Chương 305: Phantom Siege

Luke and Evangeline moved slowly toward the gate, every step deliberate. Crouched among thick undergrowth and twisted roots, they watched the barrier ahead. It wasn't a wall of stone but a colossal curtain of pure energy rising from the ground and vanishing into the sky. Its surface shimmered like water under intense heat, reflecting only the forest around it in warped, unnatural patterns.

Tree trunks stretched and bent, branches multiplied, and shadows fractured into impossible shapes, turning the scene into a broken mosaic. It was a living arcane mirror, an unstable mirage that hid whatever lay beyond and returned only an alien echo of the woods in front of it. Both were experts in stealth. This wasn't their first infiltration, and their silent hand signs were enough to coordinate movements. The gate was the only passage into the Wild Zone. Luke leaned closer to her.

"Before you shift into shadow and slip through, do exactly what I told you," he whispered. He had already slipped his soul into the raven Jerry, his mind anchored deep inside the bird's body. The connection felt cold and metallic, each heartbeat revealing more of its hidden limits. He'd just learned something new: the target had to be on the ground or at least within reach of the spectral cat that served as his conduit.

That was why Evangeline had coaxed Jerry down to land, letting Luke's feline spirit flow completely into the winged body. With a snap of wings, Jerry crossed the gate. The world flipped. Looking from above is always strange, Luke thought. The raven soared over the military encampment on the other side. Tents dotted the dark earth like pale smudges; fire pits were nothing but gray circles of ash. No movement. No voices. Only wind.

"The others are keeping an eye on Ronan," Evangeline said, catching his fixed stare.

"If he tries anything, we grab the bastard." They didn't need to say the obvious. Everyone was suspicious of Ronan now. Through Jerry's eyes, Luke swept every corner. The camp was deserted, not just empty, but dead. The fires long out, the tents untouched, and bodies scattered across the ground. Not soldiers. Not survivors. Zombies. The corpses lay in positions too deliberate, as if placed there by someone.

Luke held his breath and narrowed his eyes, memorizing every detail: tents neatly pitched, makeshift corridors, stacks of untouched supplies. It was as if the people had vanished without a fight. After several minutes, the vision flickered and went dark. The raven had flown too far; the link snapped.

"Completely empty," Luke muttered.

"The bodies are zombies." Evangeline frowned, still intrigued by his skill even though she'd already worked out the basics.

"If they killed the zombies, maybe they stored the soldiers' bodies somewhere."

"Could be," Luke said, still piecing it together.

"But there's no sign of a battle. Everything's too neat."

"Assassins?" she asked. Luke considered it.

"No residual magic. No fireballs. No impact craters. Weird. When we left, the camp was full. Now there's not a single trace of combat." They couldn't wait any longer. Time was against them, and each passing minute made the wrongness of it all sink deeper. They needed to get back to Second Fortress and warn the others.

"Bartholomew finally made his move," Luke said, eyes still fixed on the barrier. Neither of them was naïve enough to think the king of Bastion would sit quietly. From the start, they'd refused outside help on their journey to the capital. They trusted only the Haven's members. Bringing more people meant leaving the fortress exposed. Without its strongest defenders, the place was already vulnerable. Marching off with a squad of fighters would only make it worse. They'd accepted Ronan for one reason: strategy.

He commanded Bartholomew's soldiers in the new safe zone and, more importantly, he was the fourth-strongest in Bastion. Better to keep him under direct watch than loose in the wild.

"Let's report back," Evangeline said. As they moved, Luke opened his system interface. His ranked skill burned 250 points per activation, draining one per second to maintain. His epic class skill demanded twice that: 500 to activate and five per second to keep running. Managing his resources would be everything, and he silently thanked himself for dumping so many points into mana. He checked his bar.

[Mana Points (MP): 4239/5100] The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

The group moved through the camp in silence. Every tent was checked with deliberate care, as if some hidden trap might be waiting inside the shadows. Wind tugged at the empty canvas, making the fabric creak softly.

"No shadow seems artificial," Evangeline murmured, activating her Shadow Sensor.

"Too many trees ahead," Eleanor said, bow at the ready.

"We should watch for archers." The scene was unnerving, abandoned tents, undead corpses scattered in uneven rows, no sign of the soldiers. A closer look at the bodies confirmed they were the standard forest zombies. Someone had hunted them down and stacked them here, recently.

"These corpses were dumped not long ago," Jack noted.

"Someone's been clearing the perimeter." Luke kept splitting his focus between the ground and Jerry's flight path. The raven circled above the forest, but the thick canopy killed his line of sight. He didn't dare send it lower. Unknown terrain was an open invitation for traps.

