Early morning. The sun would be up in an hour or so. Solera squinted his bleary eyes, looking through his truesight goggles at the massive turtle approaching their ambush spot. It was around eight meters tall, with a shell from which dark spikes jutted out. Its head aimlessly looked around as it powered through the forest, breaking every branch that got caught inside its shell with violent groaning noises.
This was a Xuanwu, a special breed of turtle whose body had been possessed by a spirit!
UD soldiers ringed the Xuanwu, casually chatting with each other as they traversed the forests. Although they were only several kilometers away from what had once been the border between Eden and the United Duchies, they were completely at ease. A few scouts were detached from the main contingent, checking for any traps or wild monsters within a range of several hundred meters. They didn’t look particularly concerned about an incoming attack, either.
Solera rubbed his eyes, fighting away the drowsiness. The night before had been extremely hectic, with Skadi rushing them into position and then frantically preparing the ambush by using Vigors, the dirt golems, to create the tunnel they were hiding in. Dense foliage had been draped over the top of the hole, along with a shallow layer of dirt.
The truesight goggles, which detected power emissions rather than light, allowed Solera and the mercenaries to look through the dirt at the enemy despite the cover they were in. It was only now that Solera realized just how advantageous this item was. There were over sixty enemy soldiers, along with the Xuanwu itself, whereas Solera’s side had twenty mercenaries, along with Chip, Guinness, and Solera himself.
Guinness and Chip didn’t have truesight goggles. They had no idea what was going on, but the tension in the air was palpable. Guinness’s eyes flitted around nervously, while Chip maintained his cool, calm demeanor. But Solera could tell that he was uneasy.
While they crossed the border into UD territory last night, Chianti had given Chip a stern warning on desertion.
“Let me explain very clearly,” she had said. “We can have an extended discussion on the morality of desertion some other time, but right now it is very simple. Desertion is a stupid idea here, don’t even think about it.”
When Chip frowned, she pressed on. “This is a cohesive team operation behind enemy lines. One guy running at an inopportune moment will ruin it for the rest of us. Not only will we be more likely to fail and all die, the person who deserts is still trapped behind enemy lines with the enemy’s alarm raised. So the deserted will probably die and the desertor will also probably die. Staying together as one will improve the chances for all.”
“Why am I even here, then?” Chip demanded. “A skill-based operation like the one you make this out to be is definitely going to be go awry because of me, Solera, and Guinness, by your logic.”
“I have no idea.” Chianti became annoyed as she looked at Skadi, who was listening with a smile on his face. “Just don’t be an idiot. A unified team has the higher chance of surviving. The best choice an individual like you can make is to stick with the team. If we must flee, then we do it together. Understand?”
“… What if my mobility is decreased after an injury?” Chip asked.
Chianti shrugged. “Then you’re fucked.”
“All right, cool.” Chip nodded, and they had said no more.
Rethinking that conversation now, Solera grew a bit nervous. Getting injured in a battle, wasn’t that all too easy? At Fortress Hickory, Solera had broken several ribs and a hand. In an instant, an ankle could be twisted or a leg stabbed through. Yet this actually meant that he would be left behind by his teammates.
Solera gripped his power crystal tightly. After some thought, he had no doubt that this power crystal was recharging its power. Compared to yesterday, its green color had grown even more deep. It didn’t make any sense that a power crystal could recharge, but Solera had too much on his plate to worry about it. All that mattered was that it could save his life again.
“All right, do it.” Skadi said casually to a mercenary wearing a helmet. She nodded, sending a short burst of power flooding through the helmet.
BOOM!
Rumbles shook the ground as the explosives they had planted detonated directly under the Xuanwu. Several mercenaries slapped talismans onto the floor, creating Vigors out of the dirt they were standing on. The brush covering their hiding place was tossed away by one Vigor, and the group charged out, heading straight for the disoriented UD soldiers.
Solera’s foggy mind began to clear as he ran forward. He was able to keep up with the mercenaries, but Chip and Guinness were not. Only a few mercenaries were behind them; these were channelers, who were sniping the scouts who had not been affected by the explosions with flying darts, and a few controllers who were sitting back to control their Vigors.
Right as the enemies recovered their bearings, another explosive detonated, killing around seven enemies and breaking a spike off of the howling Xuanwu. A Vigor launched itself into the midst of the enemy, sending mud and rock spraying everywhere.
Skadi was the first to meet the soldiers. With a single slap, a man fell down, his head twisted in an unnatural angle. The area around the Xuanwu erupted into battle as the mercenaries attacked.
Solera looked around, his brain fevered with excitement. This was his time to take revenge with his own hands!
