CHAPTER 502

THE YOUNG BLOOD

Rio ignored his scalded, left leg and pressed onward, shoving Qi into his fingertips and weaving them in front of him, summoning a massive, cascading wave of fire that flew over his head and fell like a crashing river onto the Holy Army. There were so many of them, he mused as he caught a free breath. No matter how many they killed, just as many, if not more, somehow broke past the mounting piles of corpses and engaged them.

They were fighting without a stop for nearly half an hour now -- yet, the sheer number of the dead was simply... absurd.

He glanced a bit forward, to his left, and found the shimmering figure amidst the shade of the death; even here, amidst the horrid weepings of the falling, she shone resplendently, like a star ripped straight from the sky.

Xia heaved her greatsword over her shoulder and back down, at an angle, cutting through four well-armed foes who tried to tie her up. Carrying the momentum, she continued her swing in a full circle, spinning like a whirlwind and cutting down five more whilst moving a few feet closer. She was the herald -- the lighthouse perched in the midst of the dark, stormy sea, for all sailors to see where their home was.

Her crimson hair fluttered beneath her helmet, her expression slightly excited; she thrust herself straight into the hell, leaping over a pile of disfigured corpses around her, striking like a bolt of thunder at the earth down below, driving the greatsword into it nearly up to its hilt. The ground around her cracked and broke, sending good dozens of her foes stumbling over their own toes and onto their behinds.

Just as they were about to recover, a storm of well-hidden, shadow-encased daggers fluttered through their exposed throats, reaping lives cleanly. Yun crept from behind the trees, shuffling over to the other side now that his position was exposed, while Xia continued her onward onslaught, somehow managing to actually push back the enemy’s frontline.

Revved up, Rio sucked in a deep breath as his Qi began to churn again within him. Ripping the halberd from the nearby stone, he cast the soles of his feet in ice, skating in a full circle and firing off balls of ice and fire toward the army's backline. His own men and women followed right behind him, fearless, engaging in a fight after a fight. Though they were definitely tired, as Rio could see it in their eyes, none faltered.

Providing him with a cover fire was a woman in her mid-forties by her appearance, clad in shining, teal-dyed robes, a grand halo of light the size of a windmill's wheel spinning behind her back. She called down the beams of blade-shaped light all around him, killing at least ten with each strike. Namia was by far the best in terms of long-distance engagement, while the remaining three of them were more comfortable in mid-range to the melee combat.

Her role, perhaps, was the most important, as she, alongside other members of her squad, had to provide cover fire for all three of them at the same time. Yet, she did so with impunity -- never letting the other side take a breath without having to evade one of her strikes.

Rio circled back over, shuffling through the flat terrain that was less than perfect for him as it didn’t provide him much cover; however, his job wasn’t to charge into the front right now, it was to route back toward Xia and enable her to push further, perhaps even causing a cave-in in the enemy’s forces. Namia and Yun would then have to ensure, however, that the circle doesn’t close on the former two.

Xia glanced at him from the corner of her eyes, nodding faintly and smiling as he skated behind her, to her left, rolling over sideways and planting his palm against the wet earth beneath. Right after, one spike of ice after another burst out from underneath the ground, forming a tunnel of sorts in a straight line from Xia to the other end, where one of the enemy Generals resided.

Unlike them, the Holy Army's Generals stood at the back, never engaging. While this meant easier fighting, it also meant they were fighting a more uniform army that would never crumble.

Xia charged with a roar, her armor glistening underneath the suddenly surging flames below her. Rio lit up the road for her, and she followed. One swing. Second swing. Each one stirred the storm of wind to follow right after, and each strike at the earth caused it to tremble and crack, piles of destitute rocks flying over from the impact.

The bodies fell one after another as she carved a path right through, her squadron following. Red capes fluttered madly behind them, their shouts reverberating throughout the tunnel, causing it to shake.

Rio, after finishing the channeling of the flames, joined in the rush while Yun and Namia stayed outside, though creeping closer to the tunnel, positioning themselves on both sides to ensure the collapse of the enemy's forces after the tunnel falls.

