SCT-Novel Chapter 76: The Traps Laid (2)
Chapter 76: The Traps Laid (2)
Thane knew that the leader of the Red Chains would be far stronger and different than the rest. Bolgard was already quite strong and required a lot of Thane’s skills to kill.
But even then, Thane underestimated Boldred!
But to think of taking an entire fireball head-on and only having some minor injuries placed this man on a different scale of power. Thane had fought enough people in this world to understand the difference between "tough" and "abnormal." This wasn’t just a warrior with good armor or high vitality. This was someone whose body, skills, and instincts were built for charging through death.
"That guy could probably take out an Orgrath all by himself..." Thane muttered, his breath steady despite the sprint.
He retreated as the Red Chains made a rush at Thane.
Their Captains rallied them to be organized once more, shouting orders and slamming weapons together to restore morale. Boldred’s presence was a banner. Even wounded, he was a moving fortress. And when a fortress advances, the army behind it follows.
But Thane didn’t give them the time to truly stabilize.
"Now for the other trap... Too bad I only found one suitable place to put it..."
He would shoot out fireballs from a distance, and while no traps were present in this stretch, it still gave the Red Chains a sense of fear as they looked up at the top as they marched.
The tunnel was long and uneven, and the ceiling wasn’t consistently high. Some areas had stalactites like teeth. Others had jagged shelves of rock. Whenever Thane’s blue fireball streaked overhead and detonated against the stone or exploded near their formation, the sound echoed and multiplied, turning one blast into ten in their minds. It didn’t need to hit. It only needed to remind them.
Arrows would also be fired as Esau kept pressing and harassing the foes. Thane took up a bow and also started to shoot arrow after arrow together with Esau.
His hands were not those of a seasoned archer. He didn’t have the smooth economy of motion that the other archers had. But Thane had something else: his perception and Dark Sight. In this cave of pitch darkness, Thane could still see clearly.
"Shield Bearers up front!" the commander ordered as he stood next to Boldred.
The shout echoed, and the formation shifted. The shield bearers pushed forward, their heavy gear scraping against stone as they angled into a tight wedge. Behind them came barbarians and battle mages. The archers stayed midline, looking for angles.
Together, the group began to fight back.
But what good did shooting in the dark bring?
Thane watched this from the shadows and grinned.
"It’s about time they reach that trap... Here’s to hoping it can kill at least one or two more..." Thane chuckled.
The time that he had was quite luxurious. Even he did not expect that the fear of killing three squads and even seeing the horrifying battlegrounds made the group wait longer for their full team to march. A few minutes for a trapped man could be nothing.
A few minutes for Thane, armed with Item Storage and an obedient Groundling carrying a warrior’s soul, meant another trap easily made! Apart from the traps he was able to create by piling stones and fitting them to lock together in between the stalactites above, Thane was also able to create another set of traps on the ground.
This was the part that made him laugh internally, even as he ran for his life. Everyone expected traps from ceilings in caves. Everyone feared stalactites. Everyone looked up.
Almost no one looked down. The group of shield bearers was up front, blocking the arrows as the other Red Chains followed from behind.
Their shields formed a broad, overlapping wall. Arrows thudded into wood and iron. Some snapped. Some lodged. A few skidded off. Their pace was cautious but increasingly desperate. But as they kept moving with shields on the ready, archers shooting and blocking the incoming assaults, no one noticed that they walked on top of a large stone on the ground.
It was flat, like a piece of flooring that belonged there. Like a stable slab among unstable terrain. It did not wobble. It did not crack. It did not betray itself with sound.
All of a sudden, Boldred saw a red light from a distance.
"Catch this!" Thane’s voice echoed.
"Fireball!" He warned. Having taken the full attack, he knew not to underestimate it!
The fireball was launched and swerved, but it did not hit the shields that were lifted.
The target was the stone platform itself!
BOOOM!
The explosion struck the slab, and the shockwave did what feet never could. The stone lifted, shifted, and then dropped away like a lid being removed. The ground collapsed and revealed that it was just a flat stone acting as a cover to hide a small pit underneath!
And the small pit had... molten lava!
SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH!
"AHHHHH!"
The howling cry of four men who somehow fell into a pool of lava echoed out of the tunnel.
The two were at the bottom, and the other two were at the top of the two at the bottom. Molten rock wrapped around boots and greaves like a hungry mouth. The smell hit the air immediately, thick and choking.
Almost instantly, those at the front retreated, fearing they would also fall into the pit!
For a second, the entire wedge collapsed into disarray. It wasn’t the pit alone that terrified them. It was the fact that the ground itself could betray them at any moment. It was the realization that they were walking through an enemy’s mind.
STAB!
"Ah!" An arrow landed on a shield bearer, who lost his guard and slipped.
The man’s shield dropped for just a heartbeat, just long enough. The arrow struck, and he cried out as his footing gave way on the damp stone. But several of his allies grabbed him by the straps and yanked him back, dragging him away from the pit.
The march of the group stopped due to the sudden terror and the wounded screaming from below.
Thane’s trap had done exactly what it needed to do.
Thane had asked for the help of Esau, who had dangled him over the lava pool so he could store some of the lava.
Esau had held him by the belt and shoulder like a sack of grain, lowering him inch by inch while Thane extended his inventory’s reach and fought the heat that threatened to roast his face. The lava’s glow had painted their skin orange. The heat had been a living creature, pressing against them, daring them to slip.
But with that, he managed to transfer a small amount of lava into a hole and used a flat stone to cover it up. Everyone was too wary of the stones above, that they could not expect that a pool of lava waited below!
The men who fell began to leap out of the pit, but alas, the aim of the two was already on the pit.
STAB! STAB!
"Ahhh!" The shield bearer who tried to climb up received an arrow to the back as his allies frantically tried to pull him up.
He slipped again. His gloved hand clawed at stone. The heat below licked at his boots. Panic made his movements sloppy. Another arrow struck him, and his body jerked, losing what little balance he had left. Arrow after arrow continued to fly from the darkness beyond them.
The Red Chains shouted and cursed, some firing blindly into the shadows. Others tried to throw ropes. Others screamed at the battle mages to do something.
"How the fragment did he manage to put a lava pit here?!" The Battle Mage Commander cried.
Everyone began to panic as the commotion, the screams, and the arrows entered the mix of chaos.
"I’ll kill that bastard! Get them out of that pit!" Boldred’s voice cut through the chaos, raw with rage.
Boldred quickly reached for his satchel and drew out a potion.
His movements were decisive. Not frantic. Not panicked. The difference between a leader and a man dying was often composure. Boldred uncorked the potion with his teeth and drank.
With a quick sip, he drained the potion, and suddenly, a reddish glow began to cover him.
"Make way!" Boldred ordered as he charged out of the group.
"Get them out of there! I’ll kill that brat myself!"