1332 Battle Shock

~Rustle! Rustle!~

The bushes and tree leaves all shook ever so slightly as Josh and his men stealthily made their way up to Tilda's cottage.

And only after having gone up halfway up did they abandon their stealthiness, opting to move more freely.

Come on! Come on!

There was only so much time that one could utilize before the enemy became bold.

This was no Pyno, for heaven's sake!

If they were to dilly dally all night, best believe that the enemy would soon discover the presence of intruders, linking it somehow to tonight's operation.

Josh glanced upwards before focusing at the site before him again.

Dammit!

They had approximately 20 minutes left to rescue Tilda, put her in their arranged disguise, and leave the scene before the Air force teams blew the cottage into smithereens.

They had to cover all tracks and even blow down the bodies of any they kill now.

And that's why a part of the forest will have to be blown up too. So for now, they could afford to reveal themselves now that they were closer to the cottage.

It was just that with time ticking so swiftly and with the number of guards they've seen, will they truly have and time to get the job done?

.

Josh lifted his shield cover and clocked on a button underneath.

"Omega 02 calling to all Cottage Air Force units. Penetrating danger zone now."

["Copy that. We see you... 37 at 9 o'clock... 56 at 3 o'clock, and 92 dead straight ahead to your coordinates... Good luck. Over."]

Josh's muscles clenched, readying his mind for the number of enemies ahead.

Bear in mind that they had already bypassed so many enemies on their way up here, killing some in secret too.

From the air units, if they were to make a break for it towards 9 o'clock to their left, they would meet 37 people scattered and stationed at various points.

Now, even though heading straight had more enemies on the path, from their understanding, a majority of those villains would also be surrounding the cottage.

So no matter how you look at it, though moving straight had the greatest danger, it was inevitably the way to go since the cottage was there.

They had no time to start making U-circles and turn around at will.

Josh took out both weapons, throwing his head behind his shoulders. "Alina, Cambridge, Wally... You know the drill!"

With that, Josh and Alina broke off, followed by their subunits leaving Cambridge, Wally and their subunits in the open.

Of course, those in the open were decoys, drawing the enemy's attention to them.

Hehehhe.

Thanks to all the crackling noises and wails all across the palace, they didn't have to worry too much about their attention being too loud.

But you, the thing about being a decoy, was that it was never easy.

.

~Thup! Thup! Thup! Thup!

Wally quickly leaped behind a tree, avoiding the rain of arrows coming his way.

"Wally! They're heading our way; it's time!" Cambridge bellowed from behind a massive rock.

He took advantage of the loud boom noises passing his message along.

Wally smirked in understanding.

"Good... This is what we want. Everyone get ready!"

~Swish! Swish!

The enemies ahead that noticed them quickly divided themselves into groups.

"Intruders! Intruders spotted! Get more people over; we'll stay here holding the fort!" One of the archers recommended placing 3 arrows on his bow.

If one of these damn intruders dares to move a muscle from their hiding place, he won't hesitate to shoot them dead in the eye!

No one thought that these intruders were ordinary slaves or trespassers who ran here in fear of the chaos around the palace.

Their skills and the fact that they didn't make the sign to show that they were allies could only further prove that they were enemies to them.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment, with everyone's nerves getting stiffer and stiffer.

Gulp.

They swallowed hard, maintaining their positions at the various points along the enemies' line.

Some were on their knees behind the bushes, still pointing their arrows at the many corners around the massive rock that Cambridge hid behind.

Some were on the tree branches, and some stood behind the trees instead.

The scene was too joking, as no one could understand why on such a day, both heavens and these intruders would want to attack them all at once?

Or could it be that such an event from the heavens was foretold in some mysterious ancient texts, leading to the enemy planning an invasion on such a day?

(?~?)

.

Armstrong, the strongest enemy Archer around, squinted his eyes deeply at the tree that Wally had taken cover.

Something didn't feel right.

Why were these bastards so quiet and taking this long to sneak a peek?

The man's chest grew tight, having a bad feeling in his gut. And soon, his eyes widened anxiously.

Dammit!

"They're on the move! Quickly! Take cover!"

~Pueeu!

Wally took his shot above the tree he hid behind. How did he get up?

Simple.

With his trusty daggers, he ascended as though he were ascending a wall.

Mind you, the enemy still thought he was on ground level.

So he took advantage of this, climbing a few branches up the towering trees that still had all their leaves intact.

What? It was barely 2 days since Fall officially started. And the trees weren't balding yet.

~Peeu! Peeu! Peeu!~

Wally's silencers were already unleashing their wrath towards those on the opposite side.

And Armstong, who had now been the one to take cover, was shocked silly after seeing the person beside him drop off a nearby tree, falling to the ground with a good bang!

What?

His heart skipped a beat. Maybe he was blind, but he didn't see anything attack his comrade.

How did the enemy do it?

So what sort of sorcery was this?

Who can explain what was going on here?