30. Fleeting Torchlight

After the final torch had dimmed, darkness swallowed the entire forest. Nathanial’s breath caught in his throat as the fleeting embers vanished from Fredrick’s palm. One second, the faint dancing firelight had illuminated the woods. Next, the world had returned to a sea of black silhouettes and rain-soaked branches.

It was us versus them.

That’s what Nathanial told himself as he held onto the cold iron hilt, his fingers wrapped around it. The faint shimmer of aura remained, and everyone was preparing for their final move. Just one word, and it would all begin.

John held his iron halberd out with the blade pointed to the ground and the shaft pressed against his back. An azure aura like that of flames enveloped his body, and with a single word, everything sprang into action.

“Move,” he ordered, and with that command, the watchman vanished first.

Nathanial barely caught the shifting of their cloaks before the men disappeared into the trees like ghosts slipping through smoke. Even with Aura Detection active, their presence distorted for a moment before he could no longer tell where they were.

He felt a drop of sweat drip down his chin and hit the bottom of his helm.

Luka stepped beside Nathanial and pointed ahead. “Remember, stay close. Don’t chase enemies and don’t break formation. If someone falls, the nearest two drag them back up and keep moving. We’ll do our best to clear the way, but against those numbers you’ll have to carve out your share.”

Fredrick gulped. “Somehow, that reassuring tone only makes it worse.”

“It’s a good thing you’re scared; that’ll make you run faster.”

Luka patted the man on the shoulder with a light chuckle, then he disappeared into the dark as well without so much as a whisper.

The rain dripped steadily from Nathanial’s iron visor. Ahead, hundreds of meters through the dense forest, dozens of faint torchlights flickered between the trees.

That was the outer net, lined with the Empire’s patrols desperately searching for any stragglers in the area. The final wall standing between them and escape.

“Forward,” Nathanial said.

The patrolmen moved as one. Mud sucked at their boots as they advanced through the undergrowth. No one spoke now. If the Empire was as careless as they had expected, then they wouldn’t expect them to break through the outer net.

Percy kept glancing nervously into the darkness while Richard scanned the trees with a tense glare beneath his helmet.

The men sprinted forward, and Nathanial focused his hearing again with aura, instantly regretting his choice. Everywhere around them was a battle. Metal scraped against metal. Short, muffled screams vanished as quickly as they appeared. Branches cracked beneath the songs of battle, and aura surged.

Somewhere to the left, the land violently exploded outward before falling silent again. The watchmen were fighting. They had been fighting this entire time, yet none of the Empire’s forces had reached the patrolmen. Not a single one.

Nathanial’s chest tightened, but he continued running until a faint whistle suddenly pierced through the rain.

“DOWN!” Richard roared.

Nathanial immediately threw himself sideways as black arrows ripped through the air. One patrolman released a blood-curdling scream. The man collapsed backward with the arrow lodged clean through his throat. Blood sprayed across the wet leaves as the man convulsed violently.

Nathanial’s senses snapped into place. He shouted at the men. “SHIELDS!”

The patrolmen raised their iron kite shields just as more arrows slammed into them with enough force to rattle their bones. Torchlight closed in on them. Yet, none of them panicked. They continued forward as figures burst through the forest.

Men in obsidian cloaks emerged only for the watchmen to clash head-on against their forces. But not all of them could be stopped. Nathanial’s aura surged instantly as the nearest scout lunged at him. He barely blocked the strike as their blades clashed. Azure and crimson auras danced like fireflies before Nathanial drove his shoulder forward and smashed into the man’s chest.

The scout stumbled backward into the mud, and Nathanial’s sword flashed downward in a tight arc, drawing a line of crimson as the body collapsed.

More enemies rushed between the trees, and voices roared from all around them.

“Keep moving!” Richard shouted. “Don’t let them pin you down!”

The patrol formation pushed forward through the chaos while the Empire’s scouts attacked from both sides. Nathanial barely parried another strike and kicked a soldier into a tree before Fredrick buried his blade into the man’s neck like he was chopping a tree with an axe.

Nathanial heard the screams of the battle swallow the forest whole. But then, a blur moved overhead. One that he barely noticed.

A single watchman landed directly inside the Empire’s formation, surrounded by at least twenty men aiming their blades at his throat. Aura exploded outward, and the halberd in his hand spun a wide crescent arc. The watchman’s aura instantly threw back three men, shattering the ground.

And those who withstood the pressure fell where they stood. Nathanial’s eyelids snapped open. Strength wasn’t the only reason behind John’s attack. It was sheer efficiency, with every movement carrying a purpose and no wasted motion.

Just like that, the watchman’s figure disappeared again before the remaining Empire soldiers could retaliate.

“What the hell…” Fredrick mumbled.

“MOVE!” Luka yelled from somewhere far ahead.

Nathanial forced himself forward again, running past the fallen bodies as the forest descended further into madness. Blood dyed the ground before them, painting a scarlet carpet as if inviting them to a banquet of carnage.

The patrolmen hacked desperately through the isolated enemies while the watchmen struck like cavalry, their hit-and-run tactics punching holes straight through the Empire’s defenses. Nathanial occasionally caught glimpses of vivid auras flashing through the darkness before another foe dropped dead.

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The outer net was collapsing, and for a moment, Nathanial believed it was possible. That they could escape the Empire’s encirclement.

But his hopes vanished just as quickly.

A horn echoed through the woods. A low rumble that shook the trees and bushes alike. One went off, then another, until finally dozens answered the call.

Nathanial’s stomach twisted, and the color drained from his face.

“They’re calling for reinforcements,” Richard muttered.

“A shit ton of reinforcements,” Fredrick added.

Torchlights began appearing deeper within the forest. John emerged from the darkness beside Nathanial like a ghost, his halberd dripping with blood. The man’s expression changed; the confidence long gone and instead replaced with a sternness that reflected the gravity of the situation.

“We’re going to speed up,” John ordered sharply. “Make sure your men focus on running.”

Those words alone made the hair on the back of Nathanial’s neck stand. More than the battle itself.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

John scanned the distant torchlight. “Their response time is too fast. This is different from before.”

Another horn sounded, except closer this time. Nathanial could feel the pressure as clear as day. Aura. Dozens of signatures flared throughout the forest.

The Empire wasn’t panicking anymore. Instead, their forces were organizing, and the realization struck Nathanial in an instant.

“They predicted this… the Empire knew we were going to escape…”

John didn’t answer, which was enough to confirm Nathanial’s fears.

“THEY’RE COMING FROM THE LEFT!” Fredrick screamed.