That guy must be crazy! Trying to trick me into a trap!
Andy had already started to swim towards the depths of the river. Though he hadn't activated his skill, he was still moving fast enough.
His heart began to calm down as he didn't think anyone would follow him into the water. But then again, he felt like it wasn't a wise choice.
That's when he heard it.
A loud splash, as though something big had been dropped into the water. And then another one.
Could it be that masked guy? Andy wanted to believe so, however, that splash was too loud to be something the masked guy created.
Only to look up and see a figure running on water.
Andy's muscles contracted. That was the masked man!
The man ran on water just as he moved on land.
Without needing to look behind, Andy sensed a human-sized beetle, alongside a three-headed dog swimming like fishes towards him.
Unlike Melinda, this much water didn't seem like much of a hassle to them.
Almost immediately, Andy activated his [Drowned Resolve]
Right in front of his pursuers, the young man's speed amplified, increasing the distance between them.
As for the other Wesen that was chasing after them, he remained ashore. Unable to traverse the terrain as well as the others.
Though his ape-like face frowned at the masked man as he focused on the masked man's feet.
After a few seconds, he realized that the masked man wasn't walking on water per se; rather, a solid, rectangular formation of mana formed beneath his feet as he moved.
The rectangular formation was so close to the surface of the water that it looked as though he was standing on the liquid.
Under the night and silent ripples of the water, the masked man vanished from sight.
As for Andy, his chase was still ongoing. It didn't matter the distance he put, his pursuers seemed to be able to see him or track him in some kind of way.
I can't keep on going this way. If they're tracking me, then I need to know how and get rid of it. Or by the time I come up, they'll still be able to get me.
Andy felt his toes go cold in the water. This time, he waited for his pursuers to get closer to him. He wanted to know how they were tracking him.
When they came into his range of sensors, Andy saw two of the uninjured heads of the dog turn towards his direction.
It barked and swam towards him and the beetle followed behind.
It's the dog!
Realization hit him. But how?
Andy wondered, however, he didn't let that slow his actions.
The first thing that came to his mind was to separate the two. Andy swam to the floor of the river to search for anything usable.
During his frantic search, he found a rusted iron rod, 7 feet long, shaped like a javelin. Grabbing onto it, Andy threw it with all the strength he could muster, at the human-sized beetle.
As the human-sized beetle had been doing for a while now, he had followed the three-headed dog, making sure that it didn't go too far from him.
He knew that he could do without air underwater for a while, and so could the dog. It was a mutated hunting dog that could enter the seas to fish.
Trusting its senses, he had been diligently following behind, that was until he was caught off guard.
Even though they were underwater, the javelin-like rod approached him with so much force that by the time it hit him and penetrated his nape, his body was sent tumbling backward, making him lose his sense of direction.
As for the three-headed dog, it continued on its way, charging at Andy.
Unfortunately for the dog, Andy was prepared. He swiped the knife in his hand at the injured head of the dog, causing it more pain and making it unable to regain its bearing for a few seconds.
Andy swam back and noticed the dog thrashing around aimlessly. That was when Andy realized that pain could make the dog unable to follow his movements in the water.
Acting quickly, he swam to the dog's back and slashed wildly at its hind legs.
He was able to get about six in before he was kicked in the chest hard by the dog.
Seeing that it couldn't hold its breath any longer and that the injuries inflicted on it were affecting its sense of direction, the three-headed dog began swimming upward.
Andy clutched his chest and groaned. The kick of the dog, if it wasn't for the fact that they were underwater and the force of the kick had been muffled by the water, his entire chest would have caved in and he would have been struggling to maintain his life.
A line of apprehension crossed his mind, making him pause, afraid of taking more damage. However, the thought of being tracked down by the dog on land made him more fearful.
With a ruthless gleam in his eyes, Andy chased after the dog. Grabbing onto its legs and pulling it down. Using the same strategy he used on Melinda with it.
For about three minutes, Andy and the three-headed dog clashed, both sides taking more damage with each clash.
Unfortunately for the dog, its opponent's recovery was heightened and freakish in water. So whatever damage Andy received from the previous clashes, they were already healing rapidly.
When the fourth minute reached, the three-headed dog had stopped fighting. Water was already pouring into its lungs.
With one more pull into the depths of the river, its fate was sealed.
Andy's chest heaved up and down, looking at the dog sink into the darkness of the water. Just when he thought he could catch a break, his mind alarmed him, but he reacted late.
A rusted rod pierced through his thigh. Before he could even process the pain, two, inhuman hands wrapped around his body, locking and crushing his body onto a hard carcass.
Pain from different angles assaulted Andy's brain, making it harder for him to sense what was going on.
The next thing he knew, his body was being dragged to the surface.
No!
If that happened, he was as good as dead.
Mustering all that he could, Andy struggled, twisting his body and trying to set himself free. Just when he felt the crushing grip on his body loosen, the sensation of being bitten assaulted his mind.
The Wesen had taken a bit out of his shoulder muscles, then it tightened its grip on him.
Nonetheless, Andy continued to struggle to free himself.
Is this it? Is this where I die?
The thought of giving up crept into his mind, almost winning.
And that was when the image of Yaroslav, creating a bow and arrow out of thin air, replayed in Andy's mind.
The memory was like a reminder of who that man was and how he made Andy feel.
As though it were provocative, Andy began shouting in the water. He then became reckless. Using the parts of his finger that he had successfully traced Mana Circuits on, he drew upon a large quantity of Mana.
Letting them gather on his index and middle fingers. With Yaroslav's move in mind, he jabbed his Mana-charged fingers at his opponent.
Andy didn't know what would happen, but he forced every ounce of gathered Mana through the Circuits onto the hard shell.
…
Back on the surface, the ape-faced Wesen remained where he was. He had been joined by a few other guards and was talking to them about what they saw.
"Pascal is still chasing the one in the water." He had just finished narrating to his colleagues when an explosion hit.
Boom!!
The surface of the water, about 4 kilometers away, exploded into the air, creating a hole in the river. Alongside it were thin clouds of steam.
They ducked for safety as a strong wave of water pushed towards them.
Thud!!
As they ran, a half corpse fell from the sky and crashed into one of the trees.
Looking at it, they realized that it was Pascal… the human-sized beetle.