Chương 80: The Hunt of the Three Monster Sons!

It had been over one hour and ten minutes, since I sat high on a thick canopy, forty-three kilometers away from the bloody burning city of an Outpost, which I had razed to the ground with my left-over Animo, killing and slicing with my will combined with rage alone, cutting down the soldiers left and right who stood in the way, so the victims could become truly free. The price was that my body still trembled from the aftershocks of the Soul Attribute and the recent battles. I was very weakened, breathing heavy.

Yes, I was slowly regaining myself, breathing deeply, trying to contain the fire and soul that were still raging damage inside my veins. I had overlooked the victims running in all directions out of the outpost, hopefully toward a better life. But I would lie, if I said, I would not have loved to be there and help them further towards the goal. But that was too much. I had barely made it up here and needed more time like maybe two hours to somewhat fully recover.

I wished I had the liquid from Tabraca or Galer with me, with his brilliant mind to help me in such a situation. Being alone and unprepared already showed me a little wavering in my thoughts. Coming in here could turned to have been a dumb idea, and the victims also could currently already be recaptured. I punched the tree, knowing I could not find out. The cracks in my ego started to fall; the facade with the recent gains was dropping.

I had freed the wronged and beaten the wrongdoers, but the cost had become heavy. My mind was overall exhausted. I was rattling in all directions, finding no real line of thought to hold onto. Suddenly a huge crash erupted with a deafening boom in the distance. The wind blasted toward me like a burning hurricane, carrying the stench of scorched earth and overwhelming power. The trees around me shook violently with the arrival of something powerful.

I understood immediately, that something monstrous had arrived to check the situation I had created. I gulped and started sweating all over for the first time in quite a while. I felt something like fear building up. Then, the stupid, ethereal pain-in-the-ass Siegfried did not show himself with his emerald eyes, but he pitied me as I conjured him with my mind subconsciously. I could hear it in my thoughts. Rage burned my eyes and the fear subsided thanks to that.

Rage overcame the sweat, calming it down, and I began breathing with somewhat controlled anger. I realized, I had been too smug with myself lately. All these wins I had racked up had made me somewhat foolish and made me think too much of myself. I was still that little dirty exodus soldier from the Bener Region in Lae shivering on all the action. I could not believe all that growth and still be far from truly considered strong. I could not even control my abilities without drawbacks.

I should have trained first and improved before charging into an Evil Sect territory like this, and now I had to pay the price and be smart in my approach. I wanted to run, but my body still needed a bit more time to recover. My legs felt heavy, my Animo somewhat depleted, with a small Heart Flame growing and solidifying back in the veins, telling me I needed more time. A cold dread settled in my chest as I sensed the sheer scale of what was coming near me.

Perspective change — The Three Heirs The youngest, Liangi (177 cm), landed first with cat-like grace, his wild dark blue wavy hair whipping in the night wind. The moment his feet touched the ground he reached out and pinched a flame that was still burning on a collapsed building between two fingers. He felt its heat and grinned savagely in his element.

"Lukewarm… not bad at all. A good hunt awaits us tonight." The oldest, Liushan (188 cm), landed with a thunderous impact that cracked the earth for dozens of meters, his buzzcut white-yellow hair and scarred body radiating raw dominance. He scanned the corpses and rubble, about to speak, when the middle child, Liuyong (175 cm), lightly kicked the ground with his heel. BOOOOOOM! The entire outpost city collapsed in on itself in a cataclysmic roar.

The remaining Buildings folded like paper, towers toppled with deafening crashes, the spiked walls shattered into flying debris, and hundreds of corpses, rubble, and screaming soldiers vanished into a newly formed crater that swallowed everything. Trees around the city were uprooted and flung into the sky like matchsticks, their massive trunks spinning through the air before slamming down miles away. Dust and ash exploded upward in a massive cloud that blotted out the moon, turning the night even darker.

