Chapter 148 - Escape

"Why do they want him? Is he a fugitive or something?" Marcell asked in confusion. 

"They said that about a year ago, he killed a few people right as this world started. Due to his crimes, he was sentenced to prison. However, he managed to escape and run away to a dungeon where he trained and leveled up. While he was doing that, 3 kingdoms aligned with each other and combined their forces to attempt to stop him once and for all. Unfortunately for them, all 3158 people were killed by a single attack which was cast by him," Elpis explained. 

"Do they have posters of his face we can look at so we don't run into him?" Marcell asked as his face began to turn the same as Elpis'. 

"They planned to search for him here since their research department said that he was in this kingdom. However, the guards which came to our kingdom said that if they couldn't find him, then they would place posters all around the kingdom so if anyone saw him, they would report him to the authorities," Elpis replied. 

"We're doomed if we ever meet him. Over 3000 men killed by a single person? For all we know, he could wipe an entire kingdom off of the map if he tried," said Marcell. 

"That's it! We aren't going to open shop until that monster's been caught. We can't afford the chance of running into that maniac and then getting killed by him for no reason. We'll all stay at home and barely go outside. To add on, the option of going outside is only when we need something necessary," Marcell told both Yuki and Marcell. 

"Well, you must be pretty tired. You should probably go to bed now Jack," said Marcell, however he was completely ignored by Yuki. 

"No! No! No! Everything is falling apart, I don't have any more time with them. All it will take is just one day before the posters have been hung up. How am I supposed to say goodbye to the life I've enjoyed for so long and so little? Well, it's not like I have a choice in a matter such as this. I'll have to run away again, after all, that's what I'm supposed to do. I really thought that I could live a happy life like nothing had happened. Happiness isn't for me," Yuki said to himself as he continued to sink deeper into thought. 

"Jack?" Marcell asked once more as he was confused as to why Yuki wasn't answering him. 

Before Marcell could call out to Yuki once again, Elpis got up from her seat and hugged Yuki as she didn't quite understand why Yuki was frozen in time. From her perspective, she thought that Yuki didn't reply because he was scared of the monster who killed so many people.

"It's going to be fine, there's no need to be scared. The authorities will come and arrest that demon before he can hurt us. There's no need to be scared," said Elpis, which brought Yuki back into reality. 

"Oh, I forgot that I was in a room with them. What should I do? I should just act just how they're acting," Yuki told himself as he hugged Elpis back. This fooled both Marcell and Elpis and made them assume that Yuki was just scared. It was a good thing that Yuki didn't tell them his name from the start. If he had, Elpis would've had the authorities wait for him at their home and attack him when he least expected it. 

"Sorry, I blanked out for a second. I'm just having trouble processing the information I just heard. Please excuse me, I'll be going to my room now," said Yuki as he slowly walked towards the stairs and then climbed the ladder which led to the attic which also acted as his room. 

"Let's see here, I have about 12-14 hours at best until morning. Within that time frame, I'll have to make a run for it. I really hate to leave this place but I'm left with no other choice. If I don't get out of here now, I'll get captured and face an eternity in prison. It's not like I can escape like last time either. It was only possible back then because of my overwhelming strength. Now, I'm just an average dungeon raider," Yuki said as he laid on his bed while trying to come up with a way to escape as soon as possible. 

"To make my situation worse, it wouldn't be too far off for me to assume that they have guards which are surrounding this kingdom. The moment I leave this place, I'll be hunted down from every direction and it won't be long before I get caught. How can I even escape from this?" Yuki asked himself. Any plan he would form would have a weakness to it. It was nearly impossible for him to think of a plan when under so much pressure. 

"Wait... I have the perfect plan. First, I'll create a body which is made out of fire using my ability. Once that's complete, I'll make it reach the middle of the kingdom and make it fly high in the air. After that, I'll just create 'Heaven's Sun' in the sky and have it act as a decoy. Something that big should definitely gain the attention of the guards which are waiting to hunt me down. Once they all make a dash towards my fake clone, I'll sprint away from this kingdom as fast as possible. I can't afford to look back at it. My best option is to enter a dungeon since once one is occupied, no one can enter it," Yuki thought to himself. 

Yuki didn't sleep at all last night. If he were to accidentally sleep too much, he would get caught without putting up a fight. He needed to make sure that everything went according to plan. If that meant that he would miss out on a few hours of sleep, so be it. Sacrifices needed to be made if he ever planned on getting out of the situation he had put himself in. 

The next morning, Yuki watched as the sun rose from the window in the attic. He awaited for the perfect moment. There needed to be a few people outside but not a lot. Once that time had come, Yuki could move on with his plan.

...

"Activate ability: Fire Control"

Once the time was right, Yuki used his ability to create a fire constructed body which flew out of his window to the middle of the kingdom. After the flame constructed body had reached the destination, Yuki made it fly high into the air where it created a large ball of fire from itr's hands. Within mere moments, "Heaven's Sun" could be seen all across the kingdom. However, before "Heaven's Sun" could be dropped on the kingdom, a group of people began to rush towards the fire constructed body. They knew that Yuki was a fire user so they came prepared. 

4 out of the 12 people began to create magic circled in the air which all sprouted large quantities of water. It didn't take much longer for "Heaven's Sun to be completely erased. 

"Now's my chance," said Yuki as he leaped off the attic window and landed back on the ground without making a single sound. Once he had landed on the ground, Yuki ran as fast as possible. It wasn't like his previous runs though. When Yuki ran before, he didn't put a lot of effort into it. Even when faced by death, Yuki didn't care all that much since death didn't mean that much to him. However, in his 1 year stay with Marcell and Elpis, Yuki learned to be more caring towards his own life. As such, Yuki ran as if he was actually running for his life. 

Once Yuki reached the walls of the kingdom, he quickly covered his feet and fingers in flames as he plunged them in the wall as he forcefully claimed it. While it was painful, Yuki didn't seem to slow down a single bit. With each step he took, the more ambitious his eyes looked. Yuki wasn't going to allow himself to hesitate for a single second. 

After Yuki finally reached the top of the kingdom wall, he jumped down without taking a rest or even looking back at the kingdom one last time. All that Yuki could do was run.

Yuki leaped off the kingdom wall and crash landed into the ground, however, without a moment wasted, Yuki pumped his feet with his flames and concentrated them before making them combust, in turn launching himself far away from the kingdom. Even for Yuki, he was having trouble seeing what was in front of him due the speed at which he was travelling at. 

Before Yuki could celebrate, a giant hand landed on his head and knocked him to the ground with the force of a thousand trucks. Once Yuki's body was on the ground, the person who had just knocked out Yuki picked him up with one arm and began to walk back towards the kingdom. In his hand was a flip phone which he spoke into.

"I've got him."