CHAPTER 190
THE RETURN OF THE KING (4)
Under the bleak, overcast sky, Hans and Delimira pressed forward, their steps quick and filled with determination. Hans seemed to forget his exhaustion the moment he saw the Astrape fall from the sky. His mana gem, the blessing of the wind was still not working. “Damn, it. Just why?” He cursed as he passed through his own woody debris, left behind after his UndyingArmy did everything to stop the horde.
The air was biting cold as they neared the wall but their sight fell upon the desolate landscape littered with the remnants of battle—broken weapons, shattered armour, and the lifeless bodies of the undead, strangled by the vegetation, still struggling to get away. The majority of the undead was handled by Joshua but there were many remained.
However, it was not Hans’s concern. In the distance, the towering walls of ice loomed, an imposing barrier that separated them from their destination. As they moved forward, a path gradually opened before them, revealing the aftermath of Joshua's fiery assault. The fire mage had paved the way, leaving behind scorched earth and smouldering undead corpses. The flames had seared through the ranks of the undead, creating a path of destruction that led to the icy walls.
Hans and Delimira could feel the residual heat radiating from the scorched ground, a stark contrast to the frigid air around them. They knew they had to move quickly, taking advantage of the path that had been forged for them.
With each step, they could sense the growing intensity of their surroundings. The icy walls, which had once appeared distant and insurmountable, now seemed within reach. Hans clenched his fists, a resolve burning in his eyes, "I didn't know why I wanted to go there before but it does not matter now. I just need to INGRESS grandpa and Grandma from there" His eyes glanced the Control Centre box, the augmentation floating right above his eyes. INGRESS which was time bounded before was now free to use. He didn't understood why but didn't care to find out.
With nothing standing in their way, they finally reached the towering icy walls that had stood as an imposing barrier before them. Their breaths billowed out in frosty puffs as they stood at the base of the colossal frozen structure. The walls were as tall as mountains, their icy surface glistening ominously in the dim light.
Hans glanced at his dormant flying artefact, which lay around his neck, still out of commission. It had served him well in his journey so far, but he had no clue why it was not working. However, Delimira answered his long-time concern, “It won’t work.” She stated, looking at the unreachable zenith of the walls. She added, turning to Hans, dumbfounded, “Didn’t you know, you can’t fly in the capital.”
“What?” Hans was really startled. He nodded, accepting as he recalled, that he started having difficulty in flying as he reached the vicinity of capital when he flew back from Heat Riddance after sending his team with Ingress.
“So Hans,” She spoke, touching the freezing wall that started freezing her hand as soon as she touched it. She shook her hand while igniting it with her fire mana. “This is a nasty piece of work—”
“How else” Hans interrupted, declaring, “We climb.”
“It will freeze us before we reach the top—”
“Don’t you remember, How we escape from Frozen Tooth.” Hans reminded her as the tough turtle vines started encasing them in a hollow sphere. Before these appendages could succumb to the biting frost, they reached out and gently flung the spherical cage upward. It was a motion filled with precision as if the vines themselves were aware of the urgency of their mission.
With each passing moment, the vines continued to sprout from the frozen surface, providing them with the means to ascend further. These living tendrils propelled them upward, one after another, before the deadly chill of the ice could claim them. The ascent was a race against time, as the icy walls threatened to freeze and immobilize them, but the ever-resourceful vines ensured that they remained on their upward trajectory.
As Hans and Delimira continued their ascent up the towering icy walls, they reached a breathtaking vantage point that allowed them to witness a view unlike any other. From their position, thousands of metres above the ground, they gazed upon the sprawling cemetery below. Before, it was a vast expanse of land, a solemn resting place for countless souls but now Hans couldn’t even see a fraction of it.
The aftermath of the magical battle between the living and the dead had left its mark on the landscape. Scorch marks and craters marred the once-pristine grounds, proof of the fierce battle that had taken place. As Hans fell, together with Delimira, inside his caged wall of vines, he saw the purple thunder finally vanishing. A chared block of charcoal floated in the air after taking Rudolf’s two consecutive powerful attacks.
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“Gramps,” He shouted, from sky-high yet his cries didn’t attract any attention. He kept glancing at the thing that all were looking at, the thing Rudolf had attacked.
The ground trembled a little, a huge beanstalk sprouting upward. The phenomenon finally garnered some attention as the beanstalk caught the descending ball, safely delivering it to the ground.
“You stupid idiot. You get one chance to fuck up and it was not this. Why are you here?” Rudolf shouted aloud, but Hans’s eyes were searching for another, "Where is grandma?"
"She is not here." Rudolf responded so he took a breath of relief.
“You okay.” Hans asked, Rudolf, adding, “What happened?” His eyes asked Arat, prompting him to point to the block of charcoal floating in the air.
