Chapter 16: The Ambush
The first attacker never reached Kai.
Andre stepped forward and drove a punch straight into the man's chest.
A loud crack echoed through the chamber.
The masked man folded like paper and flew backward into two of his companions.
"ONE!"
Andre shouted.
A crossbow bolt immediately struck his shoulder.
"OW!"
Kai stared.
"You counted before the fight even started?"
"I like being organized."
Another bolt flew toward Akshay.
The king raised his sword and deflected it.
The metal rang loudly throughout the chamber.
"Take cover!"
Akshay shouted.
Vice had already disappeared.
One second he was standing beside them.
The next he was gone.
Kai blinked.
"Where did—"
A scream echoed from the darkness.
Then another.
Then a third.
Vice casually stepped out from behind one of the attackers.
The man collapsed.
A dagger protruded from his shoulder.
"Found him."
Vice said calmly.
Kai wasn't entirely sure who he was talking to.
The chamber erupted into violence.
Masked attackers poured from side tunnels.
There were dozens of them.
Far more than Kai expected.
The first rushed him with a curved blade.
Kai dodged.
Countered.
His fist connected with the attacker's jaw.
The man spun and crashed into the stone floor.
A second immediately took his place.
Then a third.
Then a fourth.
They weren't skilled.
Not individually.
But they were coordinated.
That was the dangerous part.
Akshay noticed it too.
"Formation fighters."
The king ducked beneath a swing.
His sword swept upward.
The attacker stumbled backward.
"They've trained together."
Kai nodded.
He could feel it.
Every time one attacker retreated, another filled the gap.
Every time someone fell, another stepped forward.
This wasn't a gang.
It was an organization.
Andre punched a man into a wall.
"Can organizations stop sending weaklings?"
Three more immediately charged him.
"Oh."
Andre smiled.
"There we go."
Across the chamber Vice moved like a ghost.
No wasted movement.
No unnecessary effort.
Every strike disabled someone.
A throat.
A shoulder.
A knee.
Efficient.
Precise.
Terrifying.
Kai suddenly understood why people respected him.
Another masked man lunged.
Kai grabbed his arm.
Twisted.
The attacker cried out.
Then Kai noticed something strange.
The man's wrist.
A symbol.
Branded into the skin.
A black circle.
Surrounded by jagged markings.
Kai frowned.
"What is that?"
The attacker froze.
For a moment fear appeared in his eyes.
Real fear.
Then his expression changed.
Almost like panic.
"No."
The man whispered.
Before Kai could react—
The attacker bit down on something hidden in his mouth.
A sickening crunch echoed.
Blood poured from his lips.
The man collapsed.
Dead.
Kai stepped back.
Shocked.
"What the hell?"
Several other attackers did the same.
One after another.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Bodies hit the floor.
The fight abruptly slowed.
Even Andre stopped punching people.
The surviving attackers began retreating.
Not running.
Withdrawing.
Disciplined.
Organized.
As if the ambush had never been about killing them.
Only delaying them.
Within moments the remaining masked figures vanished into hidden tunnels.
Silence returned to the chamber.
Broken only by heavy breathing.
The floor was littered with bodies.
Weapons.
Blood.
Kai stared at the dead attacker near his feet.
The symbol on the wrist remained visible.
Akshay crouched beside one of the corpses.
His expression darkened.
"You've seen it before."
Kai said.
The king didn't answer immediately.
That alone was answer enough.
Vice walked over.
His normally calm face had become serious.
"That's not good."
Andre looked between them.
"What?"
Akshay slowly stood.
"I saw this symbol years ago."
The room became quiet.
"Where?"
Kai asked.
The king's gaze drifted toward the darkness beyond the chamber.
Toward memories he clearly didn't enjoy revisiting.
"When Oheyo fell."
Nobody spoke.
Even Andre.
The ruined kingdom.
Everyone knew the story.
The richest kingdom on the continent.
Destroyed.
Burned.
Reduced to desert and ruins.
Entire cities wiped from existence.
Countless dead.
No one ever learned exactly who was responsible.
Only rumors remained.
Akshay clenched his fist.
"The same symbol appeared there."
A cold chill ran down Kai's spine.
For the first time, the attacks felt connected.
Not random.
Not isolated.
Part of something larger.
Something that had already destroyed an entire kingdom once before.
Vice examined the ritual markings on the floor.
His expression became grim.
"They weren't moving supplies."
Kai looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
Vice pointed toward the ritual circle.
"They were preparing something."
Akshay followed his gaze.
The king's face immediately hardened.
"Then we're already late."
The torchlight flickered across the chamber.
For the first time since arriving in Yggdrasil, Kai felt it.
Not fear.
Dread.
Because whatever had happened here—
Was only the beginning.