Chapter 17 - The Bait, The Trap, The Horror. II
Levi felt a chill course his spine after realizing that their situation was far from a random hunting mission by a Lurker Spider Queen.
This ambush was orchestrated with either someone on the inside, or the Lurker Spider Queen must have landed on a signal jammer.
In both scenarios, it didn't look good for them.
"Keep going east, the moment we put a decent distance, we will summon our mounts and leave this place!" Shia ordered coldly, not showing an ounce of panic.
If it was up to her, she would have already summoned her eagle and at least helped the Larson Brothers get out of the forest.
Unfortunately, the summoning of totem mounts required fifteen seconds minimum while using low graded sealing totems. At the moment, they didn't even have a couple of seconds to scratch their heads.
While every single squad was trying their best to reach out to their private agencies, their families, or authorities to rescue them, Nel'Vass was seen standing at the highest point in the forest...The destroyed shaft of the wooden black umbrella.
He was crouching with his elbows placed on his knees while carrying a small silver device in his right hand.
The device was square-shaped and had a long antenna, beeping once every couple of seconds.
'How did Dra'Webra get her hands on this?' Nel'Vass wondered while toying with the device.
He had heard from his previous Lord that such devices were banned by the human race since they could do more than disrupt their towers' signals. If fallen into the wrong hands, they could be engineered to shut down electricity networks, power sources, defensive systems such as the Sun Disk, and more.
That's why those devices were halted from production many years ago and anyone found developing or in possession of one would be thrown in jail for a very long time.
'I know she is a Tier 5 powerhouse, but still...'
Nel'Vass rubbed his long goatee thoughtfully, knowing that it was extremely difficult for even high-ranked Daywalkers to get their hands on this device.
'She must have her own network within the human race.' Nel'Vass narrowed his eyes, 'Is killing that girl part of the feast or does it go much deeper?'
Soon, Nel'Vass shook his head, realizing that he was snooping into matters that might get him killed.
He returned to his main task, which was placing the signal jammer at the highest point of the forest to ensure that no one would get a connection.
After he was done, he looked in the direction of Shia's party and smiled sinisterly.
...
Boom! Boom!! Thud!!
On a different side of the forest, Mantis and his squadmates were seen fighting for their life after getting surrounded from all sides by the spiders' army.
Unlike Shia's party, they had no Levi to alert them in advance about the spiders' sneaky ambushes.
Sure, they had a scout in the party, but his abilities worked similarly to Jamal's. He needed to be stationary and have it active all the time, which was impossible considering the exertion it takes on his energy levels.
"Mounir! Help out Masai!"
"Don! Use your god-damn ultimate innate ability already!!"
"Nikii! Stop f*cking saving your Assault Totems and deal with your side!!"
"We have to break through! Fast!"
Mantis positioned himself on top of a tree above the chaotic battlefield underneath. He was scanning the entire field and giving out orders nonstop, helping the squad possess some form of teamwork.
Unfortunately, he could see that his efforts were for naught as the sea of spiders was simply neverending.
The moment his team dealt with a group, they were jumped by three.
'F*ck, f*ck, f*ck, why the hell is this happening in my first leading mission?! Even the signal is cut off! Am I being set up?!'
Mantis' expression kept turning ugly by the second, understanding that he would be responsible for everyone's death even when this situation wasn't his fault.
All due to the nocturnal contracts having a life insurance term in case a hired Daywalker died in a mission or an expedition.
He expected a couple of casualties here and there once he signed over a hundred Daywalkers, but as he listened to the nonstop pained cries in the forest he could tell that their situation was much worse than he could imagine.
'What do you think, Ti'nna?' Mantis asked for his partner's opinion.
'Advisor Alaric will kill you if you don't die fighting here.'
Mantis' expression turned desperate as he listened to his contracted nightcrawler, who resembled a humanoid curvy praying mantis. She had a slender figure covered in emerald-green chitin while her eyes glowed with a bioluminescent light.
'You can't even run away on your own. You have to act as a hero and save as many as possible. This is the only way to ensure you receive minimum punishment; maybe even rewarded once an investigation carries through.'
Mantis knew she was right. If it was possible, he would have already dipped, leaving everyone at the mercy of their destiny.
Sadly, the NeuraLens was still recording everything and storing it until the connection returned.
In other words, if he were to run away from his responsibilities, he would be exposed one way or another unless he destroyed his entire squad's NeuraLens devices.
This left him with two choices; either die trying to be a hero or survive and be punished as a villain.
'F*ck me...'
Mantis summoned his signature weapon. It resembled a praying mantis' forearms with thousands of sharp deadly teeth bent at a striking position(80-100°).
Then, with a look of utter despair mixed with anger, he pounced at the biggest gathering of spiders while shouting, "PRAYING MANTIS ARTS: A THOUSAND CUTS!"
His body suddenly disappeared midair, turning into a shadowy mirage with hundreds of green blades appearing here and there. Each time a blade appeared, a spider was sliced in half or had its head severed!
Slice! Slice! Slice!...
The rest of the squad watched in astonishment as Mantis singlehandedly took down more than twenty spiders in no time, creating a path to freedom from corpses!
"WHAT ARE YOU STANDING FOR?! FOLLOW ME!"
Not waiting for anyone, Mantis took the lead and charged headfirst into the incoming next wave of spiders, his body, and weapon already tainted with sticky nasty juices.
But, he couldn't care less. His bloodshot eyes reflected nothing but a strong desire to survive at all costs!
***
While the hundred Daywalkers were fighting for their lives in the depths of the Harrowing Forest, peaceful silence engulfed the outpost. Most of the traffic in outposts was related to Daywalkers.
Since the majority had already departed, the outpost was mostly occupied by government staff and guards.
"Micky, keep watch, I am going for a walk." The smoker guard shared lazily while standing up from his chair.
"But, sir Feng Ling..." Micky gulped a mouthful, "You were assigned to guard the outpost as a disciplinary punishment...If you leave, they can track your location and accuse you of breaking your penalty."
"Ah, how bothersome..." Feng Ling rubbed his eyelids and said, "Fine, I will just smoke on top of the tower."
"But..."
Before Micky could add anything, Feng Ling took a single step forward and suddenly disappeared, leaving behind him a mere cool breeze like he was never there.
Micky lifted his head and gazed at the top of the Sun Disk Tower with an awed expression.
"So freaking cool..." Micky murmured, "If only he wasn't reckless and insubordinate; he would have been promoted to a Gove...Ay, I am not in a position to judge anyone."
Meanwhile, at the highest point of the Sun Disk tower, Feng Ling was seen sitting with one hand above his knee while dangling the other leg.
He was trying to light up a cigarette, but it was too windy at such a height.
"Halt."
With a single order, the wind suddenly froze around him. Then, Feng Ling ignited the cigarette in a single attempt and took a deep breath until the tip turned bright red. Immediately after he exhaled a cloud of smoke, the wind unfroze and took it away.
"That's the good stuff." Feng Ling showed a cozy smile as he gazed at the magnificent view around him.
However, as his eyes landed on the Harrowing Forest, he couldn't help but knit his eyebrows in confusion.
'Mao, are you seeing what I am seeing?'