Back to the moment Veda left Ezra to support the others, the four Kalians rushed at Ezra from different directions, spreading out slightly to limit his movement and force him into reacting instead of planning.

One of them, holding a pipe-like weapon, raised it to its mouth and blew out a series of darts that cut through the air toward Ezra in a tight spread.

Ezra turned sharply.

His arm moved before the darts could reach him.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Each shot met its target, the darts breaking apart mid-air as he shifted his stance immediately afterward, his feet sliding across the ground as he avoided a heavy swing from another Kalian whose blade came in from the side with enough force to split the air.

He didn’t stop moving.

He adjusted his center of gravity, stepping forward just enough to avoid a thrust from the Kalian using a spear, the tip passing close to his torso as he twisted his body out of its path.

At that same moment, the Kalian wearing metal claw gloves extended its arm.

The claws stretched outward fast like a striking snake.

Ezra moved again, reading every attack that came...whether together or one after another...was met with a response.

He dodged most of them while for the ones he couldn’t avoid, he used his guns to deflect the attacks and also blocked with the frames of his two Glock 17s, using them like short batons to redirect incoming strikes instead of stopping them directly.

The pressure of their attacks increased.

The space is tight...

He thought to himself as he ran, adjusting his path while the Kalians followed closely behind, their movements coordinated enough to keep him within range.

Another set of darts came and Ezra increased his pace.

He ran forward, then dropped low suddenly, sliding across the ground as an axe passed just above him, close enough that he felt the wind from it brush his hair, then the Kalian with the axe disappeared immediately after the swing, vanishing into the night.

Ezra pushed himself up with one hand, rolling forward...

A spear appeared.

The Kalian holding it thrust forward, stabbing into the space where Ezra had been a moment ago.

Ezra turned sharply and fired at his back without hesitation, relying on his senses to track their positions.

All four were there.

The shots were precise, each one forcing the Kalians to either block or dodge, their movements interrupted just enough to push them back slightly.

As he kept fighting, his mind moved as fast as his body.

Now Ezra... what have you learned from these monsters?

He asked himself while adjusting his path.

First... They are more intelligent than Ground Apes. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

He tilted his head to the right, letting a spear pass by his face, then tilted left as another came from behind.

The same Kalian caught the weapon again and used it to block the next set of shots Ezra fired.

Their intelligence is higher than that.

Ezra turned and ran again, the Kalians chasing him, attacking from both sides and behind in an attempt to limit his escape routes.

Second... their physical strength is at the level of a Binder rank alchemist and worst of all they are definitely using Cognis.

He moved through their attacks with controlled footwork, stepping between slashes and thrusts as he reached the area where the catapults were stationed.

One after another...The catapults were destroyed, blades cut through woods, spears pierced through frames and the structures broke apart quickly under repeated attacks.

In the middle of that chaos...

Ezra moved fluidly.

He removed the empty magazines from his guns while jumping over a broken beam, throwing the guns slightly upward as he caught a dart mid-air with his free hand.

He turned sharply and used it to redirect an incoming slash.

The extended metal claws slipped through the gaps between the broken catapult structures, tearing through wood and narrowly missing him as they passed.

In all that action, Ezra took out two magazines and reloaded, both magazines slid back into place smoothly.

As the guns fell back into his hands...

He dropped to one knee, then sprang upward moving out of the destroyed area just as the catapults collapsed fully behind him.

He began firing again, not at visible targets, but at positions.

Tracking movement through sound, wind pressure and instinct.

With how unnatural their weapons move; they are basically steel alchemists.

His eyes moved quickly, scanning while his mind calculated.

The more they attack me, the more I’m getting cornered...But now...I’m certain of one thing.

The GPMG was kicked toward him.

Ezra reacted instantly.

He jumped onto it, using it as a stepping point, then turned to his left just in time to block a kick from a Kalian that appeared suddenly.

The impact pushed him backward, toward the tower wall, but...

He didn’t crash.

His feet planted against the surface, Cognis surged into his legs as he used the force reversing it and launched himself outward, out of the castle into the open field.

The Kalians followed immediately, they leaped after him without hesitation.

They might be physically strong as a Binder... Ezra twisted mid-air, avoiding incoming darts and the extended claws that tore through parts of his coat as they passed.

...but they are not faster than me.

He placed one of his guns back into his space bag without breaking his rhythm mid-air, his other hand already reaching in his space bag to pull out the Harpoon gun. He didn’t hesitate. The moment it appeared in his grip, he raised it and fired toward a specific point on the ground ahead.

The harpoon shot forward with force, cutting through the cold air before embedding itself firmly into the earth exactly where he aimed.

Immediately, Ezra pulled.

His body was dragged forward at high speed, his boots leaving faint marks on the ground as he moved, and just as he was pulled out of his previous position, a spear pierced through the space he had occupied a moment ago.

He twisted his body mid-motion, adjusting his landing, and touched down precisely at the marked spot. The moment his feet stabilized, he moved again, placing both the Harpoon gun and the remaining Glock back into his space bag in one smooth motion, already pulling out the Kel-Tec PMR-30.

The first Kalian landed...

The instant its feet touched the ground, the surface beneath it collapsed, pulling it downward into a concealed pit lined with wooden stakes.

It reacted quickly.

Its blade moved, slicing off a section of the stakes beneath it before they could fully pierce its body. Using that broken section as footing, it balanced itself within the pit, its tail wrapping around a protruding edge to support its position.

"Tsk..."

Ezra clicked his tongue softly as he observed it.

The other Kalians landed more carefully this time.

Their movements slowed slightly; eyes shifted toward the ground.

