SSS Frost Sovereign: Rewinding The Apocalypse!-Chapter 70: Almost there!

’The Thorn Knight, huh? Now we’ve really entered D-grade territory,’ Icard thought, his muscles tensing instinctively, as did many other incarnations who could sense this spawns level clearly.

’But this is just one. And a lower-tier one at that.’

It was a humanoid warrior clad in dense, interlocking thorn-armor, where every barb curved backward like a wicked hook.

Its face was a featureless mask of layered bark-helms, and a jagged root-blade grew directly from its forearm.

As it shifted its weight, the ground beneath its feet cracked under its sheer density, and its wooden joints emitted a faint, ominous creaking sound.

Then it leaped down, landing on the ground in a loud thud that startled some people there.

The pressure it exerted was heavy, but not enough to pressure these incarnations too much.

Several of them lunged simultaneously, and an explosion of elemental streaks and other energies slammed into the Knight’s armored chest, forcing it back.

"You fools should move on! It’s a lower D-grade; one isn’t a problem!" Katar’s voice shrilled from Alia’s collar.

But as if answering his arrogance, three more Thorn Knights appeared from the high roots above, landing with bone-jarring thuds.

"Hmph," Katar harrumphed, undeterred.

Albert scanned the scene, his mind racing through tactical permutations as the data sheets crinkled in his grip.

"We need to forge ahead! Frank, Walter, Fred, Jimmy, Amar!" he bellowed.

The named raid party leaders snapped their heads toward him in unison, their expressions sharp and attentive, waiting for the word.

"Make way for us! Deal with these D-ranks while the main body moves ahead!"

The order was understood instantly. This much meant that their raid party was recognized to be able to handle this much at least.

This was apart from the fact that they could grow much more rapidly here when each kill.

"The rest of you, move forward! Take to the root tops!" Albert commanded.

The roots were massive, round highways of bark standing five meters above the forest floor.

Some incarnations hesitated, eyeing the height, but Albert didn’t give them time to doubt.

He sprinted forward, using a burst of energy to leap high into the air.

Mid-flight, a Thorn Knight lunged with a root-sword, but Albert twisted agilely, narrowly evading the arc of the blade before landing firmly atop the root. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

His men followed, some propelling themselves with raw strength while others used specialized abilities to scale the vertical wooden walls.

Below, the assigned raid parties engaged the Knights, pinning them down with a barrage of concentrated strikes.

Hammers meeting shields, and energy blasts carving furrows into the knights’ thorn-armor to keep them from pursuing the main group.

"The rest of you, don’t engage the D-grades! Avoid them and conserve your strength!" Albert’s voice echoed over the din of battle.

As they gained the elevation, the full view of the ruins finally hit them.

The towering trees were standing here and there, each only having a green top of leaf-like structures...not something that could form a canopy.

They all radiated out from a gargantuan, singular tree in the distance, their ultimate destination.

The network of the massive roots from these trees, which they were on was a chaotic grid of overlapping nodes, rising and falling like waves of frozen timber.

But the maze was far from empty.

More Thorn Knights began to emerge from the shadows of the trunks, their heavy footfalls cracking the very roots the humans were running on.

The incarnations scattered to avoid the heavy-hitters.

Icard glanced back, watching two incarnations coordinate an attack on a trailing Knight: one distracted it with a flurry of low blows, while the other delivered a heavy, energy-clad strike to the Knight’s bark-helm, sending splinters flying.

’Those raid parties can hold their own against lower D-grades,’ Icard thought, turning his eyes back to the path.

’But the real drama begins when the remaining two types of D-grade spawns show up.’

"Hurry!" Albert yelled.

The crowd was a blur of motion, sprinting across the uneven bark.

They ran through a world of shadows and ancient wood, jumping over gaps where roots diverged like canyons.

They reached a junction where one massive root climbed steeply over another. Already at a full sprint, the leaders leaped, clearing the hurdle in seconds.

But as they crossed the crest, they were barely able to skid to a halt when they appeared again.

Waiting in ambush on the other side were even more Thorn Knights, their root-spears already leveled.u.... 100 xxx

A Knight closest to Icard’s group lunged, its jagged spear whistling through the air toward Matt.

"Matt!" Reya screamed, her heart jumping as the party struggled to brake on the slick bark.

"Damn it!" Matt grunted, throwing his arms up to conjure a desperate defense.

Before the spear could pierce him, a blast of whitish, high-pressure steam slammed into the Knight’s side, stumbling it.

A follow-up volley of attacks from a different angle forced the other Knights back.

Amar, a slender and incredibly agile girl with short-cropped hair and sharp, fox-like eyes, landed between them.

She and her party had intercepted the ambush.

"Go on ahead! We’ll take care of them!" she shouted, her body already coiling for a counter-strike.

Matt stood frozen for a split second, the tip of the spear having been inches from his chest. Reya grabbed his arm, pulling him forward.

"Matt! Move!"

Regaining his senses, Matt scrambled after them, his breath coming in ragged gasps. "That was close! Too close!"

"Keep your eyes open and your body agile, you moron!" Katar barked.

"Yes, sir!"

The pace didn’t slacken. Albert led the charge, his boots drumming against the bark as they bypassed a towering trunk.

They were forced to jump down into the gullies between roots and climb back up, trying to maintain a straight line toward the center.

As Albert leaped toward a forward root, there hung a Venom Spitter bulb, quietly hidden in a crevice, recoiled to fire.

He saw it in his periphery. Without breaking stride, he released an explosive burst of defensive energy, vaporizing the toxic glob mid-air.

But he was only one man.

Pain-filled grunts began to erupt from the middle of the column. The ambush was total.

Venom Spitters were everywhere, clinging to the sides of the roots, tucked under knots, and hidden in the moss on the ground.

People were being hit before they could even identify the threat.

"Be careful! Watch out!" Gremit shouted, clinging tightly to Albert’s shoulder.

The group began firing blindly at any suspicious bulge.

The Spitters had fragile bodies, bursting easily under a single strike, but their paralyzing toxins were slowing the entire advance to a crawl.

"Watch out!" Icard yelled.

A Spitter aimed for Alia, but Eric incinerated it with a fireball before it could contract.

Simultaneously, another aimed at Eric from a blind spot below the root’s edge.

Before it could fire, Icard’s ice shard whistled through the air, pinning the creature to the wood and shattering it.

The pressure was mounting. Farther back, was Liam’s party. Even they were forced into a defensive pocket as well.

Two Thorn Knights had intercepted his laggards. Liam spun around, his hand carving through the air; a crescent wave of energy shrieked forward, severing the Knight’s wooden spear and giving his teammates the window they needed to retreat.

The battle was a chaotic symphony of cracking wood, hissing venom, and shouting men.

The main group was being squeezed between the hidden traps and the relentless Knights.

Icard gritted his teeth, pushing his legs to move faster.

"Keep going! We’re almost there!"