Chapter 105 - 103 — PulseForest
"...fine. I accept." Kaiden said, rolling up his sleeves.
"But just touching you?" He shook his head, the air around him growing heavy. "...no. I’m beating you down."
"Metal aura."
A formless wave burst from him, wrapping around his body like a raging storm.
He kicked off the ground, the force cratering the earth beneath his feet. He appeared before Zephyrion the next instant, his fist driving toward his chest with cataclysmic force.
In the face of all this, Zephyrion’s expression didn’t change.
What happened next was a blur. One moment, the fist was inches from his chest, the next, he vanished. Kaiden’s punch struck nothing but air.
"You lose."
Kaiden’s eyes widened. Zephyrion had appeared directly in front of him. As his gaze caught the fist already driving toward his chest, a cold light flashed through Kaiden’s eyes.
With his metal aura wrapped around his body, there was no way Zephyrion could break through his defense with bare fists.
Though it stung that Zephyrion had somehow gotten the better of him even with such a handicap, it was still better than outright losing. That... would be too much.
Once the punch was deflected, he would end this.
Zephyrion’s fist slammed into the metal aura with a deafening boom, the impact cracking the ground beneath them. The aura halted his momentum... but only for a moment.
His fist tensed, then tore straight through it.
"...what?!"
Kaiden’s eyes had only just begun to widen when the blow landed.
He was lifted off the ground and sent hurtling backward.
The last thing he saw was Zephyrion’s cold, purple gaze staring down at him before darkness swallowed his vision.
"K-Kaiden!"
As the trainees rushed over to check on him, Zephyrion turned and began walking toward the gate.
"Y-young lord... where are you going?" Fiona asked.
Zephyrion spoke without turning back.
"I’m going after them."
Fiona was speechless. This entire incident had happened because he didn’t want them going after the warriors, and now he wanted to go?
She shook her head. That wasn’t what mattered right now.
"...let me come with you—"
"Fiona."
Fiona froze as Zephyrion suddenly turned, his gaze piercing straight through her.
"When I leave, I need someone I can trust to stay here and protect the village. Can I trust you to do that?"
"...trust..."
Fiona felt something faint stir in her chest. The young lord was entrusting something to her. She clenched her fists, then nodded with a firm, resolute expression.
"...yes. You can."
With that, Zephyrion turned and left.
As he moved through the village, his mind churned.
The warriors were definitely walking into a trap. But Zephyrion knew it was a waste of time trying to stop them.
He had no concrete proof, only assumptions. It wasn’t enough to convince a village head who clearly placed absolute trust in his son.
Regardless, while their true mission was to protect this village, the mission had come from Garrick. Anything less than a perfect clear was unacceptable. He could not allow the warriors to die.
He had to go after them.
However, since the Iron Heresy were involved, the situation was bound to be uncertain and dangerous. He needed to remain flexible. He needed to be free of any dead weight. Hence why he’d put Kaiden down.
’Let’s see... she should be... there.’
After searching for a moment, Zephyrion finally found what he was looking for, the village prison.
Slipping past the guards was easy, and soon he stood before a cell, his gaze settling on the girl seated silently within.
"Hey."
Jenna’s eyes widened at the sudden voice. The moment she saw Zephyrion standing there, she quickly rose to her feet.
"...you? What are you doing here?"
In the dim space, Zephyrion’s purple eyes glowed faintly.
"Do you want to save your brother?"
...
It took them half the day at full gallop to reach their destination. By mid-afternoon, Omar and the warriors of Pulsegrove crested a tall hill, overlooking the small, densely packed trees spread out below.
The pulsewood trees, contrary to expectation, were significantly shorter than normal trees but far thicker in build.
They had no branches, only a wide, thick leaf sprouting from their tops. The entire stretch resembled a vast blanket or canopy of leaves. This was the pulsewood forest.
Omar furrowed his brows at the sight of multiple mutated beasts roaming below the hill.
They were no more than a dozen, with each species matching those that had attacked their village the day before.
As he took in the uprooted pulsewood trees and the deep bite marks carved into others, he gave a slow nod.
Guren’s intel had been accurate.
They had about two dozen mark fours, eight mark fives, including Guren, and one rank six. It should be enough.
As he turned to look at his people, he was met with confident nods in return. None of them showed signs of fatigue from the journey. Instead, they stood filled with vigor and anticipation.
Omar gave a firm nod, then turned back to face the beasts.
"Begin."
As Omar and the others pulled back, five mark four warriors suddenly roared at the top of their lungs and charged down the hill.
The mutated beasts, which had been wandering about, snapped their gazes toward the approaching men.
Metal formed into spears in the warriors’ grips, and they hurled them toward the beasts. The attacks struck, but the creatures shrugged them off with ease, none of it able to pierce through their defenses.
With their attention drawn, the warriors suddenly turned and began ascending the hill again. There was a brief moment of silence, then numerous roars tore from the mutated beasts as they charged up the slope, chasing after them.
The moment they reached the top, a loud shout rang out.
"Now!"
Instantly, a barrage of metal rained down on the beasts. Spinning spears, blades, spikes... everything.
Though none were able to deal lethal damage, some struck weaker points, drawing blood. Regardless, they were thoroughly enraged.
"Attack!"
As Omar roared, every warrior thundered forward from all sides.
"Tome construct!"
"Tome construct!"
Omar and Guren both summoned their constructs. The humanoid figures surged toward one mutated beast each, raising their shields to block the incoming attacks before driving their swords through the beasts’ skulls.
As the beasts fell, father and son met each other’s gazes and gave firm nods before turning to seek out their next targets.
Many minutes later, Omar took in the battlefield with a faint smile. While the mark fours kept the beasts occupied, the elders moved in to deliver the finishing blows.
The surprise attack had worked, the beasts were falling. Soon, Pulsegrove would be free from these accursed creatures.
Whoosh.
Suddenly, a cold wave washed over him.
"What...?" He snapped his gaze forward.
Ahead, at the edge of the forest cresting the hill, countless glowing eyes filled with bloodlust stared back at them.
The villagers’ eyes widened. Those... those were mutated beasts. And their numbers...
More than twenty.
The village head felt his strength falter.
"What is this...?"