Book 3. The Long Journey. Chapter 158. Aegis.
Faced with the unexpected appearance of the grey-robed man, Laien and Yin pulled on the reins and both leaned to the right in their saddles. Their horses responded instantly; turning sideways and digging their hooves into the soft ground, they came to a very forceful stop in just under one hundred meters, leaving another two hundred meters of space between them and the grey-cloaked man. Of course, though, neither of them would have stopped had it not been for the familiar voice and aura of the grey-cloaked martial master of the fifth rank in their way. Although it would have been a bit troublesome, running away from one expert at this level would be perfectly doable.
The grey-cloaked man removed the hood from his head, though instead of a smile, a frown emerged on his face. He had expected Laien and Yin to barely stop in time and yet, they came to a full stop with two-thirds of the distance remaining. Now that he thought about it, the speed at which those horses of theirs had been galloping was higher than it should have been possible, too. He was already finding it hard to believe that the two had survived, even though he was the one who came to wait here while betting on just that, but could it be that their mounts experienced a simultaneous breakthrough and entered the Realm of Heroes? How much luck could one have, really!
“Ekhm.” Somewhat embarrassed of his own thoughts, Zaban coughed and approached the two youths in one smooth dash. “I’m glad to see you two are alive. I’ve removed the nearby enemy scouts, so we can talk here safely. This old forest muffles all the noise so nothing echoes here, so those further in surely haven’t heard anything,” he assured right off the bat. He didn’t worry about any random people of Abdain’s wandering here in the next minutes or even hours, but it didn’t mean that he was going to waste any time. Rather, there truly was no time to waste.
“Tell us all we need to know,” Yin said right after Zaban finished speaking, causing the man to become a little startled. However, when Zaban took a better look at the calm and collected looks on the faces of these two boys in front of him, he smiled ever so slightly and nodded. Alas, the slight smile quickly disappeared from his face as his thoughts focused on the stern information he needed to deliver. He picked out the briefest and most straightforward words, then started speaking, intending to explain everything all at once.
“Two days passed since you and Jasmine separated. She fought Abdain and was killed by him. Young master Arslan and the others decided to go through with the plan anyway, then as we expected, the White Guard led by Lord Mustafa engaged in a battle with Yimar Maar, Abdain, and Arakar’s forces. That happened today in the early morning, according to the reports I’ve gotten from our messenger beasts. The battle is going well, but I don’t know the details. However, the main issue is with young master Arslan’s forces. Abdain took some of his elites and employed over ten thousand mercenaries, but from what the reports say, the biggest problem is that Abdain broke through to the seventh Realm of Heroes. Apparently the three White Guards you’re familiar with, General Julien and his men aren’t capable of beating him and their numbers are being whittled down as we speak.”
When he finished, he once again focused on the looks on the boys’ faces and once again, he ended up being surprised. While they appeared visibly disturbed, it didn’t look like they were panicking or falling into confusion; from two youths who weren’t quite boys anymore but not young men just yet either, he couldn’t have expected a better reaction. In fact, he wouldn’t have expected an adult to react in any other way either. For one not to be shaken by the news of their comrade’s death and of the peril their friend was in, it could only mean that something was mentally wrong with such a person, at least in his opinion.
“How much time do we have?” Laien asked after a few seconds, once he managed to calm all his thoughts and gather them into one sensible whole. “I imagine you weren’t waiting here randomly, merely to see whether we are alive or not. You want us to go to the Holy Union and seek help, do you not?” he added before Zaban could answer his first question. Both he and Yin were planning to go north from the beginning and once they were clear on the situation, they would act accordingly. The fact that Zaban was here and could fill them in was actually incredibly helpful to them as thanks to him, they would be able to save some hours, which as it seemed, were very precious.
“That’s…” Zaban blinked, startled to discover that the boys he had already come to regard highly were still capable of exceeding his expectations. “That’s right. Me being in either of those battles wouldn’t change much, while young master Arslan and the friends you made in the Ruishi Federation seemed to strongly believe that the two of you are alive. Here, take this,” he explained and threw an interspatial ring with a map and a few military reports to Laien. “It’s hard to say, but I suspect that General Julien’s forces will be depleted within twenty-four to forty-eight hours, depending on how the battle goes. You’ve got the current and speculated locations on the map, so take a look at them,” he elaborated in a hurry, knowing that he had wasted too many of the precious seconds for idle talk.
“I hope that you can bring reinforcement from the Holy Union,” he continued while Laien and Yin were taking the maps and reports out. “One of those maps has a path drawn on it, one that leads from the Yali Kingdom’s border towards the area young master Arslan is struggling at. I’m going to gather up what men I have in the area and clear up the agents our enemies have around it from top to bottom. This path leading through the eastern part of the Guode Yimarate has the least people and the least enemy lookouts, so it’s our best bet.”
