Chapter 970: Ominous Presence
Kitsara took point, her movements fluid and deliberate as her woven illusions materialized around her. Her eyes scanned every angle, every floor tile, while her fingers traced illusion sigils across the walls, checking for embedded glyphs or hidden spell formations.
Blossom moved right next to her, complimenting the fox’s skillset with her own, with nose twitching, ears swiveling. <Something enchanted is here… Blossom senses it two meters ahead, left side!> she decreed while her eyes glowed with unnatural magic as her Void Sight peeled through hidden mechanics. <The floor tiles beyond it look sketchy to Blossom! Don’t step on them!>
Kitsara responded without a word of mischief, her hand immediately fluttering through the air to overwrite the nearest detection artifact with an illusion of its own state. Blossom gently flicked a pebble into the air, disarming the next ward with a minute Void pulse that muffled the trigger mechanism.
Behind them, Quinlan’s eyes shone brightly as she watched the professionals at work. He didn’t give any orders or even words of guidance. He didn’t need to. Their synergy was perfect.
The squad advanced in this manner for minutes through the corridor’s narrowing end… until they reached it.
A final gate.
Thick as a castle wall, reinforced with swirling formation glyphs and suppressive enchantments powerful enough to kill most intruders on proximity alone.
But none of that was what made them stop.
It was her.
Standing motionless before the great doors like a statue carved of living steel was a woman of deathly poise. Her figure was tall, statuesque, armored in a mastercrafted blend of green silk and steel-plated form. Her long halberd leaned casually against the wall beside her, feeling more like an afterthought than a weapon her life depended on.
But none of them were foolish enough to assume it wasn’t within reach.
There was no anger in her face, surrounded by her green hair. No threat. No posturing.
Only certainty.
Certainty that she would kill whoever approached.
An aura of quiet, battle-hardened domination radiated from her.
Kitsara froze mid-step. Blossom’s tail dropped, ears folding back. Even Quinlan’s foot halted as his gaze locked onto the woman.
None of them had to say it out loud, for it was obvious
They were standing before one of the strongest warriors they’d ever encountered.
The woman’s head rose, slowly, methodically. She was not in a hurry.
Her emerald eyes, polished and sharp as cut glass, locked directly onto them despite the darkness, despite the illusions, despite the silence.
Blossom stiffened.
Kitsara’s breath caught in her throat.
Feng clutched her catalyst tighter.
Quinlan narrowed his eyes.
<She sees us.>
That thought was universal. And terrifying.
With a mental flick, Quinlan activated [Master’s Link]. <Vex.>
<Yes? Did you find Mother Dearest? Sorry, I’m not available for a second celebratory orgy right after the first ended~> came the voice of his amazing yandere queen, light, teasing, syrupy as ever.
But the moment he continued…
<Emerald eyes. Braided green hair. Giant halberd. Giving me Orianna vibes, strength-wise. Guarding the prison door. Ring any bells?>
There was a beat of utter silence. Then Vex’s voice changed. The seduction, the sass, all of it was gone.
<I didn’t know that bitch Sareth was there.>
A silence hung between them over the mental link.
<Oh yeah, now that you say that name, I definitely heard of her. Wasn’t she someone who clashed with Maelstrom like 300 years ago?>
<Indeed! That means that bitch’s not just a random guard, Quin. That’s Sareth Greenvale. The Monster of Verdant Ash. She’s one of the Duke family’s trump cards. Their unstoppable monster. I would’ve never let you go in there if I knew she was stationed in the prison! Why the hell is she even there during the time of war?! She should be heading to the front to slay our members by the thousands!>
<Bit late for this, Vex…> Quinlan muttered back dryly, with elemental wind coiling tighter around his legs and back. <She already noticed us. I need intel on her, fast.>
Vex’s panic boiled over into a scream. <What?! She sees you?! Like, actual eye contact?!>
<Her cruel emerald eyes looked at me as if they were looking right at my soul.>
<PORTAL!!! Bring me through right now, I’m coming to you! Get the hell away from her, she will kill you!>
But even as Vex howled through the link, it was already too late.
Sareth’s body shifted.
No dramatic declarations. No shouts or threats.
Just one breath.
Then she moved.
The air snapped apart as she launched forward like a silent missile, legs braced, wind whipped, halberd in hand, in the blink of an eye. The space between them and her vanished with terrifying speed.
Quinlan barely managed to react, and only because [Elemental Stance: Gale] had pushed his Agility stat to supernatural levels. His saber flashed upward, catching her halberd mid-swing with a shrieking clash of force and wind.
The shockwave slammed outward, sending dust and magic rippling along the corridor walls. Kitsara and Blossom leapt back instantly. Feng yelped and scrambled behind cover.
And Quinlan stood locked in place, feet sliding several inches backward on the stone.
Sareth had arrived.
And she didn’t intend to let any of them leave alive.
Blossom’s eyes were wide as she muttered in disbelief, “Blossom… Blossom couldn’t react in time…” she whispered.
Kitsara’s normally impish face was drained of all color. “I could sense her true, sheer presence only after she attacked. Not before. For a woman of her power, this requires immense control to pull off.”
And Feng—poor Feng—was practically frozen in place behind a half-crumbled support column, heart hammering so loudly she thought it might make a run for it on its own. “I… I’ve never seen anything like that… I mean, that was faster than a spell triggering. Was that pure speed? Or was that a technique? But she didn’t even cast anything!”
However, amidst the chaos, the panic, the spiraling fear…
“Focus.”
Quinlan’s voice cut through the rising storm.
Not loud. Not barked like a general trying to make the impossible happen through sheer will alone. No… he just sounded controlled.
Tense, strained, yes.
But perfectly steady.
It grounded them. Rooted them. Snapped them back to reality.
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