"Another one down," Aric whispered from a tree branch, watching the last Thunder Valley disciple face-plant into Liora's flame-drenched snare.
Yun landed beside him, brushing ash off her sleeve. "Squad three, no signal. We're still ghosts."
Below, Roy yanked his hammer out of a crater and looked around, baffled. "That's it? They didn't even scream properly!"
Liora popped out from a bush with a smirk. "Maybe they were too busy inhaling my fire."
Roy frowned. "You all keep stealing my kills."
"You keep alerting them with your 'sneaky elephant' walk," Aric said, grinning.
Roy looked genuinely hurt. "I'm majestic. Like a thunder bear."
"...That's not a real animal," Liora said, deadpan.
"It should be," he muttered.
Yun ignored them, tapping her crystal map. "Scouting patterns are tighter now, but they're still blind. No one suspects us."
"Perfect," Aric said. "Phantom squad status: confirmed."
Roy whispered dramatically, "We strike from the shadows… and leave no snacks behind."
"...It's 'no trace'," Liora corrected, facepalming.
Roy shrugged. "Same thing."
---
Elsewhere in the realm…
A lone Thunder Valley disciple stood over four smoking bodies, wide-eyed. "Wh-What the hell did this?"
Another pointed at the dirt—burned footprints, rope lines, weird sigils.
"No demon makes chalk diagrams before killing you."
"Maybe a very educated demon?"
They looked at each other, then nodded gravely. "Realm anomaly. Has to be."
---
Back at Yun's base camp…
"Look at this," Liora said, tossing a jade badge to Roy. "One guy. Six badges on him."
Roy caught it, blinked, then did some mental math… slowly. "...That's like… two squads per pocket."
Aric nodded. "And we flattened him in ten seconds."
Roy rubbed his chin. "We might actually be… terrifying?"
Yun raised a brow. "You're just now catching up?"
Even she was a little impressed. They weren't just surviving anymore.
They were the boogeymen in someone else's story.
'We're rewriting the power map… one sucker at a time.'
---
Meanwhile…
A nervous scout stood before Iron Blood's elite captain.
"Another squad down, sir. No survivors, no screams, no… nothing."
The captain narrowed his eyes. "Realm anomaly?"
The scout hesitated. "...There were… burn marks. Neatly aligned ropes. I also found a broken pair of… glasses?"
The captain blinked. "What kind of demon uses glasses?"
"...A nerdy one?"
"...Right."
---
That night...
Three squads converged on a glowing flare. They saw a figure darting through the trees—Aric's illusion.
"Target spotted!" one yelled, only to step on a rune that froze him mid-shout.
The next second, the forest floor lit up.
Exploding leaves, blinding smoke, disorientation spells, falling logs (Roy's idea)—the whole works.
From above, Roy peeked down. "This feels... mean."
Aric snorted. "You're smiling."
"...Yeah, I know."
Liora raised a brow as the last guy tripped and knocked himself out on a tree. "...They didn't even fight back."
Yun stepped from the shadows. "That's the idea."
Aric wiped his blade, still grinning. "Alright, I admit it. We're scary. Like… organized scary."
Roy flexed. "We're like a murder ballet troupe. But cooler."
"No ballet," Liora muttered. "Not with your coordination."
"Rude."
Yun rolled her eyes. "This was the last easy one. They'll realize soon. Might send someone smarter next."
Roy stretched. "Let 'em come. I've got five more traps. And a backup rock."
Aric raised an eyebrow. "You named the rock?"
"Yep. It's called Bonk."
[To be continued.....]