“For now, I’m going to kill the people that are in the northern part of this forest here. Wait three minutes here, then go straight north to the Yali Kingdom. My people have already checked the area to the north of the forest and as long as you don’t bump into any civilians, you won’t be found out.”
“Do you have objections or questions?”
He asked just as he was about to leave. He trusted that his plan was the best what they had at hand, but he came to respect those boys too much not to ask for their opinion.
In turn, Laien and Yin exchanged a glance. They wanted to go to the nearest Yali Kingdom either way, so they had no qualms with the return path being set right here. They briefly wondered ‘what would be in case they needed to head out from a different place’, but when they considered the kind of battle General Julien was leading, they understood how important secrecy would be. With Abdain making his breakthrough, he had certainly become much stronger, so if he was forced into a corner, he would surely abandon all caution and attempt to capture or kill Arslan in one go. After all, there was no other reason for him to slowly whittle down Julien’s men if it wasn’t to lower the risk he would need to take and increase his potential chance of capturing Arslan alive.
As young as the two of them were, they had experienced more than enough perilous situations to quickly understand how their current overall outlook presented itself. Moreover, now that the two of them had grown enough to keep their calm almost no matter what, deducing a few simple things like the intentions of their allies and enemies from the information Zaban had given them became a simplicity in itself. Only if they weren’t thinking clearly would they be unable to understand the spot they and their allies were in.
As such, the two of them turned back and looked at Zaban, then shook their heads. They had no complaints nor any additional ideas which needed to be discussed here, so they saw no reason to delay any longer.
“Good,” Zaban said contentedly, then suddenly, laughed secretly in his heart. He gave orders to his subordinates, not instructions, so he was surprised to find out that he had said something Mustafa-like now that those two boys responded in a satisfactory way. “Wait three minutes, then you can go north at top speed, even on those elite mounts,” he reminded and after seeing the two youths smile at him meaningfully, he nodded, suppressed his aura and dashed out to the northern part of the forest.
“Eh.” Once Zaban left, Laien finally allowed himself to let out the heavy sigh which he had been suppressing since the very beginning. “I hoped she would be able to escape,” he said quietly. Although they hadn’t known Jasmine for all that long, just barely longer than a month, they had chatted with her on many occasions, had sparred with her, had learned from her… and had even been teased by her on a few occasions. It felt good when their ability had been recognized by her during their ride three days ago, too… but now, they wouldn’t be able to speak with her again.
“She immediately told us to run,” Yin brought up and also sighed a little. He shared Laien’s thoughts, both metaphorically and literally, but at least they could console themselves that it was no fault of theirs that Jasmine died. The two of them had barely escaped with their lives too, so there wasn’t anything they could have done to help Jasmine. As for their prior decisions, there was no point thinking about ‘what ifs’. The only thing was… if there was a thing, or a person, responsible for what had happened, then it was whoever had leaked the information to Yimar Maar’s camp.
“One day, we will find out who did it,” Laien said strongly, his eyes glistering with cold anger. There wasn’t anything they could do to change the past, but sure as hell, they could find the ones responsible. Maybe not now, but once they grew stronger, they would definitely be able to do it.
“We will,” Yin supported in a low voice. “We will find them, then kill them all,” he added sternly. He hadn’t been one to open his heart up to people, and he still wasn’t someone who could or would want to make friends with just anyone, but he had respected and liked Jasmine. Just like Laien was saying, the least they could do for her was to carry out the revenge in her stead.
“Yeah,” Laien said almost inaudibly. Whether those who betrayed were in the Ruishi Federation, amongst Elder Samuel’s people, or somewhere in the Grand Camp or amongst the White Guard, they would find those responsible and deliver the punishment by the sword. “While we are at it, killing Abdain would be good too… but he’s too strong for now,” he mentioned with a dim smile. Truth to be told, they held more of a grudge against those who betrayed them compared to Abdain who had directly killed Jasmine. War was war, so it was normal for people to die. They wanted to kill Abdain too, of course, but they didn’t hate or resent him; towards Abdain, all they felt was simple anger.
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For a moment, the two of them reminisced all the fun times they experienced with Jasmine and at the same time, allowed their thoughts to wander freely towards the ideas of killing everyone responsible for Jasmine’s death. However, after about a minute, when the immediate desire of their minds to process those emotions was satisfied, they started cooling themselves down. Having their heads clouded by those infuriating thoughts wouldn’t do them good in the endeavor they were about to undertake, they comprehended this well enough. Thus, by the time the three minutes mentioned by Zaban passed, the two of them made sure to have regained their original calm.
As the time ran out, the two of them led their horses off the path and between the trees, heading northwards, straight to the Yali Kingdom. Still, until they made their way out of this old forest, they wouldn’t be able to move all that fast. An elite mount or not, there was no way to speed up too much while maneuvering between the tightly growing trees.
