Rise of the Horde - Chapter 349:

“For a person that doesn’t emit much aura… he sure runs fast…” Isma commented as he kept up with his comrades while they gave chase. Most of those that they have encountered so far that were of leading figures emit a powerful aura that clearly indicates that they are the strongest of their group but the one that they are pursuing right now lack the very thing that helped them identify the leaders of the groups that they have encountered.

“Are you sure that the person we are chasing after is their leader?” Isma directed his gaze towards Menna who was running just right beside him. He was a bit sceptical of the information that they have obtained but they don’t have any other options as this was the only lead that they got.

“People may lie but the soul can’t… You know what I can do with souls that fall upon my grasp. Although because of the restriction I can’t exhibit my full power but with such weak foes, I doubt that they can hide anything from me.” Menna responded with full confidence. He had powers almost bordering the lines of necromancy since he could force the souls of those that he can get his hands on to spill out everything that they know. Nothing could be hidden from him. The only exception to this power of his was those who were stronger than him as they could resist it.

“For someone that is emitting such a weak aura…he sure runs fast or he is just geared towards escaping and evading pursuit.” Isma whined as the person that they thought they have cornered easily maneuvered through their blockade. The trio had no idea how the figure did it, but they suspected that it must be through the means of some spell or ability.

“Have your guards up… We don’t have much information about our target. One thing is clear though; he is very slippery and often would get away from pursuits.” Ishaq commented then led his adjutants through the dark alleys of the city. The person was long gone from their sights but thanks to the mark of Isma, they were still able to trace the whereabouts of the individual.

Sounds of metal clashing against metal accompanied by groans and alarmed shouts echoed through the narrow streets of the city.

“Get him! Don’t let him through!” a senior officer among the guards shouted as he commanded his troops to apprehend the suspicious figure that they have encountered. He was confident that with their numbers, they would easily take down the target but it didn’t go as what he had expected.

The doubtful person easily took out five of his men with ease. Sparks of combat gave a short-lived light to the dark corners of the streets but it didn’t last for long as the enemy that they thought who would easily succumbed to their number easily trampled over them.

A few moments later, Ishaq and his adjutants arrived at the scene but all they saw were soldiers of the kingdom sprawled all over the place with varying degree of wounds and some even no longer breathing.

“Which direction!?” Menna quickly questioned towards the one who was using the wall of nearby building to get to his feet. His question was quickly responded by the soldier as he pointed towards the northwest before buckling down to his knees as his wounds caught up to his senses.

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The trio didn’t give much attention to the wounded soldiers as they had more urgent task to do which was to capture the fugitive that they were after. They also thought that the assignment that they were given was easy but after encountering the wounded soldiers on their side which should have been enough to apprehend someone utterly destroyed, they thought otherwise. If such a person could easily dispatch such a number of trained soldiers, then he would be someone that was strong enough that required their full effort.

After Ishaq and his trusted subordinates continued with the pursuit along with the help with the direction of one of the wounded soldiers, Barika and his subordinates arrived at the scene. He didn’t ask for the direction that the enemy took first but instead berated the soldiers on how useless they are and went on to scold them for some time before asking for directions.

The survivors of the clash with the fugitive were tempted to point towards the wrong direction but none of them were brave enough to act upon it. They knew that if they acted upon their temptation, Commander Barika would surely retaliate and punish them for giving false information.

“Where is he? The mark clearly says that he is nearby…” Isma was confused as he could clearly feel the mark that he had left on their target to be very close but they can’t find him. They travelled around the nearby structures to try and locate the enemy but with no success since they can’t get him within their sights.

“There!” Menna pointed towards the rooftop as he spotted the figure that was jumping from building to building in the darkness. The mark of Isma was only able to locate the general location of the one that he had marked but he won’t be able to know its precise location whether it was above or below the.

Ishaq channelled his battle energy and propelled himself upwards to cut off the path that the enemy was taking. His aura surge and went airborne with momentum successfully knocking the target out of his course and sending him crashing towards the nearby house.

Menna and Isma quickly followed suit and activated their battle energies to do follow up attacks to hold off the enemy while waiting for their commander to gather himself as the collision with their foe had disoriented him a bit. With their battle energies, the two adjutants of Commander Ishaq were confident that they would be able to contain the enemy but they were gravely mistaken.

Blades made of dark attributed battle energies which were hard to perceive due to its color blending with the darkness of the night came for them. The two were force to erect defensive barriers around themselves with their own battle energies to protect themselves and the result of the clash surprised them. Their foe was not far from their level of power basing on the effect of his attacks upon their barriers.

“Move!” Ishaq’s shout came out of nowhere as he came down from the sky surging with his own battle energy. The attack contained almost his entire power and crash down upon their foe.

Apprehensive of the damage that the attack would do to him, the figure quickly erected a barrier of his own battle energy to protect himself. Dark colored light engulfed him like a bubble and helped cushion the attack of Commander Ishaq.

A powerful shockwave resulted from the clash which resulted in the house being turned into nothing but ruins and the nearby buildings damaged in varying degrees.

Commander Ishaq was surprised that the enemy managed to endure his attack but he was certain that their foe didn’t do it without being unscathed. And he was absolutely right; the person that they were after was blown a few meters back and skidded through the streets.

The sound of their clash attracted the attention of those who were nearby and some residents even opened their windows or got out of their homes to find out the source of the explosion. Upon seeing that one of the parties involved belong to the forces of the king, the windows that suddenly opened were quickly shut; the people that came out of their homes sprinted back inside not daring to be involved with the commotion.

Commander Barika who was not far from the location of the fight urged his subordinates to move faster as he didn’t want for his rival to gain all the merits for apprehending the enemy.

“You are strong but let’s see how much more you can endure…” Ishaq mocked his opponent then prepared for his next attack but he detected something amiss which force him to protect himself instead of attacking and his judgement was spot on as the shadows from the nearby buildings came crashing down upon his defense like sharp spears.

“Shadow Manipulation…” Isma commented as he tried to guess correctly the ability of their opponent. If he was correct then engaging their foe during the night was already a huge mistake especially with the almost full moon hanging from the skies above.

“We can’t beat him unless we break our seals.” Menna commented after repelling one of the shadow spears that was directed at him. He and Isma were rendered almost helpless in the situation since they weren’t using their real powers and even their commander would have it hard since he was in the same situation as them.

“Don’t break your seals.” That was the command that Ishaq gave before dashing forward to try and engage their foe in close combat to give him no time to make use of his ability to manipulate the shadows and attack them from a distance. The clash between Commander Ishaq and their foes resulted in creating some sparks as his sword was parried by their foe with a pair of daggers.

Although he had the advantage when it comes to reach, Commander Ishaq was not able to overpower the cloaked figure as he was far slower than their foe when it comes to speed. Equipped with daggers, the unknown person parried the strikes of Ishaq without much difficulty.