"I must have triggered something!"
Feeling the number of people that would soon reach his position and recalling the layout of the facility, Emery swiftly came to a conclusion it was almost impossible for him to get out of this place without a fight. However, he wasn't planning on giving up just yet.
Now that he knew a fight was inevitable, the first thing he did was to take out one of the potions he had prepared for a situation like this, a Tier 4 explosion potion [Salamander Flame] that was comparable to a Tier 5 fire element spell.
Without a shred of hesitation, he threw the vial to a corner of the room. It shattered upon contact exploding into blazing flames that engulfed the furniture and creatted a great deal of smoke that filled the entire room.
"Alright. That fire should be able to keep a few of them occupied."
Making sure he didn't leave any traces behind, Emery bolted out of the room into the underground level of the facility, betting on the probability that the warriors they sent had never entered the restricted area before.
Luckily, it seemed his guess was right. As he continued running, he could tell from their auras that there was confusion in the direction of their search. Despite that, he was not safe yet.
Knowing he would most likely be attacked the moment he came out, Emery quickly made his way towards the side of the facility that he thought was the best place to exit from the underground level.
The place he chose as his exit point was located right in the middle of the Apothecary Dome. A huge garden filled with thousands of plants inhabiting every inch of the entire place, a perfect place for escape as it provided adequate cover.
With the concealment potions he had drunk earlier, coupled with various distinct smells emitted by the plants here, his wolf half-blood pursuers should find it even more difficult to find his trail.
However, that was still not enough as Emery only managed to obtain half a minute of time before four half-blood magus, all at the Crescent Moon stage, tracked him down to his current location.
"You! Intruder! Stop right there!"
The two magus who spotted Emery left their other two comrades and charged straight at him with murderous intent. But as they drew closer, they were shocked to find their bodies were suddenly entangled by the plants around them.
This was of course Emery's doing, to be more certain, he also used his nature spell to accelerate the growth of several poisonous plants, causing them to bloom and affect the minds and senses of the two magus.
Looking at the pair of disoriented magus, Emery nodded slightly and muttered, "Alright. Two done, two more to go."
The other pair of magus were sharp and decided to change their approach seeing how easily Emery stopped their comrades. To not fall for Emery's tricks, the two flew into the air, hovering right above the vegetation that filled the garden.
However, before they could spot him, Emery threw another Tier 4 potion [Black Vapour Potion] into the air at the two of them.
The instant it broke it enveloped half of the garden in a dark smoke that was impossible to see through. Taking the opportunity, Emery used his new battle art [Bloodhound Steps] to shoot up to the glass ceiling of the dome, breaking through to escape the facility.
Naturally, even though the smoke obscured their vision, the loud sound of glass shattering caught the attention of everyone in the vicinity.
"There! He ran away!"
Apart from the two magus on his tail, there were still a dozen more people following right behind. Emery could even feel the signature energy of a Full Moon magus drawing closer to the area.
Emery used his [Fey Transformation] to increase his battle power and speed as his figure leapt from rooftop to rooftop like lightning, leaving an afterimage as he fled from his pursuers.
His face couldn't help but turn solemn when he sensed more people approaching – he was about to be surrounded. Fortunately, he had prepared a contingency plan in case of such a scenario.
"Just a little bit more!"
Emery mustered all the energy in his body, running as fast as he could towards a precise location within the city. The second place he was most familiar with on this planet, the Corvin faction's estate.
He had already prepared a spot to enter the estate through a spot of the wall. As soon as he passed through, the guards who reacted to his intrusion would instead find his pursuers and stop them, or at least give him the time to escape.
Taking advantage of the chaos created by his actions, Emery put on an evening suit he had prepared beforehand.
He then headed to his next destination, the most lively building in the estate at night: the Red Pagoda. Upon arrival, Emery carefully sneaked in through one of the third floor windows, making sure no one saw him as he entered Tatyana's room.
"Brother Emery, are you okay?" The brown-haired girl asked in a concerned tone when she saw the haggard state he was in.
"I'm fine." Emery answered curtly. "Quick, let's follow the plan."
The two of them quickly downed the drinks and food that Tatyana had prepared, before they lay down on the bed under the covers. Their clothes were now gone, their naked bodies touched each other.
There was no hesitation by Emery as he did all of these things. On the other hand, this made the brown-haired girl's face as red as a tomato.
"Just relax… We'll be fine."
As expected, the two of them could faintly hear the commotion on the first floor of the building from their room. A few moments later, the sound of the commotion reached the floor where their room was, getting closer until finally the door to their room opened.
The two of them acted according to the plan they had discussed, cooperating and answering all the questions. In the end, the people who barged into their room seemed to find nothing wrong as they left, leaving them alone.
Emery inwardly smiled seeing his plan succeed. Those people should soon be at a dead end.
There was no way they could insist on finding him – the person responsible – among the hundreds of distinguished guests of the Red Pagoda without offending the Corvin faction. But still, just to be sure, Emery decided to stay the night.
The two of them continued to play their role, sleeping together on the silk bed next to each other.
That night, Emery felt a little tension. Not because of the naked girl sleeping next to him, but because of something else he couldn't fathom, a feeling of being watched from afar.