B3 - Chapter 49: Rainforest

The spatial distortion rippled and dropped Seth and the other soldiers of Kastal into the heart of a dense rainforest. Wide, swollen storm clouds hung like a heavy iron slate above the canopy, blotting out the daylight and threatening a downpour. Large trees draped in choking vines and massive ferns crowded the terrain while their leaves dripped with dew.

Seth scanned the sprawling vegetation. The dense foliage provided the perfect terrain for him to hunt.

He glanced upward through a fracture in the ceiling of leaves to look at the Spirit as it settled into a watchful hover far above.

You really want me to butcher them all, huh? he thought, jaw tightening.

Behind Seth, an authoritative voice cut through the quiet of the woods. "Squads One and Two of Oskon, get into formation!" Jaxar stepped forth with his ornate staff.

A hundred academy students moved in unison, boots sinking into the wet mud as they rapidly organized a defensive perimeter around the King's grandson. From his previous discussions with Elena, Seth already knew the arrogant prick was an Elementalist with a special subclass. She hadn't been certain whether it had an Epic or a Legendary grade, but if Seth had to guess, the greedy monarch had likely found a way to give his future heir a Legendary one.

It didn't matter though.

The subclass might provide Jaxar with an absurd amount of firepower with his famous Lightning affinity, but his Toughness was likely as low as any Elementalist's.

Seth almost scoffed at the thought. A single slash of Dusk Scythes and he'd be dead.

Elena stepped closer and used her ebony staff to clear a path through the undergrowth. "Do you want to go scout the perimeter with Nightmare, Seth?"

"Yeah," he answered, gaze moving through the surrounding woods. "Fighting as a single block in here will be completely ineffective. Let's make a small, mobile group. A dozen people or so should be enough."

Elena looked over her shoulder at Devus, Brandon, Selena, and Henry, who were all standing close by. "I'll handle it and pick another couple of reliable people from our squad ranks. You can head out."

Seth gave her a nod and began to walk away. Jaxar glared at Seth as he left, brow furrowing into a hard line. King Theoron had obviously informed his grandson about his deal with Seth.

Sorry, buddy, Seth thought. I won't be protecting your royal ass.

He pulled his hood and vanished into the dense vegetation.

It took Seth a few hours to fully understand the terrain as he systematically mapped the place alongside Nightmare. A ridge of jagged mountains cradled the wide valley in the center of the zone, while the humid rainforest crowded every square inch of the basin. Some specific spots featured thinner undergrowth than others, though nowhere could host a full-scale clash.

The Empire might still attempt to force a traditional massed fight, but Kastal could answer with hidden traps and guerrilla tactics. And even if the enemy were to use the same fire artifacts they had employed to incinerate the woodlands and slaughter his previous squad a month ago, the thick layer of moisture coating the place would make it way less effective.

Seth slid behind the large trunk of a moss-covered tree while Nightmare's rumbling voice vibrated through Link. 'There is a detachment of twenty or so soldiers directly ahead... but none of them appear to be the top contributors.'

'A trap?' Seth asked.

'I don't think so,' the direwolf replied. 'I didn't see any hidden ones nearby, but let me double-check.' As he moved invisibly through the undergrowth, Nightmare's eyes narrowed. 'So, do we take care of them on our own?'

Seth shook his head. 'No. Elena will kill me if we try that.'

He reached into his supply pouch and pulled out his communication orb to send a message to the noblewoman.

Seth: We found a small detachment. They are directly north of your current position. I will meet you on the way.

Elena's response came through the artifact right away like she'd been waiting for it.

Elena: Perfect.

Seth turned back and headed straight in the direction of his friends. With the fluid pace of his run it didn't take long, and soon he emerged from the thick ferns to find Elena.

She was standing alongside Devus, Brandon, Selena, Henry, Marine, a handful of surviving commoner members from Trogan Squad 48, and two additional nobles. Seth's eyes passed over Marine's pristine leather armor before staring directly at Elena.

His expression carried a silent message that said everything. Really?

The communication orb resting in his palm lit up.

Elena: She is exceptionally strong and reliable. I'm sure you can get over her grating personality.

Seth let out a resigned sigh and advanced into the center of the clearing.

Devus adjusted his heavy shield. "So, how many soldiers are we actually looking at out there? Your message to Elena was vague, mate."

"About twenty," Seth answered. "I'll handle half of them while the rest of you take care of the remaining ten."

Devus grimaced, his broad shoulders tensing under his chestpiece. "That's still a lot of people."

The Guardian's usual confidence began to leave him flattered—not far behind his flank, Henry stirred.

"I'll make sure no one in this group gets seriously hurt," Seth added.

One of the nobles standing next to Marine stepped forward. There was a white staff gripped in his hand. "And I will heal whoever gets injured."

Marine leaned against her bow, and something flashed in her eyes as she looked at Seth. "Will you finally bring out your third beast for this battle?"

"Probably," Seth answered, turning back so the marshal's granddaughter could ask any more questions. "Let's move out. Nightmare is waiting for us."

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He took a few steps into the dense undergrowth, then stopped dead in his tracks. He glanced at the group from over his shoulder. "Since Elena is the only one of you who has actually fought side-by-side with me, I will make it clear right now." He paused to make sure he had everyone's attention. "I do not take prisoners."

Devus, Brandon, Henry, Selena, and all the others fell into absolute silence, staring back at him.

Seth ignored their reaction and turned around. There was no time to waste.

"Let's go."

Seth waited behind a tree, perfectly still while the rest of his party remained hidden within the ferns close by. A few dozen paces ahead, a group of twenty imperial soldiers clustered together in a small clearing with a lower density of trees, their scouts scanning the perimeter with visible strain.

