Chapter 527: Mischievous Demon
I feel around with [Presence Perception], searching for Aruane. However, I’m not able to pick up on her presence.
『I’m certain it was around here… Though I'm not sure which way they went afterwards…』
The treant calls out to me with [Telepathy] from my back. It would be good if they were still nearby… But if they've gone far moved far, I'll have choice but to check the whole area. No, there’s no use worrying about hypothetical. If there aren’t any tracks, then I’ll check the nearby area first.
…According to Aro, none of them could manage to land a single hit against Aruane. Someone that strong has to be equivalent to a high-level A rank.
But, if that’s the case, then it can't have been hard for her to beat the atlach-nacha. Did she use some clever scheme to escape…? I'm frustrated by just how little I understand the situation.
Should I try searching from the air? The fog makes it harder, but I feel like I should be able to cover more ground that way.
No, it’d raise the risk of Lilixira finding me. It’s best not to be optimistic and hope I can quickly take down her down. It's not like she would reveal herself if she wasn’t confident of her victory. In the first battle too, she carefully shaved down my MP, then fled right when it got dangerous for her. I could perhaps defeat her, but in this situation, fighting now poses a risk to the atlach-nacha.
In the midst of my frustration… I notice a distant, creepy presence. My [Presence Perception] is working.
But… Is this really Aruane? The presence certainly is human sized, but it feels very strange. Between all the powerful humans I’ve met – the Hero Irushia, Volk, and Lilixira – the presence seems markedly different.