Pantheon Online - Chapter 238: Fool Me Once

Exile sat on top of a tree in the centre of the area where he had laid the new runestone formation. He watched carefully as Noslin and other leaders created defensive structures like platforms in the treeline and bridges connecting them. ‘I see.’ Exile thought as his eyes narrowed. Now that he could see the other parts he understood what role his runestones would play in that structure.

‘Haha, Mikari really is a genius. This’ll make it difficult for the Stalkers to get near our players.’ Exile chuckled to himself as he watched for any movement in the forest. ‘Still, it’s strange they haven’t attacked yet. Even Mikari thought they would’ve attacked by now.’

Exile hummed to himself as he continued to watch over the construction of their base in enemy territory. He could see Mikari giving orders to a number of different commanders as he glanced around with confusion. ‘Seems like he doesn’t like this situation. I guess that means we can expect something worse than he originally predicted.’

He had a bad feeling nagging at the back of his mind as he looked at the lack of activity around them. ‘Come on, where are you?’ Exile frowned as he watched the last part of their forward base be completed. ‘Seems like we worried for nothing.’ He shook his head as he caught Mikari’s gaze to signal that he saw nothing unusual.

Mikari gestured for him to come down and join him. Exile shrugged as he summoned his levitation rune to carry him to the ground. ‘There’s tension in the air, and I don’t hear any other animals.’ Mikari waited for him to land before lowering his voice.

“It feels like we’re about to be ambushed,” Mikari whispered as he glanced around.

“But it doesn’t make sense. Our scouts haven’t reported anything. They’ve checked the heights of every tree in case they were hiding behind them, but they found nothing.”

“Yeah, something doesn’t feel right,” Exile replied while stroking his beard.

“Do you think they’re worried about another trap?”

“Even if they were, they’re just beasts, right? They shouldn’t be able to think of complex notions.” Mikari grunted as he eyed the surroundings nervously.

“Their numbers are their greatest strength. They haven’t shown any fear about sacrificing a large number of their species for an attack.”

“Hm, maybe we’ve wiped out too many of them for them to launch another attack? Do you think they’re holding the remainder back to protect Nar’Kozz?”

“No,” Mikari sighed.

“It would be easier if that were true. But we haven’t seen their flying members yet. Plenty of them escaped earlier, and I’m sure they’ve never deployed their full horde.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out before they can start whatever they’re planning.” Exile chuckled as he clapped his brother’s shoulder.

“You’ve been spot on the whole time. Maybe it’s just nerves getting to us, eh?”

“Exile!” Burri called out as he rushed toward them.

“Something’s wrong!”

“What is it?” Mikari asked as listened for signs of fighting.

“Look, you know my authority is over wild plants, right?” Burri quickly said as he glanced all around them.

“Well, it’s strange. It’s like the weeds, moss, and mushrooms are talking to each other. Which is normal for me to hear it, but it’s what they’re saying that makes me think we should head back to Valheim.”

“What are they saying, Burri?” Exile asked as he held a hand up to silence his brother.

“They’re saying the forest is sick. That the trees and the earth has been invaded by a darkness. They speak of danger all around us.” Burri replied as he glanced around nervously.

“That doesn’t make any sense.

” Mikari replied with a sigh.

“I mean it’s not like… Oh!”

“What is it?” Exile asked while drawing his shield and spear. He could tell from Mikari’s expression that he had realised something.

“To arms!” Mikari suddenly bellowed as he pulled his staff from his back.

“The enemy is inside the tree trunks! The enemy is beneath our feet! Prepare for battle!”

Exile’s eyes went wide as he glared at the ground while some nearby players laughed at Mikari’s outburst. However, the other leaders knew Mikari was not one to joke around in a situation like that and began screaming orders.

“Exile! You have to get into the sky! Now!” Mikari growled as he watched the trees for any sign of movement.

Exile did not hesitate and decided it was time to show off his wings. The forest lit up around them from crackling flames on his feathers as he shot into the air, just in time to hear an angry buzzing noise radiating from the trees! ‘Shit! They’re inside our defences!’

