Legacy World 2.14 Countering The Ambush

Multiple carriages had already gathered at the entrance to the North forest when the carriages that Leah and Alice were in reached the destination. Alice immediately headed to the side of the crowd to leave the sea of people while Leah wondered seemingly aimlessly around the crowd. It took quite awhile before each of them found what they wanted. Alice jumped up onto a low tree branch to take a breather. Leah had the expression as if she finally found their rendezvous point with the other three. 

"Sorry for taking so long! There are just so many people." Leah apologised then peeked at Ethan only to see that he was paying attention to anything else besides her.

"Nothing to worry about. They still have not signaled the start of the exam." Violet reassured her with a small smile.

"But they would anytime now." Stephan said without hiding his irritation.

Leah lightly bit her lower lip. 

Just a few seconds after Stephan talked, a loud explosion sounded in the air and everyone jumped in shock then looked up and towards the source of the sound. There was a large earth tablet that rose from the ground near the entrance of the forest. Large words clearly engraved into it that even Alice who was at the opposite end could easily read the words. 

EXAM START. ENTER THE FOREST. 30:00

People who did not make it into the forest by the end of the timer would fail the exam by default. No one tried to hold anyone back by fighting. It would only pull themselves down and everyone had their guards up already. The might as well bring the fight into the forest.

The crowd was split into three waves. The majority made up the first wave. These people wanted a head start, so they rushed in as soon as the message appeared on the earth tablet. The second wave followed closely behind. These people were those who had hesitated and those who trailed others to make use of their resources. The minority made up the final wave. These included Alice who waited for everyone to clear before making a move. 

Alice secretively observed who else stayed behind. BaoBao immediately caught on to what Alice was doing. [I tracked all the people that Leah passed by earlier. You are right, the people whom she made bodily contact with grouped up as soon as they entered the forest. However, they were split into the different waves. There are 4 of them here.]

Alice felt that BaoBao's tone sounded a little chirpy. /BaoBao, what are you happy about?/

[...How are you so perceptive...? Sorry if it's not the right time to say this but since you asked, my confidence in my prediction just increased~ ]

/Why?/

[I know your guess is that Rosalyn is involved in this but she is the only one here besides Violet's group that Leah didn't touch~]

BaoBao sounded extremely pleased with himself as if he has already won the game. 

When the timer dropped to 01:00, the four that Leah had touched finally entered the forest. Now, only Violet's group, Alice, and Rosalyn were left. Alice continued to laze on the branch for another 30 seconds. Just as Alice jumped down from the branch, Rosalyn moved too. She headed Northwest, while Alice headed North like she told Leah. Seeing that Alice made her move, Violet's group deftly followed behind. 

Leah silently let out a sigh of relief. She knew that the other three was confident that Alice knew what she was doing but Leah could not bring herself to trust their judgement. Alice was completely erratic in Leah's mind. Leah could not tell if Alice intended to drop out for whatever strange reason. So, when the timer hit 01:00, Leah was the only one silently fretting to the point of breaking out in cold sweat.

Alice's behaviour for the next 30 minutes further cemented Leah's impression of Alice. Alice made unexpected turns and detours. Each time Alice headed away from North, Leah had a mini heart attack. Leah had told her accomplices to split into groups to lie in wait along the path to the North. If they did not see hide nor hair of Alice within a stipulated timing, they would join up with the others waiting deeper in the forest. So, if Alice kept up her erratic behaviour, they would never see Alice and keep moving up further and further ahead. Eventually, this cock up would be blamed on Leah. 

As Leah's attention was completely focused on Alice following the said path, she missed the little smile that formed on Ethan's lips and his proud gaze. He just knew that Alice was avoiding traps by others, wild animals, and confrontations. The more time that passed by peacefully, the more sure he was, especially when there were already sounds of battles echoing in the distance. 

Half an hour crawled by before Alice slowed down her steps as if she was getting tired.

/The number remained constant for the past 10 minutes?/

[Yes, no one new joined up anymore. They're constantly moving ahead of you to set up their ambush again and again. Most of them look unhappy though.]

/They only have Leah's word for it. She's but a mere Normal... They must be filled with doubts by now./

[It's time?]

/Get ready to identify every single trap in the area./

[Okay! Time to rumble!]

BaoBao said with gust.

/... I'm counting on you./ Alice decided to say.

BaoBao's head cooled down with Alice's unexpected expression of reliance. He understood the importance of his role and took it more seriously.

