'Alright, they want to guide me? Let's see where this leads.'
Vio leaped toward one of the soldiers, who, as expected, immediately retreated. That was exactly what Vio had anticipated—this was the same direction they had been trying to force him into.
Sure enough, as he ran, he didn't encounter a single trap.
When he reached another soldier, they didn't stop him—they simply allowed him to pass.
The only thing they did was fire a few arrows to keep him moving.
While advancing with six soldiers on his tail, he glanced at his map—and realized he had strayed far from Shama's suggested safe route out of the mountain.
But he didn't care.
He was looking for something specific— something that fits the plan forming in his mind.
It took time, but eventually, he found it.
After making his calculations, Vio stopped beside a medium-sized boulder, lifted it, and threw it at the soldiers, forcing them to scatter.
"BOOM!"
He didn't stop at just one—as he kept moving, he grabbed and hurled every rock he could find, regardless of size.
They dodged with ease.
"Your attempts are useless, rat!"
"Now he does look like a trapped beast."
"Hahaha!"
Vio jumped, twisting in the air, and landed beside another rock. He picked it up and threw it— but while they dodged it, he rushed toward one of the soldiers.
"Useless!" the soldier shouted, raising his hand and summoning a powerful gust of wind that knocked Vio back—causing him to land near a tree.
The one tree he had been aiming for.
As soon as he touched the ground, Vio kicked the tree sideways.
"BOOM!"
The massive trunk collapsed into his arms, and with all his strength, he hurled it at the soldier.
"I said it's useless!" the soldier yelled, summoning another blast of wind—this time, strong enough to push the entire tree back toward Vio.
"BOOM!"
The soldier's eyes widened.
Vio wasn't there anymore.
"Above you!" the others shouted.
He looked up—just in time to see Vio descending toward him.
The soldier reacted instantly, summoning a sharp ice shard to counter—but it was pointless.
Vio twisted his entire body mid-air, avoiding the attack completely, and landed behind the soldier—directly on the wolf he was riding.
Vio grabbed the soldier's head, and in an instant, the entire battlefield froze—not from ice, but from shock.
Even the wolf beneath him hesitated.
Before the soldier could think, Vio tightened his grip, pulling a dagger from his inventory.
Then, he stabbed the wolf, forcing it into a frenzy.
At the same time, he wrapped his legs tightly around the wolf's torso to avoid being thrown off as the wolf thrashed wildly.
The wolf became agitated, jumping and running everywhere.
The chaotic movement disrupted the soldiers' aim, making it impossible for them to fire arrows accurately.
Even Vio hadn't expected the wolf to react so violently—but this was the result.
Every time the wolf rushed toward an ambush, Vio stabbed it again, forcing it to change direction.
Since he was heading somewhere they didn't want him to go, whistles started ringing through the air.
"FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUUUUUUU!"
The soldier in Vio's grasp had lost consciousness, and the wolf was foaming at the mouth, nearing its limit.
Vio turned and threw his dagger—straight through the skull of one of the soldiers.
"CHINK!"
[1 Point obtained]
Vio snapped the unconscious soldier's neck, killing him instantly.
[1 Point obtained]
Then, he flipped mid-air, landing behind the soldier—who still had Vio's dagger stuck in his skull.
He yanked it free and stabbed the wolf again, repeating the process as he continued his escape.
[1 Point obtained]
'Two down, four left.'
But with whistles constantly echoing, Vio knew this couldn't last much longer.
When the remaining four soldiers saw him repeat the same maneuver twice, they kept their distance while still tracking him at high speed.
After a long, chaotic ride, the second wolf also began foaming at the mouth.
'What's wrong with them? I'm just stabbing them a little—why are they breaking down so easily?'
But the distance he had traveled was insane.
Even if Vio ran at full speed, he wouldn't have covered half this ground—but he also knew this was only possible because of the wolf's crazed state.
He glanced back.
They were still following him—but he only needed to lose them for a little longer to pull off his next move.
Instead of just stabbing the wolf again, this time, he drove the entire dagger into its spine.
The wolf howled in agony and charged forward like a lunatic.
Once Vio felt the distance was enough, he leaped off, vanishing into the dense tree canopy.
[1 Point obtained]
'Wait…'
The familiar notification sound of earning a point made something click in his mind.
He dropped to the ground, grabbed the dying wolf, and threw it into the black screen of the system.
[1,000,000 obtained]
With a grin, Vio jumped back into the trees, darting from branch to branch using Dash and jumping skills, even infusing his joints with electricity to boost his speed.
Soon, he completely lost them.
[EP: 75/100]
Hidden within the thick foliage, Vio leaned against a tree trunk, catching his breath cautiously.
He scanned the surroundings carefully.
There was no sign of anyone nearby, but his instincts told him it was only a matter of time before they found him again.
They had been tracking him too precisely.
Every time someone spotted him, they didn't engage—they simply relayed his location to the others.
They would do exactly what they did before.
They would stop once the wolf's tracks disappeared, but it wouldn't take them long to figure out he had used the trees as his escape route.
They would find him.
Vio was sure of it.
Throughout his encounters with them, he had been analyzing their combat patterns.
He noticed they relied on ice as their primary element, followed by lightning, and lastly, wind.
It was clear that energy consumption played a role—they used ice freely, while lightning barely appeared, and wind was used sparingly.
Even the demon, who seemed to have unlimited energy, had only used wind once.
Vio wasn't throwing rocks randomly—he was testing their reactions.
When he threw a massive tree at one of them, it wasn't just an attack—it was a strategy.
He knew they would be forced to use wind to deflect it.
And the wind was their weak point.
Their control over it was poor—barely strong enough to redirect force in a straight line.
While the soldier wasted energy blocking the tree, Vio launched himself high into the aThey usedUsed the tree's length to block their line of sight, and by the time they realized what had happened—
Vio was already above his target, ready to strike.
[Evaluation completed: 46%.]
'I guess that means I was right.'
Quickly pulled up the map, studying the points marked by Shama.
Like any map, placing a finger on a spot created a marker.
'The escape route is no longer safe. Where do I go now?'
Given how well they knew the mountain, they would easily predict his next move. If he followed the same path again, all he would find were soldiers waiting for him.
Looked at the sky.
'Hmm… It's probably evening by now. The fog should be coming soon.'
His gaze locked onto the nearest village.
Decision made.
'At the very least, I'll activate the Eye there. Then I'll figure out what to do next.'
Soon, the village came into view.
[Village Discovered]
[Map Updated]
[Evaluation completed: 56%.]
Before rushing in, he climbed a tall tree, scanning the area.
Just as he expected—There was unusual military activity in the narrow alleys of the village.
The soldiers were on high alert.
Someone was always stationed on the outskirts, carefully watching the surroundings.
'Of course. The nearest villages—the only places I can escape to—would be the first places they'd expect me to go. Well then… looks like I'll have to do this the old-fashioned way.'
Vio descended quickly and rushed toward the village.
As he ran, he pulled a dagger from inventory.
The moment a soldier spotted him, Vio threw the dagger—
Straight through his face.
"CHINK!"
[1 Point obtained]
The soldier collapsed, dead.
Vio didn't stop.
As he reached the corpse, retrieved his dagger, not sparing a glance at the villagers.
His target was the center of the village—
The Eye.