SSSSS-Rank: Negative Leveling-Chapter 76: Night Hunters

The Syndicate camp was two miles from the settlement, their fires visible as scattered points against the dark sky, Luthra stood on the repaired eastern wall watching those distant lights, counting shifts and memorizing patrol patterns.

"They’re not stupid," Kane said from beside him, the older hunter’s war hammer resting against the stone, "those fires are decoys, half their force is probably in those hills right now planning the night assault."

Luthra nodded, he was counting on that, better to know where the enemy was than have them surprise you in the dark.

"Good, gives us better targets."

Khorvash approached carrying two bundles of wrapped meat, she tossed one to each of them, dinner was practical now, no time for sitting around tables. "The trap network is reset, Jako worked through the night, claims he’s got surprises even I don’t know about."

"He always does," Kane unwrapped the meat and bit in without bothering to check what it was, "old Syndicate habits, keep secrets even from allies."

"Speaking of old habits," Luthra looked at Kane carefully, "you sure about this, your former comrades are in that camp, you trained some of them."

Kane was quiet for a moment, chewing slowly, then he spoke, his tone matter-of-fact.

"I trained them to follow orders and collect paychecks, they chose to keep following orders that involve killing civilians and enslaving people, I chose different, no hard feelings either way but if they come at this settlement I’ll put them down same as any enemy." Simple pragmatism, Luthra appreciated that approach to former allies turned enemies.

"Rebecca ready?" Khorvash asked.

"No," Luthra said honestly, "but she insisted, and keeping her locked up while everyone else fights would break something in her, better she learns now with support around her than later when it matters more."

’She’s fourteen, this is insane, but this world doesn’t care about age, it cares about survival.’

[You’re making the correct tactical decision, her fire abilities are valuable on defense, and the psychological damage from exclusion would exceed the risk of controlled combat exposure.]

The system’s cold logic was comforting sometimes, at least Lilith didn’t try to sugarcoat brutal realities.

Movement caught his eye, three figures approaching the wall from the town side, Misha leading a group of newly trained defenders, twenty kids between fifteen and eighteen who volunteered for wall duty. They looked terrified, which was smart, fear kept you alive if you channeled it properly.

Misha climbed the ladder and addressed Luthra quietly, her administrative tone cutting through the pre-battle tension.

"The youth volunteers are here, I’ve assigned them to observation posts only, they’re not to engage unless the wall is breached."

"Good, if the wall gets breached we’ve got bigger problems than their combat readiness."

One of the kids, a tall girl with a bow that looked too big for her, worked up the courage to speak, her voice shaking slightly.

"Sir, is it true you fought two A-Rank hunters yesterday?"

"Yes."

"And lived?"

"Obviously." The kids exchanged glances, something between awe and disbelief, the girl pressed on with the question everyone wanted answered.

"How did you do it?"

Luthra considered the question carefully, these kids needed practical advice not heroic nonsense about courage and determination. "I didn’t try to win, I tried to not die, there’s a difference, an A-Rank can kill you in seconds if you fight them head-on, but if you make them work for it, make them waste energy chasing you, make them second-guess their attacks because you might have a trap, suddenly you’re fighting a war of attrition and time is on your side."

"But you’re only B-Rank," another kid said, the implication clear, how do you survive against someone two full ranks above you.

"Officially unranked," Kane corrected with a grin, "which makes him even more terrifying because the Association has no idea what he actually is."

The conversation was interrupted by a sharp whistle from the southern watchtower, three short bursts, the signal for enemy movement detected. Luthra was moving before the echo faded, years of training making his response automatic.

"Everyone to positions, this is it."

The wall erupted in controlled chaos, defenders rushing to assigned posts, weapons being checked one final time, Misha activating her sovereign space barriers at key breach points where the structure was weakest.

Luthra reached the southern tower where Jako was crouched with a telescope, the tracker’s enhanced senses picking up details even in the darkness.

"What’ve you got?"

"Fifty soldiers, maybe sixty, moving through the ravine approach, they’re trying to use the terrain to hide their numbers but the moonlight’s giving them away."

Luthra took the telescope and confirmed what Jako saw, shadows moving between rocks, attempting stealth but not quite managing it against someone who knew what to look for. "They’re baiting us," Kane said, the older hunter appeared beside Luthra without making a sound, "real attack will come from another direction when we commit forces south."

