Chương 228: B3 - Chapter 60: Pursuit

Seth momentarily deactivated his Distortion Rod to recall Colossus and Lumi. Both beasts dissolved into swirling streams of blue light that flowed into his teardrop necklace, but he kept Nightmare along his side. He wasn't worried about the direwolf, who could easily lose the imperial soldiers with his absurd Agility and Illusory Emptiness. Companions recalled, Seth snapped his distortion artifact back on to preempt any Imperial attempt to cast a spatial lock of their own.

As he ran after his retreating squad, he vaulted over moss-covered roots and weaved between ancient tree trunks. His eyes searched the surrounding forest through the rain and picked out the subtle marks carved into the bark—the boundaries of the trap field. Seth leapt over a stretch of freshly turned earth. The Imperial soldiers weren't fortunate enough to see the hints. Their boots landed on the trigger zone, and the buried aetheric bombs detonated. The explosion tore through the forest, blasting the ground apart.

Two soldiers were hurled into the air as dirt and stones soared in every direction. Seth glanced over his shoulder. He'd expected the discharge to stop the enemies in their pursuit, yet it hadn't. The soldiers barely acknowledged the death of their comrades. They charged straight through the smoke and falling debris without ever slowing. Jaz's voice boomed through the forest.

"They're fleeing because they know they've lost!" the giant Guardian shouted.

"Keep charging! We'll make them pay in blood for our fallen brothers!" Seth's boots tore through the forest floor. Within seconds, he'd caught up to Devus and Elena, who protected the rear of the retreating party alongside Henry and Selena. His gaze swept over the group. The grim reality was impossible to ignore. Aside from the lone Rogue, none of them had the Agility needed to outrun their pursuers. Sooner or later, the imperial soldiers would catch them despite all the bombs and traps lining the escape route.

Elena looked at Seth, sprinting beside him through the dense undergrowth.

"What's the plan?" she asked, her breathing heavy. Seth's thoughts raced. The Empire had killed too many Kastal soldiers. If the battle continued at this pace, they would lose through attrition alone. They would have to regroup, recover, and prepare another ambush. With Celess gone and Jaz's contracted beast dead, the next battle would be far more manageable. By then, Seth would have had time to thin the Empire's ranks even further. First, though, he had to get everyone out alive.

Thankfully, Beastmaster Rage still had a few precious minutes remaining.

"I'll buy everyone some time," Seth answered.

"Regroup with Jaxar and whoever's left of Kastal's survivors." Elena shot him a panicked look.

"It's too dangerous!" she shouted over the pounding rain.

"Seth, you're going to get yourself killed!" Seth skidded to a halt in the thick mud and turned to face the pursuing imperials, his back to the retreating squad.

"I'll be fine! Just keep moving!" Without another word, he pivoted and left the current escape route before plunging into a wall of ferns. Seth moved like a phantom through the forest, slipping beneath vines while his eyes searched for the best place to make his stand. A shadow stirred beside him. Nightmare emerged from the darkness, paws making no sound against the forest floor.

'They're getting close,' the direwolf said through Link.' Good, let them come,' Seth answered. His core pulsed with heat in his chest as Undead aether began to gather around his forearms. The thick undergrowth rustled around him, and the first wave of imperials burst into a clearing, weapons already drawn. Seth lowered his stance against a root, then exploded forward. Before any of the foes could even turn toward him, his fist shattered the skull of the closest one.

"Kill him!" one of them shouted. Seth slipped beneath a dagger cloaked in aether and drove his gauntlet into another Rogue's abdomen. The blow launched the man backward and sent him crashing into a tree. The trunk's shattered under the impact. Without slowing, Seth lunged toward his next enemy—but he never reached his target. The ground shook under him, and branches exploded apart as Jaz burst through the forest.

The giant Guardian threw himself between Seth and the imperial Rogues as brown aether surged across the surface of his shield. A wall of stone then erupted from it. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Seth's fist crashed into it, and the rock exploded into fragments. Before the dust had even cleared, Jaz's lightning-wreathed warhammer was already descending. Seth crossed his forearms. The blow landed with a deafening bang, hurling him several yards backward through the mud.

But Jaz had forgotten one thing. Seth wasn't alone. Nightmare burst from the shadows behind the enemy line and tore through a Rogue's throat before anyone could react. Jaz roared and swung his hammer toward the direwolf, but Nightmare vanished with Shadow Step before the weapon hit him. Seth seized the opening and lunged past the Guardian to crush another soldier with a punch. Just as he ended the man's life, he saw more soldiers pour into the clearing.

Priests and Elementalists didn't waste time and blanketed the front line with shimmering barriers, adding layer on layer to envelop the melee troops. Seth ignored them and kept attacking anyone except Jaz. Armored Phantom Fists were the perfect counter to such spells and its cooldown was up. Feeling his Well nearing exhaustion, Seth drew upon Colossus's aether through the teardrop necklace and cast Night Veil. Dark smoke erupted from his body.

The forest soon disappeared beneath a blanket of ethereal darkness, which let Seth melt into the gloom as though he had never been there.

"Wind spells!" Jaz bellowed.

"Clear this thing!" Unfortunately for his enemies, Seth still had his Distortion Rod active, so no spell-scroll could be used. That left only a handful of soldiers capable of casting wind magic to remove small parts of the dark shroud. Seth and Nightmare became ghosts within. The duo moved with flawless coordination, each knowing where the other would strike next thanks to their bond. Whenever a soldier turned to defend against Nightmare, Seth was there to strike them with a devastating blow.

