Chapter 78: Ambush
Lucien and Ryker walked on through the desolate land.
The sun blazed overhead. The ground was cracked and dry. Dust rose with every step.
Whenever danger came, Ryker handled it. He would step forward, his blade flashing, and the creature would fall. Lucien watched. Sometimes he gave a pointer or two.
Honestly, Lucien didn’t get it. What did Ryker see in him? Why was he so eager to take advice from someone younger? Did he look that old? Or was there something else?
He thought about it for a moment. Then he let it go. As long as it didn’t trouble him, it was fine. And having someone else do the heavy lifting? That wasn’t so bad.
Cultivation resources were scarce in this desolate land. Lucien realized that competition for them would be fierce.
"Mr. Lucien, I wonder what continent you are from?" Ryker asked, breaking the silence.
Lucien didn’t reply. His eyes stayed fixed ahead.
Ryker cleared his throat. "Well, I’m from the human continent. The Golden Crest Clan holds a lot of influence there. My family—"
"You talk too much," Lucien cut in, his voice flat.
Ryker’s mouth snapped shut. His face flushed with embarrassment. He scratched the back of his head and looked away.
The silence stretched between them. Only the crunch of their footsteps against the dry ground filled the air.
After a while, Ryker spoke again, quieter this time. "I just thought... since we’re travelling together, I should know something about you."
Lucien glanced at him. "You don’t need to know anything about me."
Ryker opened his mouth, then closed it. He nodded slowly. "Right. Understood."
They walked on.
The wind picked up, carrying dust and the faint scent of dry earth. Ryker kept his gaze forward, but his curiosity burned in his chest. He wanted to ask more. But he held his tongue.
Lucien noticed. He said nothing. It was better this way. The less Ryker knew, the less trouble it would bring.
They didn’t walk up to a meter before they stopped, their gazes turning vigilant. It was too quiet over here.
Now they were walking in a place full of trees. The canopy above blocked most of the sunlight, casting long shadows across the forest floor. That was why Lucien had shut Ryker up earlier. Volkoid could attack from anywhere in this kind of terrain.
"Mr. Lucien, you can sense it," Ryker whispered, his voice barely audible.
Lucien didn’t answer. His eyes scanned the forest, moving slowly from tree to tree, from shadow to shadow. After a while, he turned his gaze toward a specific direction.
"You can come out and introduce yourself."
Silence. The forest didn’t answer. Only the wind rustled through the leaves.
Lucien sighed, his voice lazy. "I can sense three to four of you."
The grass rustled. From the shadows, two guys and one girl stepped out. Their age was no more than fifteen, similar to Ryker.
Immediately they appeared, Lucien scanned them. Information flooded his mind.
The man in the middle had brown hair. Ninth level of the Spirit Realm. Earth origin talent. The other two were at the eighth level. The guy had fire origin talent. The lady had wood origin talent.
The leading man scrutinized Lucien and Ryker. When he saw Ryker, his gaze glinted with something sharp.
"Hello, my name is..."
"Nobody asked you that," Lucien cut him off. "What’s your aim?"
Their eyes shone with a mysterious glint when Lucien interrupted him. A flicker of surprise. Then annoyance.
After a moment, the leading man spoke. "Sorry to bother you. We were just thinking if we could team up with you..."
"So you can stab us and finish your job," Lucien completed the sentence.
They were startled. The young man scratched his head, forcing a smile. "I think you’re getting things wrong."
"I’m not getting anything wrong." Lucien’s voice was flat. "First, you’re concealing yourselves like assassins. Your killing intent is leaking. Even now, you can’t hide it when you look at this guy over here."
He pointed at Ryker with a lazy gesture.
"Me?" Ryker was surprised, pointing to himself. He had sensed nothing. But he didn’t think Lucien would trick him.
Seeing that they had been exposed, they laughed for a while. "We didn’t think we’d be found out even this hidden."
The leading man turned to Lucien. "You’re sharp. Sharp enough to be annoying."
Lucien said nothing. He only smiled.
Lucien turned to Ryker. "We haven’t reached anywhere, yet participants are already here to kill you." He shook his head.
Ryker felt surprised as he looked at the three participants. "I don’t think I have offended you or my clan."
When Lucien heard this, he almost coughed. You’re still asking them that? He wondered where Ryker’s intelligence had gone for a second.
"Yes, Young Master Ryker, but there’s a bounty for your failure circulating through the participants with your appearance," the second guy replied.
Ryker was startled by this. Meanwhile, Lucien froze. Did he just invite a heap of trouble beside him?
What is he hearing? He started regretting ever accepting him.
Before Lucien could dwell on his mistake, the three attackers moved.
The leading man raised his hand. A brown circular rune flared on the ground beneath Ryker. The earth trembled violently. Stone spikes shot up in rapid succession, jagged and sharp, aiming to impale him from below.
