There were dozens of elven warriors that were chasing after them, and there must be more of them trailing right behind them. Tristan also believed that the powerful elven nobles won't be too far behind.

He would have to be extremely cautious upon dealing with this situation.

He looked towards his group, and saw that Astrid and Serene had enough battle power between the two of them to maintain the same pace as he did.

His main problem would be Agoon the King's envoy. Considering his low battle power, among the group, he was the weakest link.

Tristan thought about leaving the envoy behind, after all, he did say he's ready to die for Arcadia. But then on second thought, Tristan worried that this would become yet another reason for that bastard king to make trouble with him.

The death of an envoy minister must be worth something for Callan, after all.

Tristan also had another factor to be concerned about. It was the fact that these woods were the elves' habitat and the place where they had built their homes. Due to the natural advantage that this setting provided them, he refused to believe that this was just a matter of who ran the fastest. He believes if he doesn't somehow delay them, they will eventually gain on them.

With these two factors in mind, he decided on a new plan.

"Ok change of plan!"

He decided Astrid will take Agoon on her back, while the blind elf will stay with him, and together they will become the rearguard.

Hearing his plan, Serene instantly began to shout in protest.

"What are you doing!" She exclaimed. "We should run together! We're supposed to stick together!"

"You should go now, wife!" Tristan roared back in return, dodging the branches and twigs that flew towards his face. "Someone needs to delay those guys!"

"Then… then I will stay and help you!"

Tristan shook his head, his expression a mix of exasperation and affection. He began to speak again, with as firm a voice as possible to make sure the point went across her stubborn head.

"Serene, your safety is the main priority here. If you are captured again, then all our efforts will be for naught! Don't worry, this is part of the plan!"

Serene looked down, visibly still hesitated.

"Just go!" Tristan yelled out. "You are wasting time!"

Astrid pulled Serene's hand along, urging her to follow in her direction, as the three of them quickly ran towards their respective rendezvous points.

With them all gone, Tristan grabbed the blind elf and the elf quickly wrapped his arms tightly on his back.

Tristan then start running toward the rendezvous point as well, but this time he opens his eyes wide checking the condition of the surrounding

"Why are you keeping me with you?!" He shouted over the roar of the wind that was whizzing past them.

Tristan chuckled in response, mouth curved into a sly grin.

"Isn't it obvious?" He responded. "They are chasing us for the Vanyar princess, but I am sure that if they knew you were with me, they would decide to chase us instead."

The blind elf smiled. It was a rather cunning idea, after all. "Smart! So, what plan do you have for this?!"

"Plan?" Tristan said, skipping over the thick vines and shrubbery that crept along the forest floor. "There is no plan! Just stall them for time and run as fast as possible."

Tristan suddenly changed his tone, and although his companion could not see him he threw a cold glare over his shoulder, glowering at the elf that was currently perched on top of his back. "You better be useful or I will throw you away!"

"But… I am just a blind elf… What can I do?!" He squeaked, subconsciously gripping Tristan tighter despite the threats he had just made.

Tristan was beginning to get irritated with the elf, and made a silent vow to himself that if he did not start paying his due, Tristan will have another blood extraction feast. He wondered how much blood essence would a powerful peak stage 4 Katra.

After running for another 10 minutes, Tristan found a good spot. This particular area has thicker trees and heavy bushes. A great place for an ambush.

He quickly touch his earpiece and said

"Chieng, give me their location!"

Other than his confidence in battle power, this was one advantage he had to stop the elven warriors who were chasing after them.

Tristan took out the Mithrill long blade and readied himself.

Using the accurate coordination provided by Chieng, Tristan managed to prepare a deadly ambush. His high speed and strength turned deadly when it was used to hunt his enemies from the shadows.

Within minutes Tristan was able to take on the elves one by one.

He killed three of them, and using his high battle power to run and continues his path to the rendezvous

After a few hundred more steps, knowing more gaining on him, he once more hid himself between the trees and the rocks, using the terrain to his advantage.

He would then jump towards the next elf and kill him instantly, completely without remorse, before the elf was able to cast any spells.

And of course he would not waste the chance to take their blood.

[Blood extraction]

[A mix of 50 high-quality blood cells were found]

[Extracting and filtering the blood cells...]

[210 blood essence gained]

Tristan would ambush, kill, extract, and run eastwards, before repeating this process all over again. He was like an unstoppable force of nature, a fearsome machine with a vehement bloodlust. With this, he managed to kill the first dozen elves that were chasing him.

With the dozen elves he extracted from now placed inside the prison, plus the noble and taking into consideration the troll blood seal, Tristan analyzed the amount of blood essence points that he currently had.

[Blood essence - 19150]

He hoped that when he reached 20,000 he would be able to upgrade himself once more.

Eventually, his actions piqued the attention of the elf behind him.

"I may be blind, but I can tell what you are doing… Who are you…? What are you?!"

Tristan seriously has no time to explain, just for the fun of it he said.

"Have you heard of the blood elf before?"

Upon hearing this, the elf perched behind him turned quiet.

His continuous actions had carved out a distance of 40 minutes of travel between him and Forlorn City. He believes he has delayed enough. Now it's time to run quickly towards the east.

Suddenly, a voice crackled over Tristan's earpiece.

(Master, there are more coming this time, directly to your direction, fast.)