I Received System to Become Dragonborn-Chapter 826: New Party

While Eccar and his party pushed deeper into the mist-choked forest, another group was just stepping past the threshold of the woods. Ten figures in dark gear moving with silence but heavy intent.

These were no ordinary adventurers. They were enforcers of the underground Organization, a shadow network that pulled strings beneath kingdoms and behind the guilds.

They were sent here with a clear mission to intercept and eliminate Eccar's group before they could interfere with the resurrection rite that their own masters supported.

At the head of this attack force walked was Darel, a tall man with so much presence it can silenced even the boldest among them. His cloak barely stirred as he moved and he have twin short swords at his hips that had made countless kills.

Beside him strode Yara, a lean and sharp-eyed woman. Her gauntlets crackling faintly with Magic enregy. She is a Mage-fighter who have power of Magic and also great physical body.

Behind them the other eight followed. All of them were hardened men and women who had also do the share of bloodshed. Among those killers there was murmuring now.

"Ten of us. Just to handle nine adventurers?" A stocky enforcer named Varn muttered, his breath turning to faint mist in the cold air. "Feels like overkill, doesn't it? I've seen squads like this wipe out entire camps."

Lysa, a ranger with a narrow face and sharp tongue, chuckled dryly. "Overkill? Maybe. But they're not paying us to take chances. You've seen the reports — that Mark guy and the ranger, Jan? Their kill counts and reputation are no joke. And that swordsman, Thorne? He's been tearing through frontlines like paper."

"Yeah, yeah," Varn grunted, adjusting the axe strapped to his back. "Still. Two teams this size? Against nine? Makes me wonder if someone high up is nervous." freёweɓnovel.com

Yara, hearing them, shot a look over her shoulder, her eyes glinting coldly.

"Stay focused. Nervous or not, our orders are clear. We hit them hard and fast once we locate them. No drawn-out fight. We end it before they can react," Yara said.

Darel gave a small nod.

"They're deep inside already, which works to our advantage. The tribes and this mist will tire them out first. Once they're bleeding and scattered, we attack. Clean, decisive."

At the rear, another enforcer muttered, "Clean, he says. In this cursed fog? With half the forest watching us too?"

Lysa grinned at that, drawing an arrow and twirling it between her fingers. "Let the watchers watch. We're not here to kill them. Instead we were helping them, they already know that right? We just need to kill the nine adventurers. Once they're dead, we disappear. Easy coin."

Varn spat to the side, glancing warily at the creeping mist. "Nothing about this feels easy. This forest's alive with something ugly. You can feel it in your bones. Even the birds are gone. And I don't like the tribes."

Yara's gauntlets sparked faintly again as if in agreement.

"This place is sacred to the tribes so they contain Magic power. The tribes won't attack us, though. We're helping their cause by stopping those intruders. But mark my words, once we're done, we need to get out fast. Before this whole forest decides we're next."

Darel halted then, raising a hand. The group froze instantly, trained reflexes taking over.

His eyes scanned the faint prints in the soft earth ahead. He saw tracks that still fresh. Boot prints, nine in number, heading deeper into the woods.

"They passed through here less than an hour ago," Darel murmured. "We're close. Too close for chatter. From here on, we need to keep silence until engagement."

His gaze swept over his team, lingering a heartbeat longer on Yara, then Varn and Lysa.

"We split into two wings when the signal comes. Yara and I will take the core fighters. Varn, you handle their rear. That man from the Astoria kingdom named Eccar. Kill him fast."

Varn grinned, rolling his shoulders. "About time I got some fun."

Lysa's grin faded into a thin, predatory line as she nocked her arrow loosely. "Let's see if those nine are worth the bounty on their heads."

With that, the enforcers melted into the mist, their formation tightening as they followed the tracks deeper into the cold and the silence to hunting their targets.

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Jan pressed forward through the mist, every muscle in his body tense as he led the group deeper into the hostile woods.

The dome of golden light from Annette's amulet still pulsed softly around them, keeping the unnatural chill at bay. Meanwhile, the twin lights from Esther's hovering sphere and Selene's bluish flame cut through the fog just enough to show the dirt path beneath their boots and the gnarled shapes of roots and twisted branches nearby.

Eccar who walking at the rear flicked his eyes around the surroundings. His instincts itched. He had to admit that he didn't know how Jan was managing to guide them through this.

Even without the cursed mist and the cold this forest was a maze of thorns, uneven ground, and snaking vines. Eccar himself would've just fly to the sky to see the way from above and simply fly over the worst of it.

But not now. He couldn't just abandon the others. Not until the time came when they needed him most.

Then, Jan's hand shot up. A sharp gesture, fingers clenched in a tight fist.

Everyone stopped immediately. The air seemed to grow even heavier.

Jan didn't turn his head. "Monsters. Coming," he said.

They all immediately getting ready for battle.

Jan crouched low, his fingers brushing the damp earth again. He was still as stone for a moment, then he straightened and spat to the side.

"Four-legged. Heavy steps. Big. Not forest-born. I don't know how they arrived here but it doesn't matter. I count five… no, six. Surrounding from both flanks."

Mark's jaw clenched. "I think tribesmen are driving them at us to soften us before they show themselves."

The group tensed, weapons raised and spells crackling softly in the dim light.

Out beyond the reach of their glowing bubble, something heavy crashed against the underbrush. Twigs snapped. The low growl of some beast rumbled through the fog.

Then, more sounds of heavy wet steps followed. Then snarls, and the thud of paws as large as shields slamming against the earth.

The mist shivered and flowing erratically.

And then shapes began to emerge.

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