Ayame's unit was already mopping up the last of the enemy troops, blades drenched, bodies sprawled across the muddy hills. Dozens of enemy combatants lay broken, most still twitching, others stone-cold. Only a few remained locked in combat, desperately resisting the inevitable.
They didn't last long.
Because they had returned.
Quinlan burst out of the rift first, announcing his arrival with a loud bang of elemental magic. Vex followed, staggering out with a snarl, half her face wrapped in a bandage from her lost eye. Kitsara and Blossom came next, both exhausted, both still more than ready to kill. Feng dragged herself out last, legs wobbling but her grin ever intact.
They didn't have to say a word.
Their appearance alone was thunder.
It told the enemy everything they needed to hear: Their last hope had failed.
A brutal ambush unfolded.