On the left of Seth, a pulsing flow of blue aether began to weave around Elena's ebony staff. Before initiating the ambush, they had already decided that the crimson-haired noblewoman would initiate the fight with Frigid Orb.

'Keep most of your attention on Elena, Devus, Henry, Selena, and Brandon during the fight,' Seth said to Colossus through Link. 'I don't care nearly as much for the others.'

'Understood,' the scorpion answered.

Upon Elena completing her incantation, she thrust her staff forward and sent the dense, swirling orb of ice soaring into the middle of the clearing. Before the imperial soldiers could even register what had just happened, the spell detonated with a crack.

Shards of razor-sharp ice exploded outward in a large radius, slicing ruthlessly through armor and flesh alike. The freezing effect took hold of all nearby soldiers, slowing their movements into a sluggish crawl.

Seth and his party launched their attack.

Glowing Protecting Belt barriers flared to life in unison from his party's members, then Seth activated his Distortion Rod. The invisible suppressing field surged outward in a violent ripple over the clearing, preventing the enemies from using their own defensive artifacts.

Seth dashed forward into the open. Aether rushed through the Dusk Scythes' grooves, and the blades surged out of his forearms as he cast Shadow Step. A heartbeat later, he vanished and reappeared behind an Elementalist who was desperately trying to cast a defensive spell.

Before he could finish, Seth had already plunged his dark blades through the man's back.

Colossus emerged from the teardrop necklace right behind him with both Desert Aegis and Quartz Armor reinforcing his heavy shell. The giant scorpion didn't wait to unleash Chitinous Taunt, and the jarring sound forced five member of the forst-coated imperial vanguards to redirect their weapons toward him.

In the absolute rear of the enemy formation, Nightmare pounced from the shadows with the two perfect doppelgängers from Twin Mirages and tore into two panicked Rogues and a Priest.

The rest of Seth's party arrived to join the fray.

Devus, Brandon, and Henry moved in perfect harmony with Colossus, forming a frontline that blocked every frantic push, while Selena remained firmly stationed in the mid-line to guard Elena, Marine, and the two highborn nobles with them. Seth and Nightmare reaped ruthlessly through the slowed imperial soldiers, dark blades and fangs tearing the foes apart.

Seth side-stepped a clumsy sword thrust and sliced the attacker's throat open before mentally checking his teardrop necklace. He had a brief thought of summoning Lumi out to bolster their defensive line, but the otter didn't even seem remotely needed.

The highborn Priest Marine brought with her was handling his role quite well. The man casts localized restoration spells that healed minor scratches and cuts sustained by Devus, Henry, Brandon, and Colossus, while most of the party remained bound together as a single, cohesive unit and avoided injury altogether.

The moment Seth's Dusk Scythes disappeared from his forearms, his core sent a sharp warning through his spine. An arrow hissed past the dense leaves from the left.

The projectile brushed past his cheek, leaving a burning scratch along his skin before embedding itself deep into an oak behind.

Less than a heartbeat later a second whistling arrow tore through the clearing, but this time it was aimed at a different target: the noble Priest stationed in the rear.

"Watch out!" Seth yelled.

The Priest barely had enough time to turn toward Seth—yet that slight shift was enough to save him. The projectile plunged into his left shoulder instead of into his heart, though the force of the impact still knocked the healer flat onto the mud.

Colossus scuttled backward to cover the fallen man from a third arrow, clad by swirling wind. The projectile hit the scorpion's Quartz Armor, and a large chunk of it crumbled.

"You have to take that archer out!" Elena shouted to Marine.

"I don't see where they are!" the marshal's granddaughter answered.

Selena looked to Seth. "I'll go after—"

Yet before the Rogue could finish speaking, two more arrows arced into view. Their trajectories twisted through the air in ways that should have been impossible to track, though everyone could tell exactly where they were headed: the wounded Priest.

Colossus couldn't block both with his body alone.

Sandstorm Dome erupted from the giant scorpion, and its swirling wall of dense grit expanded outward to shred both projectiles before they could reach their target.

Seth sprinted through the barrier and pulled Lumi out of his teardrop necklace. The otter took one look at the bleeding Priest and began channeling healing energy into the man's wounds.

Another projectile flashed out from the tree line, this one aimed at Henry. Devus stepped forward without hesitation and caught it on his shield. Brandon followed close behind, advancing to support him.

Unlike the past times, however, Seth was able to spot the exact patch of thick foliage where the shot had originated.

He dashed forward, boots tearing up chunks of moss and mud. The hidden archer turned on their heel and began running away deeper into the dense rainforest.

'Nightmare, Colossus, stay with the others to make sure they don't get killed,' Seth commanded through Link.

"I'm coming with you!" Selena shouted from behind, daggers flashing as she prepared to leap into the brush after him.

"No!" Seth barked over his shoulder. "I can escape from a counter-ambush, you can't!"

Not giving her time to argue, he dove into the dense vegetation and followed the trail of rustling leaves.

His gaze tracked the fluid, acrobatic movements of the fleeing figure ahead. Even at the breakneck pace of the chase, he caught sight of a whipping ponytail, so he cast Intermediate Identify.

Elysha of Spyre, he realized.

A sudden ripple of aether around the woman's legs drew his attention. The pattern was unmistakable. Huntbound Overflow.

She's a Primalist too.

The imperial woman glanced back over her shoulder at him, and a confident smirk pulled at the corners of her lips. She planted her boots firmly onto a wide stone ridge in a small clearing.

Two distinct shades surged out of her chest armor. A massive puma materialized on the moss next to her, jaws crackling with small lightning arcs, while a predatory bird identical to Morsh's screeched and took flight above the canopy.

Elysha rested her heavy recurve bow against her hip. "You shouldn't be this confident when your strongest spell is on cooldown."

Seth stopped ten paces away and cracked his neck. "As if that makes any difference."