Chapter 157: Gut Root

“By the way, in case you didn’t know, Scouts can detect magical transmissions within their suppression field. If you get caught within one, keep that in mind.”

“Hm.”

I hummed at Pollux’s informative warning. I didn’t know that, but I suppose it made sense. 

Currently, we were packing up to deploy. I was one of four people in my team. The other three were two knights and one warlock. 

We were given another briefing earlier. Nothing I hadn’t already heard in the prior plan review, but there were still a couple tidbits that I found interesting to know. 

For one, knights carrying their warlock friends and running away from enemies was a valid and well-used tactic. I thought I’d been somewhat original with it when I had Feiden and Vetsmon do it with me and Umara, but apparently not. 

Anyway, that was the plan if things went south. 

The four of us would take three bikes and stage ourselves on a small mountain. From there, we would attempt to find the encampment in the suspected valley. Once it was found, we’d continue on bikes until we got within a few miles, then trek the rest of the way on foot. 

We were traveling light since this operation wasn’t supposed to take any longer than a night to complete. If it did, we’d have bigger problems on our hands. 

The last things of note were the expendable magic items we were given. One of them was a repeater for my Aerial so I could contact base. Another was a signal flare, for if shit really hit the fan. The last item was a bit morbid, and something I recognized. 

The Overkill Pill. 

It was a little black pill with no notable features, but with particularly extreme effects. I remember it being sold for a billion coin at my very first auction. 

Eat it, and it would give you explosive power for however long you managed to live under its effects. It was an overglorified suicide pill. 

I wasn’t shocked to see it in circulation. If the Scourge got their hands on you, you would become one of their monsters. Thus, these pills were the best way to not only deal more damage to them, but ensure they couldn’t increase their numbers with somewhat intelligent humans. It was also a form of mercy for the victims. 

It had been around a year since these pills were sold. I felt odd knowing who they came from as I stashed one away. 

Not that I was concerned. For the duration of our recon, as long as I was doing my job properly, I had navigational control. That basically meant I had command over our squad. So long as I wasn’t obviously fucking things up, there’d be no reason for the others to take the reigns. And so long as I was in control, I’d be able to ensure that I didn’t get into trouble. 

I arrived at the gates with Pollux. The other members of my squad, as well as Brigg. Hristo, were there waiting. 

“All ready?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good.”

He nodded. Right now, it was two hours before midnight. I had the map, my directions, and my bike. 

There was also Amary. 

She sat on the back of my bike, smiling at me as I walked over. The other two in the squad, a warlock and knight, were from Hristo’s command and had their own bikes. 

I let out an unnoticed sigh while smiling at Amary and straddling the bike in front of her. As I did, my hood unfurled over my head. 

Hristo spoke. 

“Hopefully no scouts will see you as you deploy, but keep your guard up. The last thing you need is an ambush. Just remember that everyone else isn’t far behind. Play it safe, stay hidden, and there should be no problems.”

“Not too safe though!”

There was a loud, chuckling voice that echoed from behind. We turned and saw the two Authority Tens, Miron and Alois. 

It was Alois that laughed. 

“We still need results! So don’t go shitting yourselves in fear just because you have to get a little close! It takes risk to get things done, as do all things in life! Aren’t I right, Briggs?”

Alois shot a grin toward Hristo, causing him to shrink back a bit. 

“Of course, sir…”

“Damn right! So get the hell out there and point us in the right direction! Those monsters are killing our precious ecosystem. It would be quite the shame to lose its fruits, understood?”

“…”

The four of us were silent. This guy was technically above me, but wasn’t my commanding officer, so I didn’t bother responding. Still, his Aura was positively bristling. It felt like a blade was poking into my neck, making it difficult to breathe even though I was keeping myself reigned in. 

His grin faded before his eyes fell on me. 

“I hear you’re the brains of this mission, golden eyes. Are you a noble?”

“… No sir.”

“Bullshit, where else would you get a Crown for eyes like that? And you’re a summoner? You must have a rich daddy. I sure as shit wouldn’t waste money on a summoner like you.”

“…”

I just stayed silent. This guy was a fucking prick. 

For a second I glanced at Hristo, but he just had his head down, his eyes filled with apology and sympathy. 

I softly clicked my tongue while Alois laughed some more. 

“Heh, well, whatever. Just get your job done and I won’t have any issues. Now go on, fetch me their location.”

“… Yes sir.”

“What was that?”

Alois put his hand to his ear, a simple motion that made my anger flare. The retarded smile that bloomed on his face only fueled it further. 

With a thought though, I extinguished my anger entirely and stood from my bike, giving a sharp salute.  

“Yes sir!”

“Heh, this guy gets it. Now hurry up and get out of here! Those monsters can’t be killed soon enough!”