And when they lunged at Seth, the direwolf materialized behind them to rip out their throats before they could even conclude their attacks. They were a predator split between two bodies. Jaz could only protect a handful of soldiers around him, so Seth and Nightmare simply bypassed him to butcher everyone else. They would kill him eventually. Whether the man possessed a Legacy, powerful Seeds, or both, his Toughness was simply too high to waste time on while so many weaker targets were alive.

Seth's gauntlets punched clean through two soldiers' breastplates, caving in the ribs beneath and stopping their hearts. He then followed with a low sweep that shattered an archer's kneecap. As the man screamed, Nightmare appeared and closed his jaws around the soldier's neck before he could even hit the ground. Another man surged from the undergrowth with a broadsword raised over his head. Seth sidestepped the downward swing while Nightmare crashed into the man's side, throwing him off balance.

The crackling skeletal fist covering Seth's arm came right after and smashed the soldier's head. As the corpse crumbled behind, Seth dashed toward two retreating Elementalists. He seized the first by the collar and smashed his head into the oak tree next to them, then pivoted and drove a hook into the second Elementalist's stomach. The blow pushed the man straight into Nightmare's maw.

Seth and the direwolf moved from target to target, barely seeing a difference whether the enemies wore plate armor or a simple tunic. Every coordinated attack resulted in another kill. Every soldier who focused on Seth died to Nightmare. Every soldier who turned toward Nightmare died to Seth. A growing trail of broken bodies was strewn across the rain-soaked forest floor when the crimson haze clouding Seth's vision began to fade. Looks like Beastmaster Rage is almost out.

He extended his senses through the pouring rain. The sounds of Elena and the others had vanished entirely. A grim smile spread across Seth's face as he planted a foot and veered sharply.

'Time to leave,' he told Nightmare. The direwolf didn't argue. The two of them burst into the dense undergrowth, weaving through trees and bushes, constantly changing direction to break the enemy's line of sight behind them.

"Oh no you don't!" Jaz roared, his voice booming through the forest. The giant Guardian immediately gave chase. His enormous body crashed through the undergrowth with terrifying speed, splintering saplings and tearing through dense brush as though they were nothing. Seth drew on the last reserves of aether in his Well and cast Shadow Step. Space folded around him as he vanished to dodge the incoming charge.

Jaz tore straight through empty air, and the man's shield smashed into the trunk of a large tree, exploding the bark into a storm of splinters. Nonetheless, the man didn't give up. The moment he realized he'd missed, he unleashed a snaring spell by slamming his free hand down. Thick roots burst from the mud and coiled around Seth's right leg with their thorns. The lingering effect of Beastmaster Rage let Seth yank his limb free, snapping the enchanted roots apart. Without wasting time, he dashed away at full speed.

Yet at the exact same moment, the crimson veil clouding his vision faded, leaving him weaker... and painfully slower. Noticing that, Jaz threw back his head and unleashed a deafening Taunt. The sound plunged into Seth's ears, and the mental force seized control of his body, forcing him to turn and face the Guardian. Pure instinct took over, and Seth dropped his Distortion Rod for a split second to activate both his Unshackled and Swift Eagle Bracelets.

Silver light flashed across his wrist, and the compulsion broke in his mind while aether rushed through his legs. But one of the imperial soldiers had been waiting for the distortion field to disappear. Before Seth could reactivate his rod, the man crushed an Instant spell-scroll. Brilliant runes flared through the rain, and chains of aether erupted forward, whipping through the forest to coil around Seth's torso. Seth cursed and reactivated the Distortion Rod to prevent any other scrolls from being used.

Then exploded into a full sprint for a third time, drawing another surge of aether from Colossus to cast Huntbound Overflow. The invisible chains tugged at his body and fought every stride, dragging at his arms and legs like anchors. Even so, Huntbound Overflow kept Seth's Agility high enough that he still outran every imperial soldier. Every soldier except Jaz. The giant Guardian stayed alarmingly close despite having a class that should be slow.

Every damn time the man cast some kind of defensive spell like a barrier, he somehow grew even faster. His massive frame moved with impossible grace, darting across the forest with a pace that defied all logic. What the hell is that? Some kind of passive? Seth drove his own body to its limit while following Nightmare, who ran up ahead. The two of them wove between trees, vaulted over roots, and darted through the shadows, desperately trying to widen the gap.

Seth's overworked muscles screamed in protest, and every bone in his body ached from the aftermath of Beastmaster Rage. The exhaustion had hit him like a hammer, leaving him feeling frighteningly weak. Seth risked a glance over his shoulder through the curtain of rain. The group pursuing him had thinned considerably. Jaz was now only accompanied by a tight strike team of five soldiers.

'Should we turn around and kill them?' Nightmare asked, glancing over his shoulder.

'It isn't worth the risk right now,' Seth replied through Link.' We've already accomplished what we wanted.' Before they could disappear into the dense thickets, Jaz unleashed yet another war cry from somewhere behind them. A concussive wave of dense aether tore through the rain and crashed into Seth's back. This spell forced him to a standstill, causing his boots to carve furrows through the mud.

"Shit," Seth muttered. Jaz burst from the undergrowth with the five soldiers. Weapons cloaked in aether, they spread out and surrounded the small clearing, which cut off every avenue of escape. Seth clenched his fists as his core flared with renewed heat in his chest. Fine. Let's fight.