Ryker’s instincts screamed. He leaped, twisting in mid-air. The spikes grazed his leg, tearing through his robes and drawing blood. He hit the ground rolling and came up in a crouch, his blade already in hand.
The fire user was already moving. A red rune spun in front of him, glowing with intense heat. A stream of flames burst forward, roaring like a hungry beast, cutting off Ryker’s escape route.
Ryker’s eyes darted. No time to dodge. He raised his blade, golden Originat surging around it. A golden circular rune flickered around his sword. He swung, releasing a crescent of golden energy to meet the flames.
The attacks collided mid-air. The explosion sent a shockwave rippling outward. Heat washed over Ryker’s face. He was thrown back, his boots skidding against the forest floor. He gritted his teeth and dug his heels in, stopping himself just before he crashed into a tree.
The wood user didn’t wait. Green runes appeared around her hands, spinning rapidly. Thick vines burst from the ground, snaking toward Ryker’s legs. They wrapped around his ankles and tightened, pulling him off balance.
He crashed to the ground. The leading man stepped forward, a brown rune appearing above him. A massive boulder materialized, dropping toward Ryker like a falling meteor. The shadow of it loomed over him, promising crushing death.
Ryker’s heart pounded. He slashed the vines with a burst of golden energy, freeing his legs, and rolled away just as the boulder slammed into the ground. The impact sent a tremor through the earth. Cracks spider-webbed across the forest floor.
He got to his feet, breathing hard. Sweat dripped from his chin. His robes were torn. Blood trickled down his leg from the earlier graze. He was being pushed back, and he knew it.
The three attackers were coordinated. They moved like one mind, covering each other’s weaknesses, exploiting every opening. The leading man controlled the earth, shifting the terrain to trap him. The fire user kept him cornered with relentless blasts. The wood user bound his movements, slowing him down.
Ryker had no room to breathe.
He dodged another volley of flames, the heat scorching his back. He swung his blade, breaking through a wall of stone that rose to block him. He slashed through the vines that tried to snare his arms. He was skilled, determined, and strong. But he was outnumbered.
A vine caught his ankle again, yanking him forward. He stumbled. The fire user sent a blast of flames straight at his chest. Ryker brought up his blade to block, golden Originat flaring.
The impact sent him flying backward. He crashed into a tree trunk with a sickening crack. Pain exploded through his ribs. He slid to the ground, gasping.
His hands trembled. His blade was still intact, but his body was failing him. He pushed himself up, gritting his teeth, but his legs wobbled beneath him.
The attackers advanced. They moved slowly, deliberately, like wolves closing in on a wounded deer.
Ryker’s vision blurred. He blinked, forcing himself to focus. He couldn’t give up. He wouldn’t give up.
He activated his golden core physique. Golden veins pulsed across his skin, glowing bright beneath his torn robes. His aura surged, golden energy crackling around him like lightning.
He charged forward, his blade trailing golden light. He swung at the leading man, aiming for his throat.
The leading man met him head-on. Earth runes appeared around his fists. He punched forward, and a wave of stone burst from the ground, slamming into Ryker’s chest.
Ryker was thrown back again. He hit the ground hard, rolling to a stop. He tried to rise, but his arms gave out beneath him. His golden veins flickered, fading.
He lay there, gasping for breath. His body was broken. His will was fading.
The attackers stood over him. The leading man raised his hand, a brown rune appearing above Ryker, pulsing with deadly energy. The stone spikes that had erupted earlier began to rise again, aiming to finish him.
Ryker looked up, his eyes defiant, but his body refused to move. He wasn’t expecting Lucien to save him.
Lucien watched. Well, it was enough. He was planning on intervening.
Suddenly, from nowhere, blood tentacles came out. They moved like serpents, fast and silent. Before his eyes could blink, they pierced through the three participants attacking Ryker.
The leading man’s eyes widened. His mouth opened, but no sound came out. The blood tentacles pierced through his chest, his throat, his arms. His body went rigid. The blood was sucked dry in an instant.
The fire user tried to move, but a tentacle wrapped around his neck. He gasped, clawing at it. Then another tentacle pierced through his heart. His body crumpled.
The wood user screamed. She tried to summon vines, but the tentacles were faster. They pierced through her limbs, her stomach, her neck. She fell, her body shriveled and pale.
Lucien was startled by this. He hadn’t sensed this attack at all. He hadn’t sensed the attacker. The blood tentacles vanished as quickly as they had appeared.
He immediately brought out his longsword, his eyes scanning the surrounding area. His grip tightened as his heart pounded. Whatever this was, it was fast, faster than him. He couldn’t sense it anywhere.
Suddenly, he glanced up. He sensed a shift in the atmosphere. The air grew heavy. Something was approaching.
A figure was flying in the sky. The view grew clearer as it descended.
Lucien froze.
A familiar face entered his view. A smile that was both warm and dark.
"Darling!"
Lucien’s longsword almost slipped from his grip. His body went stiff. His mind raced.
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