The sight of traps stunned them that they couldn’t ignore what they just jumped into.

None of them rushed forward immediately.

Ezra stood still, his expression plain, his breathing steady despite the blood staining parts of his clothes.

"Eh..." He tilted his head slightly. "Already cautious... I see."

He adjusted his grip on the Kel-Tec PMR-30.

"But unfortunately..."

He raised the gun and fired toward the forest on his left.

The bullet struck a hidden rope connected to a pulley system and the mechanism activated immediately.

The pulleys rolled rapidly, the sound low but sharp as they moved through their tracks, then suddenly stopped.

"You are now in my territory."

A faint smirk appeared on his face.

From the left side of the forest, long wooden spears—thick, heavy, shaped like oversized arrows, shot out in a straight line toward the three Kalians.

They reacted instantly.

The one holding the steel spear pulled its weapon back and sliced through the incoming projectiles with fast, controlled movements, breaking them apart before they could reach it. The other two jumped high, clearing the attack with quick, precise motion.

The Kalian holding the pipe and axe didn’t hesitate, it threw its axe straight at Ezra.

Ezra moved at the same time.

He jumped upward just as the Kalian trapped in the pit forced itself out and lunged forward, tackling him toward the area where the falling spear projectiles were landing.

Both of them moved through the descending spears, weaving through the narrow spaces between them as the projectiles embedded themselves deep into the ground around them with heavy impacts.

The Kalian attacked immediately.

Its blade came down in a sharp slash aimed at Ezra’s upper body.

Ezra reacted without delay.

He caught one of the falling spears mid-air, his fingers tightening around the shaft as he redirected its motion, using it to block the incoming slash.

The impact ran through his arm, but he held steady.

At the same time, his other hand raised the Kel-Tec PMR-30.

He fired.

The Kalian brought up its blade to block, but its attention was too divided. The surrounding spears limited its movement, forcing it to adjust constantly to avoid impaling itself and Ezra didn’t just aim at a single point.

He adjusted each shot, four bullets connected.

Two struck the wrist of the arm holding the blade and two pierced into its eyes, each.

The Kalian screamed, its movement faltering as it lost its sense of direction.

That moment was enough.

The remaining spears fell piercing through its body from multiple angles.

It couldn’t react in time and its body went still, then collapsed.

The trap stopped.

"One down," Ezra said calmly, lowering the gun slightly.

His instincts reacted again almost immediately.

He raised the wooden spear still in his hand and blocked another incoming attack, the force snapping the spear apart as he deflected a thrown weapon.

The moment the spear trap ended, the Kalian with the spear weapon moved in without hesitation.

It retrieved its weapon and began thrusting rapidly, each strike aimed to limit Ezra’s movement.

Ezra didn’t counter.

He moved back instead.

Left and right.

Each step controlled as he avoided every thrust with minimal motion, conserving energy while observing.

At the same time, the other two Kalians struggled.

When they landed...

The ground beneath them collapsed again, another hidden pit but they reacted quickly, barely avoiding being impaled.

One drove its metal claws into the wall of the pit, anchoring itself, while the other wrapped its tail around it. Together, they pulled themselves upward, but the moment they stepped onto another section of ground...

It sank again.

They escaped once more but slower this time and more careful.

Their movements had changed which Ezra noticed.

He continued weaving through the spear thrusts, then bent slightly to avoid the extended metal claws that came from the side, his body rotating smoothly as he shifted to a new position, then he sprinted.

The Kalians followed but now tracing his steps more carefully, avoiding areas where traps might be hidden.

The Kalian in front jumped back to create space, while the one with the pipe blew another set of darts toward him.

Ezra turned sharply.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The darts shattered mid-air. The axe came next as the Kalian advanced closer to him, a heavy swing aimed at his side.

He dodged it, then another attack which he dodged, then another.

He began firing in between movements, each shot aimed toward eyes and wrists.

The Kalian blocked, but the damage began to accumulate. Small grazes appeared across its body, its movements becoming slightly less precise.

The others joined in again.

Ezra kept moving, his eyes scanning each of them carefully, tracking patterns in their attacks and realizing they hadn’t vanished since entering the field.

That alone told him something.

The trap environment was limiting them and their coordination...Wasn’t as smooth as before.

They are cracking.

The thought settled clearly in his mind.

While moving, Ezra reached into his space bag again and pulled out another weapon.

Bang!

He fired immediately.

The bullet went straight toward the Kalian with the axe.

It reacted fast, slicing the bullet in half mid-air, but the moment the blade made contact...

A bright flash erupted.

The explosion of light filled the area instantly.

All the Kalians reacted, their movements halting as their vision was overwhelmed.

Ezra had already prepared for it, he raised his coat, shielding his eyes, then he fired again, the shot aimed toward another hidden mechanism in the forest.

The bullet struck and the pulley system activated.

It rolled quickly, then stopped.

Thin steel wires stretched across the field instantly, forming a network of nearly invisible cutting lines.

The Kalians rubbed their eyes, disoriented, jumping back instinctively but before the Kalian with the axe could fully recover...

Ezra moved in, grabbing it by the tail, then swung it.

Hard.

Its body was pulled through the air straight into the steel lines.

Slash.

The cut was clean.

Its body split into multiple parts mid-motion, the sections falling apart as they hit the ground. Only the parts covered in iron armor remained intact for a moment before dropping as well.

"Two down."

Ezra wiped some of the blue blood from his face with the edge of his coat.

His grip tightened around the Kel-Tec PMR-30 as he stored the Flash Gun back into his space bag.

He raised the gun again, his eyes steady.

"Two to go."