Chapter 146

### Chapter 146 – Escape

“Ah!!!”

With the sound of shattering glass, a b*llet struck Godfrey directly in the chest, the powerful momentum knocking him to the ground.

At the same time, the countless Bone Blades hovering in the streets below suddenly froze in place and fell to the ground. The Hunters, who were being besieged, stared in shock at the scene before them; the brutal, bloody Bone Blades had suddenly malfunctioned, leaving the Hunters momentarily confused about what was happening.

“Manipulator! The manipulator of those bone blades is behind the right window of building 14! I hit him just now!” At that moment, Elena shouted from the balcony to her fellow Hunters below. Upon hearing Elena’s warning, the Hunters led by Gregor quickly reacted.

“Let’s go! We’ll catch him!”

Saying this, Gregor led the remaining Hunters who were able to move and charged towards the entrance of building 14, disregarding everything as he pulled out his pistol to sh**t off the door lock, breaking in.

Meanwhile, on the fourth floor, Godfrey, who had been shot down onto the floor, slightly twitched his fingers. Gritting his teeth, he sat up, his face pale.

“Uh… ah…”

Grunting, Godfrey ripped open his shirt at the chest, revealing skin that looked like cracked stone. bl**d trickled from the fissures, and at the center of the spiderweb-like cracks was a b*llet embedded in the gap.

Gritting his teeth, Godfrey reached out and pulled the b*llet from his chest. The bl**d-stained b*llet seemed to have been badly deformed from striking something hard. After extracting the b*llet, the rocky texture of Godfrey’s chest rapidly faded, the cracks turning into small wounds.

“Ha… ha… why, why was I discovered? How did they see me here…” Sitting on the floor, Godfrey spoke with a look of confusion and anger on his face. Just then, he heard a series of gunshots and the sound of many footsteps rushing in from below; he immediately understood that the building he was in had been breached.

‘I can’t stay here any longer, I need to leave quickly…’

Realizing his location was exposed and it was no longer safe, Godfrey quickly found cover and stood up, then waved his hand holding the Bone Artifact, controlling the scattered Bone Blades on the street to fly back to him, entering the room through the window.

Next, Godfrey had the Bone Blades hover around him as he began to walk down the stairs. Just as he reached the third floor, he encountered the Hunters coming up.

“There!”

Seeing Godfrey’s figure, Gregor led the Hunters behind him and charged forward. Faced with this scene, Godfrey waved his hand, controlling the Bone Blades surrounding him to sh**t towards Gregor and the others. Gregor drew his sword and managed to deflect several of them, as they were all coming from the same direction, making it easier to block. The other Hunters quickly found cover, dodging the incoming Bone Blades. Those Bone Blades struck the furniture and walls instead.

In the cramped and complex indoor space, Godfrey’s abilities were greatly limited. The restricted visibility made it difficult for him to fully utilize his powers, even struggling to contend with Gregor and his team. His wave of attacks was directly neutralized; however, Godfrey did not actually expect this attack to inflict any substantial harm on Gregor and the others; the key was just to buy time.

Temporarily holding the Hunters at bay with the Bone Blades, Godfrey charged towards the open window, recalling all the Bone Blades. Suddenly, Godfrey prepared to leap down from the third-floor back window, but Gregor, seeing this, immediately threw his sword at Godfrey. The blade struck Godfrey’s shoulder with a crisp clang and bounced off.

Leaping down from the third floor, Godfrey grasped the blade-less parts of two Bone Blades, using their floating ability to cushion his fall. He landed safely on the ground, specifically on the grass behind building 14, and then ran towards the woods in the distance. When Gregor reached the window, he only saw Godfrey’s back disappearing into the night.

“d*mn!!”

Seeing this, Gregor angrily punched the doorframe. After taking a few deep breaths to calm his furious heart, he turned to his team members behind him and said, “Immediately contact the bureau, call for a rescue team, let them hurry over; there are many wounded here in urgent need of treatment!”

…

In the dark forest, Godfrey gasped as he fled. After a while, he emerged from the small grove used for landscaping the residential area and found himself by the roadside. He walked along the road for a while, arriving at a tree where an unattended carriage waited.

After gathering all the Bone Blades onto the carriage, Godfrey drove into the night. At the same time, a crow flapped its wings as it slowly descended from the sky, landing on top of his carriage, and together they moved away into the distance.

…

In the upscale hotel located by the riverside in the upper town of Igewent.

In a tidy and comfortable suite, a thin-faced man stood by the river-facing window, gazing silently at the river flowing in the darkness, looking grave, occasionally glancing at the clock hanging on the wall as if waiting for something.

Moments later, the door to the suite was suddenly pushed open, and Godfrey stumbled inside. After quickly closing the door, he found a place to sit down and began gasping for breath. After catching his breath for a moment, he pulled open his shirt, revealing a bloody mark on his shoulder.

“You’re hurt? What happened? How’s the investigation on that miracle kid going?” Looking at his companion sitting in the chair, a man named Oswan frowned and asked seriously. Godfrey sighed deeply, responding with an air of anger.

“Ha… I messed up… That kid had local Black Dogs protecting her. I wanted to catch her and see if there were any traces of ‘Stone’ treatment on her but failed, and ended up accidentally getting bitten by those Black Dogs.”

Upon hearing Godfrey’s words, Oswan was slightly taken aback, then spoke with a hint of surprise. “Local Black Dogs? In Prit… except for a few cities, the power of Black Dogs isn’t that strong; at most, it’s just a Black Tier Bureau Chief. Did you run into the Bureau Chief here?”