Chapter 83: Wrong Flower

Borus planted himself in front of the others the moment the Twinkle Twinkle Bear broke through the trees, lowering his center of gravity and bringing his weapon across his body. Jaxir watched from high above as the huge man took the charge head-on, and for half a second he almost believed the rookie might actually stop it.

The bear lowered its shoulder and hit him hard enough to lift both of Borus’s feet from the ground.

Kaina and Luka attacked from either side before Borus could be thrown away, while Sejan raised his staff and poured healing mana into the tank’s back. Borus landed several meters behind them, dug his feet into the soil and somehow stayed upright, but the red chunk missing from his HP made it obvious that he wouldn’t survive many more of those.

"What the hell is this thing?" Luka moved aside as Rovan’s spear stabbed through the space her head had occupied. "Why is there an NPC riding a bear?"

"Not an NPC." Kaina’s expression had changed the moment she got a clear look at Rovan’s tattoos. "Natural Race."

Sejan looked over sharply before turning back toward Borus. "You’re sure?"

"Look at the markings." Kaina retreated as a lance of Twinkle Mana tore through the ground between them. "I’ve seen them before."

Jaxir’s brow furrowed from above while he remained hidden inside his sphere, the information immediately catching his attention. He had assumed Rovan was some strange tribal NPC tied to the Twinkle Twinkle Bear King, but apparently there was considerably more to the bastard than that.

Borus roared and charged back in before the bear could build momentum again, slamming both hands into its head and forcing it aside just enough to keep it from reaching Kaina. The bear barely seemed bothered, twisting its neck before smashing him with one paw and sending him skidding across the forest floor.

"They’re one of the Races in Divinity," Kaina continued while moving. "Humanoid, but their mana stores and control are supposed to be ridiculous compared to most others."

"Supposed to be?" Marti ducked beneath another beam before looking toward the shallow hole Jaxir’s earlier Cast had left behind. His expression had been darkening ever since the fight started. "That Cast came from him."

Kaina glanced his way. "Marti."

"That was Jaxir." Marti pointed toward the mark in the ground. "I’d recognize that weak shit anywhere."

Jaxir’s lip twitched from his branch. Somebody sure was salty, huh?

Rovan thrust his spear again, forcing the entire group apart as a twisting beam ripped between them and carved through two trees behind Luka. The moment their formation broke, the bear charged Borus again and caught him before Sejan could finish another heal.

Borus braced, but this time his knees buckled on impact.

His body folded around the bear’s shoulder and disappeared beneath it for a moment before being thrown back out the other side. Sejan’s healing light reached him half a second too late, and Borus vanished into motes before his body even finished rolling.

"Borus!" Luka stumbled backward, while Kaina immediately grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the bear.

"He’s dead. Move."

Marti wasn’t listening.

His eyes kept searching the trees, and Jaxir could almost see the thought settling deeper into his head with every passing second. If Jaxir had fired that Cast, then he was somewhere nearby, and apparently getting killed once already hadn’t done much to teach Marti patience.

"He’s using us." Marti’s grip tightened around his blade. "That bastard led this thing straight into us."

"Probably," Kaina snapped. "Which is why we’re leaving."

Marti turned toward the direction Jaxir’s Cast had come from. "I’m not letting him do this again."

"Marti, retreat."

He ran anyway.

Jaxir watched the teenager sprint beneath his branch and almost laughed when he realized Marti still had no idea how close he was. The temptation to drop a Cast onto the back of his head was strong, but Rovan solved the problem first.

The tribal warrior twisted in the saddle and drove his spear toward Marti without even turning the bear.

A narrow beam flashed across the forest.

Marti managed half a step before the Twinkle Mana punched through his chest and continued into the trees behind him. His body staggered forward on momentum, then broke apart into motes while his blade bounced once against the dirt.

Kaina stared after him for a fraction of a second. "Idiot."

"That’s twice now," Luka muttered, retreating beside her.

Jaxir grinned.

That made two of them.

The bear roared and started forward again, but Sejan stepped between Kaina and Luka before it could gain speed. He pulled something from inside his robes, a thin silver plate covered in tiny geometric markings, and Jaxir immediately leaned forward to get a better look.

"How long?" Kaina asked.

"Not long enough." Sejan pressed both thumbs into the center of the plate until it cracked. "So start running."

Silver light exploded outward.

Lines shot through the forest around Rovan and the bear, joining into a transparent enclosure that snapped shut from every direction at once. The bear crashed against one wall and made the entire structure tremble, while Rovan’s spear followed with enough force that cracks spread through the light immediately.

Luka didn’t need another warning.

She turned and ran with Kaina beside her, while Sejan followed several steps behind and kept glancing over his shoulder. Rovan attacked the enclosure again, and another web of cracks spread across its surface.

Jaxir remained where he was, trying to stop himself from laughing.

"Why the hell are Natural Race people even here?" Luka shouted while they fled. "Aren’t they supposed to be some late-game thing?"

"They show up wherever they want." Kaina jumped over a fallen tree without slowing. "Most players think they’re connected to some future game-wide event, but nobody knows what the hell it’s supposed to be."

Sejan glanced back at the barrier. "So far, all they really do is ruin people who interfere with whatever they think the natural balance should be."

Jaxir’s smile slowly faded. That sounded familiar.

"They target boss killers?" Luka asked.

"Top-level beasts, rare creatures, certain resources." Sejan pushed his goggles back into place as he ran. "Anything they decide matters enough."

Kaina’s expression tightened. "And once they mark someone, they don’t stop until they get the kill."

Jaxir frowned.

The silver enclosure cracked again in the distance.

Sejan looked toward it before adding, "Nilan Jana got targeted by them two years ago."

Luka nearly stumbled. "The Nilan Jana?"

"Former seventeenth in the world." Kaina nodded. "They killed her back to Level 0 until she gave up and reset the account."

"What did she even do?"

Sejan’s mouth tightened. "Picked the wrong flower."

Jaxir stared down at them as they disappeared farther into the forest.

Apparently killing the Twinkle Twinkle Bear King had bought him considerably more trouble than he thought.

The barrier shattered behind them with a deafening crack.

Jaxir didn’t wait around to see how angry Rovan was. He pushed away from the branch and shot through the canopy, maintaining the warped sphere around himself as he moved from tree to tree. Far behind him, the Twinkle Twinkle Bear released a furious roar, and Rovan’s voice followed it through the forest as Jaxir disappeared in the opposite direction.