Chương 222: B3 - Chapter 54: Enhanced Rage

Nightmare returned to Seth's position, his invisible form weaving effortlessly through the undergrowth. Rain had begun pattering through the canopy overhead.

'So what's the plan?' the direwolf asked through Link.

'We're going to break those things,' Seth replied without hesitation. His gaze swept across the imperial formation. The same ten soldiers remained clustered around the Stabilizer Obelisk, while another dozen patrolled the surrounding perimeter. Even with a perfect ambush, the fight would not remain isolated for long. Without a distortion field, the enemy here could still use their communication orbs to call for reinforcements. The moment the battle started, nearby detachments would begin converging.

A prolonged fight inside the zone would represent a significant risk.

'Hit and run,' Seth decided. Nightmare's tail flicked.' Destroy the Obelisk, kill a few soldiers, then disappear?'

'Exactly,' Seth answered, his hand settling on his belt.' And if they decide to chase us, we'll lead them straight into Elena and the others.' Nightmare's low, eager growl echoed through Link.' That sounds fun.' Seth retrieved his communication orb from his Endless Pouch while remaining concealed among the trees and dense bushes. He made sure the artifact's faint glow wouldn't be visible to any nearby imperial scouts before channeling a thin thread of aether into it.

Seth: I found a detachment guarding some of the artifacts that block distortion fields. I'm going to destroy one of them and pull back, so be ready to ambush them if they give chase.

Elena's reply didn't take long to arrive, the words appearing across the orb's surface moments later. Elena: Where do you want us to wait? And are you absolutely sure this is something you should be doing alone? Seth: Yes, it is. Wait near the trees I marked with six horizontal slashes, a little north of your position. Seth: Let me know when you find them. The conversation ended there. Seth settled back into his hiding spot and waited under the rain.

Minutes passed as he watched the imperial soldiers through the foliage, studying their patrol routes and gauging their strength from their auras. What kind of scrolls are you bastards carrying? The communication orb vibrated softly in his palm. Elena: Found the trees. We'll be ready in a minute or two. A faint smile touched Seth's lips. Seth: Good. By the time he reached Elena and the others, they would be ready.

'Let's move,' he told Nightmare through Link. He burst from the undergrowth and sprinted toward the Stabilizer Obelisk. The imperfect invisibility of the Vanishing Pocket Watch distorted his outline, creating faint ripples around him. As Seth charged in, Nightmare dashed to the side to divide the guards' attention.

"Someone's there!" a soldier shouted. One of those guarding the artifact took out a spell-scroll and activated it. Aether erupted outward. The shockwave slammed into Seth and removed his concealment. Nightmare fared better: the direwolf didn't become fully visible, but his blurry frame made his position obvious to anyone paying attention.

'Kill as many as you can,' Seth said through their bond. His hand plunged into his Endless Pouch, and he pulled out two timed bombs. As the guards rushed toward him while activating scrolls and casting spells, Seth triggered Shadow Step. A heartbeat later, he reappeared in the center of the people surrounding the obelisk, where he dropped the two bombs.

"Shit!" one of the soldiers yelled. Seth dashed backward and threw his body behind one of the charging guards, using the man as cover while putting as much distance as possible between himself and the devices. The bombs went off, and a deafening roar shook the rainforest. The Stabilizer Obelisk shattered apart in a eruption of fire and debris. Stone and glowing runic fragments blasted through the clearing as soldiers were hurled off their feet, bodies crashing through the mud.

Debris tore through the folliage overhead, where it mixed with the rain. Colossus seized the chaos as his opportunity to emerge from the teardrop necklace. Quartz Armor sprouted around his massive frame while Desert Aegis formed a crystalline barrier of hazel aether around him, Seth, and Nightmare. This time, Seth didn't hesitate to use Beastmaster Rage. The enhanced spell surged through his body. Muscles tightened beneath his armor and gauntlets as aether flooded each of his limbs.

Fury took hold of his mind while his heartbeat synchronized with the pulses of his core. Seth embraced it. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. To his mind, he became the apex predator his instincts insisted he was, and every imperial soldier before him became prey trespassing upon his territory. Dusk Scythes manifested around his forearms, and at the same time, aether burst from his Swift Eagle Bracelet, wrapping his body in a howling gale.

To complete the sequence, his Distortion Rod expanded outward to sweep through the place with its field. The imperial soldiers barely had time to process what had happened. Rain hammered the clearing as he streaked across the muddy ground. Two soldiers were still struggling to push themselves onto their feet after the explosion when he reached them. With more than two hundred and fifty points of Agility coursing through his body, Seth moved faster than their eyes could track. The shadowy blades flashed.

Both men fell, throats slit before they'd been able to react. Their bodies had yet hit the ground that Seth was already moving again. His next target, an Elementalist, was frantically gathering aether for a Wind spell. Seth twisted his torso and slipped past the compressed blast. The gust hissed past and slammed into a tree, shattering the trunk. As he crossed the remaining distance, Dusk Scythes flashed through the rain.

An instant later, the blades tore through the Elementalist's chest armor, sending blood spraying across the soaked grass. Behind, Nightmare pounced on his own target, while the two doppelgangers created by Twin Mirage scattered in different directions to sow further confusion. The imperial detachment finally regained enough composure to retaliate. Spells erupted across the battlefield. Fire lances, lightning bolts, ice shards, blasts of condensed aether.

None of them connected—Seth and Nightmare were simply too fast. The Empire's Rogues and Warriors tried to intercept them, though every slash and thrust ended up hitting nothing but air. Unable to catch the duo, the soldiers abandoned their initial plan and changed target to one that wouldn't dodge all of their attacks. Colossus. The soldiers rushed to the giant scorpion, and weapons crashed against his crystalline armor—yet the results weren't any better.

