B3 - Chapter 36: Rescue

Seth dashed forward and met the closest imperial Warrior head-on. The man's blade came down, wrapped in crackling lightning, but Seth deflected the electrified strike and countered with a brutal horizontal slash.

Dusk Scythes shrieked through reinforced mail, the shadow blade tearing into steel and flesh alike. Hot blood sprayed across the moss as the Warrior stumbled backward, chest mangled.

The unit leader reacted immediately.

He slammed his shield against his breastplate and unleashed a booming taunt. The unnatural shockwave plunged into Seth's ears, dragging at his body and demanding his attention.

Without missing a beat, Seth channeled aether into Night Veil. Thick black fog surged out of him and swallowed the clearing in an impenetrable gloom while he cast Intermediate Identify on the captain through the haze.

"Sweep away that smoke!" Varos roared, lunging toward Seth.

One of the soldiers dropped the unit's distortion field and reached for an Instant-Spell scroll.

Seth smiled.

He activated Morsh's Unshackled Bracelet, and ethereal chains materialized around his torso before snapping apart with a sharp metallic crack. In the same motion, Seth poured aether into the Swift Eagle Bracelet.

He crossed the clearing in a flash of speed and charged at the only other imperial soldier aside from Varos who wasn't under Colossus's taunt. Seth ducked under a frantic swing and drove Dusk Scythes through the gap in the man's leather armor. The shadow blade slid cleanly between his ribs.

A sudden blast of compressed wind erupted through the battlefield and tore Night Veil apart in a widening circle. Seth activated his Distortion Rod, and the rippling aether surged outward before the Empire could use any other Instant-Spell scrolls.

Across the battlefield, Colossus held the line alone against the five other soldiers. Deathcoil Venom dripped from his three stingers in sizzling strands as they lashed outward again and again, draining Toughness from anyone they pierced.

Imperial blades struck relentlessly at the scorpion's body, chunks of Quartz Armor shattering away under the blows. But Lumi darted around him in streaks of blue light, tiny paws glowing each time she poured healing aether into the cracks and wounds forming beneath the brown shell.

Varos charged toward Seth with his shield raised, roaring as he closed the distance. Seth ignored him completely and instead darted sideways to pounce on another Warrior still tangled under Chitinous Taunt, the man too focused on Colossus to react in time.

Dusk Scythes slit open the man's throat.

Seth pivoted smoothly out of the kill and slashed the nearest soldier across the chest in the same motion, blood spraying across the forest's floor.

Only four soldiers, aside from Varos, remained standing.

As the influence of Chitinous Taunt finally began to fade, Colossus gathered aether deep within his massive frame, preparing Explosive Bastion. The instant the compulsion lifted, two soldiers spun toward Seth with desperate fury.

One unleashed a deafening battle cry that boomed out of his throat, while the other carved a whistling crescent of wind from the edge of his sword.

Seth responded by manifesting Sandstorm Dome through Share. The swirling barrier of grit erupted around him, swallowing both the sonic shockwave and the wind blade before either could reach him.

Then he burst through the falling sand.

The sword-wielding woman tried to stop his attack, yet she couldn't keep up with his absurd speed—Dusk Scythes hummed through the air and opened the soldier from shoulder to hip right before the shadow blades dissipated.

Not missing a beat, Seth transitioned seamlessly into Armored Phantom Fists to continue the onslaught. Teal skeletal arms formed around his gauntlets as he crashed into the remaining imperials. In a storm of parries and counters, he deflected Captain Varos' spear thrust, slipped beneath a Warrior's blade, and drove a brutal punch into the latter's ribs. The armor protecting his chest folded on itself.

Nearby, the two other soldiers desperately hacked at Colossus's stone-plated body, trying to break through the scorpion's defenses before Explosive Bastion finished activating.

Flames sparked to life and wind gathered around their weapons as they charged what seemed to be their strongest spells.

Seth dodged another lunge from Varos and dashed past him to unleash Aura of Insatiable Hunger.

The air around him collapsed inward like a starving void. The forming spells from the two other soldiers unraveled, dissolving into streams of raw aether before they could fully manifest. Fire vanished, and wind broke apart.

The stolen energy flooded Seth's Well and restored its full capacity in seconds, then the excess energy surged through Link to pour into Colossus and replenish his reserves as well.

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To the empire soldiers' horror, the aetheric pressure building around Colossus finally reached its breaking point.

