QT: Against My Will-Chapter 562 - 8.79 - A Swamp - Monster Heist
"If one more weird bug flies at me, I swear I’m going full barbarian," Aria muttered, swatting at the air.
Venturing deeper, they reached the EMP area on their third day. The familiar hum of electronic devices and gadgets was replaced by eerie silence— making the forest’s ambiance take on a more ominous tone. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
Among the team members, only Liam and Juliet were proficient in magic enough to communicate through mind links.
Ru Quan and Bing Shi opted to steer away from making such bonds and links with other people.
The remaining members chose a more conventional route. They stayed within close proximity to each other, relying on spoken words and hand gestures.
Douglas, leading the pack, addresed them all, "Alright, team, left path. It looks like it sucks less."
Douglas’s keen instincts had proven invaluable thus far, guiding the team through the dense forest and helping them navigate around potential dangers.
However, as skilled as Douglas was, even he couldn’t completely avoid all hazards — there were simply too many! He could only choose the least dangerous one.
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Their journey led them to a sprawling swamp, a vast expanse of murky water and tangled vegetation that stretched as far as their eyes could see.
As soon as their boots sank into the muddy water, the swamp’s grip tightened around their ankles, grasping plants coiling around them like vices.
Shina swung her machete through the plant and flew into the air, making her decision known, "Stay close to me and get ready for a fight."
In a burst of speed, Shina dashed across the soggy ground, her feet barely touching the water’s surface and in response, the swamp seemed to stir. A few reptiles with robust bodies, scaly skin, and powerful jaws, lunged out from their hiding spots.
With an astonishing display of strength, their powerful jaws tore through the canopy of trees that loomed above, allowing slivers of light to pass through. In response, the trees began to accelerate their growth immediately — patching the gap.
Liam soared above the swamp and pulled the trigger of his gun, aiming for the gaping mouths. However, the reptiles were smart enough to shut their jaws in time, or rather, shoot forth a beam of mud!
Juliet was already by his side to help him with the battle. She aimed and fired a series of sleeping shots into the crocodiles’ nostrils.
The biggest reptile, one with scarred, thick scales and blood-red eyes, seemed to understand the tactics they were employing. It circled the members of its kind, letting out a guttural sound.
In response, the other reptiles began to regroup, forming a strategic formation. They submerged and resurfaced unpredictably to shoot out beams of mud, making it harder to defend against their rapid lunges.
Shina feinted to the left, drawing their attention and causing them to surge towards her by shooting more sleeping sedatives. This movement was deliberate, positioning the beasts exactly where Liam’s spell would have maximum effect.
In this chaos, Shina’s role as the lurer was not just evident but vital. She wasn’t there to fight; she wasn’t here to support. She was there to provoke—to manipulate the environment and its inhabitants.
One by one, Laura summoned some heavy metal plates from her space, and each one began to crash down onto the reptiles.
The metal plates, responding to Henry’s command, began to shift and transform — some of the plates molded into wide shields, blocking the reptiles’ muddy beams and sudden lunges.
Shina took a chance to loop a net around a reptile’s body, "Alain, Henry."
A few of Henry’s metal plates folded and twisted into chains that wrapped themselves around the larger reptiles, constricting their movement.
Alain summoned his vines from the depths of the swamp. Thick, sturdy tendrils erupted from the marshy ground, weaving themselves together into even stronger ropes.
With the rope in place and the crocodile immobilized, Shina’s audacious plan began to take shape.
Juliet had been manipulating the air currents around her. She conjured a gentle but firm breeze, directing the drug-laden air towards the reptiles. (The sleeping shots were just bait.)
Shina motioned to her fellow team members, "Quick, before someone notices," she urged, pointing at the floating reptiles, "I wanted to use the trunks, but this will do too."
Aria’s hands moved, a subtle energy enveloping the team members who lacked the ability to fly, "Coming!" She swiftly and deftly guided Henry, Laura, and Orion in Shina’s direction.
"..." One by one, the team members gingerly climbed onto the reptile’s robust back, their movements cautious.
