Chapter 320: 320. Pretense

The remaining soldiers of the Empire couldn't believe the scene that was unfolding in front of them.

The hooded devil who had created mayhem in the last two years in the monthly battles was running away from the valley!

That wasn't all, he was sprinting toward the center of the continent!

The formation at the border of the Odrea country didn't stop him, he simply stepped outside of it as if nothing was there at all!

"It was nice to meet you all!"

Noah shouted behind him while waving his hand in goodbye before he resumed his escape.

Seth watched the scene from above the mountain and hurriedly grabbed a token from his space-ring.

"What the hell are you doing!? Chase and capture him!"

His loud orders resounded on the mountain peak, Lisa and her two protectors couldn't help but smirk at that sight.

"You seem quite anxious, I bet that you didn't see this coming."

Lisa mocked him, further fueling his anxiety.

"Black troops hurry! The other soldiers will just die if they chase him!"

Seth was well aware of Noah's strength, that last battle had proven that he couldn't be captured by using simple red troops, rank 3 cultivators were necessary for that job.

The black cultivators were a bit stupefied by the sudden turn of events that they didn't react to Seth's orders that quickly, not all of them at least.

One black cultivator, the elderly man that had tried to assassinate Noah, shot in his direction as soon as Seth's voice resounded from his token.

He wasn't flying, he ran on the ground while using a spell to push his speed to its limits.

Winds blew from behind him, they propelled him forward toward the escaping blue robe.

'I won't let you go this time!'

Those were his thoughts, shame still lingered in his mind.

He was a mighty rank 3 cultivator, a being at the peak of the human ranks, the task of assassinating a blue robe was a shameful record in his life.

Yet, not only he had failed in it, but he had also watched how Noah mocked him while he returned to the battlefield.

Such disrespect had angered him to no end which, coupled with his shame, gave birth to hateful emotions toward Noah.

That's why he was set on reaching him.

'If I was to use too much strength and kill him, the Empire won't be able to blame me, right?'

His intentions differed from Seth's orders, his reputation had suffered too much for him to simply capture Noah, he was set on killing him!

Yet, right when he was about to reach him, Noah's figure was enveloped in black flames which made him disappear in less than a second.

The battlefield was silent, Noah was nowhere to be seen.

"Go forward! That's a teleportation spell, you idiots! He couldn't have gone that far!"

Seth's orders resounded again, they awakened the soldiers of the Empire from their astonishment.

The black soldiers didn't hesitate at that time, they went outside the formation and began their search for the hooded devil.

"Was this your plan? You purposely left the formation open because you knew that he was going to escape?"

Seth turned to look at Lisa, his expression radiated unparalleled anger, he knew that something like that couldn't have happened without Lisa's help.

"I'm simply performing my part of the agreement, I can open the formation whenever I want."

Lisa snorted and turned to leave with her two protectors, leaving an anxious Seth alone on the mountain peak.

"Fuck!"

He cursed loudly before hurrying toward the valley, he was going to search for Noah.

.

.

.

A few seconds earlier, right after Noah performed the Warp spell.

Black flames appeared behind a hill near the valley, revealing a blue cultivator wearing a black hood.

"Did everything go as planned?"

A female voice sounded in that place, Nina's figure could be seen nearing the hooded man with a warm smile.

"Yes, they think that I went in the depth of the country, this pretense should buy me some time."

Noah took away his hood and undressed himself, he was doing everything as fast as he could, he knew that he couldn't fool the Empire for too long.

The truth was that Noah didn't warp forward but behind!

He went back into the Odrea country!

"You look tired, are you sure that you don't want to rest first?"

Nina asked with a concerned expression.

Noah was paler than usual and traces of sweat were still on his forehead.

Large eye-bags could be seen under his eyes and his breath was a bit ragged, he didn't seem in the best condition to travel.

"They sent a black robe to assassinate me, I have depleted a bit more "Breath" than predicted to protect myself. Don't worry though, I'm used to long escapes."

Noah briefly explained the situation while smiling at the woman that was expressing her worry.

In just a few seconds, he wore a tight black robe and neared Nina, taking her in his arms.

He gave her a warm kiss, Noah could taste the salty flavor of the tears that had started to flow from her eyes.

Noah made a bitter smile as he separated from her and wiped away her tears with his thumb as he caressed her face one last time.

"Don't let your bed become cold, ok?"

Noah said.

"The same goes for you, don't push any good woman away like you tried to do with me."

Nina gave him the same advice, they smiled at each other for a few seconds before Noah sighed and turned, whispering his last words to her.

"Goodbye Nina."

His whisper was answered by soft words.

"Goodbye… Noah."

Nina used his real name as she watched the black figure running toward the western border of the nation, a cold aura enveloped it as if a switch had been turned on, which returned Noah to his previous attitude when he was alone against the world.

She stared at his figure disappearing in the distance, his short black hair fluttered in the wind as he reached for the coastline.