Chương 95: Interlopers

[Between Two Lives]: Time remaining: 4 days, 7 hours, 30 minutes As Jordan transitioned into the third and final [Loop], reality came knocking again and loudly at that. He had about four and a half days left on his deathtouch countdown. If he had any hope of resolving the [Loops] and returning to the mortal realm, he needed to do so before the nether realm finally and definitively claimed his soul. In other words, he had exactly four tries to get this right. The pressure was on like never before.

And in more ways than one. Because, as Jordan and Pewter stepped off from the portal, they found themselves in the middle of war. They were 'back' on that battlefield of swaying silvergrass. The one from deep inside Yellowspring Grotto that had hosted a pointless, perpetual skirmish between wisps. Except the belligerents here were wisps no longer. Instead, these were men and women in the flesh, fighting a war that very much did matter—to them, at least—because they were in it in the here and now.

Jordan had but a moment to blink in astonishment before a [Fireball] flew just inches overhead. There was no chance for him and Pewter to stop and assess the situation, not if they wanted to stay alive long enough to complete the loop." Run!" That was really the only thing they could do. In the heat of battle, neither side cared to identify a pair of interlopers in their midst. Jordan and Pewter were on neither team, and that made them enemies to both.

[Fireballs], [Lightning Bolts], [Energy Arrows], and even [Eldritch Blasts]. All the classic projectile spells of Vesselia, turning the Leafeller landscape into a Call of Duty map. Until this moment, not even Jordan the veteran player had appreciated just how scary magic could be when deployed at such scale and with such lethal intent. It all proved to be too much. Too overwhelming for a couple of transplants utterly unprepared for the volume and intensity of wartime magic.

A [Greater Fireball] collided with a [Greater Lightning Bolt] right in front of the running duo. The ensuing explosion sent them flying, [Stun]-ing both and covering them in debris. Jordan tried to get up, but to no avail. He knew that to stop in the middle of a battlefield was a death sentence. He never got to put that knowledge to the test, because his world mercifully turned black before more violence could rain down on the Gym Rats.

[Between Two Lives]: Time remaining: 3 days, 7 hours, 30 minutes Jordan had lasted barely a minute in the previous attempt. And already, he was down to his last three tries. At this point, he would have welcomed Antiquity's [Time]-altering magic. The Gym Rats ran, because that was still the only thing they could do. They ran like their lives depended on it because they really did. Survival DC 16: success And perhaps that extra bit of intensity from the get-go—that extra desperation—was enough to appease the gods.

For the Gym Rats did manage to run through the battlefield more or less intact, thanks in large part to Jordan bull-rushing a path for Pewter to follow. Oh, he did get hit a few times, because how could he not? And he didn't fight back, because how could he? Not for the first time, he thanked his ridiculously overtuned HP total for keeping him alive against impossible odds—for letting him be the human shield to protect the much squishier Pewter.

After minutes that felt like hours, they made it past the battlefield and into the adjoining woods. Things were starting to look even more familiar. The exact path the party had traveled before meeting Shaza Padma and being embroiled in a trifecta of [Time Loops]." Okay, I think I'm starting to get what this [Loop] is about," Jordan panted even as he kept running.

"We need to look for the Padma estate. Inside, I'll bet we'll find Tiena of Blacksnake Hollow, having given birth to the twins and before she sacrificed one of them to the nether realm."" That sounds about right, Jordan. But what will we do once we find Tiena and the twins?"" That, I haven't the faintest idea. At least not yet. Guess we'll just wing it when we get there, eh?" If Pewter had any questions about the meaning of the phrase 'wing it', he didn't voice them.

Tetherer and Gatekeeper ran deeper into the woods, united in purpose, murky though it might be. They didn't get very far before they met more resistance. In the form of Twig—no, human soldiers who emerged from the trees and surrounded the Gym Rats in an instant. These guys must have been from 1, 800 years ago, yet their uniforms were surprisingly modern to Jordan's eyes. In that they wore camouflage —woven vines and leafy outlines that had Jordan mistaking them for Twigmen at first glance.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. In lieu of traditional weapons, they each readied a length of rope. No, not rope. Rather a [Thorn Whip] turned into a physical item, Jordan realized with frank fascination, even as he also recalled something a god had said to him once. Pah! I've seen this trick before—a contrivance of the cowardly and underhanded. There was a Leafeller regiment during the Unification Wars known to craft throwables from monster loot.

