abcnovels
Chapter 147: It's all about speed
Chapter 147: It's all about speed
Not every celestial or divine could partake in this mission. And either for the sake of keeping a hold of what's happening or by deciding to restrict any excessive actions, Loraz entrusted me with three pretty damn great candidates.
And no matter how I looked at it, there was some strange power balance between Loraz, Madam, and the current leader of the celestials, Syie.
Anyone could see the clear vibe between Loraz and the elegant, long-haired beauty who transformed from a long-legged, dignified crane.
On the other hand, Syie couldn't fangirl any further over Madam, appearing like a young kid over the responsible leader of an entire clan.
And the relationship between Madam and Loraz…
To be honest, all that I cared about right now, was how Madam easily pushed Syie to bless me with some of her strongest. And with the three elite divines and nine celestials, we entered the camp.
Luring any more than just five guards would put a strain on the illusion put down by one of the divines. And now that we stepped out into the open, with the two divines, two celestials, and myself draped in new, relatively fresh clothes…
No one paid us any mind.
"Look busy and hurried."
Through my interest in novels of all kinds, I've read about military adventures quite a bit. And if there was one common theme that struck me profoundly…
It was to appear busy at all times.
No one is going to bother a group of soldiers marching across the camp at a hurried pace.
Someone ordered them to, and they most likely have no clue why they are actually doing it. And if one likely wouldn't learn anything, then why bother them in the first place, risking the anger of whoever sent them to do something?
And so, with this sole belief in mind, I moved all those dressed in the guards' clothes to the inner side of the road, leaving all those still covered in mud to step within our shadow.
'Move!'
This was the other thing the novels taught me.
It's better to do anything, even some stupid shit, as long as one was doing something. Only in this way would one hold the reins of their fate, instead of passing them to whoever made more effort to show initiative.
And so, we strolled through the camp, taking a mere hundred steps to get a general idea of its layout.
'It's simpler than I expected…' I thought, glancing at the streets that cut the camp in a checkerboard pattern, with what appeared to be some sort of logistical hub dotted in between.
This simplicity was what allowed the entire camp to remain easily integrated, allowing for quick movement of troops and supplies…
And diversion groups like the one I am leading right now.
Save for picking elites, there was one more requirement for whom I picked for the mission. I only allowed those who could restrain their aura. This was the one aspect I had to worry about that didn't exist back on Earth…
But once again, I had the brainpower of a thousand authors trying to come up with every possible twist in every possible setting. And armed with this knowledge, now all at the tip of my fingers thanks to my increases in intelligence and wisdom… How could I ignore such an obvious aspect?
'With this foresight, we won't have to worry about getting discovered,' I thought, slightly altering our path so that we would just brush by the nearest supply area on our path.
I raised my hand and yawned.
One of the very few signals that we've agreed on before the mission.
To my side, one of the celestials moved behind me. And after walking in my shadow for a few more steps, they emerged on my left, just a step closer to the first of our targets.
My eyes darted to the side, right as someone nearby waved their hand at us.
I raised my hand and bowed my head a bit, acting as if I was too tired to care.
A few more steps…
The celestial in the guards' clothes moved back into my shadow and tapped himself on his right hip.
Five minutes.
'Hurry!'
Fewteen seconds later, our group moved past another camp. And my dear, celestial friend coughed, stepped to the side, and brushed past the supply tent before moving back behind me.
A short walk towards the next camp, and one of the divines shook his head a bit as we passed the specific part of the camp.
'Faster! We need to move faster!'
I spared no time pondering over all the various skills and abilities my companions utilized to set up the charged explosions on the logistical parts of the camp.
Right now, all that mattered was our speed.
A tap on the center of my back, right in the middle of my spine.
I raised my eyes only to see a patrol of two guards walking right towards us.
'Even faster!'
The clock was ticking.
The patrol approached… and didn't even spare us a single glance. Three seconds later, yet another supply camp was primed for the big reveal.
Seconds passed by.
Another depot, bringing us nearly all the way to the back of the camp. Walking down a cleared path with a determined step brought us quite the distance… And to an extremely unfavorable spot.
'Just one more moment…' I thought, counting down the time left before the first charge would go off.
We still had time.
"Shit," I cursed out loud only to pat myself all over. "I forgot this damn report!"
I turned around, pulling the rest of the group along before stepping back with a furious expression on my face.
If there was one place to be to hide in the crowd once all the chaos would ensue… Was right in the middle of it.
The nature of the attack would make it clear that the attacks were set all in advance… And what kind of stupid partisan would step right into the flames of his own trap?
'Faster!'
There was only one prerogative in my mind. To move. To squeeze the most out of every second that we could afford.
On our way back, I noticed a strangely placed supply camp that we've somehow missed before.
I tapped myself on the hip, sending one of the mud-covered men to set up the charge…
Only for the patrol that seemingly missed us before to appear right before my eyes.
One of the men appeared annoyed, grimacing unhappily at his partner. The other one, though…
He was looking at some sort of decal on the arm of my privateered clothing.
"That's…" he muttered, slowly raising his hand towards the decal…
'Move,' I thought, coldly moving past the man and rushing ahead, even faster than before.
Now, another clock started ticking.
And to make matters worse, yet another supply camp appeared nearby, formerly hidden by some boxes that blocked my view.
It was a little deeper than the other camps, making it slightly more risky.
But I still had one advantage, even as our disguise started to crumble.
The reason why I picked those who could restrain their aura was simple, it allowed me to avoid the detection of those capable of sensing powerful individuals. And even once our cover would fall apart, I would still be with a unit of absolute elites, surrounded by nothing but common cannon fodder!
I tapped my hip. One of the celestials rushed to plan a spell. A few, quick swings of his fingers later, his face suddenly twisted.
"Shit," the celestial cursed. "I botched the timer."
His voice was as silent as a whisper. But it rang like heavenly bells in my ears.
'Time's up,' Turning round, I scanned our current position.
In our rush to go back, we managed to cover quite the distance… but we were still about a hundred meters further away from the forest than where we entered the camp.
Not that big of a distance, but one we would have to cover while escaping through the muddy, wet swamp!
And to make things even worse…
BOOM!
The first explosion tore through the air… with barely anyone noticing. For it wasn't a discharge like an explosive I expected, but more a slight noise of the air getting sucked on.
Still, I've heard it. And I've heard the shouts coming from where I ignored that guard.
"Time's up, boys," I spoke out, taking off the uncomfortable fur coat and bringing out my neu-shottie from below. "All that's left, is to cut a way back!"