Ravian quickly identified the direction Karius had taken before returning to his body and moving fast. He had moved far away from the last cave he had hidden in when he absorbed the orc, because he had not yet obtained the Void Shadow skill when he entered it.

And when he changed his hiding place, Void Shadow had apparently done its job perfectly. Otherwise, Karius would not have set out himself.

’He felt that he had lost control,’ Ravian guessed, recalling Karius’s rapid departure moments ago.

Ravian rose from his spot in the cave, then began digging into the ground.

...?

Yes, Ravian was digging into the ground. This was not an aboveground cave, but an underground cave he had found by chance and decided to dig a small tunnel leading into it. He had moved completely away from any cave resembling the one he had stayed in before. In fact, he had moved away from any area that even contained that kind of cave.

He had been afraid they would trace his previous trail and search similar locations... and fortunately, that was exactly what they had done, allowing him to escape them with that trick.

That was what had baffled Antonius’s mind. He had lost every trace of Ravian and could not find him in any other place he had guessed Ravian might have moved to.

Now Ravian dug with his bare hands, and nothing stood in his way, whether stone or sand. His physical strength gave him power surpassing even that of bears, which made digging a simple matter when combined with his lean human body.

He dug vertically upward for five feet, then three feet to the right, then five more feet upward. Then a small rock fell away from the spot where his hand emerged, and behind it appeared the sunlight, looking like the sun in the late afternoon.

’There we go.’

Ravian reached the surface, placed both hands above his head, and pushed himself upward with force.

Crack!

More than half his body emerged directly from the ground, then he pulled the rest of himself up with ease.

"Phew, that was far too easy," Ravian said, looking at the small hole in the ground in front of him, one that could cause someone to fall in by accident.

’I hope one of those lucky orcs falls into it,’ Ravian wished silently before looking up at the sky to find something specific.

In the far distance, he spotted a white line in the sky, resembling what people on Earth used to see when a jet plane passed overhead. But the thing in front of him now was not vapor. It was a gleaming aura that sent vibrations through the air wherever it passed.

The strange part, however, was that although Karius had been heading toward him, the aura now appeared to be moving horizontally across his view rather than directly toward him, which meant Karius had... gone the wrong way?

No. Karius had not gone the wrong way. Ravian was the one who had drastically changed his hiding location.

Previously, Ravian had been in the direction of the waterfall, north of the camp, and that was where he had left his last trace in the cave before obtaining the Void Shadow skill.

Now, Ravian was southwest of the camp, far away from the waterfall in the forest, while also not being in the exact opposite direction in case they sent scouts that way.

And now, the space ahead of him was nearly clear to cross.

A wide smile spread across Ravian’s face as he turned toward the direction of the camp.

’City of Light, Viera Empire, here I come.’

One moment, Ravian was standing in place.

And in the next—

He vanished.

...

In the camp, in the Death Squad’s camp.

All the members stood gathered in the middle of the camp, relief and worry clear on most of their faces. To each of them, Ravian was a brave and loyal battle companion, as well as a talented individual with a brilliant future, and in less than a week, he had already been through two strange incidents. Because of that, two other individuals were currently present in the squad’s camp despite not belonging there.

"Platoon Commander Caesar, how can we help you?" Malrik asked with a cold expression, looking at Caesar with Frank standing beside him. It seemed the main reason for their visit was Caesar’s curiosity, or rather, Caesar’s suspicion.

"I need some information from you, Captain Malrik. Some information about that strange, reckless teammate of yours called Ravian," Caesar said, his serious expression clearly irritated by the mere mention of Ravian. However, he wanted to verify a few things, and that was why he was here.

Kael, Elias, and Darius frowned the moment they heard the way Caesar spoke about Ravian, but before they could open their mouths, Malrik beat them to it.

"Sir Caesar, I do not think my squad member was reckless in any way, so I believe that piece of information is mistaken on the part of whoever passed it to you. Ravian is neither reckless nor strange, and he faced dangerous situations for the sake of the Empire."

"So at the very least, I hope you will tell your subordinates to set their jealousy aside and speak about him honestly, or better yet, not at all," Malrik said with a smile that held no warmth whatsoever.

Caesar frowned, and his expression darkened. Malrik had just indirectly said that he was jealous of the reputation and standing Ravian had earned in such a short time, and he had not even said it to his face. Instead, he had invented the notion that the information had come from one of Caesar’s subordinates.

For that reason, Caesar could no longer claim he had deduced the information himself, or he would look like a fool. He could not even rebuke Malrik, because Malrik had not insulted him directly.

’It seems the captain is as reckless as his squad member,’ Caesar thought with suppressed anger, looking at Malrik’s smile and the mockery wrapped inside it.

"Fine. That brave one, or whatever he is, I want all the information you have on him. His origins, what he talked about with you, and where he said he was going when he left at dawn," Caesar said calmly, staring at each member of the squad. Then he noticed the murderous looks from the squad’s elites, and three of them in particular had gazes colder than the rest.

Those three were Kael, Lysandra, and Evelyne.

"Caesar! This is not what we agreed on. You said you wanted to pass through and inspect the squad. You mentioned nothing about these pointless questions of yours! Who gave you the right to interrogate them at all?" Frank suddenly said, stepping in front of Caesar instead of Malrik.

"Have you lost your mind, Frank?! Do you find everything that has happened since that damned boy arrived normal?!" Caesar suddenly raised his voice in anger as he addressed Frank.

"He awakened his soul power at eighteen without any backing from the nobility. Then came the surprise attack on us the moment he joined the camp, and to make it even stranger, he survived it despite the fact that, by your own account, he knows no martial arts."

"Then there was the abnormal reaction he had when he heard about one of the Seven Saviors, and now his sudden disappearance without a trace, even when tracked by Sir Antonius himself."

"Does any of this seem normal to you?!" Caesar asked, his eyes red with anger as he felt like he was the only one thinking rationally here.

Suddenly, Kael stepped forward to stand beside Frank.

"Pardon me, Platoon Commander Caesar, but you do not have the right to insult one of our squad members and call him a traitor without evidence. That is first," Kael said, staring into Caesar’s eyes.

"And second, all of those things should have been verified by Sir Karius himself before he brought Ravian and placed him in the middle of the camp among us without any precautions. Or are you saying Sir Karius is more foolish than that?" Kael continued, raising an eyebrow at Caesar with hidden mockery.

Caesar looked as though he had swallowed a fly when he heard Kael, and he could not reply.

"Oh, so you are too cowardly to take this up with the Company Commander, and that is why you came here to force us to answer your questions. Is that it?" Kael said at last, with the true cold detachment of an assassin, looking at Caesar, who nearly exploded when he heard those words.

"You dare call me a coward, boy?" Caesar said, drawing his sword from its sheath and looking at Kael with an unmistakable intent to kill.

"That is enough, Caesar. Or have you forgotten that this squad falls under the command of my platoon?" Suddenly, a voice colder than ice and sharp as a sword rang out, and the air around them began to ignite green as Frank opened his mouth, raising his hand and pushing Kael and Malrik behind him.

"Have you forgotten who I am, Caesar?" Frank asked, raising his twin swords as his green hair whipped about and the aura erupted from his body.