Luckily, he already found what he was looking for.
A pair of dazed militiamen stood in the distance, seemingly both having snapped out of Sylas' Madness and realized they were lost.
Unfortunately for them, that didn't last long, as Sylas' Madness enveloped them again. This time, they fell into it even quicker and their eyes turned a blazing sheen of red.
They looked around like wild animals.
Sylas' back smashed into a tree, just barely out of the eyesight of the militiamen, and all they saw was a torrent of infuriated gnolls.
The three quickly closed the distance on Sylas, but the roar of the militiamen came as well.
The gnolls looked to be completely focused on Sylas, but at that moment, the latter's second dagger appeared out from the Madness Key and pierced one right through the brows down to the very hilt.
The stricken?gnoll's eyes dimmed, and it collapsed, tripping up and slowing the forward momentum of the other two just as the militiamen rounded the tree.
The two were suddenly embroiled in battle and the gnolls forgot Sylas' existence. Sylas, though, didn't forget theirs.
His telekinesis ripped the dagger out from the forehead of their dead companion and he took the opportunity of their distraction to rip out the throat of one, circling the dagger back around to stab in the back of the head of the second.
He retracted his Madness then broke into a sprint. If he died under the assault of the two militiamen, it would probably be the greatest joke he'd never get to tell.
Luckily, the militiamen looked around in rage, not understanding why their opponents had suddenly vanished. Then they looked toward one another, suddenly finding the other annoying.
It was then that Sylas' Madness vanished and confusion lit their faces again.
Sylas' breath came out in heaving gasps. His body ached, his mind felt drained, but his eyes shone like two bright gems.
Pulling himself out from near death felt so…
Sylas put his hands on his knees, his breathing sounding like a roaring engine in his ears. His lungs were practically screaming for a break and he felt his vision was blurring. It was the kind of fatigue that made a person want to keel over and vomit, only after ripping their lungs out so that the burning would go away.
Using Sudden Burst to the limit had already brought him over that edge, but then he used for so long afterward, pulling out every hint of potential he had remaining. It was like he had been in a full sprint for almost a quarter hour.
He thought about those corpses he had left behind and felt no small amount of lament. Did he have time to go and get them? Was it safe to? Was there another ambush?
Sylas didn't choose to make a foolish mistake.
He turned back and saw the militiamen in a daze, directly snatched the reward orbs of the three dead gnolls, then raised his voice.
"We need to go. Now."
The militiamen blinked in confusion, but Sylas' familiar face seemed to snap them out of their daze. They subconsciously nodded and then followed after Sylas.
Sylas sent one last glance toward where Lurk had fallen, feeling for the loss of a gnoll elite's reward, but he never hesitated when he made a decision. This was the right thing to do.
The three returned to where Olivia and the rest had been. They had already recovered, and there seemed to be an argument about what to do. They hadn't even been aware enough to know where Sylas had gone and some of them apparently thought he had already deserted.
"We need to retreat."
Sylas said these words and didn't wait for everyone's reaction.
Seeing him return with the two militiamen, they were rightfully confused. There was some guilt toward their earlier assumptions about him, but Sylas didn't blame them for this either. They weren't in their right state of mind, anyway.
"Just what happened?" Olivia asked, quickening to catch up with Sylas.
At this point, Sylas was most definitely not walking. This wasn't the appropriate time for leisure. He was in a jog that his broken body could barely withstand right now.
"We were attacked. I dealt with it," was how Sylas responded.
"I think you owe us an explanation that's better than that," Morgan chimed in from behind.
"I don't, actually." Sylas said. Inwardly, he was sighing, though. He didn't want to take such a firm stance right now, but there were some lines that had to be drawn. "If you want to know what happened, ask them."
He pointed over his shoulder at the two militiamen.
The group fell into silence.
Olivia gave them a questioning look. It was clear that most of the group didn't really treat the militiamen as people. It was easier for them to go about in ignorance that way. That was obviously why they chose to question Sylas instead.
The two militiamen looked toward once another.
"We only remember rushing toward where the hidden archer was and getting lost. Then we found three gnolls and rushed to fight them, but then they suddenly died under a flying dagger when we engaged them."
Flying dagger? They all looked at Sylas.
Each one had been shocked by Sylas' telekinesis. It wasn't something any one of them could do. It wasn't just a matter of having high Will and Charisma. Sylas was pretty sure that it was because he unlocked Madness that he likewise unlocked telekinesis, even though the more he learned about the two, the less connected they seemed.
"And what about the archer?" Olivia asked.
"They never appeared again."
She sucked in a cold breath. Didn't that mean that they had to kill at least nine gnolls in a single trip? But…
"But the corpses!" Lauren suddenly called out.
"It's too late." Sylas interrupted. "This was all planned from the start. The first 'hunting party' already smelled off. When the second one appeared not long afterward, it wasn't a coincidence. They're trying to hunt us down. There might even be another party trying to close in on us right now."