The ground continued to groan and shift for long seconds after the initial destruction, as if the earth itself was screaming in protest. Liushan screamed in complaint, his voice booming across the destruction like thunder.

"Why, did you do it?! You idiot!" The youngest kicked a tree into the sky in protest, sending the massive trunk flying like a spear. Liuyong completely ignored both of them and shot forward into the forest like a violet shadow, already hunting with cold focus. Liushan roared after him, "Just because you're the smallest out of us doesn't mean you have to destroy everything... so we all have the same search quality! What a dickhead move!"

Liangi pondered around as if he heard it and his eyes flashed with irritation, but he knew or at least thought... the Suren would be running towards the nearest border. He turned and sprinted northeast like a blue comet, his wild hair streaming behind him. Meanwhile, sixty thousand soldiers poured in from other outposts in the deep night at 1: 25 in the deep night. The rain had ended and the sky was open, cold stars judging the chaos below.

They carried the huge banner of the Hardened Steel Sect and began forming an inescapable net spanning 144 kilometers around the ruined outpost, their steel masks gleaming under torchlight as they moved with fanatical precision. Back to my perspective I felt another powerful gush of wind even more forceful than the first. I felt that one person had just passed me with high speed.

I had to employ branch hopping to my utmost best, but I had problems as I did not know the terrain well and the enemies' true might was now fully awake. I chose to go back the way I came from, as it was the safest bet. The biggest danger was that quick, seemingly unstoppable presence. If I played my cards well I could hopefully dodge a confrontation. If not, I would have to go all out and let the Soul Attribute loose again… which I truly did not want to do knowing i had not much Animo in me.

As I was branch hopping at current maximum speed I saw soldiers below in mass, running wildly, looking at the ground or even some checking trees, but luckily not yet climbing them up. The numbers kept increasing the further I looked back... hundreds, then thousands, then tens of thousands spreading out like a black tide under the moonlight. It felt like a horror scene, their steel masks glowing faintly, pikes raised, searching for me with fanatical eyes.

Their numbers grew relentlessly, torches flickering like a sea of fire closing in from behind cracking more of my ego. I pushed harder, my lungs burning, muscles screaming. A strong presence kicked the ground somewhere behind me in hopes of luring me out. The quake shook even the ancient trees with strong foundations. It further told me not to engage if I could. I made my run upwards and found a small pond. I landed for a quick sip of water. All of a sudden from behind me I heard a voice.

"Finally I found you, I've been looking for you! Erumes!" I turned like thunder preparing for the worst weapon on the ready. It was the Vagabond Xhife, the one I thought had brought the merchant's girl back. He had a bad conscience for leaving me without giving me some part of won coin, so he returned and had been looking for me for twenty-two minutes, knowing I would challenge this place.

"You reckless fool truly poked the wrong tree," he said with a grin.

"I saw a young master kicking around trying to call you out. Luckily he is the crazy one and known for even more reckless behavior than you. Here, first three osmium. Now we are close to even. And now quietly follow me out of this hell hole and we will not be seen." I took up the man's offer to leave this nation behind, a true savior.

"Thanks to Michaelanius, I have been rescued," I said prayerfully. Unfortunately, trouble was still brewing. As the youngest and oldest had found, thanks to the soldiers, the shortly freed prisoners and put them back into imprisonment. Before both parties who at the same time caught them, the oldest challenged the youngest in the traditional Mǔ Zhàn known as t humb-war. They locked left fist to right fist in the traditional stance. Their thumbs pressed against each other with monstrous strength.

The moment their thumbs met, the ground beneath them cracked violently in a spiderweb pattern that spread for dozens of meters. Trees around them groaned and splintered from the sheer pressure wave. The air itself seemed to groan and distort as their immense Animo collided. Liushan, the oldest, roared like a wounded beast. His scarred muscles bulged, veins popping across his arms as he poured every ounce of his brutal power into the thumb press. The earth trembled under his feet.

