Kowalski took a deep breath as he watched the shadows emerge, then turn into silhouettes of six people. Around him stood as many men the wall could contain without crowding it, a handful dozen. At the other side of the invaders was also another group, busy with repelling the goliaths now falling off the gape on the distorted barrier. A few lightning imps also snuck in and scrammed towards the other parts of the walls. Few eyed them from afar, together with the wood spirits descending on their impish horns. Yet, all returned their glance with fear when one of the six people moved.

Moving man looked young, had a fancy leather armor and superb looking spear. Not only that, but his skills were also superb. The evidence? It was the spear tip at Kowalski's side that pierced three armored men with no difficulty. He let out a yelp and took two steps back like the many soldiers beside him and the man continued his movement. The blue inscriptions on the spear flashed with a light and the young man’s speed increased again. With haste, he swept the spear and five more men fell down the walls with bloody tears on their bellies. Kowalski retreated further in fear again and stumbled on one of the soldiers. The man grasped him from the shoulders and threw aside. He fell on his butt and his halberd almost flew out of his grasp. Then he saw other three men, all circling the fancy-looking enemy. They waited for a second, exchanged glances, then everything happened at once.

The one in the front took a step and sent a low punch to the stomach of the enemy. One from the back released a twin current of lightning both from above and below to corner the man. Men from left leaped with his sword and the one from right slid with his daggers. They both slashed at the same time, then all attacks met with the man.

Kowalski’s jaw dropped as the enemy, with no hesitation, stabbed his spear down the walls. A tremor passed through the walls and pained wails rose, together with tens of stone spears. They revealed themselves beneath the walls and flew up, men couldn't react. The stone spears pierced through their vital organs and sent their innards flying. With a hand motion, the spears submerged into the walls again. The man, however, did not care about the corpses around him and turned to Kowalski. Kowalski hurried to his feet and put his halberd in front.

‘’Why are you shaking?’’ The man laughed. Kowalski’s hands shook indeed. The halberd, and its tip, trembled. It went back and forth between his chest and head. He wanted to shake his head but found no courage to make even a simple motion. And as he struggled, the enemy took two more steps and raised his spear above him.

I’m dead- mom I am dead.

Kowalski closed his eyes and slashed with his halberd in a moment of hurry, awaiting no outcome. But something did happen. He felt the strike connect with the man, then the feeling of slashing through empty air. Opening his eyes, he saw the enemy a few steps away from him, holding onto his spear and glaring.

Then a hand patted him from the back and strands of raven black hair entered his vision. Kowalski rotated his head, then felt something moving inside his heart.

‘’Yuan Shu!’’

*********

Yuan Shu patted Kowalski's back as the young boy laughed. He flashed a smile, then grasped the boy from the collar of his robe.

''Yuan Shu?''

''Sorry, don't thank me later on.'' He said and, with all his power, threw the boy towards a group of soldiers afar. With a scream the boy flew and collapsed on the group. The soldiers, in a rush, took the fainted boy and gave him to one of the corpsmen.

Forsakens, huh?

Yuan Shu looked over at his surprise at last. Yes, it was a surprise. A happy one nonetheless. He knew from records that forsakens never attacked the northern continent. At least that was since the assault on Kryostria. Even so, in general, that event was also an abnormal occurrence. To see forsakens , and multiple of them at that, he would have counted his blessings to the Light.

Since he never had the chance to meet one in person.

Yuan Shu closed his eyes for a moment, then reopened them. His pupils turned to emerald color, and the whole scenery changed in front of him.

Indeed they were forsakens. Everything in his sight gained a imprint the moment he opened them. From the people scurrying around to fight to the flourishing, snow covered trees in the distance. Each had some kind of Qi imprint on them. They looked like round imperial seals with the inscription of what kind they belonged to. Plants had the Life Tree as their imprint, animals had the Beast God. And humans had the Dragon on their seals. Yet forsakens had no Qi imprint. They were simple, grey, walking humanoid shapes. They had no distinctive feature or recognizable aura. That was why, in most cases, it was hard to find the locations or tracks of forsakens.

And, hundreds of years ago, this caused immortals to face a crushing defeat at the hand of kings.

