Chapter 49– Hidden in the Shadows

  The rain was persistent and unfaltering. Dozens of footsteps moved throughout the wet grasses of West Maryen, the forestland. The footsteps multiplied as soldiers began talking over each other. A pile of voices, yet one dominated over every other voice. A striking, fearless voice ordered men to continue pressing onwards into the forest.

  The smell of iron was piercing their nostrils as they hastily pressed onwards through the thick forest. The wet grasses caressed their legs with every step.

  Soldiers whispered amongst themselves. Whether it be about mundane matters or the Empire’s current state, their voices were put to halt by the same striking voice.

  “Stop right here. We’ll make camp for tonight.” A man in a black cloak was in front of his battalion.

  He raised his hand to the sky and shot it down.

  beeeek! A subtle squeaking noise was cast from his finger tips. A dark, mysterious power was sent from his fingers as he let it ooze out.

  “Shadow Kingdom.” The mysterious man’s dark ability created a ‘cocoon’ of sorts— formatting a dark sphere around his battalion, a barrier of sorts.

  The ability he used began absorbing the light within its reach, eventually removing all light and hardening its outer layer, creating an impenetrable surface that could not be subject to any harm as long as the user was conscious.

  The commander stood in front of his soldiers and began observing. His eyes slowly turned green in order to see perfectly in the vast darkness. He analyzed the surroundings, the reach of his ‘Shadow Kingdom’ encompassed enough materials.

  “Alright, we can start fires and make tents now.” The man looked at his battalion.

  “Yes, Commander Adam, sir!” The soldiers said in unison.

  . . .

  claaaannnkkk! The sound of a cutlass dragging along metal.

  Marie swung her cutlass with ferocity as Yumin birthed metal from thin air to deflect her violent barrages. To his side, there was Falcon Rea.

  Yumin looked at Falcon as he dashed backwards only to be stuck in a dilemma. To his side, Falcon. To his other side, Naomi, and in front of him— Marie.

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  He was cornered.

  In Falcon’s mind— they’ve won. In Marie’s mind, he’s dead. And in Naomi’s, he’s absolutely gone.

  But, then again, he is General Yumin.

  He rushed at Falcon with great speed! Falcon couldn’t react!

  BAM! A striking kick to the side of the head. Falcon was sent flying, tumbling onto the ground as he eventually hit the wall of the veil.

  Falcon’s mind began spluttering, all his thoughts were coming out at once. He couldn’t even process what happened to him just now, all that he knows is that-

  *Ugh.. that hurts. What just happened? Huh?* Falcon looked over to Naomi and Marie. *What are they doing over there? Who’s that in the middle of them?*

  Falcon’s disorientated stare eventually came to a close as his eyelids felt like the heaviest dumbbells ever.

  “No.. I can’t sleep. Nao, needs.. me..” His voice went quiet as he fell unconscious.

  Yumin’s eyes turned to Naomi. He lunged at her, using his Soul Pact’s energy to propel his physical abilities to their maximum capacity. Veins bulged through his observable body, smiling wide as he was ready to murder Naomi on the spot. Naomi smiled as she looked at him.

  “You’re quite slow.” She mockingly said.

  Then! Naomi’s gravitational field was placed. Yumin’s body fell to the floor as the air around him cracked, the space around him was warping. He left an imprint as the ground as Naomi increased her grip. She held Yumin down with the force of one thousand suns! The ground continued to crack as Yumin dug deeper inside of it.

  “Mmgh…!” Naomi groaned as she concentrated all her power into holding Yumin down. Sweat profusely dropped from her chin as her hands violently shook. She looked at Marie and screamed.

  “KILL HIM!”

  Imaez and Lloyd had looked to their comrades’ side of the realm.

  Imaez sighed as he let out a blast of dark matter into a swarm of monsters.

  “That should be the last wave of those bastards.” He stretched his legs whilst sheathing his blade. He looked towards Lloyd and gestured to look over at Yumin.

  “They really got him in a chokehold.” Lloyd smiled as he stepped forward.

  Imaez cracked his neck and dashed closer to them.

  “Alright, let’s go assist now.” Lloyd adjusted his shoulder as he walked closer to the battlefield.

  “Hm?” Imaez noticed something was wrong. An evil, sinister pressure was arriving from something. But what?

  *Did nobody else sense that underlying ‘demonic’ pressure? That feeling isn’t something out the blue, it makes me feel scared. What the hell was that?*

  “KILL HIM!” Naomi screamed.

  Marie rushed at Yumin with her cutlass in hand. The cutlass grew closer to Yumin’s back as she grinned, in the hopes of this being his end.

  Yumin’s face grew angry and angrier. He grit his teeth and his eyes slowly went white out of anger. His thoughts went mad as he finally come to a final resort.

  “I apologize, Lord Emperor. I’ll have to use this right now instead of then!” Yumin’s chest began pounding.

  “Haaa!” The tip of Marie’s cutlass made contact with the skin of his back, until-

  *What’s this…?*

  Naomi’s gravitational field was bursted.

  *Who is this…?*

  Marie was blown back by a dark red mist!

  A cloud of dark red smoke appeared. The pressure coming from it felt as if the world’s weight was sitting atop of your head. The air around it smelt like blood, more specifically iron, but it had a melancholic and sorrowful feeling to it.

  “Haaagghh….” A distorted and disgusting voice emerged from the mist.

  The sound of wings flapping were heard in the heart of this demonic shroud. The shroud cleared, revealing what that creature was inside of it.

  What the Deathslingers had seen was nothing short of a nightmare.

  Sharp, long horns bulged from the head of that thing. On the facial side, black marking was engraved along the cheeks and generally the face. The fingernails were black and around a quarter inch long. The large, black wings flapped once more as it sent a strong gale blast towards the Deathslingers.

  Imaez shook his head.

  *Get it together! We have to kill this thing.. but, what the hell is it? Just now, wasn’t there a general from the army being held down? So, either he died and this thing emerged. Or.*

  Imaez’s thought process stopped as he came to a grand conclusion.

  “He’s…” Imaez’s voice shook as he built composure to finish his sentence.

  “A demon.”