“Sir!”

I gave one last response before turning my bike on, the others following suit. Then, Hristo spoke. 

“Deploy.”

With his word, we all drove off, my bike heading the path out of there. 

I could hear Alois laughing, so I drove a bit faster, lest it cause me to commit some form of treason. 

When we were far enough, I slowed down while speaking through the aerials of the other squad members. 

“Take lead, one of you.”

With my word, another bike rolled ahead and started leading. I knew the map but not the terrain, so I preferred to let someone else who knew these lands navigate. 

Amary hugged me a bit tighter from behind, her head moving over my shoulder so she could speak into my ear. The winds distorted her voice, but not nearly enough to drown it. 

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“… Don’t let people like that get to you. Idiots like those get drunk on their power and then goad people into stepping out of bounds. Piss someone like him off enough and he’d probably just rip your arm off.”

“…”

My eyes remained forward. What she said was nothing new. 

I suppose there always had to be that one guy. And it changed nothing. It was just another motivator to get stronger, and until I did, I needed to just suck it up and not piss anyone off. 

It wasn’t like at the Magisterium where simply being around Umara would invite trouble. Here, I simply needed to keep my head down, weather whatever bullshit people like Alois threw my way, before continuing like normal. I wouldn’t have to deal with him again, and all would be right in the world. 

The illumination from the moon on the surrounding lands was enough to make it feel like day for me. The other two squad members had the lights of their bikes on to brighten the path. Mine was off, not just because I didn’t need it, but also to draw less attention. 

I didn’t feel anything watching us, but that didn’t mean nothing was there. I assumed the Scourge already knew we had left, so I based my actions around that. In other words, I expected the worst. 

The location of the valley wasn’t actually that far away, perhaps 25 miles from base. We crossed some of it before long. Then, it was on a large hill around 15 miles from base that we set up the repeater for the aerials, and, about an hour after we had left, we finally found the mountain Hristo designated for us to start at. After that it was another 20 minutes before we made it to the top. 

Once we rolled up there, I clicked on my Aerial. 

“Approaching target area. Comms check.”

“Wallace, check.”

“Jen, check.”

“Amary, check.”

“All clear. Now, let’s find these monsters.”

I took point and rolled across the mountaintop, finding a good vantage point before coming to a stop. We jumped off our bikes, all four of us walking to the edge of a sharp drop. 

From there, we looked out over the valley before us. There was some cloud cover and fog, or what I was hoping was fog, making the light faded in certain areas and distorting anything in the distance. It was thin, which meant I could still make some things out in the distance with a bit of focus.

Even then, my Aura spotted the encampment before I did. In the distance, on the side of the valley going in the direction of the base, was a large gathering of poisoning malice and intent. In the center of it was not just an encampment of tents and nests, but a pulsating mass of icky flesh and rancid fluid. 

They were about three miles from us, and yet when I pulled down my mask I could faintly smell the sickening odor of whatever the hell was down there. I was starting to think dogs – or whatever Flicker equivalent – would be a better way to find Scourge camps. That mass of flesh was in the center of the base, towering like some kind of distorted tree from hell. The ends of its branches writhed and shit out those clumps of rancid, viscous fluid. If I were new to gore, I’d vomit just from the imagined sight.

That wasn’t to mention the rest of the valley, which was already corrupted, by the looks of it. Any remaining semblance of the original flora was withered, and everything else around that was covered in some kind of red, moss-like fungus. It covered the ground in patches, and was most definitely alive. I didn’t like it one bit, because soon, I’d be down there. 

I let out a long sigh. Although I could see the base and make out the figures, if I wanted to get detailed descriptions of the enemies in the camp with this fog, I’d need to be closer. It seemed my guess of 1000 meters was looking to be right on the money. 

After looking around some, I snapped my fingers, pointed, and caught everyone’s attention. 

“Right there. If we go down this ridge we can park our bikes there before proceeding on foot, making for a quick egress if we need it. We’ll have cover up until about a mile from the edge of the base. Copy?”

“Sounds good to me.”

One of the others responded. Amary nodded. 

Wordlessly, I walked back to the bike and mounted, as did the others. Once Amary was behind me, I peeled off and proceeded to our parking spot. 

There, we found a decent hiding spot for our bikes inside a ditch. After climbing out of it, we started making our way to the base. 

Before dropping onto level ground though, I turned to my two unfamiliar squadmates. 

“We’ll only speak unless absolutely necessary, and from here on out, keep your aerials off. Keep your Auras close too.”

“Aerials off? I hope you’re not forgetting that we need to relay information back to base.”

The knight, Wallace, spoke back. I just rolled my eyes. 

“You think I forget things? Just turn them off. I’m not speaking to them before I determine it’s safe.”

“Alois is expecting us to check in.”