Leah bit her lips hard enough for her to taste a little blood. /Just a little more! Keep moving! Who would have thought her stamina was so bad?! Ugh!/ 

Meanwhile, Alice's sudden drop in speed drew confused frowns out of Violet, Stephan, and Ethan. They knew her stamina very well from sparring together. When she finally sat against a tree to take break, Ethan tensed up. He figured out the meaning behind her actions. Violet and Stephan sensed the change in Ethan, which helped them understand Alice's intention.

Leah clenched her jaw so hard that her teeth hurt. They were only a few feet away from the ambush point! As of now, only Alice had entered the circle of ambush. Their three targets were not within range yet.

/Whatever! I'll just initiate the fight and we'll win by numbers!/ Leah decided. /If only you loved me back, you would not have to suffer the same fate as Violet./ Leah said her final goodbye to Ethan in her mind. She glanced at him, only to find him looking straight back at her with the coldest gaze she had ever met. Her heart gripped with an unknown fear. She was the one ambushing them, what was there to fear?

She understood why within the next split second. An intense pain spread throughout her neck. Her surroundings tilted to one side in a weird way. Tears welled up in her eyes but there was not enough time for it to leave her eyes, before the light in her eyes disappeared. 

Stephan and Ethan coldly watched as Leah's detached head and body drop from the tree they were in, along with the three incomplete icicles that had been forming behind each of them. The icicles slowly disintegrated into frost before disappearing. Only Violet's watery eyes held sadness and hurt in them. /What did I do wrong? How did she end up this way?/

Just before everything touched the ground, the three of them turned back towards the soon-to-be battlefield and unleashed their full strength in unison. 

Everyone was already on standby and ready to attack as soon as they saw their targets. However, their sudden loss of sight threw them off. When numerous bright and glowing spinning crescents shot through the darkness, they knew at once that they were being attacked. 

The opponents either blocked with their attacks or tried to dodge it. Those who did not react fast enough got hit. Some of those who dodged still got injured from running into something. Some of those who were safe from the spinning crescents suddenly felt pain from being cut. Ethan had rained his attacks on them too.

The roar of battle rang out loud and clear. Trees toppled. Attacks whizzing through the air. The thuds of people running into obstacles. Humans screaming and shouting in anger and fear.

Raging fires and numerous lightning strikes immediately followed the dark and light attacks. Counter-attacks were launched at the same time. One of the enemies also had a light ability, which dispelled Stephan's darkness. All kinds of attacks came flying towards the trio's general position. Flower petals, vines, earth, water, lightning, ice, and more. Ethan had expected this and was already in the midst of using his wind to change their location. 

The sand and dust settled after a while. The whole area looked battered, especially the spot where the trio had been at. A charred, barren, and messy spot was all that was left. Something mangled beyond recognition laid there. It took some time for them to realise that it was a head detached from its body. However, no one dared to check. It was only one body and no one was sure whose body it was. 

A dead silence fell. It was like the calm before the storm. Nobody dared to make a move and was on full alert. All except one.

No one noticed nor was paying any attention to Alice. While everyone was trapped within Stephan's ball of darkness at the beginning, Alice dashed around the perimeter to go all the way to the back of the entire group. Now, she stood on the opponent's side. 

While everyone was tensed up and waiting for any sort of movement, Alice stealthily and calmly blended in with the opponents. BaoBao directed her to every trap that was still intact after the trio's flurry of attacks. She subtly shifted or recalibrated each trap. No one bothered to pay any attention to her or her actions.

BaoBao was currently filled with exhilaration, an emotion with an intensity he never felt before. Although he was not directly involved in the combat, he might as well have been a part of it. He had managed to carry out his duty successfully. Once the darkness was dispelled, BaoBao had appeared in his tiniest form possible to thoroughly search through the area for every single trap. All the movement he caused due to his interaction with the environment was camouflaged by the chaos created by the simultaneous attacks. No one saw nor noticed him. Alice had thought of this plan to maximise his usefulness without breaking the rule that he could not affect nor interact with the world's characters. It was thanks to Alice that he got to experience something this stimulating.

There was only about less than half of the original number of traps left intact. So, it did not take Alice very long to complete what she intended to do. She steadily retreated to the back of the group again. She was prepared to watch the ensuing show and offer her assistance if Violet needed it. She still had her mission to complete after all.

However, just as she leaned against a tree, she got encased in a water bubble.