The forest grew quiet as the party moved through the thick woods. Giles walked slowly, holding his bandaged arm where blood was starting to seep through.
Beside him, the rescued elf kept up. Her skin was so pale that it appeared to reflect the moonlight itself. Three metal rings jingled in her ear as she hopped nimbly across the treetops.
Logan kept his eyes forward, still processing her ridiculous character sheet.
A three-star sniper de-ranked to one star, with a passive that doubles her piercing power but cuts her accuracy by eighty percent.
According to Logan’s experience, there were certain methods to "rank up" your heroes, but a "rank down" had never happened before.
On top of that, her absurd passive skill was a cheat code that basically allowed her to one-shot most enemies in the early stages, at the cost of missing nine out of ten shots on average.
"Just a bit further, Commander," Captain Iron whispered, picking up his pace into a jog.
"Once we clear this ridge, we’ll see the road to Evergarden."
But Logan’s instincts told him otherwise. It can’t be this easy.If the system could change a hero’s information on a whim, then there was no telling what it would do to the mission.
"Hurry!" Logan urged, feeling an unnatural chill settling over the woods. "We don’t have time to linger."
The party broke into a full run, rushing toward the treeline where the open road lay just beyond.
CLANG!
A dull, metallic ringing sound echoed through the air as Captain Iron suddenly rebounded backward. He slammed headfirst into thin air, his heavy armor clattering as he collapsed flat onto the forest floor, groaning and clutching his forehead.
"Captain!" Giles hissed, halting immediately.
Maeve dropped down from the treetops, landing next to Captain Iron. She reached out with a trembling hand; the moment her skin made contact, a glowing, violet, net-like pattern rippled across an invisible wall.
It extended in all directions as far as the eye could see. She gritted her teeth and tried everything she could, even throwing herself against the barrier, but no matter how hard she pushed, the invisible wall simply glowed brighter and didn’t budge an inch.
"No!" Maeve cried out, slumping onto the cold dirt.
Logan stared at the glowing violet wall, clenching his fist tightly out of frustration. It can’t be this easy, he thought. If the system can fuck with me this much, it won’t just let us walk out of here.
Right on cue, a familiar blue interface window manifested in front of his eyes.
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
[SUDDEN QUEST!]
- Quest: The Shaman’s Cage
- Objective: Defeat the Goblin Shaman
-Failure: Death
-Reward: ??? ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
"A sudden quest..." Logan muttered, his jaw tightening. "It’s not even trying to hide its interference anymore."
Everyone was in a state of panic.
Captain Iron was punching against the barrier to no avail.
Althea was holding onto Giles’ bleeding arm, which was worsening with every passing minute.
Maeve was curled up into a ball, clutching her temples as she writhed around, talking to herself.
Kiran wasn’t doing much better, pacing back and forth while muttering under his breath.
At the same time, the swarms of goblins were closing the distance quickly; the only one left fighting back was Robin, who couldn’t even land a proper shot.
Logan’s mind raced, calculating their survival rate. With Giles severely injured, Captain Iron exhausted, and Robin’s "condition," a direct frontal assault against the goblin horde was practically suicide.
Should I... Logan looked over toward Giles’ worsening condition.
"Commander, just leave me behind; I’m only holding you all back," Giles broke the silence. Everyone was caught by surprise by his decision.
"Although it was fleeting, I’m happy that I got to know you all... thank you, Commander, for the opportunity to fight for Evergarden."
The silence was deafening.
Logan’s mind went cloudy; he was reminded of a dark memory that he could never rid himself of.
"Althea, take Giles and Iron. Maeve, Kiran, pull yourselves together," Logan ordered, his voice cold and commanding, totally disregarding anything Giles brought up earlier.
"Find a tight choke point in the brush nearby. Althea, use your skill [Dough Wall Bastion] to set up a defensive perimeter and hold off any low-level scouts. We need to kill the caster to get out of here."
"But Commander, we can’t leave you—" Iron started, but Logan cut him off with a sharp glare.
"That’s an order," Logan said. "Robin, you’re with me. We’re going to split off."
Robin looked back at Logan and gave him a firm nod. Logan turned on his heel and vaulted into the dark undergrowth. Robin kept pace right behind him, darting through the treelines, trying to lock down the position of the goblin shaman.
Behind them, the forest erupted; the scent of blood from Giles’s wound had acted as bait, luring the goblins in. But Logan’s voice tore through the forest like a knife through butter.
"COME GET ME, YOU GREEN LITTLE SHIT!"
He didn’t stop running, his boots kicking up damp soil as he deliberately made as much noise as possible. He threw a mocking glance back over his shoulder, his voice rising to a deafening, arrogant roar to ensure every goblin in the vicinity heard him.
"Are you going to keep hiding behind your little grunts, or are you going to show me what that oversized toothpick of a staff can actually do? I’m right here!"
Logan rained down a barrage of insults as he ran through the forest. He could feel an overwhelming amount of bloodlust tailing right behind him.
"Human, your plan is working; the horde is turning toward us. What’s the next step?" Robin spoke out, her eyes still darting around, trying to lock down the primary target.
"Get up there," Logan commanded, pointing to a thick branch overlooking the winding forest path. "Set up your firing position."
"Commander, even if I have the high ground, I cannot defend you," Robin said, her eye filled with frustration and shame as she clutched her wooden bow. "You’ve seen how I shoot. My eye... my hands... I cannot aim straight. The moment I release the string, the arrow veers away as if guided by a malicious spirit. If I try to cover you, I will only hit the trees."
"I know," Logan said, a cold, calculating smile playing on his lips. "That’s why you aren’t going to aim at the goblins."
Robin paused, her pointed ear twitching in confusion. "Then what am I shooting at?"
"Me."