"If you are so skilled at the formations, why didn't you break it?" One of the formation masters asked the soldier.
The team leader also looked at the soldier a bit coldly. He is also clearly not very happy about this situation.
The soldier has escaped scot-free and his beast which is an ape-type beast very close to their size is also scot-free.
He escaped with just some small cuts on his armor which wasn't even cut completely.
The soldier looked at them and said calmly.
"You would probably believe me if I said this, but the thing is the activation time of the formation is too fast and as I said before, I am most familiar with the formations of the standards followed in this and the surrounding realms. It would take a long time to properly analyze the formation to let such a large group escape.
The only reason I managed to escape is that I am sensitive to the energy fluctuations and their presence. I could feel the energy flowing in the surroundings as long as it is not completely hidden. The person who set this formation is not from here.
I could have just stayed put and I wouldn't get these glares you are throwing at me. I just came to warn you.
The general scouting and the regular formation check wouldn't work in this situation. We need to be more careful. That is what I wanted to tell you so that more people wouldn't lose their lives.
If we are not confident in tackling these formations and the other traps they might have set up, it is better for us to return, at least we wouldn't deprive ourselves of the manpower."
With that, he didn't bother to explain himself anymore and left.
The leader didn't know how to react, he just stayed there for a moment in silence and finally spoke to the formation masters.
"I don't know what you do. But I don't want you to make sure that the others formations will not be triggered. We don't have a lot of time on our hands and there is no news from the city after those guards arrived. We need to find a way to safely go there and capture these people."
With that, he went on to help with the recovery of the rest of the soldiers and the beasts.
They stayed there for an hour and a half and finally made a move.
This time, along with the scout's team, the formation masters also moved and even the soldier that warned these people about the formations was sent with them even if he insisted that he didn't want to go.
After all, since he is not in a leadership position, he could only oblige.
For the next two hours of the journey, they didn't see any traps and they finally reached the forest patch.
The scout teams changed as the falcons are not suitable for this area. The snake-type beasts were used to scout.
The scouting went on smoothly and soon the forces arrived in the forest after they got the green light from the scouts.
But as soon as everyone entered the forest, something changed.
Some vines that are all over the place within the forest started moving and they went after one of the beasts in the final row of the formation.
The beast is a canine and the vines crawled up to its body crazily as they dragged it down.
The soldier who is the contractor of the beast stopped and started cutting the vines as he warned.
"Guys, something is wrong."
With his loud warning, everyone turned towards him and saw the beast being buried under the vines and soon they could see the beast's size reducing right in front of their eyes.
The flowers started growing on the vines and the process was over before the others couldn't react. The flowers soon turned into fruits that are in blood-red color.
"Everyone stay vigilant. Do not touch the vines or fruits. Fire users, burn everything down within your surroundings, including that vine."
He yelled as he pointed at the dog that was buried. The soldier is crying at the loss of his partner, but he was dragged away by the other soldiers.
The soldiers all got into smaller groups with each group having a fire element user as they burned down the surrounding trees.
One of them aimed the fire at the vine with the red fruits.
Instead of burning down and turning into ashes, the fruits exploded into red smoke which made the fire user a bit intoxicated and as if it was on the cue, a vine appeared coiling around his legs and dragging him into the ground.
The small group in charge saw this and immediately made his move with the sword. He wanted to cut the vines apart, but to his surprise, the vines are unbelievably and unnaturally strong to the point that only a small mark was left on the vines.
But he didn't stop.
"Help me, the vines are too tough."
His teammates started helping but they are involuntarily inhaling the red smoke that was coming out of the fruits that exploded and without even knowing something else is happening in their heads and as if it to prove that point one of the subordinate who is hacking off the vines with the ax missed the vine and hacked the leg off of his teammate.
But by now, the teammate couldn't even yell to show his pain, his body started thinning down.
The leader of the force saw this scene and felt a sense of trepidation which didn't last long as it was replaced by a sense of loss and desperation, because more and more vines are appearing as they coiling around the people and even if someone managed to get out of the coiled vines, they could feel the extreme loss of energy in their bodies.
The fire elemental energy is not working and the red smoke that is coming from the exploded is making them feel like they are on some kind of recreational drug. They couldn't make sense of their surroundings and the friendly attacks are happening in every group.
The situation started with a single attack on a single beast which made them vigilant and the next attack took a long time while they are attacking with the fire element, but then all of a sudden all the vines popped out of nowhere. If it was a gradual change, they would have been able to understand or even predict.
But even for an attempt at an unpredictable attack, this is a bit sloppy.
Sam looked at Noah in confusion as he looked through the screen.
"What are you looking at? Those idiots didn't react as I thought."
"As you thought? It is as if you know who is coming."
Noah dodged his gaze and Sam suddenly widened his eyes.
"You know who is coming didn't you?"
Noah just sighed and said.
"I know who the leader of the group is and how he operates."
"You even hid this from me?"
Kumar asked in shock.
"Okay, okay. Just don't get so excited. I just guessed okay. I didn't say anything because it is not that relevant. I only know how the leader reacts and I just played on it a bit. For you, it doesn't matter who comes for you. Your traps are standard for everyone anyway."
"Then why is yours not the same?"
"I just wanted to have some, alright. I wanted to set up a dramatic display and it just failed. I will beat the crap of the leader after he comes here. If only he acted a bit faster and a bit more decisive, things would have been better. It would be like fireworks in the sky and not even half of them would be left for your trap."
As they were bickering, the force started moving. They are having a terrible time.
Just when they thought that the vines are all they need to avoid, the trees started moving and the branches started penetrating them like pitchforks.
The attacks are so random that pissed the leader off.
But he cannot do anything about it at all. The only silver lining is that this randomness made their escape a bit safer compared to the spear formation.
The body count is not much. More beasts were dead than the cultivators themselves and the leader is a bit relieved about that.
Noah's mood turned sour though.
Sam and Kumar couldn't help but laugh while covering their mouths as they saw her expression.
The large eye-catching display she set up didn't work because of some unknown reason.
Sam suddenly said.
"Don't worry too much. I think your craving for the large display will come when they reach my trap. I think they would all be dead there, we wouldn't even need to go and get them ourselves."
Meanwhile forces stopped after they escaped the forest for the recovery
