While Louis dodged the flame chains Kai directed towards him, he saw the third masked person, who wore a necklace around his neck, coming his way.
Asher exuded his mana as he dashed toward Louis, who didn't even bother acknowledging his presence.
'D Rank? Is this a joke?' Louis thought as he dodged the final flame chain.
He saw the D Rank Hunter advancing towards him and felt annoyed at such a weak person challenging him. Yet, Louis disregarded the D Rank Hunter, turning his attention to Dane and Kai— the only ones he deemed worthy of caution.
Asher knew that Louis Rothschild would dismiss his existence. D Rank hunters weren't worth his time. Louis could kill Asher with a single move, so it was apparent he would shift his attention to Dane and Kai until Asher attempted to escape the Fourth Level.
A distance of only 20 meters remained between him and Louis Rothschild as Asher took a deep breath.
He was about to unleash his killing intent, but first, there was one more thing he needed.
[ Host has activated Time Dilation ]
Everything around Asher slowed down, and Louis's movement became visible to him.
On the verge of dashing towards Dane, Louis stopped immediately as he sensed a tremendous killing intent that shook him internally.
He turned to see who it was but saw the same D Rank Hunter appearing behind him.
*Clang*
"What!?" Louis exclaimed as he blocked the black blade heading for his neck with his forearms.
He was shocked by Asher's sudden increase in speed.
Unaware of Asher's strength source, Louis immediately created a distance between them.
He glanced at the armor on his forearm, which remained unscathed. It was special armor crafted for him, considering Louis preferred close combat battles with his hands.
Louis's blue eyes sought Asher, who had disappeared again from his spot. He looked around him and saw Asher appear in one place after another.
'What is that movement technique?' Louis wondered, scanning his surroundings.
[ Host is using Mir Steps with Time Dilation ]
The fact that Asher was using his unique movement technique in this state equalized his speed with an S+ Rank Hunter.
Louis turned his head to the left as he saw the black blade approaching him. Both of them were fighting so swiftly that Dane and Kai missed some of their actions.
"How...?" Kai gazed at Asher in shock.
But unlike Kai, Dane recovered from his stupor as he remembered what Asher had told him before they came here.
"Hey, let's go!!," Dane shouted, grabbing Kai, who was too fatigued to move.
Dane used all his mana to cross over to the third level for a single burst. Asher had instructed him to take Kai and run towards the Third level when he stepped towards Louis.
He didn't understand how they would be able to cross over safely, but witnessing it firsthand, he immediately followed Asher's advice.
Time had slowed for Asher, and his eyes tracked every movement Louis made.
Seeing that Louis had created a distance between them, Asher used Mir Steps to close the gap. Having battled multiple high-rank hunters, he knew how they executed their attacks.
Louis's defense was not a challenge for him. However, despite his speed, the force behind his attacks wasn't enough to kill Louis. Not only was he wearing special armor, but he would cover his body with the aura the moment he perceived the attack could harm him.
Fifteen seconds had already passed for Asher, so he knew he needed to move and cross over to the Third Level.
Asher swung at Louis's right hand but changed his attack midway through, using Mir Steps to appear on his left.
'Swift Strike,' His aura-enveloped sword targeted Louis's neck.
Asher's abrupt change in the attack took Louis off guard, but he managed to sense his presence in time and backed away from his attack.
He could only detect a single node on Louis Rothschild, indicating his attacks were insufficient to kill him, but they could still wound him.
However, Louis Rothschild was unaware of this. All his attention focused on Asher. Unfortunately, he made the mistake of allowing Dane and Kai to pass through the Fourth Level Entrance.
Asher noticed this, and for him, 30 seconds had already passed. Therefore, he had only 20 more to cross the Fourth Level Entrance before Time Dilation ran out.
Earlier, he was merely attacking as a distraction, but now he needed to delay Louis Rothschild for at least a second to make it to the other side where Dane and Kai waited.
He amassed the mana around his legs and used Mir Steps to close the distance towards Louis Rothschild.
But this time, Louis Rothschild was ready. He hadn't anticipated Asher's sudden boost earlier, but now he was prepared.
And Asher could see that as the single node disappeared, and he had no means of injuring Louis Rothschild now.
Louis saw Asher vanish from his spot, got ready, and raised his guard. He was luring Asher to bridge the distance between them.
And he achieved his objective when he saw Asher appear on the left side and raise his fist instantly. But Asher saw his strike and used his movement technique again to slip past Louis's strike and appear on his right.
He was using all his mana at this point, so it was his final attempt before Time Dilation ran out.
Louis turned his eyes as he saw a black blade heading his way. He twisted his torso and shifted the momentum to his left hand to strike Asher, who was currently on his right side.
But noticing Louis's movement, Asher halted his strike midway through as Louis had predicted and backed away from his position.
Then, something strange happened, as Louis felt a sword nick his right cheek, leaving a thin cut.
Asher saw Louis, who was shocked due to his new sword technique, Phantom Strike.
'Now,' Asher vanished from his spot once again, and Louis instantly raised his guard to counter the next attack.
He was puzzled how Asher had managed to hit him even though he had already retreated.
But the next moment, he saw that the D Rank Masked man was nearing the Fourth Level Entrance.
"STOP!!" Louis shouted, sending a mana wave to attack Asher with a fist strike. Asher turned his body at the last second, dodging the attack, but part of his mask was destroyed around his eyes.
Louis attacked Asher, thinking he was an S Rank or higher, but if this attack had hit Asher, he would have died.
Some pieces lodged into his face injuring him, but he used his momentum to dash away toward the entrance.
"DAMMIT," Louis rushed towards the Fourth Level Entrance and saw Asher's back, closing his distance towards Dane and Kai.
Simultaneously, Louis pressed the artifact on his waist that Kamden had personally given him for communication.
[ Time Dilation has ended ]
Asher received the system's notification, feeling a wave of drowsiness wash over him.
His face was bleeding due to the mask pieces embedded in his skin. But he didn't care about that at this moment.
He exhausted all his mana to reach Dane and Kai, grabbed them, and his necklace began to shine.
"Don't move," Asher ordered them.
"Eh?" Dane saw Asher clutching both of them by the nape of their necks.
But his cold gaze, visible from the broken area of the mask, made it impossible for Dane to question Asher's decision.
Now outside the Jamming Ray's area of effect, Asher could use one of the artifacts he had looted from the Vault.
[ Inputting Random Coordinates ]
*Boom*
He saw the system's notification as he turned to see Louis, who had just emerged from the Fourth Level Entrance behind him.
"WHAT?" Louis halted in his tracks as he saw the broken mask and a single crimson-red eye staring at him.
It was the same gaze he hadn't forgotten till now.
The gaze that looked down at him when he bowed his head towards the Greville.
The same indifferent gaze looking at him.
Asher observed the stupefied Louis, who was gazing at him.
Louis snapped out of his daze as he dashed towards the same D Rank Hunter he had initially ignored. He wanted to confirm his suspicions.
His hand was about to grab Asher, but at that moment, all three of them were enveloped in a strange violet light and vanished in front of Louis, who crashed into the wall behind.
He immediately got up and looked around, but there was no trace of Asher, Dane, or Kai.
He spread his mana around to notice any signs of mana, but there were none.
His rage started to boil up as he realized his current situation.
"SHIT!!" Louis smashed the ground he was standing on.
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