SSS Frost Sovereign: Rewinding The Apocalypse!-Chapter 38: The second raid

A week later, the planned raid was finally about to begin.

Icard stood at the gate with Reya, Matt, Eric, and Alia as their assigned raid group gathered around them.

About twenty people in total; incarnations of varying strength and experience, checking their gear, adjusting their weapons, and murmuring quietly as the early tension settled in.

The structure of the raid this time was very much different.

After the previous incident, the mayor’s office, guided heavily by Albert’s observations from the battlefield, had revised the entire operation strategy.

Instead of loosely organized expeditions, incarnations willing to participate were first required to enlist formally.

Once registered, they were evaluated and divided into structured raid groups with clear roles and positioning.

That system had started taking shape about a week ago.

After training the following evening after the night he had gone to meet Wester, Icard had gathered everyone and calmly explained the raid plans in detail, making it sound like he had simply overheard everything while passing by.

To join the raid, each participant had to be assigned to a raid group.

There were five raid groups in total, positioned around the central objective. At the center was Albert, leading a core unit of roughly fifty people.

With them were three reinforced resource transport trucks, designed to haul materials recovered from the area back to the vicinity.

The raid groups formed a loose pentagonal formation around the convoy.

Three groups were positioned forward, front-left, front-center, and front-right. Two more groups covered the rear flanks, back-left and back-right.

Their function was to scout the entire area around the truck to find the resources they need. Food, materials, or killable spawns.

In that way, they covered a large area around the truck, scanning it thoroughly.

The trucks remained at the center at all times, advancing slowly as they got farther out of the vicinity.

That night, as they sat in the living room listening to Icard’s explanation, Katar had remained silent.

’That’s quite effective,’ he thought. ’Hmph. Ixie isn’t there for nothing.’

"So basically," Reya said, catching on quickly, "we join one of the raid groups whose job is to scout and secure the entire area around the resource trucks."

Icard nodded. "Exactly."

It was after this raid that the mayor would go on to make even more significant changes. Seeing how effective the raid group system was, he later formalized it into the guild system, with smaller raiding parties operating independently under guild oversight.

By the time the next raid was held, the Guild Union would already exist.

"Does that mean we’ll have to fight those things again?" Alia asked quietly, concern clear in her voice.

"Not likely," Katar replied calmly.

Icard elaborated. "This raid is focused on recovery and control. Engagements are expected, but it won’t be like before."

"We’ll need to head in soon and enlist with the others," he added.

Katar nodded in approval.

And so, today, they arrived with everyone else who had chosen to participate.

Designated officials moved through the crowd, calling names and assigning groups with practiced efficiency.

While waiting, Icard’s gaze drifted and landed on a familiar face he hadn’t seen since the first gate.

Liam.

He stood tall and slim, with an easy confidence to him. His features were quite sharp in a way that drew attention without effort.

Beside him was Dane, bulkier, broader, and older-looking, with neatly arranged facial hair and an organized presence that spoke of discipline.

Both were dressed neatly for the raid, gear well-maintained and practical.

Behind them followed a group of over ten people, mostly women, equipped for combat, though their attire leaned just slightly toward the provocative rather than purely functional.

Icard let out a quiet harrumph.

’I see.’

He dismissed them almost immediately, his attention shifting to the person he actually needed to watch.

Wester.

But Wester had already been assigned to a different raid group.

Their eyes met once across the gathering crowd.

Icard’s expression remained cool, controlled. Beneath it simmered restrained anger, the kind that promised unfinished business away from prying eyes.

Wester, on the other hand, smiled faintly. It was subtle, sharp, predatory, like a man already planning the hunt; already convinced he was in control.

The moment passed.

Orders were called and groups began to separate and move into formation.

Soon enough, Icard and his team were assigned their position, one raid group, paired with two others, forming part of the outer perimeter.

As they took their places, the gate began to open.

The raid was underway.

They soon gathered fully at the gates, the sorting process finishing faster than expected. Everyone had already been arranged neatly into their respective raid groups.

The operation had been thoroughly briefed beforehand, but Albert still assigned two of his trusted men to lead each group directly.

No improvisation or confusion. All they had to do was follow.

Most of the people who joined raids did so for two reasons. Everyone knew killing spawns strengthened incarnations through experience, mana essence, and direct combat growth.

And more importantly, since the structured raids began, casualties had dropped drastically compared to the first gate, as they had seen from the first raid with little casualties.

It was safer now. And far more rewarding.

’Last time, I don’t think much even happened in the second raid,’ Icard thought. ’They successfully brought resources back too.’

He cracked his knuckles lightly. Reya and the others were mostly ready now. Unlike before, they weren’t just surviving anymore. They were stronger.

The gates began to open slowly.

Beyond them stretched the ruined outskirts of the vicinity.

Broken streets swallowed by creeping vegetation, fractured buildings leaning at unnatural angles, and a sky that always felt slightly too heavy.

The air beyond the gate carried a dull pressure, thick with mana residue and the faint, metallic scent of danger.

"Did you hear?" someone muttered nearby. "Two more people went missing yesterday."

"Hmph. We’ve been hearing about missing people all week."

"Yeah. This time it was Albert’s own men."

Icard overheard the exchange and glanced back.

Wester.

He was positioned at the back-left of the formation, his raid group trailing behind the central convoy.

Missing people.

To Icard, that could only point to Wester.

Judging by the number of disappearances alone, Wester must have been feeding and growing stronger at an alarming pace.

And his ability made it frighteningly easy. Just recently, he had sent one of his controlled pawns after two of Albert’s men.

There had been a brief battle and then silence.

Albert’s men fell, and afterward, they simply vanished.

Something similar had also happened during Icard’s previous turn.

In fact, it had happened far more often back then.

Wester had almost treated it like sport. Testing, experimenting, slowly setting his controlled people against Albert’s forces and bleeding them dry.

Over time, it escalated. Missing people turned into outright murders, most of them the mayor’s men.

With every kill, Wester absorbed their mana essence and with every absorption, he grew stronger.

But, back then he hadn’t been this powerful so early.

’This is my interference,’ Icard realized grimly. ’He probably felt more threatened and decided to speed things up.’

He turned his gaze forward, forcing his focus onto the road ahead and the confrontation waiting for them.

Behind him, Wester smiled again.

Albert, Marcus, and Luna began boarding separate vehicles near the center of the formation.

Wester’s eyes lingered on Luna longer than necessary. There was a hunger in his gaze, not rushed, not desperate, but possessive, as if he had already decided she belonged to him.

But Albert was there.

And Marcus too.

With this many gathered, Wester thought, amusement curling through him.

’They’re all going to die this time. No Albert, no Marcus. After this raid, I’ll be all you have left’

Wester repeated it silently, like a creed.

Meanwhile, Icard’s group moved forward, headed in their assigned direction.

"I thought he was coming?" Alia muttered.

"Don’t count on it," Matt replied. "He just asked Icard some random question earlier."

"He was asking about the Erwald of that Wester guy," Alia said, glancing at Icard. "Doesn’t that mean he’s coming?"

"Hmph. You’ve heard his excuses enough times," Matt said with a shrug. "He hates crowds. Just leave it be."

But Icard didn’t think it had been a random question.

Katar had asked specifically about Wester’s Erwald.

Icard had only seen Wester and Seban once during this turn, but after hearing the description, Katar had let out a low harrumph.

"He’s thistial," Katar had said. "Brutal Erwalds. The kind that will go to any extent to get what they want."

And from that alone, Icard could tell Katar understood.