SSS Frost Sovereign: Rewinding The Apocalypse!-Chapter 67: An alien forest

The rest followed, a mix of excitement, tension, and anticipation rippling through the crowd.

The moment Icard crossed the threshold, a vaguely familiar sensation washed over him.

[Warning: You Have Entered a Gate!]

A forest of strange, alien trees unfolded before his eyes.

Their trunks twisted in unnatural spirals, bark layered in plates like hardened scales rather than wood.

Some trees pulsed faintly with dull bioluminescent veins, while others hung low with drooping, thread-like leaves that whispered against each other though there was no wind.

The forest was alive with sounds no one could place, distant clicks, hollow croaks, and low, resonant hums that seemed to vibrate through the ground rather than the air. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

This was a forest, but nothing about it felt like Earth.

The unfamiliarity alone put everyone on edge.

It felt as though the forest had noticed them the instant they arrived, danger pressing in from every direction, invisible yet suffocating.

"You guys should remain careful," Katar muttered.

His eyes flicked from shadow to shadow, searching for any sign of recognition, but this place was unfamiliar even to him.

More and more people poured through the gate, emerging into the alien woods until the clearing was crowded.

They quickly regrouped, each person moving to their raid party, until the formation was complete.

"How many are here?" Albert asked.

"About thirty-five raid groups, sir."

Albert stepped forward from the mass of people and raised his voice.

"Our objective is to find the Chieftain and take it out," he declared.

"To do that, those capable of doing that must reach it with enough strength to face it by any means necessary. And to do that, I will need your help. All of you."

The crowd answered him with nods, murmurs of agreement, and low, resolute shouts.

"So where do we go from here?" someone asked.

Albert turned toward a direction that had drawn his attention earlier.

That side of the forest was faintly brighter, as if filtered light seeped through thinner canopies.

The opposite direction sank into dense shadow, the trees packed so tightly the forest looked almost solid.

"This way," Albert said. "Stay together, and stay alert."

The formation shifted, and the mass of incarnations began moving after him, boots crunching softly over strange, brittle undergrowth.

They walked for a while, deeper into the alien forest.

The terrain undulated subtly beneath their feet, roots bulging through the ground like veins.

The strange sounds never stopped. Sometimes they seemed distant, sometimes uncomfortably close, as if something moved just beyond sight.

Then it came.

A faint rustling.

One person noticed it first. Then another.

Soon, the sound multiplied, coming from several directions at once. Whatever it was, it was not one thing, or two.

It was many.

Everyone froze.

[Multiple Spawns Detected!] [Threat Levels: F, E]

Icard’s breath hitched. Spore rats.

His memories were hazy, but recognition struck immediately.

Back then, they had been a persistent nuisance, disgusting and dangerous in their own way.

From between the twisted trunks, large rat-like creatures burst into view, charging in numbers.

They were oversized, their bodies bloated and uneven, with patchy fur stretched tight over swollen, translucent bellies.

Fungal growths jutted from their backs and faces in sickly clusters, and their eyes were clouded white, unfocused yet unsettling.

Their teeth were too long for their jaws, protruding at odd angles as they screeched and surged forward.

"They’re coming!" someone yelled.

Energy flared across the formation as incarnations readied their abilities.

The air crackled with power. In the next instant, attacks erupted.

Blasts of flame, force, and light tore into the oncoming swarm, dropping several spore rats in single blows.

And then they burst.

The dead creatures ruptured violently, their bodies collapsing into clouds of greenish spores that billowed outward.

"Don’t let them explode around you!" Icard shouted.

Too late.

Their sheer numbers and reckless charge brought them close.

One burst near the front line, releasing a thick green cloud.

Those caught in it recoiled instantly, coughing and gagging, stumbling backward as their strength drained and their lungs burned.

More rats poured in from the undergrowth.

And they were not the only things moving in the forest.

More shapes tore free from the undergrowth as the spore rats kept surging forward.

The ground itself seemed to move.

Root crawlers spilled out from beneath the twisted roots and low brush.

They were dog-sized masses of tangled vines and knotted roots, with no clear head or face, just a dense knot of woody tendrils at the center.

Several pale, worm-like feelers writhed from within that knot, twitching as if tasting the air.

They dragged themselves forward like living brush, skittering low to the ground before surging in clumps, latching onto ankles and calves.

Every time one caught hold, movement slowed, boots sinking as if the forest itself were gripping them.

Above them, shapes dropped from branches.

Twig sprites clung to trunks and low-hanging limbs before launching themselves into the fray.

They were child-sized, vaguely humanoid figures made of twigs and bundled leaves, their hollow eye sockets glowing with a faint green light.

Their limbs bent at unnatural angles, moving in sharp, jerky bursts.

Alone, they looked fragile. In numbers, they were deeply unsettling, swarming over shoulders and backs, clawing and dragging people off balance.

They hit the formation in a wide, messy assault, the spore rats crashing in from the front while root crawlers tangled their feet and twig sprites dropped from above.

Several incarnations were dragged down in the first moments, curses and shouts breaking through the chaos.

Then the counterattack came. Incarnations surged forward, cutting through the weaker spawns with quick, efficient strikes.

The root crawlers tore apart under simple bursts of power, their vine bodies unraveling into dead brush.

Twig sprites shattered when hit, collapsing into lifeless heaps of sticks and leaves.

Even the spore rats, for all their filth and numbers, went down easily.

Their only real threat was the explosion of spores when they died, and even that was more debilitating than lethal, choking lungs and blurring vision for long minutes rather than outright killing.