But that was not important at the moment. Being sure about his assumption, Yuan Shu blinked again and the world returned to normal. His eyes, too, returned to their black tone. However, this time, he welcomed a stab towards his head instead of a scenery. The glinting golden tip of the spear looked deadly to an amusing degree. Simple-

He evaded the strike and pushed the shaft of the spear away with his forearm. The forsaken did not flinch at the move and retracted his spear. Yuan Shu, disregarding any counter move, connected his movements with a high fist to the chin. But forsaken did not allow it to reach. He took hurried steps to the back and grasped his spear tighter, then rushed towards Yuan Shu.

He took a small leap and swept the spear towards Yuan Shu’s side in a large arc, but it couldn't reach. Yuan Shu, being the always athletic man he was, evaded it with no difficulty. So he picked up speed and closed the range between them, together with it he sent another punch.

‘’Why don’t you use your weapon?’’ Forsaken inquired as he faced the strike with a fist of his own and an excited tone.

‘’I do- see!’’ Yuan Shu smirked, and his punch met with the forsaken's. Following that moment, he unsheathed his sword with his left hand and slashed.

‘’What-’’ Forsaken tried to take a step back, but the reach of the sword proved to be long enough to hit. Its tip cut through the chest of the forsaken and yellow blood splashed to the ground. Yuan Shu followed with another severing motion. But forsaken managed to jump back before it could inflict more damage. The moment forsaken lifted his head, though, Yuan Shu struck again.

He kept pressing on the forsaken with attacks as the other side tried to evade them. Each time meeting with failure and accumulating wounds, forsaken’s expression turned ugly. As another slash fell on his head, and this time he also stabbed with his spear.

Both weapons met. The clash of power forced Yuan Shu to take a few steps back from the force. His eyes wide open, he watched as a blood-red aura enveloped the forsaken. His form turned blurry in his eyes. Yuan Shu blinked once. Then the spear appeared right before his face.

‘’Ugh!-’’ He cut upwards in a small arc to disturb the trajectory of the spear. He followed with a kick to the groin of the forsaken to stop him from advancing.

‘’No chance!’’ Forsaken laughed and, somehow, landed on Yuan Shu’s knee. Feeling the impending sense of doom, Yuan Shu retracted his leg and kicked again. The spear falling on his shoulders stopped at its place, unable to move. Forsaken, yet, protected his balance and, leaping, landed behind Yuan Shu. With another swipe, his spear cut through the outer layer of Yuan Shu’s armor. Alas, before it could go further an invisible force field sprang out of Yuan Shu and stopped his strike.

‘’You have Qi Skin?’’ Forsaken exclaimed and took a few steps back, eyeing Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu, ignoring the forsaken, took off the straps of his armor on his shoulder. The piece of shaped metal fell on the floor with a thud. Above his clothes, now, stood a layer of blue Qi. Like the blood-red aura of the forsaken, it enveloped all corners of his physique.

‘’No way- you are one of those forsaken hunters! Hahaha! I’m so lucky!’’ Forsaken laughed, Yuan Shu smirked. Why would he smirk? The young forsaken was not that funny indeed. He smirked because the title reminded him of the man who sent him to here.

‘’Unofficial one I am. I'm here as a simple, past mid-ranked executive of the military.’’ He corrected the forsaken.

‘’Unofficial?’’ Forsaken's smile grew thinner and his eyes narrowed. ‘’Why so?’'

‘’If I was a real one-’’ Yuan Shu replied, then appeared right behind the forsaken. ‘’You wouldn’t survive to this minute.’’

Then he sent one more punch.

*********

Castle gates blew up from the senior forsaken’s punch and splinters flew inside like bullets. Both forsakens, together, took slow yet steady steps inside. After a few seconds their pace froze. Contrary to their expectations, there were another layer of barrier inside the castle. And hundreds, if not a thousand, of corpses stacked inside. To their luck, no corpse would rot in a few hours so the odor was decent.

‘’They must be the ones controlling the barrier- hoho!'' Second senior commented. '' Look at the formation, that is some high-level inscriptions they are using.’’ She added.

‘’They are...our products!’’ First senior exclaimed, and his eyes narrowed. ‘’How do these people know of our inscriptions?’’

