Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix C.300: Ambush

In the midst of this unexpected situation, Rain found himself smiling. Although he hadn't predicted these circumstances, he had made certain preparations in case his magic ever proved sealed yet again. His face remained hidden beneath a hood, and he had stashed a few ice spheres in his pockets, ready to face any challenges that might arise.

It didn't take long for the guards to take notice of him, and since that was the case, Rain didn't have to be silent anymore. He jumped through the windows of the house and invaded it.

The house Rain invaded into was really fancy inside. First, there was a big entrance room with fancy furniture and a huge, sparkling chandelier hanging from the ceiling. The walls had valuable paintings and tapestries showing important events. Deeper inside, he found a posh dining room with a long, shiny wooden table set for a fancy meal.

Big windows looked out on the pretty garden where Rain had crashed.

Still, the place was completely empty… It was dinner time, so he assumed that it was the best place to find the target. However, soon after, from the doors on both sides of the room, some heavily armored guards with halberds appeared.

"How are they planning to swing that?" Rain thought. "Well, even if they don't have much room, I still can't use my magic."

Rain could hear the sound of soldiers coming from behind as well, so soon, he was going to find himself surrounded. That was a bit annoying since he also couldn't use his earth magic to find the target.

In any case, when the guards got too close, Rain just used his new trick and then threw the ice pebbles at the enemies. They didn't have the chance to dodge them and they hit their helmets. Upon impact, the marbles cracked and then began to freeze the helmets of the guards.

"What the... what the hell is this?" The guards panicked when they felt the freezing cold reaching their faces.

Rain jumped over them and then crossed the right door while the guards were busy. Soon, he found some large stairs that would lead to the second floor, but the place was blocked by numerous guards.

Rain felt like sighing since he was completely in the dark there and he wondered what he could do… in the end, he used Limit Breaker and then threw the marbles of ice in the helmets of the guards. They flew while making high-pitched sounds and soon knocked them down, creating a hole in their formation, which Rain used.

With a single jump, Rain crossed the stairs and passed by the guards, but they still swung their halberds at him. Rain almost used his forearm guards to block them, but he threw the ice marbles instead and that slowed down the weapons enough to make him lower his posture and avoided the weapons by a thin margin. At the same time, it froze the weapons of the guards.

Rain kept dashing through that corridor and crossed it in no time only to find a door at the end, open it and then find another set of stairs and more guards at the top of them. Armed with shields and spears, they were ready to fight.

"It can't be… this is…" Rain thought and then clicked his tongue in annoyance.

Rain could only confirm his thoughts by finding the target's room. So, he used Limit Breaker again and then crossed the stairs by running normally. When the weapons blocked his way, he just jumped over them insanely fast. They thrust their spears upward, but they only hit the air.

In the end, Rain found a room at the end of that corridor that seemed fairly fancy and quite large. Before the guards could even turn, he reached it and then opened the door… only to find a rugged individual there sitting on the desk and then looking at him with a forced expression of shock.

"It isn't him…" Rain thought.

The person facing Rain appeared more like a young soldier in his twenties rather than a wealthy noble. While they shared similar dark hair, stature, and physical build, the target was unmistakably at least twenty years older.

Rain considered the situation and surmised that their target had likely foreseen their arrival, prompting the setup of this trap. It appeared that the purpose of this ambush was not only to identify Rain but also to link the attack back to Branden. His suspicions were confirmed when he observed a man by the desk, who swiftly hurled a bomb in Rain's direction.

The explosion in mid-air was supposed to burn his cloak and reveal his identity.

Fortunately, the explosion didn't reach him since Rain threw some ice marbles at the bomb and stopped its propagation. In any case, Rain jumped through the window and then landed on the garden only to find fifty guards around… the target truly had prepared one hell of a surprise.

"... Here we go again," Rain thought after a long sigh.

In the midst of the chaotic situation the numerous soldiers swarmed toward Rain in the garden. They seemed unconcerned by the garden throwing bombs at him relentlessly. Each explosion followed the previous one, creating a fire chain reaction.

The bursts of fire lit up the night sky, turning the garden into something resembling a battlefield. The flames flickered and cast eerie shadows over the garden's trees. Thick smoke billowed into the air, obscuring the soldiers' view and filling the atmosphere with the acrid smell of burning plants while the ground trembled.

Before the smoke could dissipate, several soldiers were knocked down by invisible projectiles, they quickly raised their shields and tried to defend themselves, but that only made them lose clear view of the surroundings for a moment, in that split of a second, Rain passed by them with his cloak on fire and covering his face with his arms… when he left the garden, he was able to use his magic again.