Chapter 1176: Being Hunted The following day, a flying ship covered under multiple illusion, concealment, and isolation barriers swept across the sky at lightning speed. None could detect that the sky was housing such powerful beings of different races and ranks altogether. However, these terrifying existences were running for their lives, terrified of their pursuer. "Do you think it will work, cult leader?" asked Morrigan, the High Priestess, exhaustion written all over her face. After yesterday’s events, all they could do was run as fast as they could, as farthest as they could. Since they had witnessed the power of a Godbeast, they had been on edge. And the most surprising fact was that it wasn’t even the godbeast itself but just a long-range astral projection of its eyes. Even a 9th-stage saint like Argos was barely able to resist that projection, while Kahn, Vildred, and Morrigan had their domains shattered instantly as if they weren’t one of the most formidable powers in the world but a random jar made of glass that shattered into hundreds of pieces the moment you dropped it. Hence, them being cautious was the obvious reaction. To hide their presence while increasing the chances of survival, they came up with a plan yesterday. Argos created a few clones made of his blood essence that mimicked his aura of a vampire and a 9th-stage saint. They had no powers or skills, but could fly with bat-like wings on their back. They weren’t particularly fast, but over a dozen of them were enough to confuse the godbeast if it was still following them. Kahn, on the other hand, also created his Cosmic Aether clones. They were his most effective clones that mimicked his exact aura and strength as a 7th-stage saint while possessing skills that could also increase their speed and help them fight if needed. As a distraction or misdirection, they were even better than Argos’ clones made of blood. Vildred used spells to create magic formations to mimic his dragon aura. These magic formations flew in multiple directions while intentionally revealing his aura minutely. But that would be even to track by someone like a godbeast. Morrigan also created the ghost-like spectres that carried her blood. The blood itself carried her life force, easy to be mistaken for the real her. All of these traps, clues, and dopplegangers were spread in different directions. A couple of them even gathered and flew together in a single direction to put the Godbeast in disarray. Basic tactics could be uncovered by any experienced being who lived for so long like a Godbeast. Hence, they had to leave a few possible paths that would trick their pursuer that those were the actual targets instead. As long as they carried on quietly without exposing themselves, there was a 50% chance that they’d never be caught. ****************** Swoosh! Swoosh! Argos was using his vast world energy reserves to steer the ship at maximum capacity. "Kahn, it was a decent strategy. You have a sharp mind that uses whatever you have in your arsenal and gets the most effective result in the shortest time possible." said the vampire sovereign with a praiseful undertone. At the moment, he was addressing the battle with the Rainbow Serpent. "Well... We didn’t have time to figure out how most of its powers worked, making the monster invincible. Still, with our collective efforts, we managed to kill a mythical monster within just 20 minutes. That has to count for something." responded Kahn, acting humble as his nose grew longer for some reason. "Even with our traps and tricks... I don’t think it’ll be easy to fool a Godbeast. Even the Rainbow Serpent was able to detect us easily despite so many of our countermeasures. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢 So let’s be as quiet as possible and hope for the best." said Kahn. "Shame that we couldn’t bring back the body and core. It would have helped me a bit to get more abilities and increase by Basilisk bloodline purity." said Kahn in a regretful tone. Right then... the vampire king spoke with a thoughtful countenance. "It was for the better. I believe these guardians have some kind of tracking mark or a seal placed on them by the godbeasts." "Huh? What?! Are you certain?" asked Kahn, bamboozled. "It’s a hypothesis. Think about it... throughout the battle, no matter how injured the Rainbow Serpent got while Sir Vildred fought it... There was no response. But the moment we killed it, the Godbeast it served instantly noticed our existence, and even those astral eyes appeared right in the sky as if they had a way to pinpoint the Rainbow Serpent’s location no matter where it was." iterated the revenant sovereign with a stern voice. "If we brought the body, I believe the godbeast would be easily able to track us using the corpse of its subordinate." he explained. Kahn’s eyes widened, and he understood why leaving the body behind actually saved their lives instead. Now, Kahn let go of his regret. Not being greedy had saved his life instead. Everyone nodded as they felt lucky to have come out of that ordeal alive. They carried on their journey quietly from here on. Meanwhile, Vildred had a gloomy face. [Have I become rusty because I was sealed for over a millennium? How could a mere mythical beast find me so easily? Even if my bloodline was the reason... still, it happened way too quickly. I’m being too careless, I guess. Although I’ve never faced a Godbeast before, if they are on par with great ancestor Baltaraaz... then even my best won’t be enough. Yet, I can’t let it discourage me. I must make sure we’re hidden from the world and not even a breaths leave this ship.] thought Vildred to himself. After the Godbeast’s power broke his domain, something that even Raathnaar wasn’t able to do... Vildred was blaming himself for his negligence. In reality, it was none of their fault. The Rainbow Serpent was possibly one of the few mythical monsters in the whole world that could detect them so easily due to its innate powers and abilities. They were just unlucky to run into it of all the guardians they could’ve come across. However, Vildred was indeed correct about one thing. That, regardless of their best efforts... the ’best’ might still not be enough. ****************** The next day... BOOM!! Like a torpedo hitting a target, a massive entity suddenly jumped down from the sky. Shatter! Rumble! Tremble! The surrounding 10-kilometer radius was devastated from the impact, peaks and forests were razed instantly, leaving only flatlands as the animals and insects died without even realizing what happened. Sniff! Sniff! "These runts are very careful. I figured all those dispersed clones were indeed a distraction. But two of the paths where their auras were assembled seemed like the only possible whereabouts. Now, both of them have turned into dead ends." said the Godbeast Baihu as it activated its bright blue eyes, scanning the nearby 50-kilometer environment as if it had X-ray Vision like the Caped Crusader. "Hmm... signs of concealment barriers in the sky. There are too many of them. These vagrants should have racked their brains. However, the use of so many formations and artifacts to mask their existence has created fluctuations in the world energy itself. Someone as strong as me can easily detect them." said the Godbeast as it found the needle in the haystack. "The problem is that I can’t just stride in a single direction and need to follow these fluctuations closely. If I use my full speed, I could easily lose track of the trail." it iterated in a discontent tone. "Alas, it will delay me by a day at most. As long as they don’t enter that accursed place or another godbeast’s territory... they can’t escape their deaths. They killed my underling, showing disrespect towards my great being. So there is no way I shall let them live without regrets." proclaimed the godbeast. Flap! Flap! It widened its 4-kilometer-long wings and took flight. The speed was reduced by half, but the Godbeast Baihu now had real hints to follow. Even if there was a delay... the godbeast would make it certain to hunt its prey. ****************** A couple more days passed, and the voyagers were forced to take a break as the ship also overheated beyond their control. Argos, Vildred, and Kahn immediately started restoring it because of their specialties and how the time was of the essence. Morrigan, on the other side, prayed to the God of Darkness and tried to use the map, infusing her aura and getting the general direction they needed to follow. All of them knew that if things went haywire, none of them might make it out of the Abyss Forest alive. Every hour and every day counted here. The best they could do was hope that their pursuer had given up on them and chose to let go of its grudge. In the outside world, all of them were terrifying, feared, and respected figures who would be worshipped by millions. But in the Abyss Empire, when a Godbeast was hunting them... They were just helpless prey.