"Nothing yet," he whispered to Evangeline.

"Something's wrong. That's a fact," Allison said.

"We'll finish here, patch the gate back up, and head for the fortress."

"I could have Jerry take a message that we're on our way," Evangeline offered.

"Bad idea," Mason cut in.

"Might give away our position." Every choice felt like a gamble. Then Luke froze. Through Jerry's eyes, a faint movement stirred between the trees. A single shape slipped through the undergrowth, slow and deliberate.

"Someone's coming," he warned. Jerry beat its wings and swung back toward Evangeline to report. Eleanor lifted her bow, her hawk-like sight narrowing on the trees. Beside her, Evangeline framed her fingers like binoculars, magic sparking as she activated her long-range vision.

"One person," Eleanor murmured.

"It's Eric." Eric. Luke dragged the name from memory, Ronan's vice-captain. He'd memorized Bastion's key players and this one wasn't just a grunt. The soldier emerged from the tree line, stopping at a cautious distance. The silence weighed so heavy each footstep seemed to echo.

"Eric," Ronan called, his voice steady.

"Update me. There should've been a team here training and guarding the barrier." Eric's eyes narrowed, measuring them all.

"You actually survived," he said at last.

"You went in and came back. Though you're missing someone." He meant Charlie. Right now, she was hidden inside Luke's soul.

"I assume she's dead," Eric went on, tone flat but almost polite.

"Since you haven't left that place since crossing the barrier. Or maybe she stayed behind." Ronan took a step forward. Eleanor shifted closer, her body tense.

"Eric…" she whispered to the group.

"Official profession: trap specialist." That warning made everyone glance around again. Evangeline tightened her focus, sweeping the shadows.

"No artificial shadow," she muttered. At least Bartholomew's assassins weren't right on top of them. Not yet.

"Where's the camp's personnel?" Ronan pressed. Eleanor already had an arrow drawn. Luke twirled his kukris between his fingers, ready to lunge. Eric's stance, the careful distance, the measured tone, everything about him was rehearsed.

"I dismissed them," Eric said calmly.

"Took some effort to lure everyone out, but it worked. I'm giving you one last chance, Ronan." The silence that followed felt like a solid wall pressing in. Every muscle in the group tightened. Eric tilted his head slightly, a gesture that almost passed for courteous.

"You're my friend," he continued.

"We've saved each other more than once. But we both know what activating the third mechanism means. Empty your inventory and walk toward me, and I'll still call you an ally. If not, I'll count you among them." Luke scanned the area again, eyes and raven sweeping the treeline. Trees unmoving. Grass undisturbed. No human trace.

"Don't tell me you're trying to sabotage progress the way Bartholomew did," Ronan said, his voice hardening.

"Sabotage? No. I intend to end progress," Eric replied. His tone was steady, almost like a lecture.

"Me and others who agree with me, including the ones in your safe zone right now. Thanks for the new fortress." The words landed like stones.

"What did you do to our fortress?" Allison demanded. Eric didn't answer right away. His eyes flickered with a strange mix of guilt and conviction.

"You're dragging us all toward death," he said at last.

"We just stopped it. I barely survived the ant swarm. Do you really think we'd survive an army of Midnight Wardens?"

"I've got him in my sights," Eleanor whispered, the bowstring tight against her fingers. Time stretched thin, like a wire about to snap.

"It's over, Ronan," Eric said suddenly. With a sharp flick of his arm, dozens of small black spheres appeared in his hands and shot toward the group. The moment they hit the ground, they erupted into thick, rolling smoke.

"Now!" Mason yelled, but Jack had already thrown up a protective dome. An orange flash burst inside the haze, followed by a wave of heat. Moments later, arrows whistled through the fog and streaks of energy slammed into the magical barrier. Each impact made the shield quiver.

"A coordinated attack!" Mason roared, blades snapping open in his hands. Cracks spiderwebbed across Jack's barrier, glowing like glass on the verge of shattering.

"Where did all these people come from?" Allison asked, eyes darting through the smoke for targets. Through Jerry, Luke saw beyond the veil. In the patches where the smoke hadn't reached, the ground itself was shifting. Squares of grass lifted like trapdoors, and one by one, fighters climbed out of the earth, armed, poised, ready. It was an ambush laid well in advance.

"We're surrounded! They planned this!" Luke shouted. More spells hammered the barrier, each blast tearing away chunks of shimmering protection.

"They even figured out how to counter the raven!" Luke managed to say, straining to hold the mental link. But it was already too late. A massive explosion shook the field, swallowing sound, smoke, and light all at once.