“And we will, after I know I’m not going to get killed for it. Unless you want to walk in looking like a beacon for all their scouts to see.”

“…”

Wallace went quiet, sighing and turning his Aerial off. The other two had already done so while he decided to bicker with me. 

Mine was already off as well. Thankfully, they didn’t know my rank, otherwise they’d probably be undermining me. 

With that, we finally started making our way over. 

We dropped into the valley, which had generally sparse cover. Thankfully the land that the base was built near was rocky, so we could stay low key in the midst of boulders and outcroppings. 

I crawled and slipped over and between rocks, staying as low to the ground as possible. Their base wasn’t properly built, so there weren’t any watchtowers. However, after we had moved about 300 meters in, I spotted something. 

Up on the surface of a nearby hill was a scout troop. Two scouts and their escort of spiked wolves strolled across, patrolling. 

I quickly ducked behind a rock before muttering quietly. 

“Hide. Scout troop on that hill.”

“…”

The others near me looked over before finding some rocks and slipping behind them. 

The scout troop continued to walk in our direction. Not toward us, but the hill they were walking on would loop them around us.

Amary asked. 

“What do we do?”

“Hide and wait for them to circle around. Just make sure to stay out of sight.”

“Can we really wait that long?”

Wallace asked another stupid question, causing me to glare at him. 

“We’ll wait as long as we damn need to. Unless you want to saunter on over there and get spotted. Do that and I’ll watch as you get butchered alive.”

“… We should still check in…”

“Are you fucking…”

I was baffled stupid. It was like this guy had a death wish, wanting to rush in there with no regard for safety. 

That’s when the warlock, Jen, suddenly moved over to my side, stopping my words. 

“… Cooper.”

“What?”

“I… don’t think you’re understanding how scary Alois can be. He wanted us to check in a while ago. The entire strike force is waiting on us, and he wants this taken care of as soon as possible. Every minute of silence on our part is going to ruin his mood further. You may not have to deal with it, but we… don’t have that luxury.”

“… Fucking tyrant.”

I scoffed. It seemed Alois neutered all his soldiers through fear. Wallace was scared shitless of him, so he’d rather risk getting spotted just to get on comms faster and report the situation. 

And if he really was that unreasonable, then I could understand. Still, I wasn’t dying for a prick like that. If he really wanted to rip my arm off just because I was a bit late with my report, then so be it. Better than dying in some nameless valley. 

“Hey, if he’s got an issue, just blame me. I don’t give a damn so long as you two don’t fuck this up, otherwise we’ll all be dead and none of this will matter. Shit, I can’t imagine fearing someone so much you put their pleasure above your own life…”

I sighed and looked back toward the scout troop, watching them as they gradually made their way around. Jen hung her head beside me, silent and brooding. 

Now, I was a bit worried. Jen seemed more put together than Wallace, but both of them were looking like liabilities to me. Either way, if they really screwed up, then I was going to take Amary and disappear. At that point, their lives would be forfeit to me. 

Until then though, I’d have to drag them along and pray nothing happened. 

Thankfully, Wallace could hold himself in check long enough for the troop to pass by. Once we were out of their field of view, I started moving, the others following. 

We made our way a bit closer, my eyes glued to the surroundings. I continued to take occasional glances at the encampment to see how my vision held up, and when I finally felt comfortable, I stopped and set up. 

I laid on top of a rock, my eyes peeking over the top. About 800 meters away was the base. I had gotten closer due to the fog, but we were still far enough for me to be comfortable. The base was slightly lower than we were, giving me a look not just at the perimeter but deep inside as well. 

From there, I started counting, estimating about 300 enemies based on the number of tents and the number of enemies laying around outside. That included nearly 30 scouts, most of which were still active. 

I also managed to spot some Royals. We were fortunate enough for a large tent to be facing our direction, its flaps pinned open, allowing for a glimpse inside. 

Three royals sat around a table, though that was only in my immediate field of view. If I had to guess based on where they were looking around and the size of the table, there were at least five others, probably more. 

One of the Royals caught my eye though. It had pale white skin, black veins, and pure black eyes. I made a mental note of that one before bringing up my Aerial and turning it on. 

I broke radio silence. 

“Liaison to Treehouse, come in.”

“… I hear you, Liaison. This is Briggs.”

Hristo’s voice came back, making me sigh in relief. Still, I kept my eye on the surroundings. 

The voice that came next though made my blood pressure spike.

“Summoner! The fuck took you so long?! Have you no sense of urgency?!”

“No, Brigadier sir. We were delay-”

“I don’t fucking care! Give me a goddamned report so we can get this shit going!”

“…”

I went silent, taking a few breaths before giving the report. 

