[3rd POV]
That night, on the northern beach, Piers sat in front of a campfire, looking bored after spending the entire day doing absolutely nothing.
That was because Raul had only ordered him to take Scarlett with him and search the northern region, which had now been abandoned by the Dragon Clan.
"Ughh…"
Piers heard a groan.
Scarlett, who had been asleep all this time, had finally regained consciousness.
"You're awake?"
Scarlett held her head, seemingly still suffering from the aftereffects of Mana Exhaustion.
"What happened? Ughhh... Where are we?" she asked in confusion, suddenly realizing that she had awakened in a completely different place from where she had collapsed.
"After fighting with Captain, you passed out for an entire day," Piers explained, answering her confusion. "Captain said you won't be able to use mana for several days."
Hearing Piers' explanation, Scarlett fell silent, trying to process the information she had just received.
She also thought about her battle yesterday and Raul's words about her not knowing the true nature of her own power.
"I see... Where is that man now?" Scarlett asked.
She wanted to ask Raul for an explanation regarding what he had said to her before she lost consciousness.
"I don't know," Piers replied.
Raul had never explained the details of his plan to confront the Griffon Clan alone.
"He only told me where the crystals would be hidden so that we could retrieve them on the final day of the examination."
"Huh? What do you mean? Why would he do that?" Scarlett was still unaware of everything that had happened today.
"The Dragon Clan and Lion Clan merged, and their primary objective is to hunt Captain for the remainder of the examination," Piers explained. "That's why Captain ordered me to head north and look after you while you were unconscious."
Hearing this, Scarlett looked shocked.
Those two Clans were apparently determined to get revenge on Raul.
"That's only natural, isn't it? What he did was something unforgivable," Scarlett said.
Piers then offered Scarlett some grilled fish he had just finished cooking.
"Eat. You need to recover quickly so we can help Captain."
[Raul POV]
After my negotiations with Elena failed, I dug a hole somewhere and buried the crystals we had collected over the past four days.
"Done. I think Piers and Scarlett should be able to find this uniquely shaped tree if I give them the right landmark."
After burying the crystals, I sat down for a moment and began thinking about my next plan.
First, there was no way I could defeat nearly a hundred academy students by fighting them head-on.
If they formed a perimeter to trap me, I doubted I would survive for more than a day before they managed to corner me.
I needed something that would force them to separate so I could take them down one by one.
Fortunately, I thought I had a way out of this.
Second, could I defeat Brian, Geralt, Elena, Ariel, and Valeria simultaneously?
if i could choose the battlefield, then my chances of winning weren't zero.
The last time I fought Elena, she had beaten me black and blue because we were fighting in an open area.
I also hadn't used Nature Mana or my Codex yet.
By utilizing the shadow Nature Mana I possessed, I could easily defeat all five of them if we fought somewhere with enough natural light.
But should I really use it just to deal with academy students?
I didn't want to become overly dependent on a single skill. Besides, this seemed like a good opportunity to train and improve the abilities I currently possessed.
If the fight came down to close combat, I was confident I could take on Brian and Geralt simultaneously.
However, Elena's speed would be extremely troublesome.
I had to eliminate her first.
I needed to lure them into fighting me in a place of my choosing.
"Looks like I'll have to kidnap someone's child tomorrow."
[3rd POV]
The following day, inside the Eagle Clan's Basecamp, all of its members had gathered and prepared themselves for the hunt.
"This time, we will assist the Griffon Clan in hunting Raul de Garcia," Elena announced as she explained their mission.
"I already sent twenty people to search for his whereabouts some time ago. Once we determine his location, we'll begin closing in on him and wait for the Griffon Clan to arrive."
The Eagle Clan currently had nearly fifty members.
At this point, they were the largest alliance on the island.
However, the combat ability of their members was far inferior to that of the Griffon Clan, which had around thirty members.
"Leader! I have good news!"
Someone came running out of the forest toward the gathered group.
"Our scouts spotted that rotten noble heading toward a valley south of the Basecamp."
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Hearing the report, Elena once again felt a bad premonition.
However, this time she couldn't back down.
She had already made an agreement with the Griffon Clan.
"Alright. Let's follow him," Elena ordered. "Leave six people behind to guard the Basecamp!"
