Chapter 438: Invasion [4]
Caius felt it again.
Without a moment’s hesitation, he threw himself backward.
SHING!
The unmistakable sound of a blade slicing through the air rang out exactly where his neck had been a fraction of a second earlier.
He landed lightly and slid several steps across the ground, his sword already raised.
His eyes swept across the empty space before him, searching for even the slightest clue, but there was nothing. No movement, no mana fluctuations, and no visible attacker.
Caius narrowed his eyes.
His [Foresight] had saved him twice now, but it couldn’t keep doing all the work. He needed to understand what he was facing before the next attack came.
Then the air ahead of him shimmered.
A figure slowly materialized as though stepping out from behind an invisible veil.
It was a goblin.
He wore a dark hood that concealed most of his face, while intricate black tattoos stretched across every patch of exposed skin. Several metal rings pierced his nose and ears, and a curved blade rested comfortably in each hand.
A translucent screen immediately appeared before Caius.
[Evangel - Level 65]
A high-level Chosen.
Caius’ brows lifted ever so slightly.
He didn’t recognize him.
That alone was unusual.
Having survived the previous King’s Games, Caius had made it a habit to remember every notable Chosen he encountered, especially those strong enough to become future threats.
Yet this goblin...
He had never seen him before.
Evangel twirled one of his blades lazily between his fingers before looking at Caius with an amused smile.
"Oh..."
He chuckled softly.
"Raghul wasn’t exaggerating."
His grin widened.
"You really are sneaky."
Raghul...?!
The name nearly escaped Caius’ lips.
For the briefest moment, genuine surprise flickered across his face.
One of the possibilities he had feared the most had become reality.
Raghul hadn’t been acting alone.
He had aligned himself with one of the King’s Game candidates.
Caius’ thoughts immediately began racing.
If Raghul was involved in this attack, then this couldn’t simply be a random raid. Everything that had happened, from the refugees arriving at the gates to the portals opening inside the settlement, had likely been orchestrated from the very beginning.
That realization sent a chill through him.
More importantly...
Where was Raghul now?
Knowing his former shaman, Caius found it impossible to believe he would entrust everything to someone else while remaining on the sidelines. A goblin as ambitious and prideful as Raghul would never miss the opportunity to strike personally.
Which meant he was making his move somewhere.
Caius’ grip tightened around the hilt of his sword.
A familiar sense of responsibility settled over him.
Raghul had once served under his command.
He had failed to curb him then.
He wouldn’t allow that failure to cost the clan now.
If anyone was going to stop the shaman...It had to be him.
His eyes shifted back to the goblin standing before him.
Evangel remained completely relaxed, both blades hanging loosely at his sides as though the battlefield around them meant nothing.
Before Caius could confront Raghul, he would first have to defeat the Chosen blocking his path.
And judging by the attack that had nearly claimed his life...that wasn’t going to be easy.
Caius kept his sword raised, never allowing his gaze to drift from Evangel.
His expression remained calm, but his mind was already dissecting everything that had happened over the last few seconds, searching for a pattern that would reveal his opponent’s ability.
Evangel slowly paced from side to side, a carefree smile resting on his face as though he were taking an evening stroll rather than standing in the middle of a battlefield.
Let’s think...
He can conceal himself completely.
Caius replayed the encounter in his head.
Not just from sight.
His mana disappears as well.
During the attack, [Mana Detection] had perceived nothing.
There had been no fluctuation. No killing intent. No aura.
Nothing that should have allowed an opponent to approach unnoticed.
Only [Foresight] had saved him.
That meant the innate skill would be the deciding factor in this battle.
Without it, he would’ve died before he even knew he was under attack.
Evangel seemed to notice the intense look in Caius’ eyes and chuckled.
"Whatever calculations are going on inside your head..."
He spun one of his blades casually.
"...discard them. They’ll be futile."
The words had barely left his mouth before his body disappeared.
Not blurred. Not hidden by smoke.
He simply vanished.
Caius’ muscles instantly tensed.
His breathing slowed as he prepared to react the moment [Foresight] warned him again. Then it happened.
A violent sense of danger exploded through his mind. Not from behind. Not from the left. Not from the right. From everywhere.
Every instinct he possessed screamed at him simultaneously, warning of attacks converging from every direction at once.
For the first time since the battle began, Caius hesitated.
Just for a fraction of a second.
Caius caught himself at the very last moment.
Instead of reacting to the overwhelming flood of warnings, he searched for the one path that wasn’t accompanied by certain death.
He found it.
His body twisted sharply, slipping through the narrow opening between the countless fatal possibilities [Foresight] had laid before him.
It wasn’t perfect.
A blade still grazed his upper arm.
A thin line of pain spread across his flesh before warm blood soaked through his sleeve.
But compared to losing his head, it was a trivial price.
"Oh?"
Evangel’s amused voice drifted through the air.
"Can you really see me..."
He chuckled.
"No...I don’t think you can actually see me."
The voice seemed to come from everywhere at once.
Before Caius could pinpoint its origin, another warning surged through [Foresight].
He moved immediately.
CLANG!
His sword intercepted a blade that had seemingly materialized out of thin air.
The impact had barely finished reverberating through his arm when [Foresight] warned him of another strike from behind.
Caius pivoted on instinct, his sword meeting the invisible blade with another sharp clang before seamlessly redirecting into a third parry as yet another attack came hurtling toward him.
Caius’ golden eyes shone brightly, every warning from [Foresight] arriving fractions of a second before each invisible strike reached him.
Even then, he refused to remain in place.
The moment an opening appeared, he burst out of the encirclement.
A heartbeat later, countless slashes carved into the earth where he had been standing.
Deep blade marks crisscrossed the ground, as though an invisible storm of swords had torn through it.
The attacks ceased.
The air rippled.
Evangel slowly emerged from seemingly empty space, his figure becoming visible once more.
He tilted his head, studying Caius with open curiosity.
"It has to be those eyes of yours."
His gaze lingered on the faint golden glow within Caius’ pupils.
Without breaking eye contact, Evangel raised one of his blades to his mouth and slowly licked the blood coating its edge.
Caius’ blood.
A satisfied smile spread across his face.
"How about I gouge them out?"
He grinned wider.
"I think they’d look great sitting in a jar."