Chapter 154- The Massacre.

Chapter 154: Chapter 154- The Massacre.

Leo and Luna rode on Blacky’s back as they pushed deeper into the forest.

They were still searching for weak beasts. It was a high-level area, but some weak ones were bound to exist here too. Otherwise, the food chain wouldn’t be sustainable.

As they went on, they ran into a few strong, high-level beasts as well.

Leo finished them off quickly, with only a few strikes each.

Somewhere along the way, he’d also reached level 25.

It had been a while since his last level-up, and the number on his panel felt oddly satisfying.

But he was still weak. He needed to grow stronger, and fast.

He felt a flicker of impatience at that, but he cooled it down, breathing slowly until it passed.

Then he looked at Luna. She was asleep against Blacky’s furs, her fingers still curled around the memory stone. Leo wondered just what that stone was, the one the Guardian had given her. It had been enough to teach this little girl how to summon a skeleton.

They kept moving through the forest.

Then Blacky suddenly caught something in the air. His nose twitched a few times, and he turned his head to look at Leo, pointing his snout toward one direction.

They followed it.

As they went a little further, even Leo and Luna could smell it. Something burning. Ashes carried on the wind.

Leo went still. Something about the smell of that fire felt familiar. The hair on his arms stood on end.

He gently settled Luna against Blacky’s back and signaled the wolf to stay low. Then he crept forward on his belly toward the peak of the ridge.

The valley below was already scorched black. The grass had burned to ash, and the stone had split open in long, jagged cracks.

A sense of déjà vu settled over him.

Smoke and ash rose from the blackened ground.

Leo looked closer, and at the far edge of the burned area, he saw a figure standing.

A chill raced down his spine, because he recognized that figure even from this distance.

A face as pale as ash. Hair like crimson fire standing up from his head. The same long red coat, stirring in the hot wind. And floating over his shoulder, a small white mote of star fire. Before, there had been only one. Now there was a mote hovering over each shoulder.

[Kael "Pyre Lord" — Lv. 46 — Epic Flamecaller]

Leo clenched his jaw so hard that his teeth ached. His fists tightened.

Memories flooded his mind all at once.

Kael. The warg corpse. The brush with death. One point of HP.

His ember-touched sword. The debt he still had to repay. The desire for revenge burned through his chest, hot and immediate. His hand was already gripping the sword at his back before he’d even decided to reach for it.

Leo’s killing intent surged, and just as he was about to move, something tugged at his clothes.

It was Luna.

The wolf and the little girl had crept up beside him without his noticing.

And the moment he saw Luna’s face, the killing intent in his eyes vanished.

But it was too late to hide completely. Kael had felt the burst of killing intent and turned toward Leo’s direction.

Blacky had already released a shadow veil, hiding them from his senses. It was a new skill the wolf had learned from the Guardian.

Leo came to his senses as well. But Kael was now moving toward them from the valley. He’d caught the burst of killing intent from before.

Seeing Kael walking towards them, Leo scooped up Luna and prepared to slip away from the spot. But halfway down the slope, Blacky’s ear snapped upright. He’d sensed something, and he immediately redeployed the shadow veil, hiding Leo and Luna again.

Leo froze. He activated his foresight and saw a group of people moving toward their position.

Their movements were like a march, a line of figures spaced evenly, striking the ground in unison like soldiers.

A heavy pressure radiated from them.

But the entire army passed right by without even noticing them. Thanks to Blacky’s veil, they never sensed anyone there.

Leo watched carefully and saw that every one of them was a player, and not low-level either. Most of them were around level 45.

The whole army was heading for Kael.

Seeing that, Leo, who’d been about to flee with Luna and Blacky, stopped.

Are they heading toward Kael? Are they here to help him, or to hunt him? I need to see which, either way, he thought.

"Blacky," he whispered. "Maintain the veil, and slowly lead us in the direction these people are heading. Make sure we aren’t discovered."

Blacky nodded and quietly followed behind the group.

They were soon back at the ridge, and now the newcomers stood right in front of Kael.

Leo looked carefully, and he saw some familiar faces.

A man stepped out from the group and moved to the front, a knife drawn, his shoulders loose, a crest stitched onto his shoulder.

Leo’s stomach dropped.

That man was Kang Tae-ho. Leo’s mind started to spin.

Are all my enemies joining hands? What are they planning? He couldn’t wrap his head around it.

Those damn Ascendant bastards. His fist clenched.

...

Down in the valley, the tension was at its peak.

The man with the knife stopped ten paces in front of Kael.

"Kael," he called. His voice was loud, and it carried so far that even Leo, high up on the ridge, could hear every word.

"The Ascendants have watched you for a long time. We’ve researched you thoroughly, and we’ve come to understand that the fire on your shoulders doesn’t belong to this world. I mean, it doesn’t belong to the known world of Myth Online."

He spread his free hand, and behind him, the line of players shifted. Forty-five of them, shields raised, arranged themselves into a killing formation designed to finish off a trapped enemy.

Kang continued. "Join us. Work for us, and help us make contact with the particular race behind you, the one that has helped you get this far. Refuse, and we take the motes off your corpse. We know that whoever stands behind you isn’t in this world, so they can’t save you."

"You only have these two options."

Kael listened to Kang’s explanation with a bored expression, then gave a provocative smile and simply said, "No."

Kang’s smile didn’t fade. He just waved his hand. "Kill him. Take his motes apart, if you can."

The line of players surged forward.

Leo watched the scene unfold with a stunned expression. He’d half expected the two sides to be working together, but it looked like the Ascendants were still going around forcing people to join them.

He shook his head and laughed quietly. "They still haven’t learned their lesson."

Kael lifted one hand lazily. He was even yawning as he did it. The mote on his left shoulder rose to his fingertips, while the one on the right stayed exactly where it was, motionless.

Leo saw that and broke into a cold sweat. He knew how devastating those motes were. Those stupid Ascendant bastards are in for it. He shook his head and sighed at their misfortune.

Kael waved his hand, and the fire spread out in a sheet.

A flat, soundless plane of star fire swept across the space before any of the players in front could even react. Wherever it touched, armor turned orange and slumped. Flesh vanished, cauterized out of the world. It happened so fast that nobody even had time to scream.

The rest of the players looked around, unable to understand what had just happened.

The disciplined line broke. Half of the formation had been wiped out. They watched the bodies vanishing, and panic flared through the ranks. Some turned and ran. Others just stood where they were, dumbfounded.

Kael flicked his fingers again, and the mote of light flickered through the players like a beam of rays.

Leo was shocked. He’d expected the Ascendants to lose, but he’d thought they’d at least be able to deal some damage to Kael. Everyone there was at roughly the same level, and yet the difference in strength was just plain ridiculous.

But Leo observed everything he could. He noted the range, the cadence, every single detail, including when the mote returned to Kael’s shoulder between pulses, and when it went in for the kill.

One of the players, the commander of the group, had gotten close to Kael. He raised his halberd to swing. But before he could finish the swing, Kael took him apart with a single downward pull of fire, and the man disintegrated into ash. Kael bent down and gently picked something from the pile. It was a ring, a storage ring of some sort.

Kang, who had led the attack, was nowhere to be seen. Whether he’d escaped or died in the fight, Leo couldn’t tell. But no one besides Kael was left standing in the middle of the scorched ground, which burned and smoldered all around him.

...