Chapter 193: 193
Hearing what Alex said didn"t make Lyner"s anger dissipate, he just redirected his anger at Alex for the time being . Feeling the full brunt of Lyner"s overwhelming bloodl.u.s.t, Alex remained calm . Though he was a bit surprised to see the easy-going teacher act this way .
This might be his actual personality showing, Alex wasn"t sure but he needed to be extremely wary .
"Alex I"ll say it again, I"m not in the mood . So you better let go, or I might not be able to hold back . "
"Sir Lyner I know you"re angry, but you must forgive my friend . He might sound boastful and arrogant, but that"s just his way to hide his insecurities, and like you said he"s just a child . So shouldn"t a grown man like you be magnanimous to a junior like him . "
Lyner looked at Alex, his eyes were like daggers trying to pierce him . After a long silence, Lyner"s bloodl.u.s.t lessened a bit, but Alex didn"t let his guard down . It was never simple with the man called the strongest of Berdonia . He was a person who sometimes looks foolish and impulsive, but at the same time, he also feels intelligent and wise . What you get when you mixed those things together is whatever Lyner was .
Matthew seeing Alex defend him was shocked . He knew the trouble he was getting himself into, and still went and said what he said . He was alright with dying in the hands of the strongest of Berdonia, thinking wouldn"t that be a great honor . Still, if there was a way not to die, he would still take it . But seeing that it was his rival that he wanted to beat that was saving him, made Matthew feel mixed emotions .
He was grateful at the same time irritated and angry . He also didn"t like the feeling that Alex was actually pitying him . He then noticed that Lyner was looking at him, which made him clench his fist in frustration .
Seeing the look of distress hiding behind the arrogance, Lyner sighed .
"I cannot let his insult slide, but you are right he is but a child . So I will give you a chance . If you two are able to flee from me for about twenty minutes, and I"m unable to catch both of you within that time limit . I will not do anything to that friend of yours, but if I do catch you, I"ll be taking an arm from him, and you"ll be my sparring partner for the next three days . Of course, while I give chase you two can try and kill me, that"s if you can . "
When Lyner said these words he shrugged his shoulders, he then continued speaking . "Do not worry the killing rule only applies to you, I won"t try to kill you, but I can make this chase extremely painful . Do you agree to these conditions?"
" . . . I agree, but before we start can Matthew rest for a few more minutes?"
"Whatever, I"ll give you about-" Lyner with his sharp eyes looked at Matthew before he continued his answer . "Fifteen minutes, that"s enough time for the baby to recover . " Alex nodded his head in agreement and left Lyner"s side to approach Matthew who was trying to catch his breath .
"Why did you do that? I could have handled the situation myself!" The first thing that came out of Matthew"s mouth was not words of grat.i.tude, but his usual condescending words . Alex had no time to fight it out with Matthew, so he pushed the already tired Matthew and made him sit down .
"I have no time for whatever complaints you have Matthew . I don"t care if it damages your pride, but you have to follow my orders . "
Matthew was about to open his mouth to argue, but Alex shut it close by pinching his lips shut with his fingers . Alex who was now kneeling in front of Matthew looked at him eye to eye and spoke .
"Like I said I have no time for your complaints . We are about to face the strongest of Berdonia, and it will take everything we got just to escape . So I want you to listen carefully, the rules of this game are simple as long as he doesn"t catch both of us, we win . Meaning that victory is a.s.sured as long as one of us escapes . So here"s the plan . "
. . .
Lyner watched the two kids planning what they were going to do against him . He couldn"t hear them from this distance, but even if he could he wouldn"t bother listening . This was the arrogance that comes with overwhelming strength .
Lyner took a cigaret from his pocket and a lighter and started smoking . While he waited he started to think about what happened moments ago . After all these years, he was still affected by the word coward .
It"s been twenty years since that incident and he thought he already stopped caring, but turns out he still cared . Lyner silently smokes his cigaret as he remembered that time when he lost everything and became the man that he was now .
He remembered the scared faces of his cla.s.smates, as they looked at him asking for help . He remembers the taunting laugh of the man who called him a coward . Every time he remembers that moment Lyner no matter the circ.u.mstance gets unbelievable angry . Right now he was still able to hold it in, but for some reason he keeps on hearing Matthew"s voice calling him a coward, making him want to rip off his head .
