Seed of Titan-Chapter 206: The Assailant’s Identity

Amid his ludicrous taunting that had yet to bear fruit, Drai was starting to suspect that this whole incident had something to do with a certain organization.

’If the Crimson Order is behind this, then it makes sense why I’m not getting attacked at all—can’t have their Prophesied Child die by accident, right? But if that’s really the case, shouldn’t they be trying to capture me by now? Or are they being cautious and waiting for more reinforcements since their last attempt to abduct me was a complete failure? But then they should’ve just prepared thoroughly from the start if they’re really here for me. So did they stumble into me by coincidence or is this actually not their doing at all?’

Failing to reach a definite conclusion, Drai simply pushed these thoughts aside and continued his taunting.

Shortly after, Drai felt that his underparts were getting more numb by the second, so he decided to let out a last obscene holler before asking Frost for further instructions.

"IF YOUR MOM IS TOO UGLY FOR YOU TO BRING HERE, YOUR GRANDMA WOULD DO! SHE MUST BE DESPERATE FOR SOME PRIME COCK AFTER BEING STUFFED WITH GRANDPA’S SAD SHAFT FOR YEARS! BE A GOOD GRANDCHILD AND SEND HER TO ME—I’LL MAKE YOU SOME NEW UNCLES AND AUNTS WITH FAR SUPERIOR GENES!"

As a bonus, Drai threw in a series of fierce hip thrusts while wearing the lewdest expression he could muster.

If his friends ever witnessed him do such a thing, they would probably want nothing to do with him anymore—except for Jian, who would likely join him instead.

’Still nothing, huh? Maybe my taunts are just too weak,’ Drai thought as he let out a final thrust.

A split-second later, that thought was proven wrong, as a powerful force had just struck his bare butt, launching him away.

"Beachball! Did you see where the attack came from?" Drai asked as he frantically pulled up his trousers.

"No, but... gasp... Ghost did... He’s... gasp... heading there fast..."

Ignoring the panting, Drai asked, "Which direction?"

"Northwest... gasp... around three-one-nine from your position..."

After fastening his pants, Drai consulted his compass before zooming to the mentioned direction.

After flying for short while, Drai suddenly saw a large area of trees in the distance getting flattened, shortly followed by a loud blast. Then, he saw a tiny figure rise into the sky and dart away in the opposite direction from him.

"The target flew away!" Beachball soon reported to Drai.

"I know. I’m in pursuit. What just happened on the ground?"

"Ghost managed to locate our attacker, but when he struck him, he instantly got blown away by a powerful blast. At first we thought it was some kind of suicide attempt, but since the man got away unscathed, it must be a self-triggering skill like the one Frost has."

Hearing this, Drai wondered whether such skills were inherently automatic or had to be set up by the System like his own healing skill, and whether they were that common.

He then asked, "How’s Ghost? Is he hurt?"

"I don’t know—I can’t actually look at him, you know? But it doesn’t look like he’s bleeding too much, and he’s already following you again, so he must be pretty fine. By the way, Frost’s asking whether you can catch up to the target."

"I think I’m a bit faster than him. I don’t know if I can catch up before my flight runs out though."

"Frost said if you lose the target, just return to the dome with Ghost. And if it doesn’t go well, make sure—" 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Beachball’s voice was abruptly cut off. Glancing at his shoulder, Drai saw that the flesh ball was already gone.

’Did it fall off? I must’ve gotten out of the skill range just now. Well, it doesn’t really matter—I have the target locked already.’

As he steadily closed in on the unknown assailant, Drai wondered if there was a way to raise his flight speed.

’I hope it scales with transcendence or something. If it stays at this speed forever, it’ll get obsolete for sure, especially if I keep encountering increasingly stronger opponents. Hmm, maybe one day I’ll go back to Siyeun Mountains and try capturing the Sky King if I’m really stuck with my current flight speed.’

Soon, Drai was only dozens of meters away from his target. He could now see that the man he was chasing was clad in an unusual garment that slightly resembled the clothing commonly used by desert folk, and its red color retriggered Drai’s suspicion.

’It’s not exactly crimson, but it’s close. So was my guess right? But wasn’t their attire black robes, or were those specifically worn just for the invasion? Wait—why am I even wasting my brain cells? I can just beat the answer out of this guy.’

As Drai inched closer, his target took a brief glance at him. Then, the red figure reached into his clothes and pulled out a few similar items, which he immediately popped.