Explosive Bastion detonated outward in a devastating shockwave. The concussive blast slammed into the remaining soldiers and hurled them through the clearing like broken dolls. Bodies crashed against trunks with the sickening cracks of both splintered wood and shattered bone.

Seth used the opportunity to strike.

He pounced on the nearest dazed soldier and drove an Armored Phantom Fist straight into the woman's skull. The teal-wreathed blow crushed bone on impact before Seth spun fluidly into another strike, silencing a second soldier before he could even rise.

Varos staggered back to his feet with a desperate roar and lashed out with his spear in a frantic sweeping arc. Even with Seth's monstrous Agility and sharpened instincts, the spearhead still found its mark and hit his side.

But with Desert Aegis and Morsh's reinforced armor, all the strike left was a shallow cut across his ribs. Before even the first drop of blood could fall, Lumi flared with soft blue light above, and her healing weave sealed the wound.

Varos turned toward his remaining men, terror finally winning the internal war within him.

"Kill that healer beast, for the gods' sake—"

The words died in his throat.

The man looked around and realized he was the only one still standing.

The last two survivors writhed on the forest floor in agony, too broken to rise. As fear spread on the man's face, Colossus lunged forward, his massive pincers leading the way. Seth dashed in alongside the scorpion, and in the span of a few heartbeats, they dispatched all three of the soldiers and completed the one-sided slaughter.

Seth moved through the scattered corpses, stripping the remaining Instant-Spell scrolls from pouches before storing them inside his own velvet bag.

Carrying multiple pouches through the forest would only slow him down, so he gathered the discarded gear into a concealed cache beneath tangled roots and fallen branches. If all went well, he could return for it during the thirty-minute window granted by the Spirit before the final extraction at the end of the battle.

Once he finished, Seth cast Intermediate Identify on Lumi.

She gained a Rank, Seth realized, going through the otter's attributes.

"You did great, Lumi," he said.

The Luminous Otter let out a proud chirp for an answer before floating back toward Colossus. She circled the giant scorpion, her glowing eyes inspecting every inch of his hazel shell to make sure no hidden cracks or lingering wounds remained.

Once that was done, Seth recalled both Colossus and Lumi into the scorpion's teardrop. Through Link, he could feel that Nightmare had nearly finished absorbing the Iron Seed. Without wasting time, Seth turned toward the direction of the second stronghold and dashed back into the forest.

Hopefully he'll be done before I get there, he thought.

As he moved through the dense cover of tress, Seth replenished his artifacts with aether, making sure the Swift Eagle Bracelet, Unshackled Bracelet, Distortion Rod, and Fine Storing Ring were all filled to capacity.

While maintaining his pace, he cast Intermediate Identify on himself again and focused on Aura of Insatiable Hunger.

The description remained vague, but it hinted that a similar spell already existed within the Oracle Guild's records.

I probably created a Unique variation by giving the excess aether to Colossus and Nightmare once my Well filled up, Seth thought.

The cooldown still appeared as a string of question marks, but the fluctuating ache left behind in the grooves after each use had given Seth a rough understanding of the limitation. The recovery time seemed tied directly to the amount of aether consumed.

When he had unleashed the singularity against Morsh, the strain had lingered for nearly three hours. During the smaller clashes afterward, however, it had faded in less than thirty minutes.

It should be ready again by the time I reach the stronghold.

Seth had been running through the forest for nearly fifteen minutes when the world ahead opened up to a devastating sight.

Ashes. Everywhere.

The lush green canopy had vanished, replaced by a scorched wasteland stretching across the horizon. Trees stood as blackened husks or had been reduced to smoldering stumps by some powerful spells or artifacts.

The Empire had made sure Kastal soldiers had nowhere to hide.

Shit.

Seth accelerated, tearing across the burned ground toward where the second stronghold should be.

He found only ruins.

Charred barricades had collapsed inward like broken skeletons. Black smoke still curled from the remains, and the earth radiated a suffocating heat beneath his boots. He couldn't hear any voices or see any movement—nothing but silence and the smell of ash and burned flesh.

His jaw tightened hard enough to make his teeth ache. For a brief second, Seth simply stood in the ruins, staring at the burned remains while a cold knot slowly formed in his chest.

Then he turned and sprinted to the third fallback position.

Faster.

Faster than before.