"Agreed," Luthra handed the telescope back to Jako, "so we don’t commit forces, we let them come to the traps and waste their numbers on empty ground." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

He raised his voice to carry across the wall, making sure every defender heard the order clearly.

"No one fires until I give the signal, I don’t care if they’re ten feet away, you hold until I say."

The Syndicate force advanced slowly, clearly expecting resistance, arrows, maybe mana bolts, when none came they grew bolder, moving faster and getting sloppy with their formations. Luthra waited, counting seconds, watching the distance shrink with deliberate patience.

’Patience, let them commit, let them think we’re scared or asleep.’

The lead soldiers reached the forty-meter mark, entering the first trap zone, still Luthra gave no signal. Thirty meters, close enough to see individual faces now, expressions of confusion at the lack of response. Twenty meters, one of the defenders nearby was breathing too fast, panic setting in, Khorvash put a hand on his shoulder without taking her eyes off the approaching enemy, the contact steadying him immediately.

Fifteen meters, the Syndicate soldiers broke into a run, charging the wall with weapons raised and war cries echoing across the wasteland.

"Now," Luthra said quietly.

Jako triggered the pressure plates.

The ground erupted, not with explosions this time but with binding wire, hundreds of meters of thin metal cable that was buried in specific patterns, when the triggers activated the wire snapped up and around, wrapping legs, tangling weapons, pulling soldiers off balance and dragging them down. It wasn’t lethal, but it didn’t need to be, immobilized enemies were dead enemies when you had archers waiting.

"Fire."

The defenders unleashed their prepared volleys, arrows and mana bolts raining down into the immobilized targets with devastating accuracy, forty Syndicate soldiers went down in the first volley, screaming or silent depending on where they were hit, the remaining twenty retreated in panic, dragging wounded companions when they could but mostly just running for their lives.

"Don’t pursue," Luthra called out, stopping the defenders who were already reaching for more arrows, "let them run, they’ll report back and spread fear, fear makes people make mistakes."

Kane laughed, the sound dark but approving. "Brutal and efficient, you’re learning." But Luthra was already moving to the north wall where his tactical sense said the real attack would come.

The northern approach confirmed his instincts, three times as many soldiers, a hundred and fifty at least, led by five B-Rank hunters Luthra didn’t recognize from his previous encounters with Syndicate forces, this was the actual assault, the southern group was just bait to split defenses and draw attention.

Luthra kept the majority of his forces on the north wall, anticipating this exact scenario.

"Khorvash, you’ve got command here," he said, trusting the dragonkin to hold the line while he dealt with the real threat, "Kane, with me, we’re taking the B-Ranks before they can coordinate the assault."

"Finally," Khorvash’s dragon nature was showing through, her eyes glinting gold in the torchlight, scales beginning to form on her arms, "I was getting bored."

Luthra dropped from the wall using Void Steps to cushion the landing, Kane following with a more conventional climb down but managing to land just as quietly despite his age. The five B-Rank Syndicate hunters stopped their advance when they saw Luthra approaching, the lone figure walking toward them with confidence drawing their attention away from the walls.

The lead hunter, a woman with twin swords covered in frost mana, spoke first, her voice carrying the arrogance of someone who thinks they have overwhelming advantage.

"You’re the defective Lurius, word is you killed Silas."

"Word is accurate." Luthra kept walking, closing the distance at a measured pace.

"Silas was B-4, I’m B-3, my team here ranges from B-5 to B-2, you really think you can take all five of us?" The woman’s tone suggested she thought the idea was absurd, that Luthra was overconfident or suicidal.

Luthra activated his Corruption Field, the twenty-foot radius of negative mana expanding around him with oppressive force, the frost coating the woman’s swords began to sublimate immediately, turning directly to vapor without passing through liquid, the temperature differential making the metal groan.

"I think if you attack, some of you will die and the rest will retreat, then you’ll have to explain to your bosses why you failed, seems like more trouble than it’s worth." The woman’s eyes narrowed, she was actually considering the offer to walk away, but one of her companions, a large man with earth-encased fists, wasn’t as smart or cautious.

"We don’t need to beat you, just need to hold you here while our soldiers breach your walls and slaughter your people." He charged forward without waiting for the team leader’s command, fists raised, confident in his B-5 earth enhancement giving him the durability to tank whatever Luthra threw at him.

