Chapter 54: Confrontation

Haden stood at the edge of the cliff and watched the squad members and leaders fight against the knight trainee, knights and captains of the Leonara kingdom.

“What’s wrong with these barbarians?!” A knight yelled in disbelief as his aura sword couldn’t even put a dent in the aura skin of the Dhaevrak before him.

“Why are they so strong?!” Another shouted as tears and snot dripped down his face.

“Bwa-bhabhabha! Why are you all so weak?” A squad leader asked, his laughter resounding throughout the cliffs.

Jura stood beside him with a nervous expression and asked, “What are you thinking?”

Haden turned his head towards him and answered, “Would the Kareth stop if they took it away?”

Jura’s expression darkened, and he muttered, “What? Why are you even thinking about that? Let alone taking it away, can they even defeat the creatures that roam around it?”

Haden returned to watching the battles beneath and said, “They can’t.”

Jura heaved a sigh and asked with a confused look, “We should just let them enter the purple forest.”

“They will die,” Haden commented.

Jura smiled. “That’s the point.”

Haden shook his head and pointed out, “Many of them would become tainted, and their deaths will birth even stronger Kareth.”

Jura nodded gravely. “That’s why we still haven’t ended their nonsense… but how long can we continue this? Their king is hellbent on seeing this through.”

“Should we just kill the king?” Jura suggested.

Haden shook his head and explained, “No. After the death of the queen, the people of the Leonara kingdom view the king as their father… Killing him would only make things worse.”

“So what should we do?”

Haden didn’t answer and slightly shifted his gaze. His eyes pierced through everything and landed on a blonde-haired woman who was holding a red flower in her hand.

Jura looked at him with a confused expression and called out, “Haden?”

“Leave,” Haden commanded.

Jura frowned at the unexpected sharp tone. “Huh?”

Haden turned his head towards him and stated, “I’ll take care of this.”

Jura looked into his eyes and nodded before walking away.

Haden once again gazed at Laerain and clenched his fists.

“How foolish are you, princess?” He mumbled.

His eyes shifted to the left, and an ash-haired man with the regalness of a lion came into his vision.

“How foolish am I?” He chuckled.

He took a deep breath and vanished from the spot.

King Andreus, who was walking back to his tent, vanished, and a few moments later, Princess Laerain vanished from her tent.

Both the king and the princess appeared on the cliff of the squad members’ rite.

They looked around in confusion, and soon both of their eyes fell on Haden.

Colour returned to Laerain’s pale face, she stepped towards him and called out cheerfully, “Haden!” But her eyes then fell on Andreus, and she stopped in her tracks.

’Why is father here?’ She thought with a grave look as the possibility of a fight between both of them seemed very likely now.

Haden glanced at her and shifted his gaze towards Andreus, who was staring at him with cautious eyes.

Andreus narrowed his eyes and commented, “You must be the barbarian who had the gall to kidnap my daughter.”

Laerain stepped behind her father and looked at Haden while biting her lower lip to the point of bleeding.

Haden commanded, “Take your army back.”

Andreus didn’t react as he had already expected him to say that. He looked around himself and asked, “Where are we?”

Haden pulled out the key to the elven barrier that covered the purple fog forest from the unworthy eyes.

He tightened his grip around it and muttered, “hO, rehtoM! teL meht ees tahw sedih dniheb eht niatruc!”

(Oh, Mother! Let them see what hides behind the curtain!)

The black carving around the green gem turned white, and sparkly translucent dust flew towards Laerain and Andreus.

Andreus commanded his yellow aura to stop the dust, but Haden stopped him with his words, “Let it be if you want to see the item for which you are here.”

Andreus dismissed his aura, and the dust entered both of their eyes.

They blinked in confusion and looked at each other.

“Do you feel any change?”

Laerain shook her head and looked at Haden for answers.

Haden didn’t answer and simply pointed the tip of his crude spear to the south.

Andreus and Laerain turned towards the south, and their eyes widened in utter horror and disbelief.

“W-what is that?” Laerain stammered while pointing her trembling finger towards the purple fog forest.

Suddenly, her eyeballs turned dark, and she screamed in a voice that sounded like a chorus of shattered voices layered over one another, each sounding like a soul torn apart mid-plea.

“—h-help… us…!”

“It… hu-hurts… it h-h-urts…!”

“Pa… pa-in… so… m-much… pa…in…”

“L-let… u-us… f-fr…ee…!”

“F-free… f-free… usss…!”

“LARA!” Andreus shouted and yanked her away, fear drowning his face.

But she continued to wail.

“F-free… f-free… usss…!”

“W-what is h-happening?” He asked, voice cracking helplessly under the weight of worry.

Haden stepped forward, placed his palm on her forehead, and poured his aura into her.

In the next moment, an unimaginable force descended upon the Red and Black Mountains.

The sky reddened as if the heavens themselves were bleeding.

Squad members and knights alike buckled under the weight; those too weak collapsed outright, foam spilling from their mouths.

“W-what is going on?!” Baren, a royal knight, gasped as he forced his head up toward the overwhelming aura.

***

Laerain sat at the heart of a dark swamp, and the souls trapped by the purple fog swirled around her, whispering broken pleas in her ears.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she tried pushing them away, but nothing worked on them.

Suddenly, the souls parted, and a man clad in an ominous, dark armour stepped out from the dark reaches of the swamp. Seven dark horns jutted out from his helm like a crown of nightmares.

The armoured man stepped towards her, but before it could do anything — a tidal wave of red aura flooded the dark swamp.

Tsss…

The souls let out their final screams before the aura extinguished their flickering existence, and the swamp fell into silence.

In the next moment, a furious command echoed within the silence.

“Step back.”

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