After she had secured James’s wellbeing, Kanae dashed into the forest again. She treaded the unfamiliar way rather than the one she knew. The sight of mountains not far from her gave her the feeling as if they were in a raging storm. She had not realized this before, but the mountain peaks’ shape was numerous.

With the fog surrounding them most of the time, it was hard to recognize their peculiar shape. It was only because today was pretty clear that she managed to make up their shape. The snow has not fallen yet, but the temperature got even colder every single day.

Brmm!

The sound of car engine caused her to feel wary. She saw two cars were coming at her directly. Her lips twitched.

You cheater! Don’t use car!

Dashed away from her position, she ran deeper to the forest. Every step was done in the most efficient way as she tried her best to lose her pursuer. Unfortunately, human’s speed could never be compared with cars.

Bang!

Kanae was stunned when she suddenly crashed into something. Her heart dropped when she realized that Cain had made a large barrier around them. Although it was exhausting, this man had done that for years, so it was not that hard.

While she was trying to break the barrier, the two cars had reached up to her. Seeing that one of them nearly crashed to her, she swiftly moved back.

Screech.

The two cars made formation and blocked her way. From one of the cars, Randy and James Wells came out while the man in the other car didn’t dare to come out. Kanae knew that it must be Cain, but she simply paid no heed.

"Where’s James?" James Wells was alarmed when he saw that there was no one behind Kanae’s back. His heart dropped at the thought that she must have dropped the boy on her way.

Internally, he cursed out. If he knew that she had dropped James somewhere, he would have just tried to search for that boy.

"You will never know," Kanae replied as she sprang from her position towards the two of them.

They rolled down to avoid her attack, but Kanae chose to cut the tires and tried to run away. Before she could do that, she could feel a strong barrier blocking her way. During the time she was fighting with Randy and James Wells, Cain had shortened the size of the barrier.

"This barrier!" Kanae gritted her teeth.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

In mere one second, she had attacked the barrier repeatedly. Inside the car, Cain’s face was pale. He had tried to make the barrier numerous times today and only after he made a super large barrier did he manage to trap her. When she attacked so ferociously, he had no choice but to push more of his power to strengthen them over and over again.

*cough*

Blood flowed out from the corner of his lips. Kanae’s attack was simply too ferocious.

"You damned girl!" James Wells was angry at Kanae’s attack. He charged towards the girl and clashed his blade with hers.

Kanae’s eyes narrowed as she stepped back.

Randy started to attack her too. Sounds of metal clashing reverberated in the forest as the three of them exchanged their attack. Numerous attacks happened in mere seconds, yet no one backed down.

’I can’t hold on any longer.’

Kanae knew better than anyone that her stamina has been depleted seriously. She had to stake them all in one attack and eliminated them all at the same time.

Clang!

As she parried James Wells’ attack, she twisted her body and allowed her sword to meet with Randy’s attack. However, it didn’t stop there. Raising her feet, she kicked Randy’s face, sending the man back from her.

Her attack stunned Randy. He stepped a few steps back, preparing himself for the next attack to her.

However, Kanae didn’t even bother attacking Randy again. The moment her feet reached the ground, she dashed to the side, evading the attack from above that James Wells gave her. Appearing behind the man’s back, she swung her sword violently, reaching to James Wells’ neck instantly.

Before James could react, he felt pain on his neck and blood gushed out. His eyes widened as he stared in disbelief.

’No....’ His knee felt weak as he fell to the ground. His eyes showed deep unwillingness as he breathed roughly. He knew that his end was near, but he couldn’t accept this death. He wanted to return back to his former glory in the past.

This couldn’t happen!

While feeling resentful, there was nothing that James Wells could do. He could only swallow his hatred down as he wished that he was stronger. If he was, he would never end in this state. Not long after that, he stopped breathing.

Kanae switched her attention back to Randy. The man moved to attack her, but Kanae swiftly parried the attack and kicked the man once again.

"Get away!"

Randy was lying on the ground as he watched Kanae attack the barrier rapidly. He wanted to move, but his body was unwilling to. The sight of Kanae killing James Wells in front of him was still fresh in his eyes.

He had seen numerous killing, and he had participated in numerous killing too. Not even a single one of them shook him. But the single sight of Kanae killed the man simply caused deep etched fear to emerge in his heart.

Why?

There was no other reason than the fact that he knew James Wells was far stronger than him. When Kanae killed the man with ease, he knew that he would never be able to match with Kanae. The only reason he could survive facing her attack so far was because he collaborated with James Wells.

His eyes grew dimmed as he watched the barrier break.

’Have we failed our mission?’

Kanae was about to run away when she felt immense danger. Her body moved reflexively and blocked the attack directed to her chest. Her eyes narrowed in vigilance.

"You’re pretty good, little girl," a large man said with a rather large knife on his hand. "But your luck ends here."

"Mr. Aria!" Randy yelled in pleasant surprise. Aria was the man who has been following after Ferdinand for years. His strength was only slightly below Ferdinand, making him an extremely powerful man.

Clang! Clang!

Kanae was pushing her concentration to the extreme limit. She had reached her limit when she was attacked by James Wells and Randy just now. The last attack was simply a desperate attack.

Her stamina has disappeared. She was only standing and fighting with sheer will. However, she was determined that she would not give up!

Clang!

Parrying the man’s attack, she gritted her teeth. The force behind his attack was simply too big for her to withstand. His speed could match her, making it difficult for her to do anything excessive.

Her eyes widened when she saw the palm of the man from the corner of her eyes. It struck her face hard as she flew to the ground. She was about to stand again when something was placed on her face. The smell of chloroform caused her to feel dizzy.

Striking with her hands, she tried her best to get away. However, the exhaustion she had made her unable to fight back. With the cloth blocking her airway and forced her to inhale the chloroform, her consciousness started to fade.

Before she became unconscious, she still saw the man’s face looking at her. Eyes were the window of someone’s heart. She could see that she too was their target.

It was not only James.

"Is she unconscious, Mr. Aria?" Randy asked nervously.

Aria nodded his head slightly. He eyed the fallen James Wells and the condition of the two others. The price to fight Kanae head on was simply too big. It was no wonder that Ferdinand sent him to help capture her.

"Will she be taken back to headquarters?"

"Yes."

Randy was not sure what they have in plan for Kanae. But whatever it was, it would be anything other than good. He silently helped Aria to pick up James Wells’ body to the car before they departed from the place.

---

A/N: Chloroform can make people unconscious if you inhaled it. The time estimation is around 5 minutes, but it can differ depending on the person. (Don’t try this to your friend, tho)