A slender silver-haired youth, clutching a bag in his arms, stumbled hastily through the dense forest.
Severe abrasions on his arms and legs, blood seeping from his forehead, and a bronze arrow piercing through his left shoulder blade... Every one of these signs unmistakably indicated that he was fleeing an assassin's pursuit.
"Escape? Can you escape?"
A dark cold snort sounded; a middle-aged man with a head of disheveled red hair and a red beard, dressed in a Thracian-style green robe, carrying a wooden spear, followed leisurely behind the silver-haired youth, showing no hurry to end the chase. It seemed he was simply enjoying the process of hunting and tormenting his prey.
Seeing his pursuer closing in once more, the fleeing silver-haired youth, or rather, the future Medicine God Asclepius, clenched his teeth and reached into his bag, pulling out two clay bottles and hurling them behind him with all his might.
The red-haired man raised his hand to touch his cheek, where a faint trace of dark, foul-smelling blood oozed out. He sneered and waved his wooden spear.
You've tried that move already, brat!
Blood-red glyphs shot forward, shattering the two flying clay bottles in mid-air.
At the same time, a crimson Divine Power spread out, igniting suddenly like a fierce flame, completely consuming the fragments of the bottles and the medicinal powder that scattered within.
Seeing his last means of self-defense easily neutralized, Asclepius, who was already losing a lot of blood, grew even paler; a surge of despair rose in his heart.
Originally, he had merely accepted the invitation of the Prince of Cyprus, Adonis, to treat his hidden illness.
But who would have imagined that after curing Adonis and being sent out of the city, he would run straight into a madman?
This fellow, upon learning he was the doctor who had cured Adonis, didn't say a word and started chasing him with a spear.
Although he managed to severely injure the man's eyes with a hastily concocted lethal Magic Potion while the man was off guard,
this only provoked the man's ferocity and brutality, leading him to continue the chase with a cat-and-mouse attitude, forcing the injured Asclepius to keep fleeing.
And whenever the prey showed any sign of resistance, his pursuer's expression would grow even more excited, and his actions would become more cruel.
The dozens of wounds, big and small, on Asclepius's body were left by the maniac behind him.
If he weren't a skilled doctor able to care for himself, he probably wouldn't have lasted long before his Divine Blood emptied from his veins, and he would have died a cruel death.
Even so, Asclepius was nearing his limit.
Not only were the Magic Potion and the Divine Power within his body exhausted, but even his physical stamina and mental will were on the verge of collapse.
Realizing that it wouldn't be long before he would die a humiliating death on this inevitably short path of escape, Asclepius gritted his teeth and came to a sudden stop and turned around.
I'll fight to the end!
However, seeing his meek prey dare to turn and bare its claws at him, the red-haired man immediately frowned displeasedly, thumping his wooden spear against the ground.
"Run, run, you little brat, run for me!"
Crimson Divine Power burst forth with the red-haired man's cold snort, grazing Asclepius's cheek, arms, and hair, leaving terrifying deep pits around him.
Nevertheless, Asclepius stood still and unmoving ahead, pulling out a half-broken staff from his waist and assuming a resolute stance.
Seeing this, the red-haired man suddenly lost some of his enthusiasm. The ragged eye dripping with blood looked towards his prey from afar, flashing a trace of cruelty.
"Want to die? Then I shall grant you your wish!"
Amid the grim cold shout, the red-haired man swung his arm, hurling the palm-wood spear forward like a crimson meteor, tearing through the space as it descended towards Asclepius.
Sensing the fierce and raging Divine Power bearing down on him, the nearly suffocating Asclepius realized how ludicrous his supposed last stand was.
The disparity between them was as wide as that between the clouds and mud.
Once that man lost interest in toying with him, he couldn't even block a single strike.
As the blazing redness rapidly filled his view, Asclepius closed his eyes in defeat.
Yet, after a few breaths, the anticipated pain and death did not come as expected.
Instead, a warm arm patted his shoulder.
"Hey, kid, how long do you plan to stand there dumbstruck? Aren't you leaving?"
An elderly voice echoed around his ears, and Asclepius instinctively opened his eyes to find the source.
Suddenly, he saw a two-meter-tall, silver-grey-haired, blind old man, gripping the crimson spear with his raised right hand, his muscles bulging, the golden Divine Power flowing within his body steadily eroding the Divinity on the spear.
Astonished by the blind old man's exaggerated muscles that seemed forged of steel and the tremendous Divinity emanating from him, Asclepius couldn't help but be dumbfounded.
"Haha, just when I'm feeling bored, another one comes to seek death!"
At this moment, seeing someone successfully block his spear, the red-haired man laughed in delight rather than anger, his bloodlust growing even more intense and wild. With a sonic boom through the air, he turned into a crimson blur, lunging forward.
Seeing this, the blind old man's heart tightened. Without thinking further, he kicked behind him and with his freed left hand, began to rapidly trace a series of Hermes Script in the direction where Asclepius was falling.