then Francis can walk more easily on the outer edge of the forest and rush ahead to catch up with the horses, but also knowing that they might change direction again and go back deeper inside the forest once again.

Unfortunately, the assassin didn't follow him. Francis wanted to wait more but time was ticking, he had to save his men because losing them would hit the overall strength of Count Nathan's army. His military strength would then become even lower than his counterparts.

Francis grumbled before rushing at full speed towards the west direction. He kept speeding up but then he saw the tracks of the horses vanishing. No, they were only moving inwards after changing direction again, Francis had to go inside the forest to be able to follow them closely.

With a heavy and unwilling heart, Francis entered the forest again and began to follow the tracks again. Soon, the situation like before was repeated.

Arrows after arrows with talisman scroll tied to them were fired at Francis from different directions, slowing his speed down again. It went on until they reached back to the north side of the forest where the hill with the entrance to the tunnel was located.

Again, Francis saw the tracks moving to the right and going along the edge of the forest never spilling out of it. He followed them until they turned to the right and once again going back inside the forest.

This time, Francis didn't bother with the wastage of his Qi, he just kept on running while dodging the explosion and debris flying at him. Even if his body was a little hurt, Francis would grit his teeth and bear it. He would barely use any Qi to defend himself and only in a situation that could hurt him severely. 

"Aaaaah!"

Suddenly, the sound of someone screaming came from his right side. It was the sound of Francis soldiers that were lucky enough to come out of the crumbling tunnel in time and followed after Francis to take back their captured comrades. They were calling out his name to come and help them. 

Francis knew it was the strategy of the enemy to make him waste his time and energy in saving every man of his. But he can't afford to do that.

Just when Butler Francis thought he would catch with the horses, he suddenly saw the tracks moving in a different direction but this time he faced a very different situation.

The tracks actually turned to the right and also to the left direction. The enemy's subordinates had actually separated from each other. 

Francis hesitated if he should go to the right or the left.

'No, I have fallen in a vicious circle. They will only make me move around like a dog and do the same thing once again when I catch up to them. I can't fall into their trap... I can't go on likethis.' Francis thought in his mind.

He didn't know how they were communicating among themselves. How come they knew about his position whenever he got closed to them? 

Francis thought it was better to leave his men to face their own fate. He didn't follow anyone this time but rushed to go outside the Forest in the south direction as soon as possible.

Francis felt his Qi had already depleted by one third. If not for the Qi replenishing pill, he would have lost even more.

The enemy must not want him to rest. Francis is now going to do just that. After coming out of the forest, he rushed into the distance and sat at a place well beyond the firing range of any archer.

Even if the assassin had a good bow that could fire arrow much farther than the normal ones, Francis would be able to easily see them coming and easily dodge them.

Alex had a smile on his face as he stood upon a branch of a tree in the outermost jungle. 

'It's not that easy to rest, Butler Francis. Let me show you what powerlessness feels like.' Alex sneered.

"Do it!" Alex ordered in his mind.

"Aaaaah!"

At the same time, a scream went off inside the forest that was even heard by Francis.

Butler Francis heard the scream of his shoulder being tortured but he didn't move an inch and kept on trying to replenish his Qi as soon as possible.

"Aaaahhhh! No. Please no! Aaaahhhhh!" Another loud shriek fell on Francis's ears. Soon the whole jungle felt like it was touring his men because it was filled with numerous screams echoing throughout the forest at the same time.

Francis had a deathly pale face as it was getting unbearable to hear his men screaming in pain. 

'Harden your heart, Francis! The soldiers can be sacrificed but I cannot fall into the enemy's trap. Count Nathan needs me to protect him since he is still in his developing stage.' Francis had only the descendant of the Nehmor family in his eyes. He will not risk his life for some expendable soldiers that can be trained once again in the future.

---------------------------------------------------------