There was no doubt, the object moving towards them was none other than an alien spaceship.
Alien reinforcement had arrived…
"We need to escape…"
Asthon knew the battle was lost the moment the alien spaceship appeared in the sky he couldn't take on more than one alien at a time.
And who knew how many others were inside that ship?
So his eyes darted around. Voric was off balance, still shocked by the failure of his defense, and Krylian was at his right, a few meters away on the floor, groaning in pain.
Neither were aware of the appearance of alien spaceships yet. Asthon dashed towards Krylian appearing in front of him in a heartbeat.
Silver rods were lodged around his body, and his breathing was heavy. His eyes were also half closed.
Not being able to tell if he was conscious or not, Asthon took a few steps, intending to remove the rods lodged around his body.
As Asthon approached, Krylian whispered, his voice hoarse and almost inaudible.
"What are you… doing Ashton?"
Asthon pointed to the sky above and whispered.
"Look above you"
Krylian frowned, then looked above him, his pupils constricted slightly.
"That… That is an alien spaceship!"
As he remained frozen, Asthon pulled the rod lodged around his body out, Krylian groaning in pain as blood gushed out from his wounds.
Not in a situation to pay attention, he carried Krylian on his back and asked.
"Tell me the direction. Where's the bunker? We can't win this anymore."
Krylian nodded weakly, then pointed in a certain direction and whispered in his ear.
"Head north…"
Without wasting his breath, Asthon dashed forward in that direction, moving as quickly as possible.
As he moved, he shot a glance at Voric, his head turned around, staring at the spaceship hovering in the sky indifferently.
He had finally noticed the ship… but contrary to his expectations, he didn't attack them.
"What is he thinking?"
As if answering his question, Voric turned around and raised one of his hands, then the silver rods lying on the ground, and his hand dissolved into formless white smoke.
The smoke gathered around his hand, taking the shape of something.
By the time formation was done, it had taken the shape of a menacing white trident.
Voric threw the trident towards them, remaining as calm as he was before.
Asthon's eyes narrowed, thinking something was wrong. The attack was very underwhelming; he had expected an attack of a much greater scale.
In the end… they had thrown just a single Trident.
"Maybe they are out of mana"
It didn't matter really, the attack was easy to avoid, so he changed trajectory multiple times, turned around, expecting it not to be behind him.
But then he froze briefly… his eyes widening at what he saw.
The trident wasn't normal; it seemed to possess a mind of its own, adjusting its path depending on his movement.
This made it nearly impossible to dodge…
His heart was beating violently as if it would explode. His mind raced, thinking what to do but he had no idea.
Just then, Krylian weakly whispered into his ear.
"Young master… There's a loaded gun and a special smoke grenade in my pocket. Infuse the gun with mana and use it to destroy that trident. After that, use the smoke grenade to blind him and escape…"
As he finished whispering… Krylian finally succumbed to his wounds and fell unconscious.
Asthon nodded, took out the gun, channeled mana into it, pointed it towards the trident, and pulled the trigger.
As the bullet left the barrel, the barrel exploded, leaving the gun destroyed.
A glowing bullet engulfed in flames, shot towards the trident. As Asthon didn't change his movement, its trajectory remained the same.
Moments later, the bullet struck the trident. It detonated with brutal force, shattering the trident into countless fragments that clattered across the ground.
Asthon exhaled in relief and murmured:
"It went perfectly…"
He spoke too soon...
It dissolved into formless smoke but didn't disappear.
Instead, it lunged towards him like a hurt beast. Asthon's eyes narrowed; his first instinct was to dodge.
But even before he could react, it surrounded him, forcefully entering his body through his nose, ears, and eyes moments later.
A chill ran down his spine, and he felt a foreign energy flowing through his body, attacking his insides.
His face became pale, breathing became heavy, he fell on his knees, weakness followed, and he let go of Krylian's body, his body fell to the ground a few cm away from him.
"This… smoke… mu…must be… responsible"
Everything changed, when the formless white smoke entered his body.
As realization dawned on him, he heard footsteps growing louder with each passing second. He tilted his head, spotting Voric calmly walking towards him.
Calming his heart, he threw a glance at Voric and wanted to ask something. But he couldn't.
He didn't have the strength to speak.
Just then, he felt the smoke slip into his body, weaving its way through his mana pathways.
Asthon's mana instantly surged, becoming hyperactive as it attacked the foreign energy, devouring it within seconds.
Moments later, strength flooded back into his limbs. His breathing steadied, his weakness vanished, and a faint glow rippled across his body.
Voric's emotionless face cracked, finally showing emotions. Voric's eyes widened in surprise and shock.
Seeing their surprised look, Asthon knew this was the perfect opportunity.
Asthon took a smoke grenade out from Krylian's pocket, carried him on his back, and threw the grenade to the ground.
A smoke engulfed them, preventing them from being seen.
By the time the smoke cleared, both of them were long gone.
***
Voric was calmly staring in the direction where Asthon and Krylian had escaped to. Voric's face was devoid of any emotion making it difficult to guess what he was thinking.
Just then, 4 aliens descended from an alien spaceship, swarming around him. Voric shot a glance at them and asked.
"What?"
"Where are the humans, sir Voric?"
He paused, thinking deeply, and then pointed in a certain direction and added.
"They have escaped in that direction, but their injuries are critical, and they are not in a condition to get too far. So prioritize searching the surrounding area…"
"As you wish sir!"
They spread out beginning their search for Asthon and Krylian. Meanwhile, Voric's lips curled up into a smile.
After all, he had lied…
The direction he gave them was real but the last part was a complete lie. The old human was injured, yes, but the brat had just undergone Awakening?
He was more than capable of covering great distances while carrying the old man.
But why had he lied?
It's because when the human brat's mana devoured the formless smoke, he sensed a trance of Mark of Dominion emitting from him.
And he needed people with the Mark of Dominion.
So he needed them alive… not out of mercy but because of his personal goal.
"Hopefully, I am not wrong about you. Don't disappoint me… Asthon"