Elena then approached the scout who had delivered the report.
"Has someone already gone to inform the Griffon Clan?"
"Of course, Leader."
"Good. Get yourself ready for the pursuit."
On the eastern side of the island, at the Griffon Clan's Basecamp, Brian and Geralt stood before their members.
Judging from everyone's expressions, they were all ready to beat and humiliate Raul after everything he had done to them over the past few days.
"My comrades," Brian began his speech. "We are gathered here today not to compete against one another or bring each other down."
His voice gradually grew more passionate.
"We are here to punish a man who has disgraced the honor of a knight's duel!"
"Aye!"
"Aye!"
Geralt then stepped forward.
"We will make that rotten noble pay for everything he has done to our Clan!"
Geralt's voice was filled with intense hatred.
"I, Geralt de Jimena, swear that I will avenge every one of our comrades who fell!"
Smoke began to rise from his body as his anger intensified.
After Geralt finished speaking, Valeria stepped forward and turned to face the members.
"We've just received information that the Eagle Clan's scouts spotted that perverted man heading toward a valley in the southwestern part of the island," Valeria revealed.
"They will corner him there first while waiting for our arrival."
Hearing this information, the members of the Clan became excited.
"You heard that, comrades!" Brian shouted. "Let's hunt that man down!"
"Yeah!"
With that, the members of the Griffon Clan began moving toward the southwest, where the valley Raul had headed toward was located.
[Raul POV]
"Ughhh... Climbing this cliff is more exhausting than I expected."
I was currently standing on one of the highest cliffs overlooking the valley.
I had only one objective for coming here.
I was searching for a Nazarith's nest.
The Nazarith was the largest surviving bird species in this world.
Its wingspan could reach twelve meters, while an adult typically weighed around four hundred kilograms.
Generally, these birds weren't aggressive toward humans.
However, they became extremely ferocious whenever someone intruded upon their territory.
Earlier, I had deliberately shown myself to the Eagle Clan's scouts and made sure they saw where I was heading.
I lured them here because I needed to eliminate Elena, who could potentially ruin my plan.
After climbing for quite some time, I finally reached the highest point of the rocky cliff.
There it was.
A pile of hay had been arranged into a nest.
One enormous Nazarith was sleeping inside it, while a smaller one was playing nearby.
Male Nazariths usually remained at the nest to protect their offspring, while the females went out to hunt fish for their young.
I took several pieces of rabbit meat that I had previously wrapped in leaves and stored inside my uniform.
Slowly, I tossed the pieces of meat directly in front of the young Nazarith.
The little bird noticed the meat lying before it and cautiously approached.
Seeing this, I threw another piece, luring it closer and closer toward me.
Come on, little bird.
You need to eat plenty so you can grow as big as your papa and have lots of offspring.
Once it came close enough, I opened my uniform and grabbed the little bird.
Just as it was about to cry out, I quickly covered its beak so it wouldn't wake its father too soon.
"Yosh... Now let's go meet the Eagle Clan down below."
Getting down while carrying the young bird was more difficult than I expected.
It struggled desperately in my arms, trying to break free.
—Cyak!
"Shit!"
A faint cry escaped its beak.
I quickly covered its mouth tightly with my uniform.
But then—
I suddenly heard something from above.
I looked up.
A gigantic bird's head was staring down at me from the peak of the cliff.
"Easy ... I'm not kidnapping your child."
I slowly continued descending the rocks, trying not to attract its attention any further.
But the young bird began struggling even more violently.
—Cyak!
"Shiet!"
"GROOOAAARRR!"
I heard an incredibly loud roar from above.
There was no doubt about it.
Its father had heard its cry.
I immediately began descending as quickly as possible, leaping from one rock to another.
—Swoshh!
A powerful gust of wind passed over my head.
I looked up.
A gigantic bird was staring down at me from only ten meters away.
*It's fast!*
—Cyak!
"Oh, could you shut up for a second, you little brat!? I'm trying to carry out my plan here!"
I cursed at the annoying little bird.
"GROOHHH!"
Oh no.
Your father knows you're being kidnapped now.
The enormous bird pulled back slightly before suddenly launching itself toward me.
—Crack!
I managed to dodge just in time.
The gigantic bird slammed into the rocky wall.