Drai’s vision was suddenly obscured by a wall of grey. Flying into the thick cloud of smoke, Drai instantly held his breath, fearing that it was poisonous.

’Damn, I can’t see him at all even though we’re so close. If he decides to hide in the forest, it will be near impossible to find him again unless he happens to stumble into Ghost. Well, I guess it’s time to go all out.’

Having made his decision, Drai’s arms blurred as he flung countless white orbs all around him while his eyes were glued to Nova Flux’s duration on his System screen. And when the timer showed less than five seconds, Drai clenched his fist.

Countless white explosions erupted simultaneously and ripped through the smoke cloud, instantly dispersing it. Meanwhile, the trees in the forest below swayed violently and some were even uprooted due to the immense shockwaves.

A few seconds later, Drai’s aura vanished, and he immediately plunged from the sky.

While Drai was deliberating if it was worth resetting Nova Flux’s cooldown, he suddenly broke into a grin.

"Gotcha..." he whispered as his gaze fixed on the tattered figure free-falling below him.

***

Back in the forest, the Seventh Squad was currently gathered in a small clearing, barring their two members who had gone out. Although they were technically still in the middle of a mission, Frost had given them some leeway, so each of them were doing their own things.

Cubes was cleaning parts of her exoskeleton as she sat on the ground. Leaning on a tree beside her was Mandy, who was reading chemistry journals from her comm. Not far from them, Gramps lay motionless on a pile of bushes, snoring softly. Somehow, he wasn’t bothered at all by the commotion coming from Beachball and Danny, who were currently competing over who could juggle more flesh balls at the same time. Meanwhile, Frost had sat on a nearby rock and was busy typing a report on what had transpired during their squad’s mock mission.

Just moments ago, Beachball excitedly announced that Drai had successfully apprehended the seemingly sole attacker and was on his way back alongside Ghost. Despite still being rather cautious about their situation, Frost was forced to remove his ice dome since the following jubilation was hurting his eardrums.

Perhaps it was due to the multiple casualties in this incident or Drai’s newbie status, but the squad had cheered much heartily than usual, and even Gramps managed to let out a pleased snort before returning to his usual aloofness.

A while later, sounds of rustling grass caught the attention of the squad, which turned out to be the announcement of Drai’s return.

"Here’s our man," Drai declared amid the cheers that greeted him. He jerked his shoulder, unceremoniously throwing the tattered figure resting on it onto the ground.

"And here’s Ghost," he added while carefully bringing down an invisible figure from his other shoulder, causing the cheers to subside.

Mandy immediately rushed to Ghost’s side, whereas Frost, Danny, and Cubes proceeded to inspect their unconscious captive.

"I guess that blast really did mess him up," Beachball remarked as he watched Mandy pour a bunch of liquids that instantly disappeared the moment they touched Ghost.

Hearing Beachball’s comment, Drai fidgeted. He was unsure if he should reveal that it was his energy blasts that turned Ghost like this, not the one from before. If Ghost hadn’t told Drai about this earlier when he was asking to be carried back, Drai would’ve probably thought the same as Beachball.

And seeing that Ghost didn’t let out a word upon Beachball’s comment, Drai decided to keep the matter to himself for now.

"Now it’s pretty clear who’s behind all this," Frost suddenly remarked, causing everyone to turn to him.

"You recognize him, Frost?" Danny asked.

"No, but I recognize his tattoo."

Frost then tore off the man’s sleeves and raised his right arm for everyone to see.

"Huh? A lion king?" Danny exclaimed as he saw the tattoo on the man’s bicep. It was a simple drawing of a male lion with a crown on top of its mane and a red scar vertically across its left eye.

The squad broke into murmurs as they tried guessing what the tattoo meant.

"Most records of it have been lost," Frost began explaining, quieting the chatter, "but those in the know will immediately recognize that this is a crude and ornamented depiction of a family emblem belonging to a once famed family. The original version is incomparably refined and also without a crown, though I must say it’s quite an apt addition."

"If it was really such a famous family, how come none of us know anything of it?" Mandy asked.

Frost shook his head. "That’s a misassumption, Mandy. I’m certain all of you are familiar with this family, though probably only its essence and name, since it’s none other than the former rulers of our beloved homeland—the Duncan Royal Family."

Following a few gasps, silence befell the squad as they pondered what this implied in relation to the man’s tattoo and his actions today.

Unbeknownst to the rest, Drai’s heart was pounding and his mind was absolutely churning, for in the corner of his dimensional storage was a black pendant bearing the exact design Frost had mentioned.