He made up this idea of a chase so he could let loose, and maybe calm himself down enough to not want to kill the kid . Cause at this moment he really wanted to tear him apart .
"It"s been so long, but I guess I"m still a kid as well . " Even smoking his favorite cigaret wasn"t helping him calm down today .
. . .
Once Alex was done briefing Matthew on what to do he let go of his mouth .
"Do you understand the plan?" Matthew glared at him and answered back .
"Of course I understand the plan, I"m not an idiot . Still, your plan has a lot of what ifs in it . I was sure you were the type of person that plans every detail and doesn"t rely on guesses and hunches . "
"We are facing a person strong enough to crush us with his bare hands . We are unsure were his limits lay . I do not like facing an opponent I haven"t researched thoroughly, but that"s what we"re about to do . All the data I gathered, everything I observed about Sir Lyner has been used to make this plan . " Alex who usually had a stoic expression looked at Matthew with an icy glare before continuing what he was saying .
"This plan is just an improvise version of my real plan on how to take down Sir Lyner just in case I needed to . "
"Why are we using the improvise version, can"t we use the actual plan?"
"The actual plan consists of twenty fully equipped people, in a designated place I have scouted in advance and filled with traps . Right now we only have two people, one is even injured, and the equipment we have is at most sub-par . So I hope you stop complaining and just do as I told you . Also, stop antagonizing Sir Lyner . . . No, how about you just stop talking altogether . "
Matthew was about to respond to that, but Alex once again pinched his lips stopping him from talking back .
"I don"t expect you to thank me or anything, but I do expect you to follow my orders so that we can survive this ordeal . "
Lyner approached the two and spoke . "Are you ready? There is only a minute left until rest time is over . "
"We"re as ready as will ever be," Alex responded with his usual indifferent tone of voice, but this time he ended it with a sigh .
"Okay then, I"ll give you guys a twenty-second head start . The timer starts now, 1,2 . " When Alex and Matthew heard Lyner counting they started to run deeper into the mountains . They knew they had more of a chance to escape Lyner if they hide deeper into the mountains than in the open s.p.a.ce down below .
Lyner seeing the two boys sprinting away continued his counting . Once he was done he also moved forward jumping up a branch of a nearby tree and chased the two by jumping from branch to branch .
. . .
Alex and Matthew who were running away from Lyner could pretty much feel him nearing since he wasn"t really hiding . There was no possible way not to notice that immense bloodl.u.s.t that was chasing after them, slowly but surely nearing them .
At this moment Matthew finally understood why Lyner was called the monster of the battlefield . It wasn"t because of his overwhelming strength, it was because of his presence . The way he gives chase was like that of a monster . Moving fast enough to catch up, but not fast enough to be able to reach them immediately .
The fear of him reaching you weighed down on you, as you try to go faster . When you do that you noticed that he too was going faster, but just fast enough that he was barely catching up . This entire experience was very stressful to Matthew who has never gone through such hards.h.i.+ps .
Alex, on the other hand, was as usual calm and collected . He already knew that Lyner would be toying with them, which will give them the chance they needed to win .
Lyner was even taunting them by repeating the verse made for him .
"Run, run, run, cause here he comes .
Run, run, run, for the monster comes .
A Swish of his blade and your head begone
With the shot of his gun, you"re all but done . "
He kept on repeating that verse as he chased Alex and Matthew . It didn"t really affect Alex too much since he already expected Lyner to act like this, but Matthew was not as mentally prepared as him . The intense bloodl.u.s.t, the slow chase, as well as that verse, made him very anxious .
Alex who was running right beside Matthew spoke to him .
"Sir Lyner will continue this chase until there are only a few minutes left . Once he"s done attacking us mentally, he will begin his a.s.sault . When he"s trying to catch us he will try to tire us out, slowly like a predator playing with his prey . The moment he is sure of victory is our only chance, got it?"
Matthew gritted his teeth and nodded in response .
"As long as you follow my plan, we will have a chance of winning . "
. . .
Lyner who was looking at his watch while chasing Alex and Matthew saw that there were ten minutes left .
"Now it"s time for the real game . I"ll start with that kid Matthew, I might have promised not to kill him, but I never said that I"m not going to torture him . "
Lyner then sped up and was about to begin the real chase .