Whilst all others ran on the burning ground that they seemed eerily immune to, Rio ran along the walls, stirring the small particles of ice behind his heels. He caught up to Xia in no time, just in time, actually, to watch her smack her greatsword over her shoulder in a full, lateral swing that cleaved cleanly through the array-enriched plate armor. Blood gushed from her victim as he fell to his knees, the look in his eyes incredulous, before toppling over to the side, dying.

In the distance, Rio could see the enemy’s General slowly beginning to withdraw, which caused him to groan before speeding up along the trajectory. He faintly heard Xia call out his name in panic, though he didn’t turn around.

Skillfully evading the strikes at him that came from down below by shuffling over from one side of the ice-encased tunnel, by its roof, to the other end, he reached the head within a few breaths, exploding out into a temporary encampment. Without even properly taking in his surroundings, he encased himself in ice rapidly and fell down like a meteorite, crashing into the ground and forming a massive crater.

The burst of energy also finally did in the tunnel as it began collapsing; on both ends, the Holy Army fought like cornered, mad beasts to push through and reach Xia’s forces whilst Yun and Namia, as well as their own squads, fought just as madly to prevent them.

From the straight line filled with corpses, a single figure shot out, encased in a thick storm of corporeal Qi. Her armor burned alight as she drew an arc over the sky, crashing into the encampment before it even had a chance to settle. With her she bore along a storm of death, the rate of her attacks increasing tenfold. It didn't look as though she was wielding a weighty greatsword, but rather a thin branch of a tree. Each one of her swings claimed at the very least a dozen lives despite the dust storm raging around her.

“HIGH LORDS, COME ON ALREADY!!” Yun’s, Namia’s and Rio’s hearts stirred for a moment as they heard a panicked shout bellow out. Just as it faded, a string of Skyserpents appeared above the battlefield, four-winged, slithering snakes of translucent skin and eighteen eyes dotted over their massive heads. They were over twenty meters long altogether, the end-tip of their body split into four, arrowhead-shaped tails shining in a strange color, releasing an even stranger odor.

“Crap!” Rio mumbled angrily as he heaved out of the crater he formed, entering a raging dust storm that prevented him from seeing anything. “Retreat back to the arrays!!” he infused his lungs without as much Qi as he could without letting them burst, whipping out his halberd once again. “AND CHECK WHEN THE FUCKING DRAGONS ARE ARRIVING ALREADY!!! AARGH---” his charge of madness was interrupted immediately as he felt a firm grip of fingers on his collar, pulling him back and nearly choking the life out of him.

Just as he was about to take a swing at the figure, he recognized the faint trace of the lavender scent, causing him to glance sideways. Xia stood right by his side, enamored in a thick sheen of fire, her eyes two beams of judgment. He cowered in his clothes, seeming almost like a turtle withdrawing into its shell.

“What were you about to do?” she asked firmly while dragging him as well as her back from the encampment to rejoin their forces.

“...uh, nothing...?” Rio replied lowly.

“Idiot,” she grumbled. “What’s the point of rushing out to die? High Lords or not, we can fight them -- but only if we fight together.”

“... are you sure, though?” Rio questioned as she finally let him go while he began running by her side. They were yet to leave the dust storm. “Those are Skyserpents, you know? They ain’t some low-level beasts.”

“I’m sure,” Xia nodded confidently. “In the end, aren’t they just big snakes? Poke ‘em cleanly in the eyes and they die.”

“... pfft, ha ha ha ha,” in the midst of raging chaos, Rio found himself laughing like a small child, causing Xia to look at him in confusion. The two finally left the dust storm behind, rejoining their forces as they commenced an orderly withdrawal. The enemy forces, as well, began scattering back as the fighting ceased temporarily.

“W-what’s so funny?” Xia asked him, blushing faintly.

“Ha ha ha, nothing, nothing, sorry,” Rio shook his head, grinning at her. “You’re right. They’re just big snakes, ain’t they? Let’s regroup and find a way, then. As we always have.”

“DON’T YOU DARE!!!!" just as the two settled, they heard a resounding, world-bellowing voice coming from afar. Their eyes instinctively looked up, assailed with blinding light right after. The voice was melodic, warmly familiar, and both immediately realized it was Lady Alison's. Yet, the usual tranquility was nowhere to be found within it; instead, anger, fear and pure rage reigned within it.