Thea had drifted to the edge of the group, claiming she needed to "ease herself."
Lain noticed she was using a weird skill that manipulated soundwaves. Thea had kept her abilities secret!
What followed was a quiet information dump from Thea that hit like a punch to the gut.
Joel—Thea's squadmate—was a traitor. And so was Mark.
Thea had been using her ability to eavesdrop for months, piecing together fragments, whispers, names. But with no clue who she could trust, she'd stayed silent.
And not just out of caution.
She had a goal: save the Clan's heir, earn some real recognition, and raise her status. It was to make this mission her turning point—a selfish and dangerous goal.
Thea had a plan, too—but Lain's recent distant, erratic behavior had made her rethink it, believing this new behavior could jeopardize the plan made for the usually scared Lain.
Now? She decided to tell Lain outright and hoped he would react properly! Thankfully, Lain did.
Thea's communication wasn't one-way; Lain could communicate with her too.
He told Thea to stay calm and that when things escalated, depending on what was happening, they would improvise.
Thea would just use her ability again then.
Ending their chat, Lain got more insight on Thea.
'No wonder she was trying to cozy up earlier. She wanted Lain's trust!'
The developments were unexpected, but the plan remained the same.
Based on Thea's observations, Lain knew who the traitor was and he also knew that there were reinforcements that would support these traitors.
'The odd thing is that they're not trying to kill me, rather, they want to kidnap me. What are they up to? Could Thea be wrong?'
Lain remained where he was as he saw Thea suddenly run from where she was easing herself, her face dark with a frown.
As Thea approached the team, she said, "There's something strange! I sense weird movements around us, and they're not from beasts!"
Hearing this, Cid immediately darted to the center of the clearing, entering a battle-ready stance.
"Battle positions. Stay alert!"
After confirming everyone was positioned well, he asked, "What do you sense, Thea?"
Finally, in a defeated tone, Thea said, "Intruders… We're surrounded."
"Fuck!" Joel cursed aloud.
At the same time, twenty figures clad in dark green attires revealed themselves–some standing on tree branches, others positioned beside trees.
Lain's throat suddenly went dry as he saw them.
'Hold on… why are there so many of them here? This place is meant to be secure!'
He already knew. The corruption inside the Clan ran deeper than they thought.
Not just one insider could've let this many assassins in.
"They are assassins not suited for direct combat. They're not even beyond early Yellow! Don't fret!"
Cid's command cracked through his panic. Lain blinked, grounding himself.
Cid surged forward, his spear glowing with mana, and the assassins moved in response.
As he moved, he hurled his spear at one of the assassins with astonishing speed.
The assassin managed to dodge by a hair's breadth, but the spear's impact tore into his side, spilling blood.
Before the man could recover, Cid yanked the spear back with a hidden thread and impaled him from behind.
One died.
"They're nothing! Prioritize the young master's escape and move!"
As Cid said it, most of the assassins darted at him after viewing him as a threat.
Lain's eyes immediately set on Mark and Joel, who had gone to each flank of Cid and engaged three and two enemies respectively.
'Damn it! This is going to be harder than I thought! No time to waste!'
Positioned directly opposite Cid, Lain thrust his hand into his bag and yelled, "Thea, cover me!"
Thea responded, "Just don't die!" and protected Lain from the three approaching attackers.
Lain charged the mana bomb he brought out of his bag while running around to avoid an assassin with his shortsword in his free hand, using it to block at times.
After 30 seconds of intense charging, the bomb looked like it was about to explode, everyone near Lain seemed to be wary as they hesitated—even Thea was tense.
Seeing this, Lain smirked, his expression implying, "What? Are you scared of this?"
It was until the rock-like orb in Lain's hand was almost completely red that he threw it high into the sky.
Thea and the three assassins, with enough space to do so, looked up to witness as the mana around the orb seemed to concentrate in one spot.
A blinding light came and then a—
Bang–!
Blue and red flames spread out in the sky like a beautiful firework, before slowly raining down.
The rain of fire either slightly burned the trees or broke down into mana.
All attention went back to Lain as they wondered why he did that.
But Thea used that opportunity to take all three on as her body began to glow subtly.
Meanwhile, Lain was alone now, letting him ponder.
'Now, I have to make sure Mark and Joel are actually traitors or all will be for naught.'
Lain glanced at Thea, seeing the girl being pressured by the three again.
'She's actually struggling. She has been poisoned!'
Lain was about to decide on what to do next, but at that moment, Joel appeared beside him, tapping his shoulder.
"Young Master, nice distraction that was!" Joel said, panic laden in his voice. "Follow me! We need to escape now!"
But the instant Lain turned to him, he didn't think twice.
He stabbed his shortsword into Joel's side and forced a hateful expression.
"Escape? You want to kidnap me! You traitor!"
Hearing the word "kidnap"—not even "kill"—Joel was stunned, his eyes widening.
"You aren't supposed to know," he said as he sent his dagger driving into Lain.
"Arghh!" Feeling the amount of pain, Lain yelped, not having time to rejoice that Joel gave it out.
But knowing what situation he was in, he didn't give in—he wasn't too unfamiliar with pain after all.
His eyes glared at Joel as he twisted the shortsword and drove it in deeper, "Fucking bastard!"
He immediately pulled out his sword and distanced himself from Joel, already casting a tier 2 magic spell, Water Bullet.
Joel blocked the barrage of water bullets with a barrier, his side releasing blood.
Trying to wrap his mind around how Lain knew, Joel yelled, "End this now! Kill!"
For Joel to have suggested that, the others knew something was up.
They didn't hesitate as they all focused on killing.
Spitting out blood, Joel said to Lain, "Bastard, you should have just stayed quiet."
'Fuck, fuck fuck!'
Lain cursed in his heart as he saw Joel's two "enemies" coming to support Joel.