The storm grew more and more intense. In a couple of seconds, streaks of lightning cut through the dark sky. The flashes of lightning turned the night into day. Maddox and his men stopped laughing. They all looked up at the sky. The ferocious storm clouds threatened them. But suddenly, everything became dead silent.
"What's happening?" Sarrin asked.
The rebels halted their moves. Out of the blue, a golden lightning bolt struck the land between Maddox's men and the city walls. Atop the city walls, Sarrin and Yagnar saw a cloud of smoke emerge from the ground where the lightning struck. They vaguely saw a figure standing inside the cloud of smoke.
A ball of light hovered above Maddox's men, lighting the place. It illuminated the young man in complete black robes. As soon as the soldiers saw the young man, they shuddered. Maddox's buffalo groaned, stepping back in fear.
"No way," Sarrin mumbled. Every single one in the area felt a chill running down their spine. The young man was a Half Immortal. The energy radiation they saw around him was devastating. For the first time, a sliver of fear emerged in Maddox's eyes.
"General, that lad is a Half Immortal," Sarrin shivered.
"Who is he?" Yagnar mumbled.
As they were staring at Michael, a thunderous roar echoed through the sky. The people were terrified by the roar. Maddox and his men were completely caught off guard when a stream of fire appeared from the sky. The fire separated the villagers from Maddox and his men. Before Maddox could react, the villagers disappeared. Yagnar looked up at the sky to see a shadow of a monstrous creature above the clouds.
"A dragon," Sarrin recognized the creature by the shadow. Maddox's buffalo shook its head frantically until it received a powerful slap from its rider. Maddox saw an empty field through the flames. All the villagers had disappeared from his sight. Everything from the young man's arrival to the disappearance of the villagers happened within a few seconds. Even a Fusion stage cultivator like him couldn't realize what just had happened.
"GENERAL!"
Suddenly, a soldier screamed, drawing Yagnar's attention. He turned around quickly to see the villagers standing inside the city gates, safe and sound. The villagers were gawking in confusion. Some began to throw up where they stood due to the effects of sudden teleportation. Except for shivering and vomiting, the villagers remained safe.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Who are you?" Maddox's shout echoed through the air.
Michael did not respond. Instead, he just raised his hand. The air around him began to swirl, forming a tiny tornado.
"Defense shields!"
Maddox realized the young man had started to cast a spell. He barked orders at his men to cast defensive spells. Several translucent shields materialized around them. Furthermore, several golden chakras swirled around them, strengthening their energy shields. Meanwhile, the small tornado that appeared around Michael slowly transformed itself into a crescent-shaped wind blade. The blade grew long enough to be the size of three to four buses lined together. Plus, the blade created an otherworldly whistling noise, threatening Maddox and his men.
Looking at Maddox and his men, Michael simply snapped his fingers. The wind blade shot out toward them at the speed of an arrow, soaring through the sky. It cut the air itself as the moment Michael fired the wind blast, it created a loud booming sound. The wind blast completely snuffed out the dragon fire around Maddox and his men.
Maddox and his men poured every bit of energy in their bodies into their shields. However, the wind blade cut through them like a hot knife through butter. In a blink of an eye, the soldiers were cut into pieces. Blood and flesh spurted out. The white snow beneath them turned red with their blood.
"AHHHH!"
Maddox's men shrieked and squealed in pain. Those who were lucky instantly died, but many remained alive. The cut was smooth and quick. So they didn't die quickly. Maddox, however, managed to escape the wind blast by leaping into the air just before the wind blade could cut through him. But his mount, the black buffalo, wasn't so lucky. It died instantly as the blade cut the buffalo into two chunky pieces.
The howling wind carried the nauseating stench of blood to the city gates. Every single soldier atop the city gates stared at the scene with mixed feelings. They were both terrified and delighted to see Maddox and his men suffer. Michael was surprised to see Maddox's quick reflex to save himself from the wind blade.
His head was filled with the sound of system notifications. One by one, the soldiers drew their last breath. The ultimate form of Wind Blast was more powerful than Michael expected. It cut through several shields like they were nothing. Moreover, the size of the wind blade was enough to kill a battalion of soldiers in one go. No wonder the system restricted him from using the ultimate form of the spells only once a day. Otherwise, Michael could decimate a kingdom's army with a couple of Wind Blades.
Maddox landed on the snowy field with a loud thud. He immediately took the spiked mace dangling on his back. In Michael's eyes, Maddox seemed like a typical barbarian.
"I am with the king. Are you finished there?" Michael heard Gaya's words in his head.
