Chapter 413 - Undead Soldiers
Elliot woke up to his body bouncing up and down. He felt a strong pair of arms wrapped around his waist as his body leaned in to someone's shoulder.
His eyes fluttered open, seeing himself being carried like a sack of potatoes. "What?"
"Glad you're awake," Lance whispered, he was the one carrying him.
They were running through the dark and foggy woods, Elliot still in a daze after just waking up. From the amount if lighting he could see, it was dawn. And it was also cold.
"Why are we running?" Elliot grumbled, rubbing his eyes. When Lance didn't answer, he asked again. "Lance? Why are we running?"
Guan Yin suddenly appeared beside them. Elliot jolted after seeing the woman, making Lance almost lose his balance. The woman was sprinting beside them, her eyes were focused forward.
"Guan Yin?" Elliot called. "What's happening?"
"Basically, Licht is on to us," she replied. "She sent those to come and chase us down."
Elliot looked up since he was being carried in a position that his legs were in front of Lance. "What do you mean– Oh, my lord. What are those?"
"See?" Connor was the one to appear this time. He was on the other side of Lance. "I told you he'll have the same reaction as me."
"We'll talk later," Guan Yin said dismissively.
Behind them was a swarm of soldiers. But these aren't just regular soldiers. These soldiers were wearing armor, they also have their weapons with them.
What was different with these soldiers was that they were skin and bones, literally. It was like whoever sent them came to a cemetery and resurrected them from their graves.
Along with the gruesome sight of undead soldiers was an inexplicable stench coming from them. It was like rotten flesh that met darkness. To say that it was bad was an understatement. The stench was awful.
The group could handle a couple of these soldiers. They didn't have much stength in them. What the dangerous thing was their numbers. The number of undead soldiers were too overwhelming.
This was why they had no choice but to run. All they could do for now was run and find a way to deal with these soldiers.
As they continued their sprint, Lance had let go of Elliot so he could run by himself. The fog started to clear up, making Ed and Kaminari visible.
Elliot couldn't even see these two by how thick the fog was. He was only relying on his ability to sense their presence, since his sight was completely hindered.
"I think we're losing them," Guan Yin said. She looked back and halted, her eyebrows meeting themselves.
"What's wrong?" Elliot asked. He also stopped after seeing that the fog had completely cleared up and the undead soldiers weren't after them anymore. "Where are they?"
"We must've crossed the border," Kaminari said. "Licht may be powerful, but he can't control his minions all throughout the world. We must've passed through the border of Shyako."
"So, this is Kkeun?" Elliot asked, looking around the vast grasslands.
The fields was silent. They could barely hear anything apart from the constant swoosh of the wind and the sound of the grass swaying.
"This place looks really abandoned," Elliot said. "Kaminari, can you lead us the way?"
"Why, of course," the Lightning Master nodded. He led the group into Kkeun and on their way to the camp of the rebels against Licht.
It took them a couple of minutes of silence before Ed decided to break it, "Kaminari, how did you find the rebels?"
"When Shyako was attacked, my father let me flee," Kaminari started his story. "Him, and all the other citizens stayed in Shyako to confuse Licht and Sayu. And while the attackers were busy getting distracted by the citizens, I flee.
"I walked for days on end. My feet felt like they were giving up soon. It was tough, the journey was hard on me, especially knowing that my people could be hurt any time" Kaminari continued. "I was following this same path when I felt my pace get slower.
"I didn't get to rest, and I didn't want to rest. I should walk and walk until I find help. And that was when I saw this arch."
Kaminari walked towards a stone arch. He stood there and raised both his arms, waving them in the air as if he was giving a signal. "The rebels are just somewhere, watching this arch. When I got here the first time, I fainted and they saw me."
"So, they immediately came to the rescue?" Ed asked, making Kaminari chuckle and shake his head.
"Not exactly," he replied. "They gave me several hours of unconsciousness before they decided to rescue me. Apparently, they were contemplating on letting me in after knowing what the other Masters are currently are."
"So, they didn't immediately helped you," Ed snickered playfully. "That's unfortunate."
"I don't think so," Kaminari shrugged. "Seeing that the other Masters are on Malice's side, who would trust me immediately."
"So, how do they knew that you're not a bad person?" Elliot asked.
Kaminari shrugged once more. "I was a close friend of the Kkeuner Emperor's late son. He was my friend before… erm, Angin and Sayu."
"Wow," Ed breathed out, making everyone look at him. Connor glared daggers at him, fully knowing what stupid statement his friend is gonna say next. "All your friends are–"
Ed couldn't finish when he received a sharp slap on the back of his head. Connor grinned and shook his head, "No. He's just saying nonsense. Oh, look! A man is approaching."
Their heads snapped to the direction Connor was pointing at. It was a man with a large red cloak, trailing on to the ground like a train.
"Kaminari," the man bowed. "Who are these people?"
"They are from the West, Emperor Kang," Kaminari bowed. "They help liberate Shyako, and they came here to help."
"Ah," Emperor Kang nodded. "That is good. Let us go inside the camp to discuss about this. I assume Licht tried a method to follow you?"
"Fog and undead soldiers," Kaminari replied. He was about to continue when they all felt the emperor's intense gaze on one of them. "Your majesty– oh."
Kaminari pulled Guan Yin beside him. "This is Guan Yin. She was known as Huoyi of the–"
The emperor exuded a string force of anger. "I know who he is and I know how awful his ways are!"
Guan Yin kneeled on the ground and bowed. "Emperor Kang, I did not meant for that accident to happen. I know that I am at fault, that is why I am paying for my mistakes."
Emperor Kang's anger slowly vanished. The man sighed and shook his head. "No matter. My son is gone, and there's nothing I can do about it."
"Thank you for your second chance," Guan Yin bowed once more before she stood. Emperor Kang sighed and gestured his hand for them to follow, to which they gladly obliged.
While walking deep into the forest, Elliot couldn't help but think that he had seen Emeperor Kang before. The man was too familiar that he couldn't believe he forgot where he had seen him before.
He looked at Lance, and inspected his friend's features, only for his eyes to widen in shock.