Small stones levitated from the force. He tried to twist his wrist for leverage, pushing Liangi's thumb back slightly. Liangi, the youngest, grinned with savage delight. His wild dark blue hair whipped in the wind created by their clash. He answered with equal madness, his thumb pushing back with terrifying strength. Blue sparks of Animo crackled around their locked fists. The ground between them sank deeper, forming a small crater as their power fought for dominance. The struggle lasted long minutes.

Both brothers refused to yield to another. Sweat poured down their faces. Their arms shook from the effort. Liushan tried to twist his wrist for leverage, but Liangi countered instantly, his smaller frame hiding explosive power. The surrounding soldiers watched in awe and fear as shockwaves rippled outward, knocking some off their feet onto rock and dirt.

"You think being the oldest makes you stronger?!" Liangi snarled through gritted teeth.

"And you think, by being the youngest whom father so dotes after gives you the right to get everything first?!" Liushan roared back. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Their thumbs pressed harder. The air around their fists ignited with sparks of raw Animo. A loud cracking sound echoed as the very bones in their thumbs groaned under the pressure.

For a brief moment it looked like Liushan would win as his greater mass and experience was pushing Liangi's thumb back slightly. But the youngest suddenly exploded with a burst of wild energy. With a savage yell he twisted his entire body and slammed his full strength forward. CRAAAAACK! Liushan's thumb was forced backward and pinned inside his own fist. The oldest brother staggered, eyes wide in shock and fury. Liangi released the grip and stepped back, breathing heavily but grinning victoriously.

"I won." Liushan spat on the ground in frustration but honored the tradition.

"Fine… you get first choice on the bait plan, favored child." The youngest's eyes gleamed with cruel excitement. He knew the man whom he hunted (me) was a "slave" too with a branding. As he questioned the victim with a severe beating and killed some by ripping and tearing their limbs, he made fully sure they were telling the truth.

He knew I felt passionate towards them, so rather than killing them all brutally like the oldest would have done and roaring out for a challenge, the youngest used the prisoners with the soldiers as bait. Each five-thousand-strong group of soldiers was ordered to carry the remaining 30 prisoners with leashes around their necks and pour boiling water on their naked backs every thirty-three minutes while running around the 144-kilometer net.

The screams of the tortured prisoners would serve as both lure and psychological warfare on the Suren slave. Before I would find out about their situation and felt the familiar pain inside of having made the foolish decision of having helped those poor souls. My stupid heroic antics filled by my stupid driven ego had doomed them. I could run, which I should have then done, but I told myself if I did i would never forgive myself fool or not. If I die, at least I die trying to get as many of them killed i can.

I stopped the Vagabond Xhife. Despite the ongoing avoidance, we had already made big strides toward freedom. I said, "We are even now. I have something to do." The screams from the boiling water made me aware that the victims had been captured again, and I was at fault for giving them hope. If I had to die as a fool, then it was time to act as a fool. In my thoughts, Galer and Master would understand. I'd fucked it up, but I needed to get it right myself and at least try to get it right.

Rage filled me with each scream as I turned around. He saw the situation with my face motions and was also pissed at my decision, but I quickly explained it to him that it was my fault.

"I will fight them, alone. You should stay out of this, Vagabond Xhife you only started your career." He argued, "Man, you, Suren, have a knack to be a pain in the ass." He threw a firework into the sky. A bright red signal shot upward, informing someone using a device from his satchel inside his coat.

He knew the price for it was something he did not want to do at all, but knowing the Hardened Steel Sect and hearing the victims' screams, and not wanting me to die a dog's death, he would precautionary bring a powerful reinforcement. Even if reluctant, in his mind he wanted a line of safety out of this situation for us both.

"Okay, let's play a noble warrior with kind heart. I shot a reinforcement call I had with me if I was ever in danger. So we will not die if we play it smart. Meaning you got to give your best like me, because it will take some time for him to appear." And so we ran toward the dooming bait together, the night wind howling around us, wrath in both our eyes guiding the madness toward the targets to meet their potential doom rather than ours.