“There really is no one, huh?” Laien asked after a few minutes of silent riding, to what Yin replied with a brief ‘Yeah’. It looked like Zaban had taken their potential speed into consideration and killed everyone he needed to within that timeframe. As for their further road towards the Yali Kingdom, it was like Zaban said, the area was sparsely populated and apparently, there were no enemy practitioners stationed there. Thus, after leaving the forest, they would be able to go at full speed… that is, as long as the terrain allowed for that to happen. They certainly wanted to try out going as fast as their Realm-of-Heroes-level mounts were able to carry them.
Around twenty minutes later, the two of them left the old forest. Having taken a good look at the detailed map of the area they were about to ride through, they knew how to avoid populated areas and often-used roads, so without thinking twice, they kicked the sides of their horses. Instantly, the two magical beasts plowed at the ground and started speeding up at an incredible rate, soon overtaking their old maximum speed and still getting faster and faster. Only after reaching the speed of well over seven hundred kilometers per hour did they stop speeding up, although only because the non-maintained dirt roads with turns here and there weren’t suited to galloping at such speeds.
“At this rate,” Laien thought while leaning his body horizontally forwards in order to lessen the pressure of the wind. “We will get to the border within five hours, and that’s when we aren’t going in the straight line. Having an elite mount really does make difference in a crazy ride,” he mused quietly. If all of them had elite horses, then Jasmine wouldn’t have died… alas, such mounts were too rare and too hard to tame. The White Guard surely had some, but it looked like they either hadn’t taken them from Makarash or simply, those who came didn’t own elite mounts.
“We should focus,” Yin reminded. A ride at high speed was a good way to get rid of undesirable thoughts, but if they relaxed too much, they might as well end up missing someone due to the speed they were going at. However, as long as they paid attention, they should be able to spot and if need be, kill anyone who saw them. Still, they preferred not to kill any civilians, but if there was no other choice, then they wouldn’t hesitate. Their friends and comrades or people they didn’t know, whose lives were more important to them? The answer was obvious and needed not be said aloud.
However, perhaps because they were riding during a late, hot summer afternoon, they hadn’t met any people along the way. They did pick a secluded path, but still, it was unexpected. They couldn’t help but wonder if it had something to do with the two consecutive wars between the Guode Yimarate and the White Guard? With most of the local ‘experts’ gone, the lands likely became more dangerous. For a small village, a man at the seventh mortal realm could offer great protection, but tens upon tens of thousands of such people had been killed by Mustafa and the White Guard. If they thought about it in this way, then it made some sense.
“We’re clo-…” Laien started saying just around the five-hour mark, but the rest of the sentence got caught in his throat once they emerged from another forest they were riding through, only to enter an amazingly vast area of nothingness. The ground was still slightly charred, showing that the entire range of fifty kilometers had been burned down to the ground in a storm of fire. What’s more, the ground appeared to have been sliced and crushed to become even, without any smaller or larger mounds of hills. Undoubtedly, this was a feat only a numerous unit of powerful martial and spiritual masters could accomplish within a relatively sensible period of time.
Yet, this fifty-kilometers-wide zone of deathlands wasn’t what flabbergasted Laien. What shook him to the core was a two-layered, or maybe it would be more correct to call it a three-layered, gigantic line of walls that stretched as far as the horizon to the west and high up into the mountains of the Forbidden Lands to the east. “I thought that Iron Fort was huge, but this…” Laien muttered, sensing that Yin was just as shocked as he was. Why hadn’t they been told about this before?
Fifty kilometers from them, on the other side of the wasteland, stretched what appeared to be an almost mountain-sized, one-kilometer high mound of solid rock and earth. The mound’s slope wasn’t that sharp, causing the entire thing to slowly rise up over the distance of over two kilometers. Then, right behind that one-kilometer-high mound, just three meters above the top was a layer of walls along with dozens of hundred-meters-high watchtowers built within the distance of one kilometer between one another. Finally, integrated into this structure was the most breathtaking thing Laien and Yin had ever seen; a massive citadel, the towers, and fortifications of which rose five hundred meters above the level of the top of the mound, adding up to a truly grandiose size.
Moreover, the third layer of walls and defensive towers stretched from the citadel and encompassed the primary layer of walls, providing yet another high-vantage point of defense. Undoubtedly, there were more things that this utterly massive structure had to itself, but from the spot they were looking upon it, Laien and Yin couldn’t tell much more. Yet, they couldn’t help but swallow as even their horses subconsciously slowed down after entering the area of wasteland. The might of those fortifications was awe-inspiring, it was more than enough to strike a sense of fear into anyone who came to gaze upon them.
“…”
“…”
After a few second of speechless silence, Laien asked with a slight smirk, “You don’t think they will immediately attack us if we approach, do you?”
