Frostfire Legacy

Chapter 50: Saving the Damsel in Distress! (1)

Aster kept himself hidden so that the kidnappers wouldn't unintentionally find him. At the same time, he was observing them, keeping track of every member present.

'Twenty-eight kidnappers and 7 captives...' He counted in the end.

All the kidnappers were men with tough-looking builds, making it a little scary for Aster to think about what he was about to do next.

"Phew..."

He took a deep breath while keeping track of the time.

Then, when there was only a minute left, he began to move away from the camp, about fifty meters in all, before closing his eyes. Soon after, the carved seal on the back of his right hand started to release a faint glow.

It wasn't bright enough to attract unwanted attention, thankfully, so he could concentrate without getting worried about interruptions.

"... Now!"

When his mental timer reached zero, he started to wave his hand forward, commanding the seal on his arm.

From his time with the giant snake right after waking up, he realized that the seal's effect can reach great distances. The room back then was just about 50 meters on each side, and it froze all the way, meaning the Legacy Level Carved Seal he had could cover 50 meters at least.

That distance was the exact distance he was on right then.

"BURN!"

To attract as much attention as possible, rather than freezing the place, he chose the more destructive option. Setting the forest, along with one of the tents set up, into flames!

Aster could control his carved seal as long as he had enough time and was given the space to concentrate. As such, there was no way he would fail to control his carved seal currently.

The temperature within fifty meters of Aster rose to unbelievable levels, breaking past four digits in a flash. The trees, despite being alive and filled with moisture, reached their autoignition temperature and burst into flames! Moisture in the air turned superheated in an instant before causing a steam explosion.

*PSHHH!* *BOOM!*

A plot of forest, 100 meters in diameter, suddenly became a raging inferno, creating a hellish scene!

"Fire!"

"Oh no, the supplies tent...!"

"Take cover!"

*KABOOM!*

Roars echoed from all over before a loud explosion followed shortly after.

The only tent that Aster included in his range ended up being the storage tent where their supplies were stored. Inside it, not only their food, water, and alcohol were stored; but they even had crates full of bullets for their weapons, along with explosives saved for emergencies.

The powerful explosion covered a large area, but thankfully, the area where the captives were was hidden beyond another tent, lessening the damage that reached them.

However, the flying bullets, shrapnel, and such that followed after the explosion caused severe damage and injuries to the kidnappers and captives alike.

"Shit...!" Aster almost panicked after seeing the aftermath of his actions. "I overdid it!"

Of course, he couldn't predict that the tent contained explosives, so it wasn't really his fault. But it was true that he was the one to set it on fire, so the blame still falls on him.

Of the 28 kidnappers, half were heavily injured from being too close to the explosion. The remaining half had varying degrees of burns and injuries but had the same rage burning in their eyes.

"IT'S AN ENEMY ATTACK! FIND THE FUCKER WHO DID THIS!"

"It came from that direction!"

"Shit, the forest is on fire! Someone, control the flames! Don't let it spread to the rest of the tents!"

Panic spread as the remaining kidnappers split into three groups. One group of two handled the spreading fire, starting to control it so that it wouldn't spread. Another group of five moved their injured allies to safety, addressing their wounds, before some went to help control the flames.

Finally, the rest moved toward the burning forest, looking for Aster, who had caused it all.

"Distraction successful!" He exclaimed while showing a smile mixed with happiness and nervousness. "I'll leave the rest to you, Cassy!" He prayed while moving away.

Due to the passive effect of his carved seal, Aster was able to move through raging flames without any problems—well, almost none. The path he stepped on had its temperature brought to room temperature in a flash, causing mini vacuums in the air around him as the air rapidly cooled and heated up again as he passed. Air was constantly pushing toward him, making it hard to breathe!

*BOOM!*

And as a side effect, the mini-vacuums released sounds as if they were exploding, creating a signal that his pursuers could hear.

"OVER THERE!"

And as the noise was revealing his location, his pursuers found him right away.

*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*

*RATATAT!*

Bullets flew toward him, making Aster's face pale. Even with the distance between them, the enemy should still be able to hit him with one bullet at least, unless they were as bad at aiming as the St*rmtroopers were.

"...!"

However, unlike what he expected, none of the bullets reached him at all.

The reason was that before they could even reach him, the bullets had already turned to liquid metal, melting into a flying goo and dropping to the ground before even reaching halfway through!

"Fire! Fire! Fire! Don't let that fucker get away!"

But the enemies were completely clueless about what was happening. They thought that they were merely missing him due to the difference in air density, as the forest was burning hot! However, no matter how they readjusted their aim, even taking into consideration the hot air interfering with their bullet's trajectories, none managed to hit the still-running Aster.

"Fuck...! Chase after him, you useless bastards! Bring his head to me!"

Of the seven, two of the faster ones ran quickly across the burning area. However, that was a mistake on their part.

"GYAAAAH!"

As soon as they entered, it was as if they were thrown into an incinerator with the heat turned up by ten times the normal; their skins burst into flames, turning them into human torches!

Their suffering didn't last that long. Soon after, they fell to the ground, with their bodies "evaporating" from the extreme heat of the zone ahead of them. Two deaths were declared in a flash!

"STOP!"

The remaining five quickly halted in their steps, frowning hard.

"This isn't normal fire! Let's detour around it! Don't touch the burning sections! Keep clear of the fire!" He shouted once more before running.

Aster, who was already a hundred meters ahead of them, turned back and frowned. Although it was practically an accident, he still ended up taking someone's life. His conscience was making him feel bad, but he quickly ignored it.

First, he needs to keep an appropriate distance from the enemies, hide, and proceed to the second stage of the plan.