Jordan didn't know how a [Thorn Whip] might work as a throwable, nor did he wish to find out. Before he could decide how exactly to navigate the situation, however, one of the soldiers demanded," You don't look like Wreathworn men. State your business." Wreathworn. As in Zaul Wreathworn and most probably the army he'd once led to conquer and unify all of Stormvast. Jordan shuddered all over as he reckoned with his own strange connection to the war unfolding around him.

That reaction must've looked a little suspicious, because another soldier stepped up and addressed the first:" They must be spies dressed to look like peasants. We ought to capture them and let Lord—"" We're not peasants," Jordan blurted before he could stop himself.

"We're Mountain M—uh, you know what, never mind, boss. You go on with what you were about to say." Even through the camouflage, the soldiers' appalled expressions were painfully visible. That was when Pewter jumped in, no doubt trying to rescue what Jordan had already fumbled." We're emissaries from House Soma," the Tetherer lied, leaning on all that local knowledge gleaned from a day in the library, "dressed to look like Moun— peasants, yes—to avoid detection by the Wreathworn Army.

We carry an urgent message for Lady Tiena's eyes only. We've not been informed of the contents; only that it must be delivered without delay. Will you let us through?"" Show me this message," the second soldier said, displaying no concern for Lady Tiena's privacy, "that I might be the judge of just how urgently it needs delivering."" You may certainly try, comrade," Pewter said with only the slightest quiver in his voice, "but I'm afraid you'll find the message itself rather… unaccommodating. Comrade?"

It took Jordan a hot second to twig that this second'comrade' referred to him. It was all he could do to stop himself from turning to Pewter with a shrug, like: what do you want me to do? As it stood, the latter returned his surreptitious gaze with an imploring one of his own, like: please, Jordan, you must know what I'm talking about! Insight DC 14: success It came to Jordan in a flash of understanding. Just in time before the soldiers could get even more suspicious.

He reached into his sleeve (still functional as a storage space after all that running!) to pull out…" What's this?" The second soldier snatched the wooden box—[Keepsake from Blacksnake Hollow]—and turned it over a few times. He then tried to open it, gave up after a few seconds, and handed it to his Padma compatriot. Now it was the first soldier's turn to wrestle with the magically sealed box. Except he didn't try to open it at all.

He merely studied the black snake engraving upon the lid, seeming to take special interest in it." Very well," he declared as he handed the box back to Jordan.

"But circumstances being what they are, we cannot allow you to enter the Padma estate as you are. You must therefore, comrades, forgive our rough treatment." With that ominous apology from their leader, two of the soldiers stepped up and threw the [Thorn Whips] at the Gym Rats. Whether Jordan wanted to or not, he became intimately familiar with the throwable's 'effect', which was to instantly wrap around and immobilize the targets. This was then followed by a couple of Cloudear pellets to put the Gym Rats to sleep.

The first thing Jordan checked as he woke up was the time. [Between Two Lives]: Time remaining: 3 days, 7 hours, 30 minutes A sigh of relief. The [Loop] had yet to cycle over, which meant there was still a chance for the current iteration to resolve successfully. Rather ironically, Jordan found himself in the same underground guest room he'd been carried into in the present timeline. The only difference was the utter lack of hospitality. Jordan understood, of course; wartime austerity measures and whatnot.

Oh, that and the fact Pewter had been carried in with him. The Tetherer had just woken up too and was groggily looking around the room." Yo, Pewter," Jordan said enthusiastically, feeling the much more awake of the two, "that thing you pulled off with the message and the box? Pure genius. You know, between this and your escape from the Sapling estate, I'm starting to think you might have a knack for this kind of roguery."" Th—thanks? Do you still have the box, Jordan?"" Yup.

I guess the soldiers can be reasoned with. I wonder why they had to put us to sleep though. I'm sure, if they'd let us, we would have followed them to the estate without kicking up a fuss."" This is wartime, Jordan. No one can be fully trusted, not even your allies. If you think House Padma is secretive in the Radiant Vigor Era, imagine what they were like during the Unification Wars."" Point taken. Man, seriously Pewter, where would I be without you?

First, you were my role model in the Antiquity scenario, and now—" Jordan stopped. Not because he lost interest in heaping praise on his friend, but because he heard something through the guest room's thick stone walls. The wailing of a babe, which then got louder for a second before fading again into the distance. This was followed by footsteps. Just one set, delicate yet sturdy, and perhaps unlikely to belong to a young mother who'd just given birth. The door slid open to reveal a' mother'.

But not the one the Gym Rats had been hoping to see." Good evening to you, emissaries." The old woman stood tall and proud, her cold eyes scanning the Gym Rats with equal parts curiosity and mistrust.

"I am the Handmother serving Lord Padma. I've been told that you have a message for the lady of the house?"