“The Scourge encampment is on the southern edge of the valley. A quick count puts their numbers at approximately 300. That includes around 10 Royals, most of which are currently conversing inside of a large tent near the center of the camp. Besides that, there is one active scout patrol, as well as nearly 30 scouts within the camp. There are also bears, some monkey-looking things, spiked wolves, and a large flesh tree sitting in the center of the camp.”

“… Copy Liaison. Give me a description of the flesh tree.”

“About 40 feet tall, no leaves, writhing branches, and it’s excreting some kind of yellowish fluid.”

“That’s a Gut Root… Noted.”

Hristo’s voice dropped a bit, making me worried. 

“Can you describe the Royals?”

“The first one that sticks out is one that looks like a man. He’s got black veins across his face and pure black eyes. Otherwise, looks like a normal armored knight.”

“… Shit.”

My heart dropped when he said that. 

“Briggs?”

“… Liaison, that’s not a Royal. That’s a Corrupted. He likely used to be one of our own soldiers. How deformed is his face?”

“… I don’t see any outstanding deformities, sir.”

“That’s not good… Understood Liaison. Continue describing the rest.”

“I can only see two others directly, but okay…”

I went on to describe the other two Royals. One had purple skin with red eyes and two jutting tusks coming out of its mouth. The other only had one green eye with dark green skin and large fleshy flaps on its neck, looking like a cyclops frog-fish thing. 

While I was describing them though, I was staring at the Corrupted. 

A prior human, corrupted by the Scourge and made one of them. The man seemed functional and coherent, capable of holding normal conversations, by the looks of it. I didn’t know much about the process of corruption, but if Hristo was asking specifically about his deformities and was concerned about him looking normal, then it couldn’t mean anything good. 

After a bit more explanation and detail, Hristo seemed to get everything he needed. 

“We’ve got at least two confirmed Authority Eights and likely at least two Authority Nines. Liaison, can you sense anything that might be stronger than that, such as an Authority Ten?”

“No sir, there are no Tens. There’s one close to it, but not quite over that threshold.”

“Hah! You think you can sense an Authority Ten’s Aura?! That’s a good fucking joke, Five! You’re fucking insane to think you can sense an Aura that powerful!!”

“I guess I must be, sir. My apologies.”

I mumbled back, rolling my eyes. Alois had the most obvious fucking aura I’d ever seen in an Authority Ten, so he was the last one who should be talking. Though I’d expect nothing less of someone who was so blatantly incapable of being self aware. 

I let out another sigh, waiting for Hristo to give me the all-clear. 

However, after a few minutes, there was nothing but silence. 

“… Treehouse? Liaison to Treehouse, come in.”

“…”

I heard nothing, so I instantly shut off my Aerial and looked back. 

Amary’s glistening eyes snapped up to mine. 

“We’re leaving.”

“What?”

“Now. Start moving.”

I pushed her along, the two of us starting to slip back through the rocks. 

Wallace and Jen moved after us, Wallace muttering.

“But we need to report-”

“I already gave the report, and my connection was cut. There’s a scout troop nearby, so I’m leaving. If you want to stay and try reporting more, be my guest. I’ll see you back at base.”

I continued moving after saying that, tuning his bullshit out. After I’d retreated some more though, I heard some movement in the distance. 

Claws on rock. That was my guess after hearing the distinct tapping. And it only took one glance back to see a few pairs of ears and spikes. 

They were coming, and I had a feeling they knew we were here. There was some more activity in the base too. 

Not good. 

I turned to Amary. 

“Hey. If I tell you, start running. And if you see me disappear, start running. Either way, we’re in hot shit right now, so get ready to book it.”

“Got it.”

She nodded, and I was glad she wasn’t questioning me. As for the other two, I was really close to not giving a damn about them, not that it would matter if things got worse. 

Still, I gave a cursory piece of advice. 

“Wallace, if we start running, grab Jen and run with us. Otherwise you’re free to turn around and buy us some time. Maybe Alois would commend you for your bravery.”

“… Asshole.”

He scoffed at me, making me roll my eyes. I didn’t care for idiots on my team and didn’t care whether he liked me or not. I didn’t need their help to survive.

I was quick, not as quick as the knights, but I was still making good distance. Wallace went ahead of us a bit while Jen kept up with me and Amary. 

Unfortunately, that scout troop didn’t have to be stealthy, and they were gaining ground. They seemed to be spread out too, which meant I couldn’t sneak to the sides without taking on more risk. 

At some point, I started getting more anxious. I could feel them on my heels. The looming sense of danger rapidly grew upon me, smothering different routes of escape. They probably caught our scent or heard us… or both. 

It was time to throw them off our trail now, before it was too late. 

My Aura bloomed into the immediate vicinity, solidifying before turning to fog. Moments later, the fog disappeared. 

And I disappeared along with it. 

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