LONE: The Journey Beyond

'…Initiate Phase-2.'

As Aarav received this message, he started the next step of their plan.

The key to this plan was Reven's ability, [Covenant]!

This ability allowed Reven to bind anyone in a contract, not like a slave, but in a vow which binds both the parties.

The best thing about this ability was that anyone who makes a [Covenant] with Reven was also allowed to use this ability at his permission.

Still, all the contracts would be formed between Reven and the said individual, no matter who uses [Covenant].

What Aarav was going to do is make contracts with the President and few other people who are important for the stabilization of ISC.

It was an essential step to ensure safety and trust between them as right now, they didn't trust each other.

The [Covenant] could be seen like a company contract for no leak of information but with Ardor acting as the witness.

Reven had already contracted Rawanth the day before he left for Africa so there was no need for contracting him.

It was really hectic for Aarav to inform the other nations about the situation in Africa without them realising the current tough situation of ISC's internal politics.

But, he successfully did it!

He was not called 'The War Hero' for nothing.

After getting the news from Reven, Aarav began the Phase-2. He also included Aimee and a few others he trusted in the plan. This helped to make the contracts faster.

They selected the people after many considerations. Only those they found were not involved in this case and were essential for the plan were contracted.

The people also steadily accepted the contracts as it only involved not leaking their information.

After this was done, Aarav began Phase-3 i.e. taking control of the authority over the Empress.

Apparently, except for the President, the Council also had same authority over it. So, Aarav just demanded the President to transfer his authority to Reven.

At the same time, he told the President to wipe out any information regarding the authority transfer from the servers.

After all the pieces were in place, he finally began Phase-4.

That is...

Going underground!

-----

While this was happening in ISC, the HAF were getting closer to their destination.

About 12 days had passed and now they were merely 13km from De Aar, the main base of the monsters.

"Everyone, till now, we have been extremely successful with our plans. We just have to keep doing what we have done till now and destroy these monsters.

But beware, the monsters that we will have to face from now on will be at least twice the strong from the monsters that we faced till now." Luke announced.

The past few days have been really arduous for the HAF in many ways.

They had faced six hoard of monsters one after another. To top it all, since the monsters they face had intelligence, it proved much more difficult to face them.

The only positive news for the HAF was that they had enhanced soldiers who were capable of manipulating Ardor.

Right now, they were taking rest and getting ready for the final stretch of their journey.

Everyone got ready as Reven said "Guys, from now on, we will most likely be facing orcs, ogres, chimeras, werewolves, minotaur and basilisks.

These monsters will certainly be not like the ones we faced till now. So, be careful!"

"Let's go." Talos said with a resolute voice.

Soon, they met with a giant hoard of chimeras.

These monsters had two heads at the front of their body, the first one looking like that of a lion's head, while the other head which popped out of their backs, was that of a goat.

They also had a snake head at the end of their tails. So, in total, they had three heads!

The chimeras looked exactly like they were explained in Greek legends, except they didn't breathe fire like they did in the legends.

"Everyone, watch each other's back.

ENGAGE!"

Ivanski ordered as he lifted his giant axe, covering it with Ardor.

UUAHHHH!!!

"Let's kill these motherfu*kers!"

Everyone ran towards the hoard and started killing them left and right.

Reven used a sword adorned with Ardor and reinforced with [Transmutation] to slice apart the incoming chimeras.

CLANG!

Slice! Slice! Slice!...

Reven was using a Chinese battle tactic which utilises bodily movements to counter extreme strength.

His body moved like flowing water -agile and uninterrupted.

SLICE!

He swung his sword down the head of another chimera, and killed it.

At the same time, on the other side.

[Amber Storm]!

Geena used her second Area of Effect (AOE) ability and charcoaled the chimeras at the back.

Aleena also used her second ability, [Sonic Screech], to push back many chimeras, not allowing them to come near Geena or herself.

Up in the sky, the Cyborgs were steadily shooting down laser beams and killed hundreds of chimeras.

Large scale Ardor attacks continued to pour down on the chimeras, decreasing their numbers by a large margin.

Talos was using [Weapon Control] to manipulate four spears at the same time as he killed the chimeras at break-neck speed by piercing them right through their goat heads.

"Ivanski, this doesn't feel right! The chimeras are too weak. Could this be a diversion?"

General White asked to Ivanski to confirm his suspicions and as if to prove his words right, a large hoard of werewolves came towards them from a distance.

"SHIT! It's a trap! A large hoard of werewolves is coming towards our direction."

Ronny notified the team as he saw the hoard coming with his third ability, [Hawk Eyes].

"EVERYONE REGROUP!" Luke shouted with all his might.

"All the Cyborgs, use lasers at full power.

All the Awakeners with long-ranged abilities, use everything you got to buy us enough time to come up with a plan of action." Reven order.

Multiple ability users came to the front and used their abilities to stop the monsters from advancing.

At the same time, Reven used [Transmutation] to create a large wall to block the werewolves, giving the Conjurers a bit more time to prepare.

PHEW!

"This is one hell of a battle we are fighting, ain't it, everyone." Reven said with a smile on his face, trying to ease the tension filled atmosphere.

Though, the bloodlust oozing out of his body was telling a different story all along.

"Now then, what's the plan to get out of this situation?" Luke asked with a dark expression.

"We need make an ambush to catch them off guard."

"The question is, how?"

"I have an idea." It was Geena, the Strategist, who raised her voice.

"Go ahead and shoot." Reven said.

"We need to take the Conjurers back from the front. They will be the ones making the ambush while the melee guys distract them by keeping their attention to themselves."

"But if we use the Conjurers for the ambush, we will become more vulnerable than we already are.

They have already studied most of our combat strength in the past few days. Now, they are simply making us tired and when we will be on our last legs, they will utterly destroy us." Luke said with a frown.

"That is where the plan succeeds." Geena replied promptly.

"What do you mean?" Ivanski asked.

"See that." Geena pointed at the dense forest full of trees on their left.

And continued with an ominous smirk "We will…"

…..