Chapter 55 : Douglas in Danger

"urgh...my head..."

Deep inside the forest, the princess' troops that were chased by the main army soldiers were slowly waking up, not understanding what just happened.

"Are you alright ?"

The only person still standing was the short female rifter watching over them. Alice has been tasked to escort the Princess and her people safely to the flagship. She had to protect them until her Leader dealt with the hostile forces.

"Y-yes... What was this explosion ?" The young princess asked, still terrified of what she had just seen.

Just a minute ago, they were running for their lives trying to escape the soldiers chasing them when a bright flash blinded them, and a loud explosion broke out. The shockwave has been so powerful that they all lost consciousness after it passed through their body.

Just the blast of the explosion was enough to throw them in all directions as if they were mere leaves stuck inside a hurricane. The princess has never seen such powerful magic before.

"A tactical warhead."

"Uh ?.. A tacti-what ?"

"...Nothing. Please get ready, we have to leave the area and return to the ship as soon as possible. We are still close to the main army. "

The Princess was stunned to see how calm Alice was. She didn't know where these weird transmigrators came from, but seeing this short woman not being bothered the slightest by the huge explosion that ravaged everything in the forest froze her blood.

'What kind of life did they have to be so cold ?' she thought, while two half-bloods helped her to stand up.

When she first heard the plan of their Leader, she seriously doubted his sanity. He told them to go back to the main army, reunite all of her loyal soldiers and escape the area just after killing a few officers and putting some of their reserve carts on fire.

At first, she thought that he wanted to dispose of them.

It was such a suicidal plan that she even hesitated to switch sides and tell everything to the First Prince when she came back to the camp. The only thing that prevented her from doing so was the fact that her beloved little brother, the Third Prince, was still being held captive by these strange people.

When she turned her head and looked in the direction of the main army camp, she saw a giant mushroom-shaped cloud of debris, smoke and condensed water vapor slowly growing up in size, as if it was devouring the sky. Because of the radioactive particles and residual heat, the cloud was glowing in a faint orange color, and the little light it emitted was enough to brighten the dark night over the entire forest.

She has never been so glad to have sided with Lyssandra without betraying these transmigrators. Had she decided to backstab them and tell the truth to the First Prince, she would have been one of the many unlucky people who got vaporized by this insane magic.

'I now understand why the Lyssandra King suddenly left his throne and rushed into the forest a month ago, it was to get these beings on his side... If he can ally these guys with his kingdom, he might be able to control the entire region...'

The princess was in awe of these otherwordly beings. In her mind, only a powerful 5-circles mage would be able to cause destruction on such a large scale, yet even her never heard of a 5-circles spell as powerful as this one.

Even the most powerful 4-circles and 5-circles destruction-magic spells that are used solely for war to ravage large battlefields are not as scary as this explosion.

"We have to move."

The cold voice of the short female rifter standing next to her brought her back to reality.

'No matter what happens... it's too late to turn back. I have to be careful of not being on their bad side. As long as he respect my part of the deal and he helps me save our people, I don't mind siding with the devil.'

The princess looked at all the poor-looking half-blood elves behind her with a determined gaze and clenched her fist.

"Yes... let's go."

___

Not far from the lake, a large group of civilians with multiple carriages pulled by two-headed horses were getting close to the Forest of Truth border. They were escorted by a bunch of knights and a few elves from the vigilante corp.

Inside one of these carriages, two elves were brawling with each other.

"FATHER IS STILL INSIDE THE FOREST !"

"Y-you are still injured, please stop moving !"

"LET. ME GO. !!"

A young elf with green eyes was trying to stop his friend from rushing back into the forest, under the amused gaze of a middle-aged elf.

She was sleeping peacefully when the huge explosion awakened her. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see her childhood friend at her bedside. He explained to her what happened, and when she learned that her father was still behind she tried to stand up and rush back into the forest.

She had bandages all over her half-naked body and dark circles under her eyes, yet she didn't seem to care at all about her injuries as she was trying her best to escape the grasp of her friend to help her father.

