Chapter 263: Traps

[Auerlion] [Points: 300 — Islands: 7]

[Erebus] [Points: 210 — Islands: 7]

[Luminar] [Points: 240 — Islands: 4]

[Solaria] [Points: 700 — Islands: 7]

"Boring... boring..." Emeris muttered, sitting at the edge of the lake in the middle of this island.

The grass tickled her hands while the faint sound of rustling water echoed as she looked at the gray stretch of this big pond, it was like a real mirror of mercury reflecting the sun above it.

Three days had already passed since she finished purging this island, and since then there was nothing to do but sit and keep watch.

She couldn’t give up the island and go somewhere, even with twelve people with her... oh and they’d become eleven because one of them was eliminated by a monster.... after all she’s the main engine here.

Especially since this island gets many flying monsters every now and then... they come to this pond to drink this strange water.

She put her foot in the liquid and lifted it, which made the silver drops run down her shoe, it was very thick, this made her wonder what would happen if she drank it... just curiosity coming from boredom.

The rest of her members were spread across the edges of the island keeping watch, and here she is killing any monster that lands from the sky, and that’s why there are dozens of corpses stacked away behind her in the grassy plain.

’The others are getting the fun and I’m here... alone! Not fair! Not fair!’ She stared at her bracelet, holding back the urge to chat with messages.

It’s not like it’s possible... she has one message every twelve hours, but her mind refuses to believe that.

If the choice was hers, she’d have cut all the vine bridges that connect the island and left only one... but unfortunately this was forbidden for some reason... maybe they didn’t want anyone to get an advantage this way, or they simply wanted to keep them for the future.

"A group from Auerlion is getting ready to attack toward Kyle?... hmm, I wish I was there." She read the last messages, and it looks like Kyle, who picked the island with the best view, got Auerlion’s attention.

It looks like he caught something about them getting ready to attack toward him at some point, so he sent this and asked for some help... from the closest islands in the north of course.

Unfortunately, Emeris was on the other side... too far.

She hugged herself at the pond as she put her cheek on her knee, closing her eyes hoping time would pass faster and something interesting would happen.

And after who knows how long something happened... a loud screech echoed from the sky, followed by Emeris’s hair flying back from the storm the winged monster stirred up.

But like it wasn’t important she didn’t even open her eyes, instead at that moment a thin thread the width of a hair of blue light passed in front of the monster’s neck.

Its head separated like a broken toy, falling on the opposite side of the pond, making a ripple that spread across the silver surface, until Emeris’s feet got wet.

"I’ll clean up later..." she muttered to herself, feeling too lazy to open her eyes or look at the torn corpse, the corpse’s blood was going down under the water without mixing with it, just settling under the layers of the liquid that looks like mercury.

When the sun disappeared and all that was left was a faint orange glow on the horizon, Emeris opened her eyes.

Not because she’d gotten bored of sleeping... but because she felt a vibration on her wrist.

Coming from the bracelet.

She opened her eyes and looked at the message, it was short, with many spelling mistakes which shows it was written quickly... only one word was really clear. "Help."

She didn’t have to ask to know the direction because she knew where everyone was.

For some reason the smile rose on Emeris’s face at that moment, as she carried herself up to her feet.

The essence rushed through her small but strong body, as she shot off like an arrow toward the sunset, in moments she left the silver lake behind her and entered the tree line, avoiding stepping on the monster corpses scattered everywhere.

And while the sound of the wind filled her ears, she started catching the end of the forest in the distance, there sparks of light faded in the air, and someone was eliminated... it didn’t take much thinking for her to realize it was the member of her team who sent the message.

And as she rushed out of the tree line, her pupils widened, she forced her body to stop, the ground shattering under her feet from the massive momentum.

She tilted her head in a heartbeat, and a cold feeling ran through the place where her neck had been.

What followed was a flash of steel in the air, the cut stretched across the forest and harvested dozens of trees, cutting them in a clean, perfect line.

And before the trees started falling, Emeris smiled, her gray eyes staring at the person who appeared in front of her, short blue hair, dark eyes, and clean white armor.

Riven carried her thin blade, and raised her chin a little in the air, her eyes fixed on Emeris carrying a cold sharpness. "Hoho.... look who’s here, our dear loudmouth?"

Emeris moved her eyes away from the line of falling trees, her excited smile turning into amusement on her beautiful face, her eyes shining with a faint blue light. "Wait until I slap your ass you..."

Riven didn’t react to the provocation, but the next word made the veins on her forehead stand out.

"Bitch!"

...

Far away on the other side of the fifth level, Ellen was staring at the stretch of vines, standing beside Kyle.

After what he said, she was the closest, so she came with some people just in case a real attack happened... of course she left half of them on the island to keep watch and spot any threat sneaking in.

"So, you don’t see them now?" Ellen asked Kyle who was focused on the distance, he shook his head. "No, they were there yesterday, from what I saw they really looked like they were getting ready to climb, but they disappeared later."

Ellen tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Maybe it was a false alarm... maybe they went to another island that isn’t visible from here?"

Kyle scowled, he didn’t like his information being doubted, he’d seen them clearly... their facial expressions, the anger, the desire, and the chaos, everything was visible to him even from this distance.

"..."

When he opened his mouth to answer their bracelets vibrated together, for a moment they looked at each other before they glanced at the message... Kyle’s scowl deepened, while Ellen gritted her teeth.

"Fuck."

...

On the hanging green bridge thirty-one people from Erebus moved quietly under the night sky, at the front was a tall young man with earth-colored hair leading the big team, his name was Sam.

Days ago, Theo left and took his assistant with him and a small team of ten people, where exactly did they go?... that arrogant guy didn’t say anything.

He was a contradictory person... two days ago leading them with enthusiasm, then disappearing after that.

And worse, they hadn’t sent anything even after all this time, so who knows if they’d been eliminated or not.

So, during this period when Erebus split up and spread out to steal the islands, Sam tried to save this mess from turning on them, so he took over leading the group... or what was left together of the group.

And now after they’d received a message from a scouting team, saying there’s an island belonging to Luminar at the fourth level that barely has a few guards... he decided this was his chance to establish a foothold up there.

He led everyone to the island, ruling out the risk of leaving anyone behind him... and now when they were about to reach the place they wanted, he caught someone there at the end of the bridge.

It was one of them.

He raised his hand and waved at them, which made him wonder if Luminar’s camp was on the other side of the island so he could move freely like that... anyway he’d get his answer the moment he arrived.

And he arrived... he stepped onto the grass staring at the young man in front of him and the space around him while the others followed him in small teams.

"Where are the rest?" he asked with his eyes combing the area, because of the darkness he didn’t notice the troubled expression on the young man’s face, he didn’t notice his ragged breathing and his stiff jaw.

Sam didn’t notice that until he raised his sword toward him.

But Sam the Awakened at the peak of Rank 3 dodged the cut at the last moment, his eyes wide open as he screamed, "Wha... what are you doing!"

That’s when he noticed the slight changes in his body, how he hadn’t said anything since they arrived here.

The realization of what’s happening crept in, but it was too late... behind him the rest of the group arrived, confused by Sam’s sudden screaming at their companion.

And from behind the trees dozens of people appeared, forming a circle around him and his group, trapping them at the edge.

And at their head was... his dark eyes staring at them coldly with an indifferent expression.

It was none other than Silas.