"About to," said Michael.
"You are meddling in the affairs of Kingdom Thusia!" Maddox shouted. He didn't find any suitable threatening words.
"I know," Michael snickered.
In a blink of an eye, Michael's figure disappeared from Maddox's sight. From atop the city walls, they saw a golden lightning bolt shooting toward Maddox. Maddox was stunned when Michael appeared before him. But he managed to swing his mace instinctively.
The mace hit Michael's head, creating a loud ding sound. The mace bent and cracked as soon as it hit Michael's head. Maddox's hand went numb. Although the spiked mace looked rather ordinary, it was an Epic class weapon gifted to him by Maxim Barnes. The mace had the ability to freeze its foes for a few moments upon hitting them. Yet, it failed to even inflict a small cut on Michael's head.
He simply grabbed Maddox's neck, lifting him off the ground.
"You deserve to be burned alive," Michael conjured a ball of emerald green flames on the other hand. Suddenly, a ghostly figure of a bear appeared behind Maddox. The crimson-red bear lunged at Michael with its razor-sharp claws raised. Yagnar and the soldiers saw everything with their eyes wide open. The eight feet tall bear swung its claw left and right, trying to shred Michael into pieces.
The result of the bear's attack was just the same as the mace attack. It couldn't even cut Michael a single time. Eventually, the bear disappeared as Maddox's face turned pale due to lack of blood flaw.
"But I have some other uses for you," said Michael. His eyes turned predatory. Maddox struggled to escape Michael's clutch. Granted Maddox was a Fusion Stage cultivator, but he was nowhere close to a Half Immortal in power and strength. Even if Maddox had Cosmic energy coursing through his veins, the result of the battle would have been the same.
Holding Maddox by his neck, Michael looked at a steel sword on the ground several meters away from him. He reached out for the sword as it flew straight into his hand.
Pulch!
Michael quickly enveloped the sword with a thin layer of dark flames before swinging it right across Maddox's waist. The sword cut Maddox's body in halves. His lower body hit the ground with a sickening thud. Blood spurted out from half of the body on the ground.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmYagnar and Sarrin felt a chill as they began to sweat. Maddox's mad scream echoed through the air. Michael let Maddox scream for a few long minutes.
"I am going to parade you and your lackeys' bodies through Zulon," Michael snickered.
"When I undo your months of work in a few hours, I will kill you and send your bodies to your majesty," Michael's words were loud enough for Yagnar and his soldiers to hear.
"His majesty…will…kill you…" Maddox barely managed to utter these words.
His words were cut short when Michael put his hand inside Maddox's mouth. To everyone's shock, Michael pulled out Maddox's tongue. Blood and spit sprayed out of Maddox's mouth. Everyone who witnessed the scene took a step back in fear. With a flick of his wrist, Michael lifted all the bodies into the air. He himself slowly ascended to the air with Maddox struggling in his hand.
"Is he coming this way?" asked Sarrin. Her question was soon answered as Michael moved towards them.
Before they could bat an eye, Michael disappeared from sight, heading toward the castle.
"To the castle!" Yagnar roared. If that Half Immortal chose to kill their king, nothing would stop him. At Least he wanted to fight and die for their king. Under the cloudy sky and heavy snowfall, the castle of King Baladur stood majestically. It was no different than any other typical castle Michael had seen. Eight strong, square towers dominated the skyline of this massive castle. They were connected by reinforced, narrow walls made of dark brown stone. Small windows scattered thinly around the walls in seemingly perfect symmetry, along with asymmetric crenelations for archers and artillery.
A sizable gate with giant wooden doors and archer holes guarded the entrance. Furthermore, a handful of waterfalls flow into various small rivers and provide the precious farm fields outside the castle with needed water. But at the moment, these waterfalls and rivers were frozen and looked like obsidian glass.
The soldiers on the ground were caught off guard. Most of them didn't even notice Michael flying straight into the castle through a window. Unfortunately, by the time they reacted, it was too late.
"Is that blood?" Some of the soldiers noticed a trail of blood on the ground. The blood drizzled from the bodies Michael carried into the castle. The soldiers were stunned. They immediately rushed into the castle. By the time Yagnar and his men arrived at the castle, Michael was already inside.
"What's happening?" Yagnar questioned the men guarding the castle doors.
"General Yagnar," The soldiers saluted.
"His majesty is requesting you. Please, go inside," The soldiers opened the main doors to let Yagnar and Sarrin, Yangar's second-in-command, enter the castle.