"P-please calm down" the young male elf pleaded, "your father will be safe, he is with the Chosen One !"

The young lady was surprised to see how strong her childhood friend had become since she last saw him in the Slime Cave, as she could not easily escape from his grip. Even injured she should be capable to overpower him, yet when she tried to apply more force she saw her friend's eyes glowing in green and his hands that were blocking her shoulders didn't budge an inch.

"Tom, you... how did you become so strong ??"

"I am not that strong... anyway stop moving, p-please !"

While trying to block his friend and stop her from standing up, the young elf was disturbed by her half-naked and well-developed body every time his gaze landed on her. He couldn't help but turn his head with a red face every time his hands inadvertently touched her bandaged chest.

"Young girl, going back now will just hinder your father and the Chosen One. He sent you back with the villagers for you to rest and heal from your injuries. If you keep being so stubborn, I'll ask the shaman and the dryads to put you into sleep for an entire week."

Even the middle-aged elf was surprised by how strong this girl has become. Her whole body densely packed with muscles was covered with scars and battle marks.

The natural heat her body radiated was enough for him to understand how blessed by mana she was : only a talented genius could unconsciously gather so many fire spirits. It was even more surprising for her to be compatible with fire mana, as the elves are naturally attracting plant spirits that are weak to fire.

When she left the village, she was just a young and naive girl who wanted to become a hero and fight with the Chosen One like all other kids of her age. Yet now, she came back as a powerful woman that is almost as strong as her father.

He had no idea who the 'master' she met within the Hydra Mount was, but he transformed a raw talent into a treasure in the same way a master blacksmith would forge a good sword by molding a rough piece of iron inside a blazing furnace every single day.

He couldn't help but lightly smile at her when he recalled the clumsy tomboy girl that stole a wooden sword from his house when she was six and ended up getting scolded by her father after she broke the nose of her childhood friend.

The little guy cried for a whole day until the annoyed shaman told him his nose would forever stay crooked if he doesn't stop crying. Even this introvert and timid child became a strong and reliant elf after spending just a few years inside the forest.

Every time Uncle Marten looked at his glowing green eyes, he could feel a gentle and reassuring aura that penetrated deep inside him ; it felt as if looking at those green eyes was healing his own soul.

"You two...grew up."

"?.."

Both of them stopped their quarrel and looked at their uncle, surprised to see him warmly smile at them as if they were his own children.

"Uncle ?..."

"Listen carefully. If both of you progressed this much in just a few years, it is only thanks to the Oracle's guidance. Even an old man like me can feel the long destiny awaiting you. However, now is not the time for you to shine yet. Your father the village chief understood this, that's why he sent you here to escape with the villagers."

When she saw the solemn look on her uncle, as much as she didn't want to admit it, the young lady knew that even if she went back into the forest in this condition...she would just be a burden to her father. She stopped struggling and her childhood friend, sweating from trying to restrain her, finally released her arms.

'We are still too weak...we can't even protect our villages...'

Both youngsters thought the same, and they felt depressed at the idea that even after living out of the Oracle's domain for so long they were still not able to protect their loved ones.

"Your father told me to protect you until we reach Lyssandra, so stay calm and rest until then. Do not worry about him, he is as tough as a cockroach."

"Yes..."

The young girl finally laid down on the cold wooden seat inside the carriage and closed her watery eyes.

'Father...Please stay safe...'

___

'Master.'

When Jun arrived at the nuclearized area in the dark forest, Alpha Zero welcomed him with a bow.

The previously dense forest filled with massive trees and thick vegetation was now devoid of any life. The black soil was completely charred, and everything within a kilometer radius has been flattened.

Nothing remained of the Aliomeri camp except for the traces left on the ground by the people who instantly combusted. It looked as if the shadow of their body at the moment of their death has been engraved on the ground.

