Tales of the Endless Empire

Chapter 342: The Perfect Ambush

It was beautiful to watch the sun climb from the horizon, gilding the breaking waves along the beach that spread out before Thalion. He had left the meeting at dawn. Josh and Jack would join him shortly, to pay those remaining incursions an unwelcome visit. The whole night he had reinforced his essence-blood and practised blood control until the pale light bled into the sky. Blood control was surprisingly effective: not as perfect as in legends, but far more reliable than most of his other disciplines. That long, deliberate practice had given him an intimate understanding of blood that no mere taught skill could match.

Movement, however, remained troublesome. His skills were monstrously powerful now, their buffs unexpectedly uncompromised, but the mobility skills still felt horrible. Mana Barrier performed admirably. Standing on it midair required finesse, but that was what blood control was for. The real obstacle lay in coordinated movement skills: dashing, feinting, and synchronising forms with allies. Perhaps he should take a day off to run nothing but movement skill drills. Dash after dash until the rhythm felt second nature. It would be useful and even, he suspected, oddly enjoyable. It would likely take much more than a day to master it he hopefully would improve fast enough.

Another complication was his choice of forms. Tidecaller Serpent was impractical without water, and Eagly, though fast, proved awkward in close quarters with companions. In his human shape he risked passing his curse to Jack or Josh by mistake and the crippled Eclipsari radiated a fear aura that could terrify his allies too. No single form was ideal for a coordinated strike. They could play a reckless game. Burst the base, touch the incursion pillar, challenge the leader, and run when the timer expired, but that would leave hundreds of invaders enraged around their outpost. Tactical prudence argued for killing the pillars properly, not for pranks.

While he waited for his friends, Thalion watched the sea. Fish leapt like silver knives from swell to swell, and shadowy, seagull-sized shapes hopped along the breakers, their black silhouettes skimming the horizon. The sight tugged at a memory of mornings spent spearfishing with friends, just them and the wide, indifferent ocean. He wondered where they had ended up. Survival in this new world was no certainty, odd given the lengthened lifespans compared to Earth. A bitter smile ghosted his face beneath the mask.

Jack and Josh arrived soon after. “Looks mesmerizing, right? These are the moments when I wish we hadn’t moved so far from the sea,” Josh said, standing a behind him.

Jack, however, was restless, shifting from foot to foot with barely contained excitement. “Enough whale-watching. I want to blast those bat-people with the long noses,” he barked, eager for action. “Yep. Time to give them hell.” Turning away from the water proved harder than any of them expected.

“How do we do it?” Jack asked, enthusiasm bright on his face. “Walk straight to the front door? Pick them off one by one? Or a mix of both. Walk in the front door and secretly thin their ranks? Could be tough, but fun.”

Josh shook his head. “Definitely the stealth approach. We don’t know their abilities.” Thalion nodded in agreement; a frontal assault would risk the base and the innocents. These incursions were professional, disciplined troops, organised tactics, scouts everywhere. If they could truly shapeshift into bats, they might already be watching. Caution, then, not bravado.

"Okay, then let's set out. By the way, is the incursion located in a clearing?" Thalion asked. Aerial fighting as Eagly would be far easier on open ground instead of a dense canopy where his speed and lightning strikes would be hampered.

"Yes, I think all the bases spawn in some sort of clearing. It may depend on how many people arrive at once," Josh explained, which made perfect sense to Thalion. Soon after, Jack and Thalion, the latter as Eagly, took to the air while Josh ran on foot. Thalion was surprised at how fast Jack moved as a giant squid. He cut a straight line through the sky like some odd, sleek vessel. As long as they flew in a dead line, Jack kept up easily, though turns proved his weakness. Approaching the incursion with a sixty-meter squid hardly qualified as stealth, but they only had to pause twice for Josh to catch up.

As they closed, Jack activated camouflage and nearly vanished before the clouds. Between Thalion’s passive veil and Jack’s cloak, detection should be unlikely. It was impressive for such a massiv squid to just dissapear and made Thalion ease his pace. A few extra minutes of caution mattered little compared to being seen. From the air the incursion base looked like something from a nightmare. A black stone fortress that might have belonged to Dracula himself. Pitch-dark windows stared like blind eyes. Its massive walls suggested masonry not quarried nearby, which only deepened the mystery of how such a stronghold had been erected so quickly.

Keeping low to avoid scouts, Thalion and Jack dropped toward Josh for a quick pre-assault briefing. Thalion folded his wings tight and dove, relishing the sharp rush of wind before turning into human form. Jack mirrored the motion, a great fall that snapped into a human shift above the trees. Jack teleported the last few meters, landing where Josh waited. Thalion followed, landing beside them and immediately forming a plan. "We attack from three sides. If one team is discovered, the others push forward. Everyone agree?" The two nodded eager, focused. Neither could wanted to wait any longer.

