Beyond the Bloodline-Chapter 254: Blizzard Ambush

"Davina, left!"

"Got it!"

David’s twin responded, darting to the side as she sliced her palm with her lightning sword, turning the crackling energy crimson.

Wanette’s grimoire pages fluttered, releasing runes that flowed onto Davina’s blade, enhancing it with a durability-ignoring attribute.

This allowed Davina’s sword to cut through her target’s icy armour with ease, splitting the elf’s body in two in one slash.

She spun around and released another slash of lightning that tore through the air, torching the elf who tried to attack David from behind.

In the same breath, David thrust his spear towards Davina. Trusting her twin, Davina didn’t move until the last second, when she tilted her head slightly, letting the spear sail past her and impale the elf behind her.

The two exchanged a quick high-five before splitting off again, moving in perfect sync as they covered each other’s blind spots.

Jamie, meanwhile, leaned against a jagged ice formation, watching the battle unfold with a small smile.

’That’s a very high level of trust she has in him there. You wouldn’t expect it from the way they bicker normally...’

A few more arrows shot towards Jamie but they turned to dust before they even reached his position. Without looking, he held up a finger and waved it through the air, and the elves who shot him with arrows had their whole bodies carved out of existence.

Jamie then pulled out his phone, trying to see if he had any signals when Eryan noticed him and shouted with a glare.

"Why are you just standing there?! Help!"

Without so much as a glance at him, Jamie continued fiddling with his phone as he responded.

"You seem to be handling it just fine."

Eryan wanted to retort, but an ice elf attacked him so he cursed under his breath and turned back to the fight.

Despite their initial success, the adventurers were clearly outmatched. The Ice Elves’ knowledge of the terrain and their coordinated attacks were taking a toll on them, even with the three Vampire teens helping.

Sure, they could hold their own, but it was clear they couldn’t protect everyone since most of the elves were focusing on them.

The adventurers began to accumulate injuries and noticing this, Wanette turned to Jamie who was now playing T*mple Run on his phone and asked.

"Um...J-Jamie...mind giving us a hand?"

Clearly, despite the little tweaking Jamie did earlier, addressing him without an honorific still felt weird to Wanette.

Finally, Jamie raised his head, scanning the number of corpses on the floor and seeing that the teens had taken out a fair bit of the elves.

"Well, that’s good for a start."

With such a response, he waved his hand and the snow beneath several elves erupted in azure flames, turning them to ashes.

Seeing this display of magic, the remaining Ice Elves didn’t hesitate to retreat, fully intending to come back with a stronger group.

They disappeared into the snow around them and the adventurers regrouped, finally able to catch their breath.

Eryan shot Jamie a venomous look, his teeth grinding as he spoke.

"Next time, don’t wait so long to pull your weight."

On reflex, Davina nearly whacked him with her sword, but Jamie stopped the blade with his finger and responded to Eryan.

"Next time, don’t rely on me to save your ass."

"Pfft...!"

David chuckled while Davina shot Eryan an irritated glare, her crimson eyes glowing menacingly.

Seeing her getting annoyed, Jamie smiled and patted her head, telling her not to waste her energy, both physical and mental.

"This was just the opening act. The real fun’s still to come."

◇　◇　◇

They took some time to handle their injuries before they had no choice but to move forward. Morale was low as pretty much all of them understood that they were bound to be outmatched by the foes around them.

The Elves who attacked were definitely not the only ones, and if just the first party of Ice Elves gave them so much trouble, then how would the others be?

Barely a minute after they started moving, the wind around them picked up, slowly turning into a blizzard.

The howling wind drowned out most attempts at conversation, reducing visibility as well.

This only served to worsen the overall mood that had already gone low after the initial attack.

"This storm is unnatural. We shouldn’t keep moving blindly like this."

One of the Iron Fang adventurers muttered as he clutched his arm, which was wrapped hastily with a bloodied strip of cloth.

"Keep your mouth shut and stick to the formation."

Eryan barked at him, then turned to Jamie who was still playing a game on his phone with a sour expression. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"And you—are you going to keep hiding in the back, or are you actually going to contribute this time?"

Jamie ignored him and the man’s brows furrowed, his frustration building. He turned and wanted to step towards Jamie but before he could even take a step, Davina’s sword slashed across the air before him.

He instinctively moved to draw his own weapon, but before he could do that, Wanette flicked a rune from her grimoire that immobilized him.

"Let’s not waste energy fighting each other.

We have no idea what else is out there, and I’d rather not be distracted when it shows up."

Wanette turned to Davina who was really itching to beat Eryan up and added.

"That applies to you as well. Save your energy."

She then removed the rune on Eryan, allowing the man to regain his mobility. He scowled and wanted to speak up, but when he noticed the gazes of his team members on him, he clicked his tongue and turned back to the trail.

The group pressed on, the snow crunching underfoot and Jamie occasionally glanced up, his actions catching the attention of the three vampires who realised what was up.

"They’re still watching us."

Davina murmured, her voice low enough that only Jamie and David could hear.

"Better for them to watch than attack. You guys wouldn’t be able to fight properly in this thick snow."

Hearing Jamie’s response, she frowned lightly, glancing around as she spoke again.

"But they’re definitely not going to let us keep moving without another ambush..."

"Obviously not, but if they’re waiting, it means they’re planning something."

Wanette responded and her words made the other two Vampires tense.

Jamie went back to focusing on his phone, gaming until they came across a clearing surrounded by towering ice spires. The wind died down as if the area were shielded from the storm around and at the centre of the clearing was a massive stone monolith.

"What is this?"

One of the adventurers asked, stepping closer to the monolith and Eryan followed behind, his eyes narrowing as he approached it.

"Some kind of marker?"

Jamie stopped a few feet away, his gaze moving up to the stone and the markings on it. Recognition flashed in his eyes and Davina who was more focused on him than the others noticed this.

"What do you think, J-Jamie?"

When she asked, Jamie just shrugged and responded.

"Looks important. Probably best not to poke it."

The man’s gaze turned back to his phone, but barely a second later, it shot back up as he felt a wave of magic power surge from the monolith.

Seeing Eryan’s hand on its surface, Jamie facepalmed and cursed.

"Of all the stupid things you could do..."

The markings on the monolith exploded with light and the clearing trembled. The ground split open to reveal a chasm beneath and from its depths came a chilling roar, followed by the sound of countless footsteps.

"Fantastic."

Jamie muttered, stepping back as the first Ice Elf warriors climbed out of the chasm. They were more numerous than before, and this time, they brought ice wolves with them.

David, Davina and Wanette all facepalmed in synchrony, before turning towards Eryan who had touched the monolith with glares.

"Wanette, don’t stop me from beating the shit out of him next time."

"Don’t worry, I wouldn’t."

Wanette responded to Davina as she opened her grimoire and began casting spells, while David summoned his spear with a sigh.

The adventurers scrambled to form a defensive line, with Eryan barking orders.

"Hold them off! Don’t let them break through!"

Again, another battle broke out, and like before, Jamie jumped into the air and sat atop one of the towering spires, watching from above.