Steel did nothing but scraped across the quartz-like plates while the scorpion's three tails lashed out. The stingers struck again and again, piercing through armors and flesh alike. Under normal circumstances, Colossus's attacks posed little threat to Peak-Iron Wielders. His true danger came from Deathcoil Venom and the debilitating effect. This time was different. With Beastmaster Rage empowering him, Colossus possessed more Strength than most Warriors on the battlefield.

Combined with the Toughness-draining effects of his venom, every successful strike made the next one even deadlier. The soldiers surrounding him quickly found their defenses weakening, their wounds deepening. Around them, Seth and Nightmare moved as twin reapers unleashed upon the battlefield, cutting through the soldiers; rain continued to pour from above and mixed with the blood to further muddy the ground beneath their feet.

The slaughter continued unabated until the surrounding imperial detachments realized they were under attack.

"The Maddened Beast is here!" someone shouted from beyond the tree line. Panic spread through the forest.

"He destroyed one of the obelisks!" Seth ducked beneath another frantic barrage of spells. An errant blade slipped through and struck his shoulder, but the combination of Desert Aegis and his high Toughness caused the attack to leave more than a scratch across his Legendary gear. As he lifted his head more than twenty fresh soldiers were rushing toward the clearing to join the survivors who were fighting for their lives. And that wasn't all.

Through the downpour, Seth could hear the pounding of boots from every direction: more detachments wre converging on their position.

'Fifteen more seconds, then we leave,' Seth told Nightmare and Colossus through Link before lunging forward once more. Dusk Scythes blurred through the rain and darkness, dropping two more soldiers before the men had a chance to react. Then his advance halted. Two heavily armored Guardians and a Warrior stepped into his path. The trio locked their shields and shoulders together, forming a solid wall of steel.

Nightmare pounced on one of the targets, striking from the left flank to relieve some of the pressure on Seth. At the same time, Colossus activated Scorpion Charge and slammed into a cluster of incoming reinforcements. The impact shook the clearing, sending several soldiers stumbling backward as the massive crystalline scorpion barreled through their formation. Seth's Dusk Scythes vanished, the duration finished.

A beat later, he threw up his gauntlets and caught an incoming axe strike with a harsh metallic screech. Control spells erupted across the clearing. Glowing chains burst from the ground, forcing Seth to leap sideways to avoid being catch. But the moment his feet touched the mud, thick roots wrapped around his legs. An invisible weight then slammed onto his shoulders and one of the Guardians at the front let out a booming roar. The sound plunged straight into Seth's ears, forcing him to focus on the armored man.

Seth gritted his teeth. Beastmaster Rage kept pulsing through his body and helped him resist the intrusion. For a split second, he assessed the battlefield. Too many enemies. It was time to leave. He deactivated his Distortion Rod and poured aether into Morsh's Unshackled Bracelet. A wave of energy swept through his body. The roots withered, the crushing gravity vanished, and the compulsion grasping his mind disappeared. Now free, Seth dashed toward Colossus.

As he passed, he drew the giant scorpion back into the teardrop necklace, then reactivated the distortion field before anyone else could do so with their own rod.

'We're leaving,' Seth told Nightmare through Link. He spun on his heel and dashed off into the rainforest. The direwolf followed close behind, while the two fading doppelgangers from Twin Mirage made one final sacrifice. The illusions pounced on a nearby imperial soldier, dragging him down and creating just enough chaos to cover the escape. Behind them, shouts erupted throughout the woods—the imperial soldiers had given chase.

With Beastmaster Rage still flowing through their bodies, Seth and Nightmare could have disappeared from sight within seconds. Outrunning the pursuit would have been effortless. Of course that wasn't the plan. Instead, Seth deliberately moderated his pace. Rain hammered the canopy overhead as he darted between trees and maintained just enough distance to keep the enemy convinced they could catch him.

'Circle around and find out exactly how many are following us,' Seth instructed, glancing at Nightmare.

'On it,' the direwolf replied. The beast activated Illusionary Emptiness and melted into the undergrowth to vanish from sight. Seth became the only target for the people behind. He continued running through the forest while occasionally glancing over his shoulder. The Empire threw everything they could at him. Arrows and lighting bolt tore through the rain and trees. Seth relied on his instincts and Beastmaster Rage to dodge.

He sensed danger and move out of the way before the attacks could reach him by reading fluctuations in aether. Roots once again erupted from the rain-soaked ground and twisted toward his legs, forcing Seth to spring over them. The moment he landed, he widened the gap between himself and his pursuers. He wanted to stay out of range of most binding and slowing spells, yet remain within their sight so they would keep chasing him.

'There's a little over two dozen soldiers on your tail,' Nightmare reported as he ran parallel through the forest.

'Good.' By the time they reached Elena and the others, Beastmaster Rage would have only a minute or two remaining. Hopefully, it will be enough to thin their force.

'Can't we just fight them ourselves?' Colossus asked from within the teardrop necklace.' Then the others won't have to risk getting injured.'

'No, we can't,' Seth replied, knocking aside a stray arrow with his forearm guard.' If we don't create enough space with the rest of their army, they could converge on us. Fighting alongside the others is also safer.' The chase continued through the rain-drenched forest. Then, at last, Seth spotted a familiar glow of blue aether shining through the dense folliage ahead. Finally. An orb of ice burst from between two trees. The spell flew past Seth to reach the soldiers pursing him.

The projectile then detonated, erupting into a storm of ice shards that tore through the formation. Seth grinned.

Ahead, Elena stepped forward with her staff high. He dug his boots into the mud and skidded to a stop. Two minutes. Let's make the best of it.