However, it didn't seem to feel any pain whatsoever.
It shook its head before turning its gaze toward me again.
"Krooohhhh!"
Shit! Shit! Shit!
Run! Faster, faster, faster!
I jumped from rock to rock, zigzagging down the cliff as I desperately tried to evade the giant bird's attacks.
I didn't even bother looking behind me.
There was only one thing on my mind.
I had to reach the Eagle Clan.
—Crackk!
Once again, the enormous bird attempted to pierce me with its razor-sharp talons.
Fortunately, I managed to dodge.
After fleeing from the bird for quite some time, I finally spotted the Eagle Clan below.
Their faces were filled with confusion as they tried to understand what was happening.
"Here, take this! I'm not cut out to be a babysitter!"
I tossed the young bird toward one of the Eagle Clan members.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
The man looked utterly confused as he suddenly found himself holding a baby bird in both arms.
—GROOOOOH!
"Shit! What the hell is that creature!?"
"R-Run!"
The gigantic bird began attacking the members of the Eagle Clan.
One of the men was even grabbed by the bird's talons, carried high into the air, and then dropped from a great height.
"What is going on here?"
I heard a familiar voice from behind.
When I turned around, Elena was running toward us alongside dozens of Eagle Clan members.
"Raul! We found you!" Elena shouted as she prepared to activate her magic.
However, her attention was suddenly diverted by the enormous bird flying straight toward her.
"KROOOKKKK!"
The bird went berserk, attacking the Eagle Clan members who had just arrived.
"Raul! Is this your doing?" Elena asked while dodging the giant bird's attack.
"How would I know? The bird is only rampaging because your members took its child!"
I lied to her.
"You rotten noble! How dare you frame us!" one of the members shouted angrily after being falsely accused by Raul.
"KROAAAKKKK!"
The bird went berserk once again.
Four students had already been eliminated by the gigantic creature.
This time, it grabbed another member with its talons and carried him into the air.
"H-Help me, Leader...!"
The man was visibly terrified.
The area around his pants was even beginning to turn wet.
Elena activated her magic.
Yellow lightning began coursing around her body.
"Blitzkrieg!"
Elena shot into the air and punched the bird directly in its beak, forcing the massive creature to release the member it had been holding.
The blonde-haired woman then began wrestling with the Nazarith in midair.
The two of them gradually moved farther and farther away until they eventually disappeared from the valley.
"Well... It seems your Guardian Angel is busy."
I looked at the remaining members of the Eagle Clan with a sinister smile.
Hearing my words, the dozen or so Eagle Clan members immediately prepared themselves for battle.
But Elena was no longer here.
Their leader and protector was currently busy fighting the enraged father.
"Raul! I finally found you!"
"It's time to repay you for what you did to me a few days ago!"
From the eastern side, I saw a group from the Griffon Clan finally arrive.
Brian, Geralt, and Valeria were standing at the very front of the formation.
"Well, well... The main cast has finally gathered."
They began surrounding me from every direction.
"Surrender, Raul! Your resistance is pointless. We're far more numerous than you!" Brian said confidently.
"Time to turn that human into charcoal!" Geralt declared, clearly eager to torture me.
"A perverted man like you was destined to lose!" Valeria said, remaining cautious despite having me completely surrounded.
She should be here by now, shouldn't she?
What is keeping Mama so busy?
She's not playing around while Papa is taking care of the baby, is she?
—KROOAAAKKK!
The members of the Griffon Clan heard the cry of a bird from above.
"Looks like Mama has finally returned from work."
I smiled at them.
"She seems rather angry after seeing her child struggling without Papa around."
—Kroaakkk! Kroaakkk!
The gigantic bird suddenly began attacking the members of the Griffon Clan.
Their formation, which had been surrounding me, immediately fell into chaos.
Seeing the opportunity, I activated Acceleration and quickly fled the area.
"Damn it! That rotten noble is escaping! Chase him!"
"We can't! This bird keeps attacking us!"
I could clearly hear the members of the Griffon Clan struggling against the mother Nazarith.
I glanced behind me.
Four students were still following me.
They were Brian, Geralt, Valeria, and Ariel.
Well...
Looks like we'll be fighting inside the forest without anyone getting in the way.
"We won't let you escape, Raul!"