Reincarnated with the Country System-Chapter 260: The Silent Forest Part II

The silence after the battle was worse than the fighting.

WHSSSH. Ash drifted like spectral snow between the petrified trees, settling on the bloodied armor of the dead.

The surviving warriors—holy paladins and Exo Knights alike—stood in uneasy truce, their weapons still humming with residual energy. HMMMMM.

Raihan wiped his blade clean on the grey moss, the black ichor SSSSSS sizzling where it touched the blessed steel. His breathing was steady, controlled, but his knuckles were white around the hilt. Too many of his warriors had fallen. Too many faces he'd trained since childhood, now lost to the dark.

Kain ejected a spent plasma cartridge from his rifle. CLINK. It hit the ground with a hollow ring. His Exo Knights moved with mechanical precision—CLACK-CLACK, WHIRR—checking their gear, reloading, scanning the gloom.

Raihan eyes burned like ice under torchlight. "These creatures are the least of what awaits us. The deeper we go, the worse it becomes. If you wish to turn back, do so now."

Kain's helmet tilted slightly, the red lenses of his visor flaring. WHIRRRR. "Not a chance."

A shadow moved among the trees.

SHFF. Both commanders snapped toward it, weapons raised—but it was only Knight-Commander Solas, his silver armor streaked with gore, his cloak torn. He strode forward, his presence commanding immediate attention.

"My lord," Solas said, bowing his head slightly to Raihan.

Raihan's tension eased, if only slightly. "Solas. Your squad?"

"Gone." A single word, heavy with loss. "The creatures took them in the mist. But I found something." He held up a shard of black crystal, pulsing with a sickly violet light. THROB. THROB.

"The rift is close. And it's active."

Kain's neural link flared, analyzing the shard. His HUD scrolled with warnings. [UNKNOWN ENERGY SIGNATURE. CORRUPTION DETECTED.]

"Fantastic," Kain muttered. "So whatever's down there is already leaking."

Solas's jaw tightened. "We don't have time to debate. The seal is breaking. If we don't act now—"

A low, shuddering groan cut him off. GRRRRROOOOOAAAAAAN.

The ground trembled. RUMMMMBLE. The petrified trees screamed, their branches twisting like living things. CRICK-CRACK! The ash beneath their feet began to shift, sliding toward a single point deeper in the forest—as if the earth itself were breathing in.

Then, the first hand clawed its way out of the ground.

SSSSSHHRK! Bone-white fingers, too long, too many joints. Then another. And another. Dozens of them, erupting from the ash like a grotesque harvest.

Kain didn't hesitate. "FIRE AT WILL!"

BRRRRT! FWOOOSH! KRAK-KRAK-KRAK!

Plasma rounds and rail spikes tore into the emerging horrors. The creatures shrieked, REEEEEEE!, their bodies half-formed, translucent flesh still knitting together from the abyssal energy of the rift.

Raihan raised his sword high, the blade igniting with holy fire. WHOOOOOSH! "FOR THE HOLINESS!"

The surviving paladins charged with him, their war cries echoing through the dead forest. "FOR THE FLAME!"

Solas was already moving, his twin short swords a blur of silver and blue SHING-SHING as he carved through the emerging monstrosities. His voice was a whip-crack of command. "Shield wall! Protect the casters!"

The holy warriors formed up, their blessed barriers flaring to life just as the first wave of creatures lunged. THWUMM!

THOOM! CRASH! SCREEEEE!

Claws raked against divine light, the barrier shuddering under the assault. Sister Elira gritted her teeth, her staff trembling ZZZZZMMM as she poured more energy into the spell.

Kain's Exo Knights fought with brutal efficiency, their adaptive rounds switching to armor-piercing as the creatures solidified. One knight went down, his chestplate ripped open—SKRKKK!—before Kain put three rounds into the thing's skull. POP-POP-POP.

"Fall back to the choke point!" Kain barked. "They're funneling toward us!"

Raihan saw it too. The creatures weren't attacking randomly—they were herding them. Toward the rift. Toward whatever lay beyond.

"Solas!" Raihan roared.

The Knight-Commander was already ahead of him. He'd broken from the formation, darting between the horrors with preternatural speed, his blades leaving trails of blue fire in their wake. He was heading straight for the source.

Kain cursed. "That idiot's going to get himself killed."

Raihan's eyes locked onto Solas's path. "No. He's giving us an opening."

Then, to his warriors: "PUSH FORWARD! FOLLOW HIS PATH!"

The two forces—holy and mechanized—surged as one, cutting through the tide of abominations. Solas was a storm ahead of them, his swords carving a bloody road.

Until the thing rose before him.

Taller than the rest. A mass of writhing limbs, a dozen eyes blinking open across its torso. It shrieked, WRAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!, a sound that made the air vibrate, and the weaker-willed soldiers clutched their helmets in agony.

Solas didn't flinch. He smirked.

"You're ugly."

Then he moved.

The creature lashed out—SWOOSH!—but Solas was already gone, flipping over its swipe, driving both blades into its spine. SHNK! Ichor sprayed. SPLRRRT! The thing howled, twisting, but Solas rode the motion, using its own momentum to wrench the swords deeper.

Kain watched, grudgingly impressed. "Okay. Maybe he's not an idiot."

Raihan didn't answer. He was already running, his greatsword a comet of blue flame. FWOOOOOSH! "NOW, SOLAS!"

Solas yanked his blades free and leaped clear just as Raihan's swing connected.

FWOOOOOM!

The holy fire detonated inside the creature, ripping it apart from within. BOOOOOOM! The blast wave sent ash and bone shrapnel flying, TINK-TINK-TINK, clearing a path straight to the rift.

There it was. ƒгeewebnovёl.com

A jagged tear in reality, hovering above the ground, pulsing like a wound that refused to heal. Violet light spilled from it, warping the air, whispering in a language that made their teeth ache. WHSSSSHHHH...

And something was on the other side.

Watching.

Waiting.

Kain's neural link screamed with warnings. [REALITY FRACTURE DETECTED. EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY.]

Solas wiped blood from his lip, panting. "That's our target."

Raihan nodded. "Seal it. Now."

Kain's rifle snapped up, targeting the rift. CHK-CHK. "Or blow it to hell."

Solas gave him a sharp look. "That would end hell. Permanently."

Kain's finger hovered over the trigger. "You sure that's a bad thing?"

Before anyone could answer, the rift pulsed. THROB-THROB—WHOOM!

And the ground exploded.

KRRRRA-KA-BOOOOOM!!!