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A UD soldier struggled to his knees, blood running down the side of his face. Without hesitation, Solera swung his sword, sending the man falling back down, his neck sliced halfway through. It was too easy.
The Xuanwu’s head swung around, clamping down on a mercenary. Solera could hear muffled screams as she was lifted into the air. His blood ran cold as gruesome chewing and snapping sounds were emitted from the Xuanwu’s mouth. This… wasn’t this too savage?
This monster had to die!
Solera howled, rushing forward to attack another soldier. The soldier was assisting one of his comrades in a duel, but quickly backed away when he saw Solera rushing in. A spear thrust gored Solera in the side as he charged in to stab the bloodsand sword at the man. The sword sunk into the soldier’s shoulder, causing him to gasp in pain.
A fist lashed out into Solera’s face, sending him reeling back. His nose was broken, and he could taste blood in his mouth. Only the surge of adrenaline coursing through his veins kept him from blacking out. He backed away, wrenching the sword out of the man’s arm and grabbing onto the spear with his free hand.
Before Solera could deliver the killing stab, the man let go of the spear and tackled him to the ground. They thrashed about on the ground, each of them struggling to immobilize the other and regain balance. The man rolled over on top, his expression vicious as his left hand reached down to choke Solera’s throat.
Solera’s hand gripped the man’s injured shoulder, squeezing it as hard as he could. The man screamed, but his hold did not loosen. His legs were crushing Solera’s body. Solera struggled to pick up his sword, but the man’s feet were holding it down onto the ground. He let go of the sword to deliver one hook after another to the man’s chest.
The corpse of a dead UD soldier fell down next to two of them, her sword clattering onto the ground. Seeing the pile of mush that had formerly been the top of her head, Solera paled in fright. He hadn’t even known she had been there!
The hand around Solera’s throat wrenched his thoughts away from that matter as it twisted in an effort to break Solera’s neck. Power coursed through Solera’s body as he channeled, strengthening his cultivation by over four times for as long as he could maintain it. The man strained, but he could not budge Solera’s neck while his defense was activated.
The force around Solera’s neck also multiplied as the soldier began to channel power as well. Solera reached for his power crystal, but it was definitely too late.
A sword tip sprouted from the man’s forehead. The force around Solera’s neck instantly disappeared as the soldier’s corpse collapsed onto Solera’s body. Chip looked calmly down at Solera, before turning away to join another fight.
Solera struggled to his feet, his face pale. Without Chip’s help, he definitely would have died. In the split second before Solera’s neck was snapped, Chip had saved him. If the people were swapped around, would Solera have done the same?
A great plume of flame shot out from the Xuanwu’s gaping maw, engulfing Skadi in an inferno of flame. Through the lens of the truesight goggles, Solera could see that Skadi was channeling power all over his body! Power blasted out of Skadi’s feet as he leaped four meters into the air in front of the Xuanwu’s head.
A tattoo on Skadi’s palm emitted a brilliant glow as he smashed down upon the Xuanwu’s forehead, which caved in from the force. The Xuanwu hissed as its head was blasted onto the ground from the force of Skadi’s strike.
“Get down!” Chianti screamed, tackling Guinness to the ground. Seeing this, Solera immediately dropped to the floor as well.
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
The spikes on the Xuanwu’s shell shot out like lightning. Many disappeared into the sky, but a few shot out into the surrounding areas. This dying attack of the Xuanwu was fearsome beyond measure, sending trees crashing onto the ground as the spikes blasted straight through the trunks. Next to Solera, a Vigor dissolved into dirt, its talisman destroyed by a stray spike.
Solera worriedly looked up from the ground to see Fischer collapsing, a giant hole in his torso. Several others had also been killed by the Xuanwu’s dying barrage, including the last UD soldiers.
Skadi was nowhere to be seen. Solera looked around, bewildered. Corpses lay everywhere, mutilated by weapons, impaled by spikes, and crushed by Vigors. Solera couldn’t bear the sight of the dead mercenaries. Several minutes ago, they had been living, breathing humans!
“Fischer…” Verreaux and Macaw stood over their friend’s corpse, their faces grave. For a long while, they were silent.
A bush rustled, and Skadi strode out, tossing a spike onto the ground. His torso had a deep gash, several centimeters deep, but he looked otherwise unfazed. Solera stared at the gash in utter shock.
Did this guy actually block a spike from point blank range?
Ignoring the astonished gazes everywhere, Skadi’s eyes flitted over the ravaged battleground onto the mercenaries mourning their fallen comrades.
“Hey, I don’t want to be that guy, but…” Skadi scratched his head. “we have to get this work done. Let’s see what this turtle is carrying.”