‘’Well, sect? They have access to them- no wait!’’ She also realized at the moment what they were. ‘’That is forsaken blood...but how?''

‘’Unles they have captured one of ...we are taking everyone prisoner.’’ Senior commanded. His voice turned harsher.

‘’No dead?’’

‘’No dead.’’

Then they approached the barrier and observed inside, with more care this time. Among the stacked corpses, some few men with strange uniforms looked over at them with fear. One, young one, looked particularly eye-batting. His gaze held some mystifying complexion. Senior decided to keep an eye on that youngster before looking ahead at the incoming enemy. Or the host, he should say.

‘’So, we have an offer for you.’’ Senior started to speak as the man emerged from the barrier’s confines. He sneaked a peek at the center of the formation, which was currently held by no one. The leader.

‘’Either-’’

‘’I refuse.’’ The immortal said and a dagger appeared inside his hands. ‘’I don’t care about your words, forsaken bastards.’’

‘’How are you so sure about our identities?’’ The second senior asked.

‘’Because I'm familiar with your kin-’’ He said, ‘’I know of your scent, that foul stink.’’

‘’Is that so?’’ She replied with an amused face. ‘’And how did you get that?’’ First senior asked, pointing his spear to the pool of blood at the center of the formation.

‘’That is not your business’’ He raised the dagger to his head, grasped his long ponytail, and cut it from the clasp. He threw down the dagger into the barrier, took a step further, and spoke again as tendrils of hair fell.

‘’Now, I will mourn for your lives and that poor soul's.''

And a punch from him sunk the chest piece of the senior into bits.

*********

‘’Damn it- bluegh!’’ The forsaken flew over the walls and collapsed onto the battlements. His armor, broken into pieces, showed his ribcage under the huge gash on his upper chest.

‘’Stand up-’’ Yuan Shu said and appeared right over him. His feet raised like a tail, he whipped it down. Forsaken threw his body to the side with a small movement and used his spear as support to rise to his feet.

‘’I know your kind. Your wounds are insignificant.’’

‘’Ai, so you know of that too?’’ Forsaken flashed a dangerous grin. The torn apart flesh on his chest, with a surge of power, recovered immediately with visible speed. In a single second, his chest was back to its healthy, muscular appearance. ‘’It isn’t easy to let your guard down, you know?’’

‘’Thanks for the compliment.’’ Yuan Shu smiled, then his feet moved again. Forsaken moved at the same time and their weapons met with a metallic sound. They parted, then rushed to the other again. Again, and again. Again and again. In a few seconds, they exchanged tens of blows and each bout ended with the forsaken’s defeat.

Yuan Shu evaded another slide and stabbed his sword towards the forsaken’s shoulder. The blood-red aura acted again and the forsaken’s speed increased. A small step proved enough to escape from his weapon’s reach. The same wasn’t possible for Yuan Shu, unfortunately. The spear rose over his head once more, then fell with extraordinary speed. It met with the blade of his sword. And together with a shrill scream, created a shockwave enough to send a few men weak on knees. It would crush his skull if he hadn't stopped that.

‘’You force my hand,’’ Yuan Shu said through gritted teeth and pushed the forsaken away. He took another step back to open the distance and glanced at the opponent. Were it not for those three other forsakens watching him up close! He considered finishing off this threat with the power of vial but it wasn’t possible. The vial would help him survive, not kill. That was what his commander told.

I might have bit more than I could chew...

Shaking his wrist to confirm the flexibility of his joints, he started the assault again.

Forsaken replied with attacks of his own, and their small audience of other three forsakens cheered their junior on.

‘’Watch his legs!’’ Third senior warned as Yuan Shu faked a slash and kicked the knee of the forsaken. Young forsaken managed to raise his spear and fell on one leg. Yuan Shu’s other leg met with the right side of his face though, the expected stab did not come. Blow made the forsaken spit a mouthful of blood with a part of his teeth to the side. And following the dizziness of the forsaken, Yuan Shu landed his sword on the head of the him. Sword landed right on the middle and slashed through half of the head before stopping.

It stuck?

