Chapter 3

As Keith’s team flew at full speed, Tessa suddenly pointed to the right. “Look over there!”

To the team’s dismay, a second flare appeared further up the beach, followed by another inland. In moments, five flares lit up the sky. Anyone with a brain could tell something was wrong, as the odds monsters had overwhelmed five teams at different locations were slim.

“We’re under attack,” Lieutenant Surk declared with a grim face.

Keith immediately thought of the Elemental Dimension. Even though Typhoon Beach had little appeal due to being so far from the Elemental Dimension’s gateway, it was still their territory.

“Remember, safety first. If you can’t capture them, don’t hesitate to go for the kill,” Lieutenant Surk reminded.

Keith’s heart lurched. The Elemental Dimension consisted of the same species as the Innate Dimension. They weren’t monsters; they were orcs, dwarves, elves, and humans, all with family, friends, and dreams. The thought of killing them filled Keith with revulsion, and yet when he looked at his teammates, Keith wondered if he was crazy. Why didn’t any of them seem reluctant?

Before Keith could consider his options, his team spotted a battle in the distance. Over a dozen people assaulted a blue dome, within which were seven Innate Nation soldiers. Outside the mana barrier lay three bodies donning the familiar silver-blue armor.

“Get ready,” Lieutenant Surk growled.

Keith’s teammates jumped off their griffins upon arriving at the scene, and with no time to think, Keith followed.

“Up above!” An elven woman shouted and raised her bow to the sky. With a loud twang, dozens of ice-imbued arrows whistled through the air.

Lieutenant Surk’s pupils dilated as he clapped his hands, producing a shockwave that knocked the arrows away. Behind him, Tessa twirled her staff, turning the ground underneath the enemy party into quicksand. The skill forced the enemy back, allowing the Innate Nation’s soldiers hiding under the mana barrier to take the offensive.

Lieutenant Surk dashed forward when he hit the ground and threw himself headfirst into the enemy party. Tessa and the other four fighters in Keith’s team followed in Surk’s footsteps, doing what they could to kill the enemy. Seeing the dead bodies of their comrades left them with little desire to capture the enemy alive.

When Keith landed, he stood still, his mind blank. Everything was happening too fast. Looking down, he saw one of the Innate Nation’s soldiers at his feet, their eyes glazed over. The sight overlapped with the time Uncle Doven killed the possessed Cami, and he was as paralyzed now as he was then.

What had he signed up for? Keith thought this would be a simple escort mission and that the only opponents would be monsters. He didn’t want to kill anyone!

Unprepared, a spell abruptly exploded not far from Keith, knocking him to the ground. He turned and came face to face with the corpse. Dark thoughts struck him: what was it all for? A life ended, and for what? A chance for ownership of the Grandsky Realm?

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Just then, Keith heard heavy gasps behind him. Flipping over, he found one of the Innate Nation soldiers lying in a growing pool of blood. The soldier was female and covered in deep gashes. Blood continuously poured out of her wounds, yet with an arm missing and the other broken, she struggled to apply the medicinal paste to her wounds.

“No, no, no!” She cursed in increasing alarm.

Anxious, Keith rushed over and dropped to his knees at the soldier's side, sand flying everywhere. He forcefully took the medicinal paste from the soldier’s hand and said, “Let me do it.”

“Hurry! I don’t have much health left!” The woman shouted in between gasps.

Without hesitation, Keith roughly applied the medicinal paste to the soldier’s injuries. Out of the five wounds, it only took Keith a few seconds to remove the bleeding effect from three.

The woman’s face paled as she watched her health gauge drop. “No, no, I don’t want to die!”

“Just one more,” Keith consoled, his heart beating so hard he could hear it. After wrapping the last wound, he looked over in relief only to find the light gone from the woman’s eyes. Keith froze. He was too late.

“Keith, what are you doing!?” Lieutenant Surk roared from afar upon seeing Keith doing nothing.

With a blank expression, Keith turned and saw the Innate Nation’s soldiers on the defensive. Even though both sides had roughly equal numbers, the people from the Elemental Dimension were over a hundred levels higher, and they weren’t like Cangu’s minions, who had poor equipment and limited skills. As a result, the condition of Lieutenant Surk’s side worsened with every passing moment.

Knowing that they could turn defeat into victory if Keith joined, Tessa, who was the closest, glanced at Keith and shouted, “Please, we need your help!”

“I…” Keith stuttered.

“You don’t have to kill them, just use your roots,” Tessa implored, unaware of a volley of ice-imbued arrows heading her way.

“Look out!” Keith shouted, his voice hoarse.

Hearing Keith’s warning, Tessa instinctively dodged to the side, yet not before three arrows broke through her Mana Barrier and ripped off her arm.

“Ugh!” Tessa powered through the pain and returned fire, sending a barrage of skills toward the enemy archer.

Eyes bloodshot, Keith looked over the battlefield and saw that his allies were in worse shape than Tessa. They were barely hanging on. Defeat was imminent.

Unwilling to see his teammates die, Keith staggered to his feet.

Slowly raising a hand, the ground in the distance abruptly split apart. Thick, gnarled roots erupted from below, creaking and groaning as they encompassed the enemy team. Not wanting to fall victim to Keith’s Entangling Roots, a mage teleported away while a warrior ripped apart Keith’s roots with his bare hands.

Even as the enemy team avoided Keith’s roots using various methods, the elven archer went one step further and fired a cluster of arrows at Keith, hoping to interrupt his spellcasting. Keith multicast Mana Bolts in response. With a flick of his finger, the Mana Bolts flew out and struck the tip of each arrow midflight.

Just as Keith dealt with the arrows, an enemy mage teleported behind Keith, lashing a Water Whip at his head. As if Keith could see behind him, he bent forward and kicked back, dodging the attack and releasing a Fireball from his foot.

BOOM!

The spell struck the mage in the chest and sent him flying. Before the man hit the ground, he teleported again, appearing above Keith. Pushing his hands forward, the mage conjured a swirling pillar of water that barreled down on Keith.

WHOOSH!

Keith stepped to the side as five arrows flew past and simultaneously summoned two curved Ice Walls to block the enemy’s Water Pillar. Growing anxious, the mage and archer kept up their attacks, trying everything they could to disrupt Keith’s Entangling Roots, which he channeled the entire time, yet their efforts were futile.

While defending, Keith quickly caught four people with his roots, binding them as a spider would.

“Good job!” Lieutenant Surk shouted as he and the others took this chance to kill the four captives one after another. With four enemy combatants dead, the Innate Nation’s side quickly gained the upper hand. Ultimately, Keith harassed the remaining opponents with his roots while his teammates finished the job.

Shortly after the fight ended, another team from the Innate Nation flew overhead, though before they landed, Lieutenant Surk motioned for them to head to another flare. In the end, a dozen teams worked together and resolved the situation.