Luthra sidestepped the telegraphed punch, letting the massive fist pass inches from his face, then grabbed the man’s extended arm and activated Absorption Mimicry, the technique flowing smoothly now after weeks of practice. The earth enhancement flowed into Luthra’s system, he felt the mana pattern, understood how it reinforced flesh and bone, and then he corrupted it deliberately, the solidified earth around the man’s fists crumbled to dust and fell away.

"My turn."

Luthra’s own fist, now coated in corrupted earth that resembled black stone with red cracks running through it, caught the man square in the ribs with all his enhanced strength behind the blow, the impact created an audible crack and sent the hunter flying fifteen feet to crash into rocks with enough force to shatter stone. The man tried to get up once, failed, and stayed down.

The other four B-Ranks reassessed their strategy immediately, professional enough to recognize when the situation changed.

"Formation three," the frost sword woman ordered, her earlier arrogance replaced with tactical focus.

They spread out, trying to surround Luthra and attack from multiple angles simultaneously, classic anti-solo fighter tactics that worked against most opponents. Kane stepped forward then, war hammer resting on his shoulder casually despite the weapon weighing at least fifty pounds.

"You forgot about me, I’m just going to take the two on the left, you handle the right, deal?"

"Deal."

The fight became controlled chaos, six B-Ranks in close combat, mana techniques clashing and sending shockwaves across the ground, the terrain breaking under repeated impacts as raw power met tactical precision. Luthra felt himself getting pushed harder than his previous fights, these weren’t Silas with his straightforward petrification gimmick or Kane with his pure physical style, this was a trained team with coordination and mutual support, each fighter covering the others’ weaknesses.

’Need to disrupt their formation, can’t let them maintain this pressure.’

He waited for an opening, defending more than attacking, watching for the moment when someone committed too hard and left themselves exposed. When the frost sword woman thrust at his chest with both blades in a killing strike, he didn’t dodge or block, instead he grabbed the lead blade with his bare hand and let his Corruption Field do the work. The frost mana coating the weapon evaporated instantly, the steel beneath cracked from thermal shock as it went from supercooled to ambient temperature in half a second, he pulled the woman forward using her own momentum, off-balance and overextended, and punched her in the face with his free hand.

She went down hard, unconscious before she hit the ground.

Three left now, Kane was holding his two opponents, barely, the older hunter’s experience and tactical sense compensating for his slightly lower power level compared to active B-Ranks. Luthra pressed his advantage against the remaining two, both hunters backing up now as they realized the fight was turning, confidence cracking as they lost their numerical superiority.

"Retreat!" one of them yelled, the order coming from panic not strategy.

The surviving B-Ranks fled immediately, grabbing their unconscious allies and dragging them back toward their lines, Kane let his two opponents go with a warning shot from his hammer that cratered the ground between them and sent rocks flying as deadly fragments. Around them the regular Syndicate soldiers were also pulling back, Khorvash’s dragon fire and the settlement’s coordinated defense breaking their assault before they reached the walls, bodies and scorch marks littering the approach.

The first night raid was over, successful defense on both fronts.

Casualties on the settlement side: twelve wounded, none dead.

Syndicate: unknown but significant, probably sixty dead and twice that wounded.

As dawn broke Luthra stood on the wall again, watching the enemy camp, they would be back tonight or tomorrow with different tactics, but this first engagement proved something important to everyone watching, both his own people and the Syndicate soldiers licking their wounds. The settlement could fight, and more importantly, it could win against superior numbers when terrain and tactics were used properly.

Rebecca found him there an hour later, her first real combat left her shaking but physically unhurt, the tremors coming from adrenaline crash and psychological impact.

"I killed two people," she said quietly, her voice small.

"I know, I saw." Luthra kept his tone neutral, not condemning or praising, just acknowledging the fact.

"It didn’t feel like I thought it would."

Luthra looked down at her, this girl who lived through too much too young, who grew up too fast in a world that didn’t spare children from violence and hard choices. "It never does, the first time, second time, hundredth time, if it starts feeling good that’s when you worry, that’s when you know something broke inside."

She was quiet for a minute, processing his words, then asked the real question that everyone wondered after their first kill.

"Does it get easier?"

"Yes, but that’s not always a good thing." They stood together watching the sunrise over the wasteland, knowing that when darkness fell again, the Syndicate would return with new tactics and more soldiers.

But they would be ready.