Yuan Shu tried to pull his sword back but to no avail. The brain of the forsaken tightened up like a muscle and kept the sword inside. Screw it- not worth the danger. He thought, and retreated with his weapon left inside the head of the forsaken. Forsaken laughed as he watched. Yuan Shu wondered how he managed to laugh with a damage to his brain, and a possible damage to his consciousness.

‘’Now what will you do, HUH!?’’ Forsaken rose to his feet the same again and took the sword out of his head. From his eyes, Yuan Shu could see, the other side must have suffered a bit as well. Forsakens weren’t immortals after all. Regenerating their wounds cost them more and more energy as the severity increased. And from his assumptions, this young one in front of him had not that much energy.

Forsaken, oblivious to his observations, shook the sword in his hand for a moment, then raised it in the air. From the sky, one of the wood spirits dived down and grasped the blade with its claws. It rose to the air and disappeared among the cloud of monsters.

‘’Why not throw it down the walls?’’ Yuan Shu asked. Was this man fond of showing off?

‘’So you get distracted!’’ Forsaken's voice reached right after he appeared before him. Covered in the same blood-red aura the man and the spear tip largened inside his vision. Then it flew to a side together with forsaken’s body. He crashed onto another battlement and raised rubbles and smoke.

‘’That is cheating!’’ Rising from the mess of stones, Forsaken screamed. He watched with wide eyes as Yuan Shu’s Qi skin thickened. ‘’How do you get stronger each time!?’’

This time he chose not to reply. It would be giving away the fact that he would go weak in a moment. So he took a step forward. He put both of his hands in front, the blue aura of the Qi skin gathered in front of his fingertips.

And a wind, like a breeze, picked up after his fingers as they pierced through the left shoulder of the forsaken.

*********

The wind, he became one with. His body turned into blades of whirlwinds, swords of tornadoes, spears of storms, and pierced through the shoulder of the munchur. It screamed, or wailed, or something that represented pain. He didn’t know, their expressions seldom changed. He could only derive.

And from his assumptions, Russell knew at least not to touch the big ball of acidic plasma coming towards him. Streams of winds gathered under his feet again, together with the Qi of the sky, and several different threads appeared in front of his eyes. Within a single second, his eyes rolled around each of these threads, looking back and forth between where he could both escape and strike again.

He found none.

He spat on the ground, or on the sky. He wasn’t sure that the spit would reach the ground or the blood fifty-sixty meter beneath him. But the plasma ball could very well. With a stomp, or waving of his wrinkled feet, all currents of air underneath his legs exploded into storms and sent him flying through the air, into one of the threads visible to only his eyes. He traveled through there, at the places where space was weakest and converged his Qi again inside his hands. It brightened with green, the plasma passed right through his side, and he let go of the Qi.

Second form- He re-chanted the name of his technique- Fall Of The Clouds

And a hundred-meter long hurricane dawned on the munchur.

*********

‘’YOUR FIRE IS WEAK!’’ The red munchur said and stepped out of the pillar of blue fire. He had no scratches, nor did he bore any former wounds. Gaobun felt weak inside his heart, and a bit of fear too. Still, he managed to not show that to his opponent. Instead, he showed it what he couldn’t show to their past kind before.

He flew further in the air, escaping from the reaches of the munchur’s black blazing halberd.

‘’DON’T ESCAPE, COWARD!’’ It bellowed, then leaped towards Gaobun’s back. Munchur grasped its halberd with both hands and swung it towards Gaobun, hoping to crush him into bits of flesh and charred ash. It did not happen, though. Contrary to its expectations, Gaobun only turned around and opened his arms wide to receive the strike.

‘’DIE!’’ It screamed and cut through the Gaobun.

‘’WHA-!!!’’ Munchur opened its four pupil eyes wide as its halberd passed through nothing but a flicker of fire. Then the flicker of fire turned into embers, hundreds of them, and rained all over its body. ‘’BEGO-BABWAYSKAGJA’’ Its speech turned into the incomprehensible mutterings of a normal monster. Gaobun appeared at that time, hundreds of him, all in the places once the embers stood. Each of them grasped a blue-red lance of burning flames, and each of them hurled those lances towards the falling munchur.

Third form- He muttered, and all other Gaobuns gathered behind him, with new lances in their hands.

Eruption Of Honor

And another volley swallowed up the munchur’s body.