Chapter 518 - Halo (1/2)

Leonel sent a gaze toward Aina only to find her already looking back toward him. With a light nod, they shot forward as one, there steps light and in sync.

The remainder of the troops continued to advance slowly. Though they exchanged some glances about the oddity of it all, they didn't make any other movements. Something like a commander taking the vanguard was practically unheard of, at least in Earth's modern history.

However, Leonel had made his plan to them clear. A count of 250 wasn't a lot, especially in a war of this scale. Where their benefit lay is in the fact they were all elite warriors, all capable of battling two to three on their own. In such a case, not only was such a forest the best terrain for them, but it also presented a unique opportunity to flip this war on its head.

Leonel's lips moved, but no one seemed to hear what he said at all. However, several hundred meters away, the North West squad had already jumped into action.

…

Despite the high sun, the forest was still drenched in shadows. From below the high canopies, it felt more like a cloudy day than anything else. Unfortunately, unlike a cloudy day, the forest floor was quite humid. Any normal human of the Third Dimension would be leaking sweat by this point.

Luckily, though, Earth was still in its infant stages as a new Fourth Dimensional world. As such, the harsher climates of a world at this stage had yet to come to fruition. However, even still, the hot temperatures were slowly creeping upward and breaking records that had withstood the test of centuries, while the cold temperatures were doing the same. It wouldn't be long before Earth began to face extremes it never had before.

While there was this bad news, though, there was also good news. In this transition period, Zones wouldn't begin to appear just yet. So, Earth had a small level of reprieve. But, it might have been exactly because of this that Terrain chose to attack now…

At that moment, on the humid forest floor, a group of seven moved forward cautiously along their patrol path, their senses on high alert. They wore red robes accented by bright yellow flexible armor. The design made them look like small boiling suns of their own, but judging by the small beads of sweat falling down their brow, this had little to do with their affinities.

The lead of the seven men suddenly snapped his head in a certain direction, just in time to see a small orb of light land in their midst.

A hint of panic colored his features. But, just when he was frozen in horror, the small globe of light pulsed, sending out a halo that covered a ten meter radius.

Without hesitation, the lead scout pulled out a talisman and ripped it.

The talisman was torn in two, causing a flare of flames to light it quicky. The sparks coalesced, concentrating into a bead and shooting up into the skies.

But, just as it was about to break past, it rammed into the halo of light.

One would have expected a bang, but the reality was much less fantastical. The spark fizzled out, drooping back down to the ground as though it had run out of oxygen to fuel itself.

The lead scout's eyes widen. He opened his mouth and roared at the top of his lungs. His shout was so loud that the six that followed him covered their ears, clenching their jaws.

The lead scout relaxed when he completed this action, his unsettled emotions resting into a sneer. He slowly pulled out twin daggers that rested on his hips.

He felt that everything was over now. Now that they knew that Earth had indeed sent reinforcements, it would be a matter of absolute ease for them to be surrounded and killed one by one.