Chapter 14: Turf War
Kage had something urgent to accomplish the moment he saw his plan was already in motion—wake the damn mosquitoes. Well, they’d probably be awake already, but he still needed to give them a little nudge that their nemesis would soon come trampling all over their territories.
Besides, who didn’t relish watching a turf war every now and then?
He sprinted through the forest, the sky still cloaked in darkness while the lonesome full moon cast a grey light above the canopy. That grey light seeped through the trees and spilled onto the ground, illuminating tiny insects that flickered and danced in the silvery shower, peaceful one moment—then scattered frantically as the air was shattered by a running human.
Water exploded around him as Kage’s feet plunged into and lurched out of a waterlogged pothole. He launched himself skyward and bounded across the river, landing in a roll before springing to his feet and resuming his relentless pace.
Kage couldn’t follow the direct path that led first to the Rootgnarls’ territory, so he had to circle half the forest and reach the Murkstingers’ territory from the other side—as if someone were approaching from Middlepass’s plain. He ran westward while the other half of the forest stretched eastward. The Murkstingers’ territory—if he remembered correctly—was situated somewhere around the northwest, drifting slightly toward the northeast area of the forest.
Only two scenarios could prove him wrong: first, that he’d forgotten. Kage would owe himself a brutal scolding for that one. Second, that he’d somehow regressed to another world that merely looked identical to his own. Kage was fucked if that were the case.
’I’m generally fucked if I’m wrong, so I can’t be wrong.’
He surged forward faster, his body already gasping and drenched in sweat after barely two minutes of running. He’d expected this—which was exactly why he’d sprinted at maximum speed before exhaustion could claim him.
[The Oathbreaker mocks you]
[The Wolf of the North is enjoying the race]
[Heretic Inquisitor of Eternal Truth looks forward to seeing what you will manage to fulfill before dying]
Kage ignored their attempts to distract him and locked onto his goal.
Finally, the insect territory was in view. In the Murkstingers’ domain, the trees were thinner and their bark ashen—the only place in the forest unsuited for the Rootgnarls to blend into.
Upon arrival, Kage leaped and seized a branch, hoisting himself up and springing to clutch another, ascending higher into the tree. His climbing skills were surprisingly fluid.
All those years of forest survival had earned Kage tree-climbing prowess that had saved him countless times, even in his past life.
He finally halted atop a sturdy branch and peered down. He could sense subtle vibrations rippling through the forest, and there he knew.
The Rootgnarls were already charging—they’d either crashed into the Murkstingers from behind or were about to.
The Murkstingers were also on high alert, sadly Kage missed the chance to wake them up personally. The acrid smell of smoke coiled into the morning mist had done that for him. No creature in the forest could have missed the disturbance in the forest. .
Kage gazed down at the swarming, macabre insects. Each one was as large as a breastplate, sporting four slim, translucent wings, compound eyes, and vicious stingers jutting above their mandibles.
They swarmed, producing a deafening buzz. As they massed together, their individual forms seemed to dissolve into a flood of insects cascading through the forest floor.
The Rootgnarls had breached their territory, triggering savage movement among the insects. They surged forward in a living torrent and crashed into the charging humanoid trees.
Kage leisurely perched on the tree and watched the clash between insects and tree trunks unfold. It was hardly a riveting sight—in fact, there was absolutely nothing to gain from it. The spectacle was almost mortifying because it made him feel utterly jobless.
These creatures were local menaces, Stain rank or Sullens at best. All of them were mindless Impures driven by hunger alone. They lacked the intelligence to strategize or even recognize when not to fight. Even their battle was tactless and barbaric in every conceivable way.
The insects, despite their glaring weakness—their brittle exoskeletons—charged at the tree trunks without any strategy, simply overwhelming them with sheer numbers.
Kage wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt—maybe numbers were their strategy—but how did that make sense when the Rootgnarls possessed woody bark that their stingers could barely penetrate?
Kage sighed.
’What am I seriously doing... expecting mindless abominations to think strategically? This is not how I remember turf wars to be.’
[Heretic Inquisitor of Eternal Truth observes with focus, claims he could gain a thing or two from the primitive instincts of the abominations]
Kage rolled his eyes.
’Rather absurd.’
[Wolf of the North despises this crude sight]
’Ah! Finally, we agree on something!’
[Weaver of Sorrow cries]
’Unsurprising...’
[The Oathbreak looks down in disgust]
’Suit yourself authoritarian.’
Kage had no choice but to remain like this and entertain himself however, because there were two major reasons why he had to witness this battle—and one would soon be in sight.
Kage observed intently as the Rootgnarls bulldozed their way through the swarms of Murkstingers. The forest floor was shrouded in a mist of deafening buzzing that rattled the entire woodland.
The humanoid trees pressed forward relentlessly, though some toppled under the Murkstingers’ relentless, stubborn assault. But the Murkstingers suffered far greater casualties.
The Rootgnarls towered above them, their long arms extending like tree branches, snapping forward to crush the insects with devastating efficiency.
Occasionally, some of their pustules burst, releasing toxic green mist into the forest—but Kage had anticipated this, which was precisely why he’d climbed so high.
He peered downward with a slight frown, then his eyes sharpened.
"Found you..."
Among the Rootgnarls stood a particularly towering specimen with larger eyes than the rest. It possessed identical features to the others aside from its imposing height and those enlarged eyes—details barely noticeable to most.
But they were exactly what Kage was hunting for. He’d encountered this twisted tree more than once and had been forced to flee for his life each time. Today, he was going to humiliate the bastard.