Transcendent Gene-Chapter 279: Deception [3]

People said Lyverne was in the west the same way they said Astarune was in the south, however, the two statements meant very different things. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Astarune was far to the south and took several days to reach on foot. In comparison, while Lyverne was situated to represent the east of the realm, it was only a day’s walk on foot.

And, unlike the trip to Astarune, the journey to Lyverne had a bit more support behind it. Gio specifically asked for as little support as possible, but when his team left their accommodations, they were almost immediately told that a car had been prepared for them.

The last few hours of the trip still had to be trekked on foot to avoid suspicion from the other side, but the otherwise day-long trek was shortened to a third of that time. The four of them left Astarune in the morning and were able to reach their target before night fell.

"I don’t know what I expected us to do after Riverene, but it definitely wasn’t this," Shiro said as he stepped out of the car.

Gio parked it hidden in the brush of a forest. Even if someone found it, they’d think it was crashed and abandoned.

"I don’t think any of us expected this," Serene said, joining him on the ground.

"But apparently, Gio’s a better yapper than we gave him credit for."

"True. He’s usually so boring. For a bit, I thought he only knew like ten words."

Gio rolled his eyes at their discourse.

"Does this make me not boring, then? I don’t think there’s anything to be surprised about, but I’ll take it."

"Unfortunately for you, it doesn’t work like that. Why are you sixteen and conversing with world leaders like it’s your natural environment? You’re not even that good at talking to normal people."

Neriah poured the cold water over his head before he could feel any joy.

In the end, he had no choice but to shrug and accept that he needed to get better at socializing.

"Anyway..." he said, changing the subject.

"Let’s start running so we can get there before dark. This is still the Godspark Mountain Range. You guys remember what night was like the last time we did this."

It wasn’t as if they were traveling through safe terrain on the way to Astarune either. They were safe because Gio wasn’t the only one with wilderness survival experience.

They were able to work together to find the right hiding and resting places that kept them out of the sight and senses of monsters. Obviously, it was impossible to avoid everything, but they were never overwhelmed.

They showed a similar level of synergy the instant they left the car. It wasn’t a one-time effect, but the result of their constant cooperation over the past several weeks.

Their team composition was better than Gio originally imagined it to be when he chose to take the three of them along.

Compared to who she was when they were underground, Serene was like a different person. She was fighting much more confidently and seemed to have realized a few things about how she was meant to use her abilities.

Her main role was to act as a supporter. Her bubbles were useful in combat, but they were much more useful when their status effects were helping her teammates instead of harming her allies.

This kind of role also allowed her to stay further away from the blood and violence that she didn’t fit well into. Though she could accept its necessity, she reached the conclusion that it wasn’t her fate to actively contribute to it.

Shiro had the opposite realization. He also became much bolder with his flames. He realized how much control he could have over his energy if he trained properly and started watching his party members closely. He was in the process of developing an entire laundry list of new abilities based on those used by Gio, Neriah, and even Serene.

The first two names in that list had too much experience to see rapid growth like their less experienced peers, but that didn’t mean nothing changed. Their ability to work as a part of a team was already an improvement for both of them.

Three hours passed as the sun traveled down towards the horizon. When it was on the verge of crossing that border, Gio’s party finally made it out of the forest and into the vicinity of the city of Lyverne.

None of them really knew what to expect from a city ruled by djinns. If Astarune was a picture of order in the chaotic scenario, they could only assume that Lyverne would be an embodiment of that very chaos.

They were...not entirely correct. There was indeed a semblance of order throughout the city that they could see in the distance...

Bang!

...but that peace did not reach the city’s outskirts.

The party exited the forest into a residential area lined with dilapidated houses and streets. They were walking through said neighborhood towards the city’s center when their path was blocked off.

Whoosh!

The carcass of what used to be a car flew past their heads, forcing them to take cover and scan the area for the attacker. It didn’t take long to find him. They weren’t his targets, so he didn’t try to hide himself from them.

"So the rumors were true, huh?" Shiro muttered under his breath.

"Djinns really are just that lawless. They don’t care about each other at all."

They didn’t know the grounds of the battle happening before their eyes, but it was resulting in deaths that were piling up fast enough to cause concern.

The two sides were indistinguishable to someone who wasn’t aware of their identities. It looked like a brawl where anyone could be anyone’s greatest enemy.

Gio thought they were safe enough to watch the proceedings while hidden, but he was proven wrong almost instantly.

Boom!

A figure landed on the house they were behind and crushed it into debris. That same debris soon became weapons that cut through the air to reach any enemies they could find.

Coincidentally, there was a certain group of individuals very close to where the attack was fired from.

There were rarely any Sequences that could do anything remotely like automatic targeting. Gio didn’t know if that was how they got discovered, but it didn’t matter.

What mattered were the six massive chunks of roofing infused with energy that were barreling towards them.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The four of them scattered out of the way, revealing themselves to the woman who wondered why her attacks suddenly veered to the side.

Her eyes widened for only an instant before her expression shifted into one of rage.

"So there were more of you. Did you think you could escape and call for reinforcements?!"

She roared and swung her arm across her body.

Boom!

The remaining foundations of the house were blown away, revealing the party to everyone else in the battle.

One side saw the woman declare them as their enemy. The other side wondered who they were, but in their current situation...

"Protect them!"

...an enemy of their enemy was a friend.

Voom!

A shockwave spread towards Gio’s party but was blocked by an invisible barrier before it could reach them.

"You–!"

The woman in front of them hissed at the man who yelled and shot back into the crowd with her eyes focused on him.

Yet, despite her exit, Gio’s party wasn’t safe. Whether they liked it or not, they were now a part of this fight.

Boom!

Gio took a huge step back as a comet landed in front of him.

Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

Several projectiles whizzed past his head within seconds, followed by the man who threw them.

He wasn’t the only one who approached. The moment Gio and his friends were labeled as enemies, they were marked for death. A group of eight people rushed at them, all attacking before the four of them could regain their bearings.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Voom!

Before anything could reach them, several bubbles replaced the fading invisible wall, keeping them safe from the initial impacts. The time they gained was more than enough to gather and refocus their attention.

"It’s a bit of a troublesome situation, but it’s fine. We’ve been fighting solo almost this entire time. We needed a chance to work on teamwork."

"Is now the time to be saying something like that?!"

Gio grinned at Shiro and nodded without hesitation.

"Of course. Serene, stay where you are and keep providing support. Shiro, you know where you need to be. Mid-range. Fill in where we need it. Neriah, you’re with me."

"Wai–!"

Shiro’s words vanished in the wind.

’They made a mistake to not encircle us from the jump.’

The eight opponents were still in front of the party. They could still be corralled and treated as a much lesser threat than they potentially could be.

’I said it’s practice, but I don’t think there’ll be a problem.’

Gio slammed his foot into the ground. Two waves of virtual energy cut through the concrete and charged towards his enemies.

They hadn’t fought as a team more than a few times. They helped each other, sure, but they had a tendency to choose single combat. For most, this would be an indicator that some work needed to be done before real cooperation could be established.

Gio didn’t think it was the same for his party.

’All we needed was the right opportunity to see that single combat isn’t an option.’

The cooperation itself...

As he felt Neriah’s earthen abilities from the side, the heat of Shiro’s flames from behind, and the blessings of Serene’s bubbles throughout his body, he felt a guarantee that nothing could go wrong for them in this moment.

They only needed to fight.