Liam climbed onto the reptile’s back, "Never thought I’d be riding one of these things."
Orion followed, climbing up with caution. "Personally, I prefer my rides without teeth," he quipped, eyeing the reptile’s formidable jaws warily.
The once a potential threat, now served as an unconventional means of transport, and the reptiles around, as extra defense.
In a rather retro move, Henry whipped out a printed map, "There is a shortcut nearby, what do you think, Douglas?"
Douglas leaned in to inspect the map, "It looks fine to me."
’Are they rolling dice with Douglas’ decision again?’ Orion’s eyes blinked in disbelief as if he were mentally calculating the audacity of their decision. It was as though the team had collectively decided: ’Hey, you know what would be fun? Spending a whole day navigating through the swamps while using reptiles’ back as a boat!’
Laura jumped from one reptile to another, strategically injecting sleeping drugs into their bloodstream.
· · ─────── · ⊱❈⊰· ─────── · ·
The fog grew denser with each step, wrapping the landscape in a mystical shroud that obscured even the closest of trees. Visibility dwindled to mere shadows and silhouettes, creating an unsettling atmosphere.
Juliet, using her heightened senses, would occasionally whisper updates to Shina, ensuring they stayed on track. "Something is watching us," she noted quietly.
"I sense it too," Liam added, his gaze sharp. "But as long as we remain on these creatures and move together, we should be fine."
Every now and then, a shadow would move just beyond the range of their vision. Creatures of the swamp, perhaps, curious about the intruders but cautious not to approach the large, intimidating reptiles and the group of LADs that rode upon them.
· · ───────── · ⊱❈⊰· ───────── · ·
As the day wore on, the fog began to lift, revealing a more open area up ahead.
"This is it," Henry announced, "the shortcut. Once we cross this, we’ll be out of the swamp."
The water beneath their reptilian ’boats’ began to shallow until their rides were scraping the muddy floor.
Shina, perched atop one of the largest reptiles, gestured for the team to disembark.
After several hours of walking, the team stumbled upon a clearing. In its center stood a tall, ancient stone monolith, its surface covered in runes and symbols that glowed faintly.
Juliet approached the monolith, her magic senses tingling. "This barrier isn’t just to keep something in. It’s also meant to keep people out."
Aria tilted her head, "The other side looks fine to me."
"Stay back!" Shina caught Aria’s wrist before her hand could touch the invisible wall. She had barely finished her words when, out of nowhere, huge invisible claw marks began to materialize, slashing and tearing at the barrier’s surface.
The group watched in horror as the barrier rippled and distorted under the force of the unseen attack.
"Fuck!" Liam cursed as everyone leaped a few meters back, "What the fuck was that?!"
"Why can’t we see it?" Laura questioned, trying to make sense of the situation, "Don’t tell me it’s the thing that killed our scouts."
As they contemplated, the invisible assailant struck again, this time with even greater ferocity. The barrier wobbled and shuddered under the onslaught, its integrity starting to wane.
Juliet, her magical senses heightened, responded, "Whatever it is, it’s beyond the barrier, attempting to break through. It wasn’t due to the low visibility of the mist. It’s invisible. And its energy... It feels chaotic, unlike anything I’ve sensed before."
Shina looked over her team. "The other team has to come to this point as per the plan. We will wait for them nearby," she declared.
She took out a pencil and a notepad and handed them to Ru Quan, "Leon, you have an eye for detail. Can you try to sketch what you saw, even if it’s just the claw marks and the vague shape?"
"I’ll give it a shot," Ru Quan said, settling down on a flat rock. He began with the claw marks, their monstrous size and distinct pattern, and slowly progressed to sketching the outlines and shadows of the creature that lurked beyond the barrier.
The team walked deeper into the forest in search of a place to camp, far enough from the prying eyes outside of the second layer.
Alain took on the responsibility of setting up the shelter.
Henry began crafting makeshift traps around the perimeter of the camp using the metal plates Laura had summoned for him again. They were simple contraptions meant to alarm the team if anything approached during the night.