What’s that? Hans asked
“Your father,” Arat replied at point blank.
Hans wanted to argue, yet his insides were telling him it was the truth. He focused as the ashes and charred body began to drop some parts. “Thud thud thud thuddd….” Within a few moments, everything happened like someone had turned back time. The separated part of the charred body came back to it, fixing as the pale green colour surged the sky putting the aurora to shame.
“Is this the best you can offer? The hollow voice reverbed the skies. The Death king had spoken, still regaining his body. The half-reconstructed body, let go of his sword. However, instead of falling down, the sword remained in the air, it rose even higher.
“Here, let me help you.” The Death king said as his sword rebellion grew, two metres, three, four… it unceasingly grew to the same height of the walls, hanging high above Samson’s head and tearing the sky, its hilt unclear through eyes. “Now try this insanity” The Death king challenged, his eyes regaining the green glint as his body constructed back to full.
“Thud! Thud! Thud…” his heart beat in loud thumps. It was Hans’s first time meeting someone other than Chris, who could use the Imperial bloodline, and he definitely recognised the sword as he researched it through and through. “So it was never for the Xandor. How stupid I could have been. I really fucked up.”
Several strands of aura came down from that sword, slithering like snakes, aiming for Dijkstra and Bernard. However, it was not some attack but benefit, the two began to feel the surge of the aura in their bodies. Dijkstra, now at 97 and Bernard at 96.
Hans saw like others “So it’s true that he can share his aura with designated people.” He muttered as the Death king taunted, “Come again, you inferior beings.”
“Why?” Hans asked, “Why is he giving them power?”
“To make a statement.” Dijkstra responded, preparing for a charged attack, and Bernard completed his words, “That no matter how hard we try there is only one outcome.”
Hans understood, the concept of giving hope to your enemies, just to crush them more cruelly. “Hans.” Rudolf asked of him, snapping him out, “Can you make him…less movable?" He never wanted Hans to be involve in this but since he was here. Rudolf needed to include him in fight. He explained, "That thing never moved an inch from his spot. It would be very difficult if he starts to move—”
“Gramps,” Hans interrupted, exasperating, “Are you out of your mind? Let's pick granny and sis and get out of here. You all couldn’t do shit. We can’t stop him. I just know it—”
“I’m not asking you, there is time in everyone’s life to stand up and take charge. So stop running." Rudolf charged his sword with aura and added, "I’m not asking you to stand your ground right now. It's not your stage yet. But your grandpa,” Rudolf pointed at Samson, “I can’t let him be used as Undead. This is the least I could do for him.”
Hans sighed, and finally looked at Samson’s hollow eyes.“Xandor, you fucked up bastard. I thought you respected him. How can you use him as your underling.”
“Tsk.” Hans clicked his tongue in frustration, he quickly glanced at what they had against Dead Samson. His eyes counted, Norwin, Eleanor, Kansas, Dijkstra, Rudolf and Eleanor. Finally, he looked at Walter, almost half torn, receiving heals from some mages.
“What a fucked up situation, I dragged myself in.” He mocked, turning to his grandpa, he asked, “What do you want me to do?”
Rudolf almost nursed back, his Aura exhaustion over with the aid of Chris using imperial bloodline to fill Rudolf with same lightning aura. Standing up he answered Hans, “You see, he never got serious till now. But we were walking on eggshells too. He is too quick and has a dangerous attack called Big Dipper. Walter bought us some time in a very bad way. But his arsenal has some tricky things. So we were avoiding close combat, and a knight who can’t fight close quarter—”
“Is in a shitty situation, I get it.” Hans completed his word.
“So, just slow him down, even for a moment. It would let me fight without looking back. Can you do it?”
Hans once again looked at the levitating undead body of Samson. Which appeared as an undefeatable titan looking down on him. He was trembling, yet the same blood was flowing through him, “I will. So don’t let him suffer anymore.” Hans said, exhaling, “Pheew.” His hand stretched, trying to take hold of mana in this dome of ice—“Swish.”
A sharp slash, with a flick, came bypassing everyone at Hans, his life began to wind in slow motion before him. Only to be halted by Chris’s sword, and Delimira stopped the gigantic push that came from impact. Chris had already got himself at grade sixty and was pushing himself to the end. Delimira, her hands covered in iridescent scales, her eyes slit with small horns protruding through her foreheads.
Hans couldn’t even react yet his friends bore the brunt for him. The only thing he lacked was agility, his sole weakness. It was fortunate that using too much speed in the attack had robbed it of its lethality. Hans saw Samson’s face, aghast, a wide grin stretching, from ear to ear, sending shivers down on his spine.
"Fuck! I look this creepy when I smile."
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