Exile groaned as Stalkers burst out of the bark inside of the defensive structure. ‘My runestones won’t be able to help them!’ He cursed as he lunged with his spear directly at the head of a Stalker that leapt out of a nearby tree.

Claws scraped against his shield as several Stalkers grabbed onto his ankles and each other to weigh him down! ‘Damn it! They don’t want me to gain the height advantage! They’re learning!’ Exile groaned as hundreds of winged Stalkers burst out of the top parts of the trees all around the player’s army.

‘We’re surrounded! They’ve bloody trapped us!’ Exile roared with rage as he activated his Firefly spell. He spun in mid-air to shake off the Stalkers holding on to him as the fireflies exploded in their faces. ‘Shit!’ Exile cursed when he lost his balance as he used his right wing to swat away a leaping Stalker.

‘I can breathe a little now.’ Exile heaved a lungful of air as he glared back at hundreds of hungry eyes staring at him from the nearby branches. ‘If they all jump at once, they’ll drive me to the ground.’ At that moment, he heard screams from below as more Stalkers buried in the ground erupted among the panicking players.

‘This is too smart, even for a boss class monster.’ Exile frowned as he let out a long sigh. He threw a handful of runestones into the air so they would scatter in the nearby areas on the ground. ‘Sorry, but that’s all the help I can give you for now.’

The runestones he scattered would provide temporary protective domes that could heal those inside. However, they only had a time limit of ten seconds. Exile hoped it would be enough for some of the players to recover from the shock of the attack and arrange a counter-offensive.

“Come on!” Exile roared as he dashed through the air toward a group of Stalkers waiting on branches.

Lightning Arrows crackled as they formed around Exile before flying off under his control to punch a hole through the enemy formation. Exile grinned as they hit their targets and more lightning bolts leapt to nearby Stalkers. ‘Stun Arrows seem to do pretty well.’ Exile thought as he studied their performance.

It was another of his new Tier 2 spells. They did little to no damage but instead stunned his enemies while using them as a starting point to target other enemies within a 10m radius. It was a crowd-control spell meant for large groups of enemies and the Stalkers were the perfect target for it.

Hundreds of Stalkers fell from the branches as a web of ever-expanding lightning shot through the upper layer of the forest. Exile’s eyes narrowed when he saw the flying Stalkers suddenly fly outside of the effects of his spell before it could reach their location.

He clicked his tongue when he realised those Stalkers were smarter than the normal ones. They had watched the effects of his spell and immediately acted before they could fall victim to it. Exile slowed down as he noticed the winged Stalkers reorganising to keep him trapped among them.

‘They’re not going to let me go. I wonder if they’re worried about me bombing their ground troops from above.’ Exile studied those beasts with great interest as he tried to imagine how much intelligence they had. ‘The ambush was practically perfect. They neutralised our defensive structure and even seized air superiority.’

‘Are they really that intelligent? They didn’t seem this dangerous when we fought them underground.’ Exile hummed to himself as those beasts seemed content to keep him contained rather than attack him. ‘Even Nar’Kozz seemed pretty mindless. So, what’s changed?’

Exile silently wondered if those creatures became more intelligent by eating the orbs of the players. It was the only thing he could think of even if it seemed unreasonable. ‘Let’s test it out.’

Ten stun arrows appeared around Exile’s figure as he watched for their reaction. Several of those beasts screeched, and Exile felt compared to glance down as they received further screeches in response. ‘Damn! They’re summoning meatshields to take the hits while they expand the area they’ve trapped me in so the lightning won’t reach them.’

Exile sighed as he launched the arrows directly at the Stalkers climbing the trees to reach his battlefield. Exile shook his head as he watched them spasm before falling back to the ground. A deep frown appeared on Exile’s face as he studied the situation some more. ‘If I target them they’ll just fly away from each other to prevent the lightning from jumping. But if I try to overwhelm with the number of arrows they’ll likely drain my DP before I get out of the encirclement.’

Exile sighed as he glanced at the battle raging beneath him. ‘Well, let’s see how much you care about your ground troops!’