Chapter 142: The Rotting Kill I

Chapter 143: The Rotting Kill

The valley was a field of bodies.

Corpses were everywhere for miles—soldiers, new disciples, and twisted beasts. Everything that had come near the perimeter was dead. The mud was so soaked with blood it had turned a shiny, thick black.

High above the mess, the Ancient Palace was silent. Its huge iron gates were open, leaking the same greasy black mist that had made the soldiers go crazy.

General Vaelric Ashford stood at the front of the broken line.

His white hair blew in the wind. Behind him, only two hundred soldiers were left out of five thousand. They were shaking as they gripped their broken spears and shields. Some were bitten. Others could barely stand.

Vaelric slowly raised his iron glove.

"Do not move apart," he commanded.

His voice wasn’t loud, but it was heavy. Every soldier felt the words in their chest.

"From this second on," Vaelric said. "You breathe when I breathe. You strike when I strike."

WHOOM!

A wave of bright white Qi exploded from Vaelric’s body.

The energy didn’t fly away. it spread across the mud in thin lines of white fire. It latched onto the hearts of every surviving man and woman.

Instantly, one soldier stopped shaking.

Then another.

Then another.

Their panicked heartbeats were forced into the same rhythm. Their boots moved at the same time. Their weapons lifted together.

Across the trench, Lemo Drackar watched with cold eyes. Silver lightning danced on his fingers. "So that is the Ashford family power."

Matriarch Estelle Argon watched the soldiers. "He isn’t just commanding them. He is locking their bodies together."

Vaelric’s eyes turned into glowing silver.

[Kinetic Command.]

The white threads burned hot.

"One soldier can be broken by fear," Vaelric said. "An army that moves as one body cannot be bent."

THOOM!

Two hundred boots hit the ground at the exact same time.

A huge white circle appeared beneath them. White runes burned in the mud, forming a glowing dome made of white fire.

The dark mist hit the outside of the dome.

HSSSSSSSS—!

The mist turned into steam instantly. Vaelric’s white Qi was so hot it burned away the corruption before it could touch anyone’s skin.

Lemo looked at the general. "Good trick. But holding two hundred minds together will drain you dry in an hour."

Vaelric didn’t look back. "Then we make every minute count."

GRRRRRR...

A low growl came from the fog.

Then another.

Then hundreds.

The soldiers tightened their grip. Their knuckles turned white at the same time.

From the cracks in the ground, new monsters crawled out. Mutated wolves with bone armor. Black hounds with split jaws. Insects the size of horses covered in gross lumps.

Their eyes glowed with the same evil red light as the palace.

Estelle’s robes blew in the wind. "They’re charging."

Vaelric lowered his glove. "Lock shields."

CLANG!

The soldiers moved like a machine. Every iron shield clicked together. Every spear dropped to the same angle. The survivors were no longer men; they were a wall of iron.

ROOOOOAAAR!

The monsters hit the line like a wave!

BOOM!

The first beast slammed into the center shield. The shock moved through the white lines and spread across all two hundred soldiers. No one fell. No one moved.

A second hound jumped over the front row.

Three soldiers moved without a word. One shield blocked the claws. One blade cut its leg. One spear went straight through its mouth.

SPLURT!

Black blood sprayed the mud. The beast went limp.

"Turn! Left side!" Vaelric shouted.

The whole group turned at once.

SHING!

A wall of swords swung forward. Five jumping wolves were cut in half in mid-air.

Lemo Drackar stepped forward. He was tired of waiting.

KRRRZZZT!

Bright silver lightning wrapped around his arms like snakes.

"Insects," Lemo spat.

He pushed his palm forward. A huge bolt of silver lightning tore across the valley.

BOOOOOM!

A dozen beasts were turned to dust instantly. The explosion left a huge hole in the ground.

Lemo looked at the smoke. "These things smell like the mist."

Estelle floated above the mud. She flicked her fingers, sending a sharp wind to cut open a dead beast.

Her eyes narrowed. "It’s not just on their skin, Lemo. The corruption is inside their bones."

Patriarch Roan Blackwood finally stepped forward.

The big man had been silent. Golden Qi rolled off his body. It was so heavy that the mud beneath his boots dried up and cracked.

He looked at the thousands of monsters coming from the mist. "A wall of men cannot stop an ocean."

Vaelric looked at him. "Then give me an anchor, Blackwood."

Roan smiled a little. "Fine."

He reached into his space. The air beside his shoulder rippled.

SHING!

A weapon appeared.

It was a massive sword inside a heavy black sheath. Not an inch of the blade was showing, but the moment it appeared, the air felt heavy.

Roan made a hand sign.

HUMMMMM—!

The sheathed sword floated up into the dark sky. It went higher and higher until it hung above the center of the battlefield.

Roan pointed at the sky.

"Aegis of the Unbroken. Anchor!"

BOOOOOOM!

A huge pillar of golden light hit the clouds from the sword.

Huge golden rings appeared in the sky, covering the whole valley. Golden threads rained down and hit Vaelric’s white wall.

The two powers joined together.

White fire and golden metal mixed. The wall grew twice as thick and twice as strong.

The mist hit the wall.

BOOOOOOM!

The ground shook, but the wall didn’t move an inch.

Estelle looked up at the floating, sheathed sword. "A defense anchored by a weapon that isn’t even drawn."

Roan nodded. "My blade is the center."

Lemo looked up. "You haven’t even pulled the sword out."

Roan looked ahead. "I don’t need to. The blade knows what it has to protect. Its presence is enough."

ROOOOAR!

The beasts charged again. Hundreds of them threw themselves at the glowing wall like bugs hitting a bug-zapper.

Vaelric’s eyes flashed. "Hold the line!"

The soldiers braced themselves.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The wall bent under the weight of the monsters, but it didn’t break.

"Strike!"

SHING!

Hundreds of spears stabbed out at once.

The slaughter was total. The monsters were stabbed through heads and hearts. Within minutes, a mountain of dead bodies was piled up outside the wall.

Silence returned to the valley.

The soldiers leaned on their shields, breathing hard.

"We held," a young soldier whispered. "We actually killed them all..."

Vaelric didn’t smile. He didn’t lower his hand.

He stared at the mountain of dead bodies against the wall.

Something was wrong.

Usually, bodies killed by the palace’s power turned into black sludge fast. But these bodies were fine. They were staying whole.

Vaelric’s voice was sharp. "Do not move! DO NOT TOUCH THE DEAD!"

The soldiers froze.

Then, from the mouth of a dead wolf near the shield—a sound came out.

HSSSSSSSS...

A thin line of oily black smoke crawled out of the wolf’s mouth.

A soldier nearby frowned. "What is that...?"

Before anyone could shout, the black smoke shot through the air like a snake.

WHOOSH!

The smoke went right through the golden-white wall like it wasn’t there. It flew straight into the soldier’s nose and mouth.

The soldier’s eyes went wide.

"AGH—!"

Black veins instantly popped out on his neck and face. He dropped his spear.

CLANG!

"Brother!" Two soldiers ran to catch him.

Vaelric’s voice boomed like thunder. "STAY BACK! DO NOT TOUCH HIM!"​