Infinite Realm

"You already know it's pointless so why don't you stop running?" Cecilia yelled from behind.

Sato, however, ignored her. He was already suspicious of Cecilia's true strength and her attempt in goading him to give up further confirmed them. Nonetheless, her real strength was still more than enough to take him on singlehandedly; this Sato was certain about.

'Almost there.' Sato ran at the fastest speed his legs could carry him. 

While it was true that Cecilia wouldn't be catching up to him soon, Sato couldn't maintain such speed for long. This was even more so now since he was still a bit weary from the confrontation with the monster in the cavern.

Seeing Sato ignoring her and running without restraint, Cecilia wasn't one bit happy even though she knew that such acts would drain Sato of the last bit of stamina he had. On the contrary, she was a bit apprehensive and skeptical about Sato's actions. Logically, he should have known that running was pointless and would only drain his stamina, making it easier for her to kill him off later. Rather than doing that, it would be much wiser to try and fight for an opportunity for survival.

Cecilia had taken herself as a good reader of human psychology and thought patterns and so, she had presumed that Sato would decide to take a last stand rather than try escaping. If that were the case, she had more than enough confidence of taking Sato down with ease. However, her presumptions and preparations had been for naught as Sato had actually taken off on a run.

'Maybe he will come back to his senses. The plains are wide and open; there's no hiding place for him. Up ahead is the great river with monsters even I can't handle in my current form. Unless he plans on committing suicide, he should know better.'

Sadly, Sato's intentions were in reverse to Cecilia's thoughts. 

*Whoosh*

'Up ahead.' Sato dashed towards the position of the sound.

A couple of metres ahead was the great Lorls river. But unlike the previous peaceful scene Sato had met with the first time he saw the river, the view in front of him was different. There was still the greenery that was ever-present by the banks of the river but it was a lot thinner than the previous part of the river Sato had first seen. Apart from that, the loud whooshing sound was obvious from the river itself, signaling how great the water's current was.

"Do you actually plan on committing suicide, Sky Blade?" Cecilia couldn't help but shout as she saw that Sato still had no intentions of slowing down.

Sato sneered inwardly but didn't reply her; only slowing down his pace a little bit as he tried to restore his stamina slowly.

'Heh, as I thought so.' Cecilia flashed a victor's grin.

The area covered in resplendent green colours was about 100 metres out from the bank of the river. A few tall trees could be spotted, although they were spaced away from each other. Nonetheless, the presence of obstructions would make it easier for Sato to throw off Cecilia and escape.

'Is that his plan?' Cecilia couldn't help but guess.

'Stupid.'

Since she was chasing Sato without much effort, Cecilia obviously had her way of tracking down Sato. Even if she were to lose sight of him, Cecilia could rely on these unorthodox methods to find Sato, but he certainly did not know of this; this she was sure of.

Once he had entered into the vegetation zone, Sato abruptly increased his speed and began running in a haphazard manner, trying to throw off Cecilia.

'Hehe. So predictable.' 

At this point, Cecilia felt that she had seen through Sato's plan. His true intention of coming here wasn't to commit suicide but to throw her off. There was also the possibility that Sato would try to ambush her once she lost sight of him.

'An impressive plan but useless against me.'

Confident that she had not only unveiled Sato's plot but also had her countermeasures in place, Cecilia didn't hold back again as she increased her speed.

Despite knowing that Sato was trying to throw her off, Cecilia couldn't do much to stop him. She tried attacking where she was but Sato was able to dodge all her attacks with ease. Maneuvering through the terrain like a fish in the sea, Sato eventually threw her off his tail as Cecilia had lost sight of him.

"Don't get too cocky, kid." Cecilia shouted before sniffing the air.

'That way.'

Compared to the sense of sight, the sense of smell was more reliable in tracking someone down especially as it was comparatively more difficult to permanently erase one's smell than to hide one's silhouette.

*Phew*

A black object darted towards Cecilia, relying on the shadows cast by the branches and leaves of the tall trees to hide. 

However, Cecilia was no ordinary figure as she easily sensed the incoming attack and simply tilted her head to dodge. 

The dagger simply went past by her, planting itself to the floor behind.

"Is that all you've got?" Cecilia stopped as she asked. She had already found her target so there was no need to keep chasing.

Indeed, Sato was in front of her, staring at her with his sword in hand.

Sato knew that he couldn't escape by simply throwing Cecilia off his tail. It wasn't that he knew how he was being tracked but he roughly guessed that someone of Cecilia's strength would have her methods. Since that was the case, facing off against her was his only bet. However, that was easier said than done.

Compared to the aura she had released before, Sato knew that Cecilia was much weaker than she seems. As for the reason for the drastic difference, Sato presumed that it either had to do with her injuries or that Cecilia was being forced to use power much weaker than her peak form. This could either be related to a seal or some other reason. Nonetheless, this 'weaker' version was still much stronger than Sato.

Despite not having traded any blows, Sato's instincts had alerted him that going up against her would only lead to the inevitable result of death. But since he couldn't escape either, Sato had to take the risk.

"Why are you chasing after me? It's not like I did anything untoward against you." 

This was the one thing that left Sato clouded. Why was Cecilia so determined to kill him?

"Why? Blame your luck." Cecilia grinned savagely.

"Die." 

Wanting to end things quickly and not spare any time on him, Cecilia waved her arm sending a green wave of aura towards Sato.

Sato had always been on guard against Cecilia and as he saw her attack, he immediately reacted to it, ducking and rolling towards the side as he dodged the attack.

*Stth Stth Stth*

A corrosive sound was heard as the green aura wave landed on the ground. There was no explosion or anything seemingly destructive, but when Sato glanced at his original spot, he noticed that a majority of it had 'melted' and the edges were still disintegrating under the influence of the leftover green aura.

'Acid?' Sato wondered but he had no chance to confirm as another attack came his way.

It was a vertical beam that Cecilia fired with her finger; the very same attack that had injured Sato before.

*Pew*

A dark tiny beam shot from the tip of her finger aiming for Sato's heart. The shot was too fast that Sato couldn't completely dodge. In the end, he had only managed to move to his right a little bit, leading to the attack missing his heart but piercing through his left arm. Added with the one on his abdomen, there were now two see-through holes on Sato's body.

"*Grunt*"

-106 (1778/2000 Sato's HP)

Even though it was not a fatal shot, the pain was still there. IR's pain capture mechanism wasn't anything to joke about. Even at a 30% feedback ratio, the pain of being pierced through, even if it was just a ring-sized hole, was not something to smile about.

"This will be your resting place, Sky Blade. But worry not, instead be proud. You will die at my hands, and I believe that's way better than dying at some random monster's claws, no?" Cecilia smile kindly.

Despite that, anyone with even a single brain cell would know that Cecilia was anything but kind, especially after her words. Even Sato felt a chill seeing that smile.. It was the smile of a killer; and one who took joy at that too.