Evolution of the Ruined Heir-Chapter 264: Plan

The man didn’t so much as acknowledge them. His gaze was leveled on the squad. He studied them one after the other, stopping suddenly when he got to Malakai.

"Ninth Vein." He greeted with a short bow. The gazes of the other adjudicators widened, visibly shaken. They wondered how they had missed him.

"I am Arbiter Nesroth," he said, eyes calm. "I’m in charge of the Blood Guardians stationed here."

Laila didn’t miss the fact that Nesroth completely ignored her and was instead addressing Malakai. Still, she didn’t let the disrespect get to her.

"What are Blood Guardians doing here?" she asked.

Nesroth didn’t so much as twitch. He still faced Malakai.

"We’ve been instructed to hold the line here in case the horde breaks through the blood knights. Many of my men are stationed on top of the wall. I came down when I heard the commotion."

"What about the city guards? The other Blood Knights?"

"They’re all fighting the horde in the forest," Nesroth responded, voice still leveled and calm. "Captain Balad is currently in charge of the Blood Knights in battle."

"But—"

"We should go."

Before Laila could ask another question, Malakai spoke, earning a glance from her. A lot was said in that look, but finally, she nodded and motioned for the squad to move.

Malakai didn’t miss the cold stare of the Arbiter as he walked through the small gate, leaving the stronghold.

’He knows everything.’ Malakai thought as they started moving away from the stronghold.

It was a no. brainer, though. Everyone they saw was clearly in on it, though he felt as though the Arbiter knew more than the others. A mastermind, Malakai had determined.

But Malakai had asked Laila to drop it because it was futile. At the end of their questions, they were still left with two choices: entering the forest or going back.

Going back would still get them disbanded, he didn’t want that. Which meant, the only choice was to enter the forest.

Wasting time would only delay the inevitable.

The perimeter around the stronghold was also cleared of all trees and overgrown greenery. At a glance, Malakai saw nothing. No signs of battle.

Not even a sound reached their ears. It was odd, considering the scale of battle that was supposed to be taking place.

"We could have caught them in their lie," Laila finally said what was on her mind.

The squad had reduced their pace, choosing a slow sprint instead of fast. They had left the field and entered into a forest.

"It doesn’t matter," Malakai shook his head. "Our Lifeguards gave us the mission, not them. Except we can catch the AI lying, nothing will change."

Laila frowned. She didn’t like that he was right. Her mind spun as she tried to figure out the situation.

Malakai and Laila were at the lead, while Grunde and Renlo were behind, scanning the surrounding forest cautiously. Renlo was already gripping his spear tightly, trying hard to fight his tense nerves.

The thought of an ambush happening at any moment grated at his nerves. ’Calm down. Calm down.’

Renlo constantly repeated in his mind, trying to steady himself. He sent a glance towards the front, seeking reassurance in Malakai’s presence.

There was a sort of certainty to Malakai’s presence. A reassurance. One he couldn’t explain. It was as though as long as he was here, all was fine.

Renlo shook his head the next moment. ’You have to get past that bad habit, Renlo!’ he chided himself, gripping his spear even tighter. ƒreewebɳovel.com

The truth was that, since yesterday when Malakai returned, Renlo had been feeling really terrible. Malakai had told him that he went and faced the Gor’Mekhai earlier that day.

’And he hadn’t told me.’ This was what made Renlo sad. Malakai had done something that important and dangerous and hadn’t deemed him worth telling. Rather, he had gone with Grunde.

Renlo wasn’t jealous of Grunde. Instead, he blamed it on his weakness. If only he had been useful and strong enough, Malakai would have relied on him more.

He fixed his intense gaze on Malakai. ’This is a chance,’ he thought. If he could show Malakai just how strong he had become during this ambush, Malakai would be forced to reconsider his decision to leave him out of things.

"So what now?" Laila suddenly asked, turning to Malakai. She had thought about the situation from multiple angles but still couldn’t come up with a way out of it.

"We keep moving."

Laila narrowed her gaze. "We have no idea what to expect. It’s too dangerous."

"The location the map asks us to go to isn’t far from the city," Malakai explained. "I have a Bloom as my guard. They won’t be able to do anything too intense this close to the city."

There was only so much they could do in this situation. The city was against them, and they had no choice but to willingly walk into an ambush.

But instead of brooding, Malakai searched for a way they could survive. The first, of course, was Nyx. If worse came to worse, she would get him and Renlo out of here in a blip.

’They might not have counted on us suspecting a thing.’ This was what Malakai had determined.

For the ambush to happen, they needed to be at a certain distance from the city wall so the fight wouldn’t be discovered.

Unfortunately for them, the AI map could only go so far away from the city. Which meant they had to find another way to lead the squad further away.

But as long as they reached where the AI had marked, it would be seen as attempting the mission.

At that moment, they could go back to the stronghold. Malakai was suspecting some sort of lure when they reached the location, something to bait them deeper. They only had to simply ignore it, and all should be fine.

He explained his reasoning to the group, and even Laila couldn’t help but nod in agreement. It sounded plausible and could get them out of this predicament.

As they picked up the pace, Malakai began wondering how he was going to avoid situations like this in the future. If the city could manipulate their missions, then he was in more danger than he thought.

But soon enough, they reached the location stated on the map. A small clearing with thick forest surrounding every side.

"There’s nothing here," Laila said, scanning the area. There wasn’t even a single figure present.

"S-so we should head back?" Renlo asked, looking around. Grunde too scanned the surroundings.

However, of all of them, only Malakai had a deep frown on his face.

He had just felt something wash over him. A chill. It was as though his body had been doused in cold water. His gaze narrowed.

’Darkness creatures.’

But it wasn’t just a few.

An army.

The squad lowered their gazes to the earth as the ground trembled.