The forest blurred around him as his mind raced ahead of his body. Henry would have pulled most of their people out in time. Selena wouldn't have let herself get cornered. Eddin would never have let the retreat fail completely.

But the farther he ran, the worse the fear became.

Ten minutes later, Seth broke through the final stretch of burned timber—and his stomach sank.

The third stronghold was gone too.

The entire area had been flattened and consumed by fire, miles of timber reduced to black ruin beneath a haze of drifting smoke.

'Seth…' Colossus’ voice echoed through Link. 'Does that mean Selena and the others are dead?'

It was the first time the scorpion had used Selena’s name, and somehow that made the question hit even harder. The air in Seth’s lungs suddenly felt heavy as lead.

'I don’t know,' Seth answered mentally, his voice rough and low.

He wanted to offer Colossus reassurance, some shred of hope—yet the silence stretching across the scorched forest gave him nothing to hold onto.

A cold anger began rising in his chest. Sharp. Suffocating. It vibrated against his core and stirred the restless aether chained next to it.

Then he noticed a thin trail of black smoke curling into the sky off to the left.

Seth broke into a sprint.

He had barely taken a few dozen strides when a familiar ripple brushed against his skin. A distortion field. The interference crawled over his flesh and sent a prickling sensation down his spine.

The Empire was still maintaining the distortion field. Which meant they were still hunting people.

Relief and urgency crashed through Seth at once. He poured aether into Huntbound Overflow and launched himself forward. Burned trees blurred past on either side once again as he tore across the ruined forest, his heart hammering his ribs like a trapped beast.

Moments later, he burst into another clearing.

People.

Two Rogues from Seth's squad—Elian and Byran—were sprinting desperately across the ash-covered ground while three imperial soldiers were closing in behind them. Two of the soldiers wielded jagged daggers, while the third charged with a longsword toward the fleeing men.

“Kill those rats before they reach the edge of the field!” the soldier roared while aether flared along his blade.

Seth didn’t hesitate and used the still-active Huntbound Overflow to launch him forward like a released arrow while Dusk Scythes manifested along his arms in jagged streams of shadow.

One of the imperial Rogues lunged for the kill, dagger aimed at Elian’s throat.

Seth switched Share's connection from Sandstorm Dome to Shadow Step and dissolved into gray mist to reappear directly in front of the attacker.

Steel rang sharply as Seth intercepted the dagger before countering with a vicious flurry of slashes.

The Rogue barely managed to parry the first two strikes, panic flashing across his face, yet the third cut open part of his chest and sent blood spraying across the burned earth.

The remaining two imperial soldiers rushed in to support their bleeding ally.

'Should I come out?' Colossus asked through Link, nervously clicking his mandible in his teardrop.

'No,' Seth answered. 'If the distortion field stays active, you’ll be trapped outside the necklace.'

Seth lunged again, ducking beneath the Warrior’s sweeping blade to finish off the wounded Rogue—

Then he caught movement deeper within the scorched forest.

Two other imperial soldiers and a Nightfall Panther were chasing a red-haired woman.

Selena.

Seth’s eyes snapped toward Elian and Kael scrambling behind him, then back toward the pair of charging soldiers.

Shit.

He couldn’t protect the Rogues and Selena at the same time.

'I’ve got it,' Nightmare said through Link. The direwolf’s voice carried a new depth.

A shadowy form surged out of Seth's necklace and tore across the scorched forest toward Selena. At first, he didn’t even recognize Nightmare.

The direwolf had become leaner than before, his frame no longer built around muscle alone. Yet the aura radiating from him was far more terrifying. His dark fur blurred unnaturally as he ran, leaving behind afterimages that twisted through the air like living shadows.

The world seemed to darken, and for a moment, the colossal head of a spectral direwolf appeared above Nightmare and glared down at the soldiers and the panther pursuing Selena.

It then dissolved and spread outward into a suffocating wave of aether.

The air itself seemed to recoil. Darkness spread across the burned ground, and every sound in the clearing dulled beneath the oppressive aura.

The imperial soldiers and their contracted beast all froze mid-step. Their faces drained of color as primal terror seized them. One man’s sword slipped from numb fingers, and the other staggered backward, eyes wide with pure instinctive fear. The panther lowered itself toward the ground with a frightened growl, muscles locked beneath the crushing pressure of the aura.

None of them were able to resist the spell.

Seth’s own breath hitched. His companion had definitely risen beyond a simple Tenebrous Direwolf.