Chapter 490: Chapter 492: Walk Fools Damon felt his exhaustion mount, his breath heavy and his chest burning. That was intense. He smiled at the feeling of death creeping up on him. "Hehejehe..." He couldn’t help but laugh. His exhaustion was mostly the side effect of the Accel skill. He was getting 10,000% the exhaustion. Still, Damon’s endurance stat was quite high. Now he was in the cover of trees, but the trees weren’t many. He would have to cross a valley, then a rocky terrain full of trees. Which meant if he left this place, there was at least a few hundred kilometers without any trees. He seemed to recall that particular area had been a forest once, until the Valtheron Empire had cleared it and destroyed all monster habitats for safety — and also to prevent bandits from using it as cover. Thus the valley. "Damn those bastards of the imperial family." How could they just arbitrarily change the landscape? Then again, that was not unusual when a single entity had the power to move mountains. Damon glanced at the sky. Griffins flying over the tree line. He was somewhat disappointed, really. Why didn’t they send someone who could move mountains to kill him? Only these insanely strong guys at the third class. No one in the fourth. Which was crazy to think about. But Damon was a death seeker. Searching for death was his thing. And if he didn’t search for it, it would find him. As for the members of the Moon Glades of the fourth class — this wasn’t their country. The imperial family could overlook this group, but not someone in the fourth class. The ones in the fourth class were probably hosted in the capital where the empire kept a close eye on them. While a dragon was not sent to kill him, these drakes and wyverns were more than enough. He dived through the shadows, glancing at his hand as the small forest was penetrated by a white beam of destruction. Damon teleported away as the area was leveled by white death. He gritted his teeth. Right — he could not hide. One of them had placed a magical mark on his arm and he still didn’t know who. ’If I stay too long, I’ll be surrounded and bombarded by artillery-class magic.’ However, he didn’t have the range to hit them with magic bullets, so he had to rely on his bow. He teleported again. If he stayed in one place, they would just bomb where he was with magic. He used an erratic pattern knowing he was tracked. However, he wasn’t just wasting time. Every time he stopped, he drew small runes on his body with his blood. The runes were simple. [Accelerate] — the rune gave him speed. [Endurance] — the rune gave him endurance. [Feather] — he hoped this one didn’t have any weird effects since he was just writing whatever words he thought would work best. This rune was supposed to make him light as a feather. It would have been better if he could use rune syntax and link various runes of different types. Or better yet, draw runes in the air. Alas, he was still a novice with this type of magic. He couldn’t draw more on his body... due to the limit of his body and skill. He poured mana into the runes hoping they would work... The world exploded in a flash of white as the forest trees were seared and destroyed. Damon sent his shadow out, making it glide out in the direction he was going... A few Griffins wanted to give chase, but one of the members raised his hand, stopping them. Damon smiled. "I found you." Now he knew who was tracking him. He grabbed the bow and dashed out with the Accel skill. His body was hot from fatigue, but so what? When there was a will, there was a way — and running was his forte... He just hadn’t gotten a chance to show off that skill yet. As soon as he was out in the open, colorful explosions followed, destroying the area. It was clear they were not aiming — they were just carpet bombing, hoping to destroy him with no chance of escape... His body was a black streak in the open valley as he ran down the valley with the momentum... Bow in his hand. But he could not stop to shoot them. He could see the forest destroyed behind him. That was at least a few kilometers of forest — yet it was now a world of smoke and craters. "They’re destroying another man’s country... I’ll be sure to let the Valtheron people know about this..." He just needed to lose them. His black form streaked, flipping and gliding... As he neared the foot of the valley... he knew coming out of the valley would slow down his momentum. But he never planned to come out of the valley — at least not in the way they hoped. Climbing uphill would only slow him down and get him poked full of holes... So Damon jumped a few meters into the air... They got their arrows ready to shoot. His form, after all — the fool should have stayed closer to the ground. That way he could dodge. He had no way of controlling his direction or momentum in the air. Pretty easy — so they thought. [Skill: Air Walk] [Description:] A mystical technique from the Skyward Monks of Mount Vienta, Air Walk allows the user to defy gravity in short bursts. Legends say its masters could dance among clouds and duel above storms. [Effect:] User can create temporary footholds in the air, allowing mid-air dashes, jumps, or changes in direction. Each step lasts for 1.5 seconds before vanishing. [Type:] Active. [Cooldown:] 0 seconds He took a single step in the air. Like a comet, he shot himself into the sky... The elves’ eyes widened... Damon was already as light as a feather due to the rune he drew on himself. However, he wasn’t planning to use Air Walk for that. He turned around. Many meters in the air, high above the Griffins — and knocked his bow and pulled. He didn’t aim for the elf. They would dodge. So he shot the head of the Griffin. The beast let out a screech and came falling. Blood rained from the sky as it fell. However, just like it — Damon fell too. All things that go up must come down. He was no different... Still, he didn’t seem fazed because from the ground at the center of the valley where his shadow had been — a figure emerged from his shadow and shot into the sky... Unlike Damon, she had wings — and she did belong in the sky... 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖 The Ruin Fairy... grabbed him, soaring into the sky... But Damon wasn’t done. He stood on her back like a glider and readied his bow. He smiled. "Sorry, only I am allowed in the sky... walk, fools." Then he shot down another Griffin.