Chapter 1096:

Corbin had fully intended to be the one left behind. Hearing Rylie say it first stirred something close to admiration. With a sharp breath, he disengaged from the front line and shifted tactics, helping Kari divert enemy fire before peeling off down a different path.

With their attention split across three separate angles, the enemy’s assault weakened, easing the danger bearing down on Kari and Brad.

Rylie forced herself to keep going, buying every second she could. The moment she spotted the enemy readying heavy grenades to wipe out the area, she made a clean break. Tossing her final smoke charges to confuse them, she vanished into the jungle, her form melting into the trees as she followed Kari’s escape route.

The rainforest chose that moment to turn hostile. Rain poured down in sheets, turning the earth slick and unstable as flowing water washed away any sign of Kari’s path.

Around midnight, Rylie came to a sudden halt. Calm and focused, she studied the area. Decades of jungle work meant rain alone shouldn’t have erased a trail. But Kari’s tracks were gone—unnaturally so.

They had gone off-plan.

Rylie advanced only a couple more steps before movement flickered through the rain. She reacted instantly, diving aside as a suppressed bullet skimmed her shoulder and buried itself in the tree behind her.

The strike point revealed exactly where the shooter was hiding. Rylie froze, waiting. When the enemy stepped out to check the body, she flashed forward, pulled the blade from her thigh, and cut through the tendons behind their knees in one smooth motion.

The scream barely had time to form before Rylie plunged the knife into their throat. She quickly claimed the sniper rifle and cleared the pack, taking every round of ammunition she could find.

She released a slow breath, her expression hard and distant as she looked down at the woman choking silently in the mud. Rylie understood the situation all too well. The Kingdom of East Islet never sent anything but their best. Kari’s unit had likely been driven off course after stumbling into a trap.

𝗕𝘦 𝗍𝘩е 𝗳𝗂𝗿𝗌𝘁 𝗍о 𝗋𝖾𝘢d 𝘰ո 𝗀𝗮𝘭𝗇o𝘷𝖾𝗅𝗌.𝗰оm

If they didn’t escape quickly, calmer seas would mean incoming reinforcements, and survival would no longer be an option.

She checked the body once more and recovered a compass, but one glance told her it was useless. The storm had scrambled the island’s magnetic field beyond use.

If Kari’s team was dealing with the same chaos, they couldn’t have traveled very far. There was a real chance they were unknowingly looping through the same stretch of jungle.

Rylie secured her equipment and studied the land ahead. If Kari hadn’t rejoined Corbin and, lacking true jungle instincts, she’d be relying on the two guards who seemed halfway competent.

Judging by standard training and theory alone, which path would they think was safest right now?

After stopping for only a moment, Rylie chose another path and moved on. She had no proof it was the correct one; she was trusting nothing but her gut.

Near a narrow forest stream hidden by thick foliage, Kari and the two guards paused to catch their breath.

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