Chapter 74: Betrayal.

The gunfight went on and on as tracers flew through the forest hitting trees and rocks. "Sir! We have been betrayed! They know where we are!" One of the men shouted as most of their men began to fire back whilst keeping their heads low.

"Betrayed! How dare they! Who was it? Which one of you did it!?" He yelled. The man grabbed one of his cowering soldiers by the collar and then lifted him to his feet. "Was it you!? Only a coward would betray his country!"

The soldier looked up at the man with wide eyes. The sudden gunfire scared him into submission. "No sir it wasn't me! I would never even think about betraying our country!" The man screamed not knowing what to do as bullets got closer and closer to their position.

"Then get back in the fight!" The man yelled and then let him go. The cowardly soldier stood up and grabbed his rifle before running to the front of the trench to fire over.

He stood up and aimed his rifle toward the convoy. "For glory!" The man yelled. His attitude changed drastically. Being yelled at for being a coward brought out the little bit of bravery left in him. He began shooting like a mad man. But the muzzle flashes from his automatic rifle made him a target for everybody.

"Keep your head down you fucking idiot!" One of the men to his left shouted but it was too late. The high pitch whistle of a bullet cutting its way through the air passed overhead. The man stopped shooting as the bullet tumbled through his skull. Brain matter and blood splattered on the faces of his comrades. Driving fear deep into their hearts.

"I'm not being paid enough for this." Another one of the men shouted as he wiped the blood from his face and began to stumble around. The blood of his comrade had gotten into his eyes and he began to walk around like a headless chicken as he tried to get it out of his eyes.

Another bullet whistled through the air followed by the sound of breaking bones as it crushed his spinal cord on its way through his neck. The man who had called his men cowards was now stood in shock as the opposition honed in on their located. His men were being slaughtered before his very eyes.

"Sir, We need to move. They have the upper hand if we stay we will all die! What are your orders?" The man with the rail gun jumped down from the tree.

"Y-yes… Everyone. Form a tactical retreat on me!" The man shouted. He gave his men no time to assemble as he made his own escape. He ran deeper into the forest. Before a single crack echoed out. The man fell over mid stride. His body folded up as he hit the ground and skidded across the floor. He came to a stop just before a tree trunk.

"What? How?"He said quietly in a grunt of pain as he flipped himself over onto his back and crawled backwards until his back was up against the tree. He saw the man with the rail gun stood facing him with his gun up to his shoulder. He had a sinister grin on his face as he walked closer and closer.

The man looked down to see the whole that had ripped its way through his stomach. Blood poured from his body like water flowing down a river. It trickled down to his legs and then formed a pool of blood underneath him. "You were the one who betrayed us?" He asked.

The man carrying the rail gun laughed. "You think I was the one who told them where we were hiding? No, I'm not that evil. If I was to put it simply I did this because I really don't like you. You might be higher up in the chain but that doesn't mean you are any better than the common infantryman."

Five more men made their way through the forest and stopped just as they saw their boss lying on the ground in a pool of blood. He had become too weak to talk. He was clinging to the last of his life. He became hopeful when seeing the men looking down at him.

He lifted his hand and pointed to the man with the rail gun in a last ditch effort to save himself. As soon as he lifted his arm his vision faded to black.

"What happened to the boss?" One of the soldiers asked the rail gun man. "Oh, He was running when a stray bullet hit him in the abdomen. They must have some heavy firepower. It ripped right through him." The man said and then walked over to the body of his boss.

"Rest in peace brother. You were a good man. I will make sure your wife gets this." He smiled the same sinister smile and then reached into his shirt before pulling off the dog tags from around his neck.

"You will be missed." He said and then picked his rail gun up and slung it over his shoulder.

"Listen, men. As your second in command, I will be taking command and making decisions in place of our fallen comrade. I don't want to hear any bickering. We will do things my way and I will make sure I get all of you back home safely." All of the men looked at each other and then at him They looked hesitant to accept him.

But they didn't need convincing. They had no choice. They had already been pushed back from their ambush and were now on the run. They weren't sure how far they were willing to go to catch them so they unanimously decided to listen to his every command.

"Okay, now on me. We will head for the clearing in the waterfall we passed on our way here. Don't try to rush. We will take things at a slower pace to make sure that we aren't walking into another ambush. Who knows how many people they have waiting for us." He warned the men and then began to walk.

They all followed behind him trusting his every word. It was unknown to them that he had just killed their original leader.

"How can you walk this far!? Is it another perk of being a cultivator? I should really have a change of occupation. I feel like I'm going to die here. Jake complained as they headed into the forest. They were so far in at this point that the sky was no longer visible. They were surrounded by the shadows of the overhanging trees.

They stopped at a cliff face. "Finally I can breathe," Jake said and then sat down on a rock. "Not for long. We need to get moving again. They will be passing here in a few minutes. I need to set up the array whilst you take a quick breather." Haru said and then picked up a branch from the ground.

"Yay!" Jake celebrated while Haru got to work. He started by drawing a box across the floor all the way across the entrance to the ravine behind them. The sounds of water slamming against rocks could be heard from the other side. They were right next to a waterfall.

After drawing the rectangular box he started writing words in a strange language. Jake had never seen text like this before so he watched on intrigued by what he was seeing. "What does that say?" He asked as Haru took a step back to see if it was correct.

"It doesn't say anything. The words are impossible to be translated as their meaning can't be compared to anything in a human language." Haru accidentally let slip before writing again.

"Wait are you saying that you speak alien?" Jake asked on the verge of laughter. He didn't believe a word Haru said and thought he was trying to tell some kind of joke.

"Sure, Something like that." Jake began to laugh. What was this development? His friend was a cultivator that talks to aliens? He then looked back at Haru who seemed to be frustrated that Jake was laughing at him.

"Wait, You're serious?" Jake asked Haru who then laughed.

"No, no, no, It's just a joke. Don't read too much into it." He looked uncomfortable when Jake pried into that question. That made Jake question it even more but he didn't dare to say anything else.

After a few minutes of scribbling on the floor, Haru stopped. "Come on we have to move now. Be careful you don't step on it." He said before kicking a pile of leaves over the array.

He then placed one of his hands on the cliff wall. "Now we climb." Jake looked up to the top of the cliff. It looked to be over a hundred meters tall. There was no way he was climbing up that high.

[Levitate] A cyclone of wind spiralled around Jake's feet. "Here grab on." He said and then held out his hand toward Haru.

He shook his head. "There's no need. I was only taking things slow for you. Mages don't have the best physical strength." He said before crouching down.

He coiled his legs like a tiger ready to pounce and then jumped. He went up around halfway before he stuck out his leg and took another leap from the side of the cliff. In less than a second, he was already at the top.

Jake flew up sluggishly behind him. "That felt like a kick in the stomach. You keep surprising me with all this cultivation stuff." Jake began to say before he was silenced by Haru's hand.

He didn't say anything he just pointed with his other hand, towards the trees and then got down out of sight. Jake took the hint and lay on the ground next to him.