Dimensional Descent

Leonel sent a gaze toward Aina only to find her already looking back toward him. With a light nod, they shot forward as one, there steps light and in sync.

The remainder of the troops continued to advance slowly. Though they exchanged some glances about the oddity of it all, they didn't make any other movements. Something like a commander taking the vanguard was practically unheard of, at least in Earth's modern history.

However, Leonel had made his plan to them clear. A count of 250 wasn't a lot, especially in a war of this scale. Where their benefit lay is in the fact they were all elite warriors, all capable of battling two to three on their own. In such a case, not only was such a forest the best terrain for them, but it also presented a unique opportunity to flip this war on its head.

Leonel's lips moved, but no one seemed to hear what he said at all. However, several hundred meters away, the North West squad had already jumped into action.

…

Despite the high sun, the forest was still drenched in shadows. From below the high canopies, it felt more like a cloudy day than anything else. Unfortunately, unlike a cloudy day, the forest floor was quite humid. Any normal human of the Third Dimension would be leaking sweat by this point.

Luckily, though, Earth was still in its infant stages as a new Fourth Dimensional world. As such, the harsher climates of a world at this stage had yet to come to fruition. However, even still, the hot temperatures were slowly creeping upward and breaking records that had withstood the test of centuries, while the cold temperatures were doing the same. It wouldn't be long before Earth began to face extremes it never had before.

While there was this bad news, though, there was also good news. In this transition period, Zones wouldn't begin to appear just yet. So, Earth had a small level of reprieve. But, it might have been exactly because of this that Terrain chose to attack now…

At that moment, on the humid forest floor, a group of seven moved forward cautiously along their patrol path, their senses on high alert. They wore red robes accented by bright yellow flexible armor. The design made them look like small boiling suns of their own, but judging by the small beads of sweat falling down their brow, this had little to do with their affinities.

suddenly snapped his head in a certain direction,

when he was frozen in horror, the small globe of light pulsed, sending out a halo that covered

hesitation, the lead scout pulled out a

light it quicky. The sparks

break past, it

expected a bang, but the reality was much less fantastical. The spark fizzled out, drooping back down to the ground as though it had run out of

his lungs.

scout relaxed when he completed this action, his unsettled emotions resting into a

reinforcements, it would be a matter of absolute ease for them to be surrounded

air was almost impossible. There was no way they had aerial units prepared already. And, even if they did, there was no way they could match the

choice but to send ground troops. But, in such a thick forest, how many could they

of elites with a few trump cards. That orb of light was clearly

couldn't come up with methods of countering a variety of abilities as well, they would be

example. They were prepared to stop their signal flare, but

you don't deserve these lands, so we'll be happy to take it

exact moment that Leonel and Aina appeared. They weaved through the trees, one wielding a

while Leonel leapt up agilely. His feet rebounded off the tough bark of the trees, sending him flying upward. He left a trail of gold in his wake. And, for but a moment, his arms

icy blue-white mask, Aina crossed the final barrier into the halo of light, her sword trailing behind her like