Soon after Jun arrived on the deadly silent site, Jerome, covered in blood from head to toe, also welcomed him. All the battle-drones behind him were also covered in blood and guts, and some of them had arrows stuck inside the joints of their plating.

"How was their resistance ?" Jun, who was casually walking on the desolated and extremely radioactive land, asked Jerome.

"Extremely low, as expected. We cleared the area, Douglas and the elite drones are chasing the last ones."

"What about the First Prince ?"

"We found no traces of him, however, we detected a faint warping signature at the location where he was supposed to be."

Jerome advanced and gave his leader a piece of metal that was radiating the usual energy the rifters couldn't analyze.

"We really need to understand how this mana works, this is so frustrating." Jun sighed.

[It seems that he escaped thanks to a kind of artifact or magical device. It's amazing to see that its material could withstand a nuclear explosion without getting reduced to dust. It was probably very expensive, and from the look of it, it was a single-use item.]

Gladia was fascinated by the small piece of metal remaining from this unknown artifact.

"Take it to the ship so you can analyze its properties. I don't know many exotic metals able to withstand a proton warhead... If we found the source of this metal, we may be able to use it to repair the Lance of Kar'goth."

Jun gave the piece of metal to a battle drone to bring it back to the ship, before his gaze landed on the sea of brilliant stars in the sky.

"I didn't expect them to have a way to escape from a nuclear explosion... These 'mana' and 'magic' seem more complex than what I originally thought."

[We have yet to see if they can dodge the second missile. It is about to hit their capital.]

"We should hasten our preparation. Let's go back to the ship for now."

When Jun and Jerome were about to go back, they both suddenly conjured their【Dark Blade】and turned their head in the same direction.

Alpha Zero vanished into thin air, and all the battle-drones took a defense formation around them.

"How did they get so close without being detected ??"

[I have no idea ! Be careful !]

Everyone faced the same direction without moving, looking at the invisible enemies spying on them. Jun thought they were getting ambushed, but even after a few minutes passed there has been no movement.

'Did they realize this place was highly contaminated with hazardous elements, or they are just waiting for us to move ?' Jun thought, trying to locate the enemy with his enhanced visor.

"Leader, I sense numerous hostile signatures surrounding us but I can't see any of them."

"Me too. They are probably experts in stealth and camouflage, but they seem afraid of walking into the radioactive area. We should head back to the ship. Gladia, contact Dou..." The moment Jun was about to ask for Douglas to come back, he felt his link with him getting abruptly cut.

"L-leader..."

"Impossible..."

After battling together for so many years, the rifters from Jun's squad have all developed a profound sense of synergy with each other.

The five of them are interacting like a single entity, no matter how far they are from each other. Even when Jun was possessed by the Revered Mother inside the dimensional rift, the other rifters could still feel their link to him.

Their black matter and Nihil Conscientia are always linked to each other, this is the reason why they can communicate through telepathy or why Gladia can contact any of them over very long distances.

The only reason for a link to be cut is if they have been wounded badly enough to lose consciousness, or...

If they died.

'Gladia !!'

[Even I can't contact Douglas... His link has been severed...]

"Fuck! Is it the Scylla ?.."

"Leader, what's your orders ?" Even the usually gentle and calm Jerome was shaking in anger at the idea that Douglas might have died without them knowing.

His long【Dark Sword】was doing cracking noises under the pressure of his hands firmly holding it.

"We are not sure if Douglas is dead yet... It might be an unknown jamming system like the one Legatus used on the megastructure. Gladia, what was his last coordinates ?"

[Bravo 30, Gamma 17 south-east.]

"Kat and Alice must have felt the same as us. Send them a message ; Code 1 is activated, Kat has to protect the flagship at all cost and Alice should patrol the area after she finished her escort mission."

[Yes.]

"Jerome, on me." Jun said, before dashing toward the ominous presence they felt earlier while the bloody smoke excluded from his body covered the whole area.

They had no time to waste with these bastards hiding like rats if they wanted to save Douglas.