B3 - Chapter 28: Poison

Seth pounced at the nearest enemy, plunging both Dusk Scythes' blades into the man's back. The weapons shattered the shimmering barrier covering the soldier, then pierced through flesh and muscle with almost no resistance. The imperial soldier hit the ground before the nascent scream could even leave his throat.

Nightmare emerged in a whirl of dark smoke a split second later and used Shadow Step to teleport behind a fleeing soldier, jaws snapping shut around the man's thigh.

He crunched bone and mail without even needing the help of Gloom Fangs. With a loud snarl, the direwolf then thrashed his head, dragging the screaming man across the stones until his legs were a ruin.

Colossus surged next into the fray and cast Scorpion Charge to barrel into the heart of the frantic group and unleashed Chitinious Taunt. The aetheric pull forced five stumbling soldiers back toward his waiting stingers. Quartz Armor and Desert Aegis flashed into existence around his shell to turn him into an unbreakable anchor of stone while above the canyon erupted again.

Henry and the rest of the squad focused their fire on the outliers, picking off the soldiers who'd begun attempting to retreat toward the forest. Arrows and fireballs rained down and cleared the perimeter before the squad turned to help Seth and his beasts dispatch the other survivors.

A few seconds later, Seth slashed the last one with a brutal sweep of his blade. The man's hands were halfway raised to beg for mercy when the shadowy edge passed through his neck.

Seth looked over at the sea of cooling corpses, then his attention moved to something in the distance. A figure stood at the edge of the woods, just beyond the mouth of the rock passage.

It was an imperial soldier.

He held a glowing communication orb in his shaking hand, face contorted with pure, unadulterated fear. He stared at the pile of bodies in the gorge as if he had witnessed a bloodbath—which he had.

Seth reacted instantly and recalled Colossus and Nightmare into his teardrop necklace in a flash before bursting into a sprint. The shadow blades dissolved from his forearms and gave way to the blue light of his bow as he pulled aether from his Fine Storing Ring to fuel the cast.

The soldier spun on his heel and vanished into the thicket with a speed-boosting spell. Seth continued his chase for a dozen yards, fingers ready to summon an arrow, but he came to a skidding halt.

His Well was nearly dry, and half the reserves in his ring were already gone. He couldn't risk a pursuit, especially with the elite assassin Morsh potentially roaming around.

Seth let his bow disappear and turned back toward the canyon. The adrenaline began to recede, leaving an ache in the left side of his chest where he had been hit. As he approached, Henry stepped over a fallen shield before slamming a hand onto Seth's shoulder.

"Awesome work," he said. The squad leader surveyed the bodies strewn across the canyon floor. "That's twenty of them down before they even saw our stronghold."

"Twenty-three," Seth corrected, wiping a streak of dark blood from his cheek.

"Twenty-three?" Henry repeated with a frown as he glanced over the corpses. "I only count twenty."

"You're dimmer than I thought, Henry," Eddin called out from a nearby ledge. "He means he killed three before he brought them here."

"Ohhh," Henry said with a nod. Then, just as his head had begun turning back toward Seth, it snapped back in Eddin's direction. "Wait… what did you just call me?"

A few nearby soldiers of the squad laughed despite the blood-soaked scene around them. Eddin only shrugged.

Selena moved closer, boots crunching over shattered stone while the others began looting the enemies. Belts, pouches, weapons—anything useful was stripped from the corpses.

She stopped beside Seth. "How did you make sure they followed you this far?" she asked. "Didn't any of them think it might be a trap?"

"You need to give them a mix of confidence and anger," Seth answered. "I killed their comrades while staying just inside their reach. That made them believe they had a chance to catch me and avenge the dead. Hope can be a powerful blindfold. Still, I'm surprised it worked so easily."

"Yeah, but one of them escaped and saw the whole setup," Henry said, his gaze moving in the direction where the lone soldier had disappeared. "They're not going to fall for the same trick twice."

"No, they won't," Seth agreed. "But they won't move through these woods quickly now, either. Every rustle of leaves will make them feel as if they are being ambushed. That gives me more time to whittle them down before the real clash begins."

"Alone?" Selena's brow furrowed with concern. He knew what she was thinking.

Seth's thoughts immediately went to Morsh. The assassin was still out there, likely waiting for the perfect chance to slip a blade between his ribs. If Selena came with him, she would be both a liability and an easy target.

"That would be preferable," Seth answered at last.

"Are you sure?" Henry asked before Selena could argue, all traces of humor gone from his face. "Feels like you're taking a massive risk for little gain."

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Seth shook his head. His fingers brushed the surface of his storing ring as he began refilling its reserves. "No. You know how used I am to operating alone. I'm more efficient on my own when I don't have to worry about protecting anyone."

"If you say so," Henry replied. The squad leader didn't seem keen on arguing with a man who had just secured them twenty-three kills without a single casualty.

Seth let his gaze drift toward the dark forest, where the Empire's remaining detachments were likely regrouping. I'm going to make their lives a nightmare.

He turned back to Henry. "Do you have the poison Captain Michaelson mentioned in the briefing?"

"The aether-depriving toxin?" Henry asked before reaching for his Endless Pouch. "Yeah, three vials. Why? Are you planning to spread it through the woods and lure them into it?"

Seth shook his head, and a cold, predatory glow flashed in his eyes.

"No. I have an even better idea."

Seth crouched deep within the thicket, his body concealed by the leaves and shadow as the Warfare Rift's sun dipped below the mountain peaks.