“They shouldn’t,” Yin replied with a weak laugh. It would be quite a stupid way for them to kick the bucket; be killed by the border guards from whom they were seeking help. “We should probably get rid of the robes though,” he mentioned the next moment and did just as he said. He saw Laien’s robe disappear just about the same time and well, he could tell that Laien was in an agreement with him that it was better to be careful than to die a silly death, so he didn’t need to make guesses.
“To that citadel?” Laien asked with a smile. If they weren’t in such a nerve-wracking situation, he would look forward to making his way into this amazing fortification and truth to be told, he was kind of looking forward to it regardless… but obviously, he couldn’t enjoy the experience wholeheartedly.
“Yup,” Yin confirmed. They needed to meet with the highest-ranking officials as soon as possible and that citadel was the most certain place to find those people. As for any reckless attacks from the practitioners guarding the walls, they would be able to fend some of them off if need be before quickly confirming their intentions and identities. “Come on, let’s hurry up,” he added and clicked his tongue twice, causing his brown horse to start speeding up at a fast rate.
“Wanna race?” Laien asked with a grin, matching his tempo with Yin. Those wastelands were perfect for trying out the capabilities of their horses, so they might as well do just that. They were already going at over seven hundred and fifty kilometers per hour, so what would another hundred matter?
“Sure,” Yin agreed and chuckled a little. The two of them had no need for verbal countdowns; at the exact same time, they tucked the sides of their horses and focused on stabilizing themselves in their saddles. The path was straight and with no obstacles, their mounts were pretty much the same, so everything would come down to how well they could minimize the nuisance in form of their own bodies. The one who could affect his horse least would likely end up overtaking the other one.
A dozen seconds or so after Laien and Yin started their race, on one of the lookout towers of the citadel, one of the two present martial masters raised his eyes lazily. The sand in the small hourglass had just fallen through entirely, so it signified the one-minute-long turn was over. As much as he hated the boredom or this duty and hated this hourglass even more, he needed to admit that it was far simpler not to lose focus thanks to it compared to being told to ‘pay attention’. Luckily, today his friend came over to keep him company on duty, so he wasn’t as bored as usual.
“Hrm?” Just as he swept the horizon with his gaze and was about to turn the hourglass over and return to the game of cards he and his friend were playing, he noticed a moving point far in the distance, just a few kilometers away from the line of the forest. He furrowed his eyes, wondering if he wasn’t seeing things. Those two little points were very far away, but he could tell that they were moving at neck-breaking speed, far faster than any practitioner he was aware of could run. The speed of almost nine hundred kilometers per hour, even the strongest of marital masters known to the world wouldn’t be able to sustain it for more than an instantaneous boost of speed.
“What, did you see a ghost or something?” the light-brown-haired young man at the side asked with a laugh, then lazily turned his head to the right. Ikarians didn’t dare to approach their border when all they had was the mound and one layer of walls, much less now that the multitude of towers and seven citadels had been finished and, brought over and put together. Did some animal get scared and started running towards their fortifications? He was sure it would be so, but when he saw two faraway riders approaching towards their citadel at ridiculous speed, his jaw almost dropped.
There actually were people crazy enough to simply gallop towards their citadel? Were those two some kind of messengers, given that they were riding such exquisite mounts? He couldn’t tell from this distance, but at this rate, it would take those two only four minutes or so to reach the top of the mound, so he would probably be able to tell soon.
“God damn!” At the same time, the black-haired man on duty stood up and put two fingers to his mouth, then while helping himself with some Qi, whistled at a very high volume. The sound quickly spread through the greater half of the citadel and the many nearby towers and lookout posts. In under half a minute, thousands of guards got on top of the towers and walls, curious to see what was happening. The whistle wasn’t a sign that they were being attacked, only that the assistance of a high-ranked superior was requested. Thus, although everyone was excited, no one was bloodthirsty.
“Andris, what is it about?” A brown-haired, middle-aged man in a brown-black military uniform leaped on top of the watchtower from which the whistle came. From the aura alone, it was possible to tell that he was very different compared to the two younger men in front of him; undoubtedly, he was not only a powerful expert but also someone who had gone through many battles and had killed countless people both by his own hand and with his orders.
“General Adrian Sir, please take a look yourself,” the black-haired man saluted alongside his light-brown-haired friend and responded respectfully.
Adrian raised his eyebrows, though he guessed that he could as well see what this ruckus was about instead of waiting for an explanation, just like Andris suggested. He approached the front of the tower and looked ahead, then frowned a little. His eyesight was far better than that of any of his subordinates, so even though those two riders were about forty kilometers away, he could already more or less see them. “Two young men...? No, two boys? On elite mounts? What is this?” he murmured, caring little whether the two men to his left heard him or not. He was mostly aware of what was going on in the southern half of Eulene, so the appearance of those two was most peculiar.