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They split and ran into the shadowed forest. The world around Thalion darkened as he shifted into the crippled Eclipsari. He wanted to emulate the Mantis. Thalion would be silent, unseen, a precise killer of scouts. Testing his human form here would risk exposure, so he kept the crippled eclipsari for stealth. If word of his true capabilities spread, he’d lose the advantage of mystery. For now he would remain an enigma and let the kills speak. Branch to branch he moved, a stalking predator, claws whispering against bark. At seven hundred meters out, with the black castle pinpricking the skyline between trees, he slowed to a crawl and let the shadows cloak him.

It did not take long to find the first target. Maike and Kaldrek had been right. These creatures truly resembled bats. Long, pointed noses that might have been tools, skin stretched tight with a short black pelage, ears broad and angular, and enormous, glassy eyes like deep-sea cephalopods tuned to the faintest light. Thalion crouched on a moss-slick branch, barely breathing, and crept forward until he lay ten meters up and one branch aside his quarry. The creature sat utterly still, listening with deadly intent. The kind that would ring an alarm at the first whisper of danger.

The first one never had a chance. One moment it perched in relative peace, ears twitching as it listened to the forest. The next, its body was torn apart mid-breath, shredded by writhing black tendrils that devoured it before a scream could leave its lips. The kill was swift, yet brutal, and for a heartbeat Thalion feared the noise alone would draw the others. But the jungle remained still. No alarm. Only the distant hum of insects, oblivious to the silent slaughter.

It didn’t take long before he found his next prey. Another scout, crouched low on a mossy branch, big eyes scanning the underbrush. Curious, none of them seemed to be gathering materials or patrolling the forest floor. Perhaps they only hunted under the veil of night? Vampiric weaknesses, maybe. Even if the sunlight didn’t burn them, perhaps it slowed them.

Thalion poised himself to strike when a piercing shriek split the silence. The sound, sharp as nails scraping against slate, echoed through the trees. The bat-creature twitched its ears, muttering curses as it rose. But before it could take a step, its headless body toppled from the branch, while Thalion clutched the severed head in his clawed hand. A sharp squeeze, and the skull burst wetly, fragments tumbling into the shadows like a melon dashed on stone.

That shriek had drawn them. From the corner of his eye, Thalion saw shadows converging, dozens of batfolk flooding toward his left flank. Likely Jack or Josh had triggered the alarm. No matter. Their plan demanded speed over silence now. He surged forward, his form a blur of claws and darkness. Scouts fell one after another, impaled, gutted, ripped apart before they even realized death had reached them. Ten kills, maybe more, and none of them lived long enough to scream. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Thalion imagined the Mantis watching. Yes, the insect would have been proud of this carnage.

He pressed harder toward the heart of the incursion. Every movement was honed with purpose. This was training as much as slaughter and of course sharpening blade and instinct for the looming system event. Victory there would demand perfection, no wasted effort. Alone, he had a chance at ranking high. With a group, his odds would shrink, outnumbered by chosen with vast followings. The thought lingered only for a moment before another scout crossed his path. Thalion’s claws tore him open in a single strike, silencing his desperate cry. But it was too late. The base was already stirring. Likely from the loud screech before.

The batfolk poured out of their homes like a disturbed hive, the small blackstone huts and looming castle disgorging warriors armed with blades, spears, and crackling staves. Thalion scanned them with a predator’s eye. Many classes, many builds, but no tanks. Strange. For all their variety, not one bore the heavy frame or hulking weaponry of a frontline defender. A weakness he would happily exploit.

He considered his forms. Eagly could rain death from above, lightning scorching their clustered ranks, but transforming now would sacrifice the advantage of surprise. Better to strike unseen, to break their will before they could rally. Every survivor was a risk. One escapee could reveal his strength, his location, his people. His new settlement was still fragile, perched high among the jungle trees. He could not allow these creatures the chance to retaliate. In Thalion’s mind, only a dead incursion was a good incursion.

He drew on the elemental’s power. Darkness swelled around him, thick and suffocating, bleeding from his form even as his aura struggled to contain it. The guards on the walls, distracted by the commotion below, failed to notice the shadow gathering high in the branches above them. Thirty spears of pure night stretched into existence, each over three meters long, humming with malevolent energy. He would have conjured more, but one watchman spotted him. No time for hesitation. With a thought, he unleashed them all.

The spikes screamed downward like falling stars, plunging into the crowded streets below. Bodies burst apart, stone shattered, and the square erupted into chaos. The slaughter had begun.