Ahead, a small group of ten imperial soldiers had halted to make camp. Some knelt near a crackling fire, dividing rations, while others stood guard with weapons in hand. Over the past few hours, they had moved with far more caution than the arrogant vanguard from earlier.

They'd certainly learned of the slaughter at the canyon. Even while preparing to eat, they kept their backs angled toward one another, eyes darting at every snapping twig or whisper of wind.

That newfound vigilance made their progress through the forest slow, which gave Seth exactly the opportunity he needed.

Firelight cast flickering shadows across faces marked by exhaustion and growing doubt.

"I can't believe he's really as strong as the reports claimed," one soldier muttered, his thumb nervously tracing the edge of his axe.

"It's not him," a woman retorted with a defensive tone. "It's those beasts. Take those monsters away, and he's just another weak Kastalian."

"I don't think you can contract beasts like that if you're weak," a third man chimed in as he leaned against a tree trunk. "They wouldn't recognize a pushover as their master. They'd eat him before he could form a bond."

'Why are they always calling you my master,' Nightmare growled through Link.

'Don't worry about it,' Seth answered mentally. 'They're just ignorant. Like most people out there.'

"The moment he dies, the morale of every soldier in Kastal will shatter," a man sitting by the flames said. He looked at the glowing aether inside the communication orb in his palm. "You saw the Contribution Ranking. After him, there is basically no one left who can stand against us. He's the only thing that stops their troops from falling into despair."

"Yes, but we're still losing far more people than what the Empire promised," another woman added while staring into the embers, lips pressed together. "I lost two friends in less than a week. The cost is getting too high for a 'backwater' conquest."

"They've lost many more," the man with the orb snapped, standing up and dusting off his leggings. He looked around at the whole unit with a cold stare. "Stop worrying about the dead. Tomorrow, we'll reach their hideout, and we'll make sure those bastards pay for every drop of blood they've taken."

Seth watched them from the darkness, fingers tightening around the glass vial of poison. His gaze shifted to the iron pot of stew simmering above the muted campfire. Their conversation had yielded nothing useful, so it was now time to act.

He slipped back from the thicket and moved with the silent grace of a stalking predator. After circling the camp in a wide arc, he positioned himself on the side opposite his original hiding spot. Reaching into his Endless Pouch, he pulled out a simple waterskin.

He tied it to one end of a cord woven from sturdy stems, then tossed the line over a high branch and fastened a stone to the other end. He placed the waterskin on the mossy ground, and its weight kept the stone suspended in the air.

Seth poked a tiny hole in it. As water began to slowly trickle out, he disappeared into the undergrowth and returned to his earlier hiding spot.

He had barely reached into the brush when the waterskin grew light enough for the balance to fail. The stone lurched free and crashed into a bed of dry leaves below with a sharp rustle that shattered the stillness of the forest.

Every soldier in the camp snapped their head toward the sound.

"Someone's out there!" one hissed, hand rushing to the hilt of his sword.

The unit erupted into motion. Those with weapons already buckled on drew them in a flash of steel, while the others reached into their Endless Pouches to pull out bows and shields. They advanced as one, creeping forward with focus, eyes locked on the dark line of trees where the rock had fallen.

Cloaked in Illusionary Emptiness, Seth moved the moment their backs turned. He left his cover and crossed the clearing in a blur. After uncorking the vial of poison in his hand, he poured the clear liquid into the bubbling stew over the campfire. He didn't linger to watch the toxin dissolve—he was gone before the first soldier even thought about glancing back.

Minutes later, the imperial detachment trudged back into the clearing, frustration etched across their faces.

"Do you think it was just an animal?" one of the men asked as he scanned the perimeter.

"No," the group leader answered with a grunt. "Have you seen a single animal inside this Warfare Rift?"

A heavy silence fell over the group. They looked at one another, the realization sinking in.

"We change plans," the leader added. "Three people on watch at all times now."

As if that would make a difference, Seth thought.

The soldiers returned to their places and not long after began eating quickly, treating the meal as a necessity rather than a comfort. Seth watched them from within the bushes, allowing Illusionary Emptiness to fade and replenish his Well.

The poison Captain Michaelson had provided came from one of Kastal's military Alchemists. Its purpose was insidious: it drastically increased the aetheric cost of sustaining a Wielder's body.

The Wells of the soldiers would soon begin to leak, draining the reserves over the next several hours. Better yet, the effect was subtle enough that most would not notice until it was too late.

'You should have asked the old prick to make some for you,' Nightmare rumbled through Link. 'I'm certain his would have been far more powerful.'

'Probably,' Seth replied mentally, never taking his eyes off the camp. 'But the NEVAK would likely consider that interference. He doesn't hold Kastal citizenship.'

Nightmare huffed from within the teardrop necklace. 'Why do humans insist on making everything so complicated with laws and rules?'

Seth remained motionless in the thicket, occasionally sending his awareness into the necklace to check on Lumi. The tiny Luminous Otter was far from unhappy. With Colossus inside the domain beside her, she seemed to be having the time of her life, pulsing with soft golden radiance as she looped and dove through the air around the scorpion.

The night deepened and the forest air grew colder while Seth waited, looking at the fire dwindling to a dull amber glow. One by one, the soldiers surrendered to exhaustion and slumped into their bedrolls until only three remained awake for the first watch.

Seth studied their faces, searching for the first signs of the poison's work. The moment they noticed something was wrong, he would strike. Ten soldiers were certainly manageable if they had no aether left to defend themselves.

Before dawn touched the Warfare Rift, the Empire would learn to fear the dark.