Meanwhile, somewhere in sector 2 of Ratmawati City
"The Executor has left with Brigitta, the castle is unprotected. Should we move now?"
A woman clad in seamless intricate white armor said through the intercom, reporting to the person on the other side about the situation. Her deep sapphire eyes gazed at the Executor's castle, guarded by Awakened and Black Hands.
It has become the most-guarded place in all of Ratmawati City, hard to break through.
Despite the fearsome military vehicles roaming around, platoons of guards posted everywhere and some even circling around, the woman doesn't seem to be intimidated as she and the associate beside her are not someone regular.
"Aurora,try breaking in. Find out the defensive mechanisms of the castle"
Listening to the command, Aurora glanced at her associate and nodded her head.
Focusing her attention back on the castle, Aurora gathers arcane energy to the tip of her index finger. She then bent down to touch the ground with her finger, infusing the ground with her ice arcane mana.
"Great Magic, Fleeting Ice Steps"
A bluish chilled air appeared on the ground before in the next second, it flew to the side.
Swish!
"Hmm...? What's that?
"Go check that out, make sure no civilians are near the castle"
"Yes, Sir!"
Heeding the captain's orders, the two squads swiftly advanced toward the source of an abrupt swishing sound emanating from the front. It seems to be heading to a partially constructed building.
If it was a civilian, then it will be a perilous situation that needed immediate resolution.
Ever since the Executor's castle was built here, three to four miles around has been turned into a restricted ground for civilians to enter. As the Executor is unhinged, being near will be extremely dangerous.
Aurora who managed to divert their attention moved closer to the castle.
Upon passing the military line that surrounded the castle, a couple more squads could be seen on their left. It was then, her associate makes a move, casting a flash from his eyes that instantly immobilized the squad of Awakened.
One look is all it takes for the man to knock them unconscious.
Clearly, Aurora and her associates are way above their league, in the ninth-rank realm.
Breaking into a castle like this should be extremely easy for them. However, the restriction from the First Breath limits their spell options, and they couldn't use more advanced ones to get inside.
It has been going smoothly, and yet, problems seem to come their way.
Bang!
Nearing the castle walls, Aurora and her associate wanted to jump over it but got blocked.
Turns out, there was an invisible barrier protecting the castle.
Knowing that this is the Executor's castle, the two were not surprised but what caught them off guard was the fact that the sound of them colliding with the barrier was thunderous, it was amplified by the barrier.
In an instant, the siren was rung, and the entire guards were notified of their presence.
"Well, shit. That's one annoying feature"
Not minding the man's curses, Aurora extended her finger toward the barrier once more. With a delicate touch, she set off another resounding bang that echoed across miles, the castle's intricate mechanisms works its wondrous again.
"Aurora, we need to retreat or we're going to be surrounded"
"No, we need more information. Let's try attacking it together, test its durability"
Meanwhile, inside the Executor's castle.
Upon hearing the resounding bang from the outside, Edward and King John were alerted and soon realize that someone is trying to break into the castle. In response, the two quickly head out to check.
"Edward, what about Gistella?"
"Leave her alone, it's not like she can do anything with the restraints on"
Deciding that it was impossible for her to do anything, the two sped up and leave the castle.
It's important to find out the situation outside first.
Oblivious, Gistella has her eyes closed while sitting in silence. But when she heard the commotion from the spacious room she was in, she opened her crystal blue eyes and darted her eyes to the unglazed window.
"Someone is trying to break into the Executor's castle? They must be really brave..."
Not paying attention to the ruckus outside of the castle, Gistella sat in a meditative position before a spark of weird bronze energy flashed from her body. It didn't stay for too long, as it disappeared in the same second it appeared.
Even then, Gistella still kept her eyes closed, seemingly in focus.
Within the castle's confines, there was only Gistella as King John and Edward's departure left her in isolation. Yet suddenly, the door at the room's far end swung open by itself, almost as if there was a specter opening it.
But in the next second, the door closes once again.
As if it was by her will, Gistella's lips weirdly curled into a faint smile upon the door closing.
~
Meanwhile, on the Great Barricade.
Carrying out the command that was given by the Executor himself, Sir Denzel and a couple more has been fighting on the battlefield for hours and hours to no end. No rest was allowed for them in the midst of the battle.
It was hard enough for them as the Supernaturals' stamina is insane.
In the initial stages, Sir Denzel efficiently cleaved through numerous Supernaturals, bolstering the human kill count. However, the tide shifted instantly when the Vampires unleashed their war tree, the Blood Bunya and the Undead manipulated the terrain into a macabre tableau of death.
Due to that, the regular Vampires and Undeads become even more durable.
A strike from Sir Denzel that should've cut through them finds it hard to take them down, he needs to actively aim for the less armored part of their bodies to take them down. Even then, that doesn't guarantee their deaths.
If not deep enough then the Supernaturals will rise back up again thanks to the energies.
But thankfully, one Cessation Knight captain that held a peculiar sword to counter these changes was present and leveled the battlefield. Even then, the sword could only cleanse hardly enough ground for the humans.
Clang!
Crash!
Sir Denzel got knocked back after clashing against the two Elders.
One is a Vampire that blocked his strong attack bare-handed, while the other is a Death Knight from the Undead race. Killing them proves to be hard, each has their own way of defending themselves.
A guarding blood that swirled around like a shield is the Vampire Elder's forte.
Furthermore, the Undead Elder channeled his necrotic energy into his bones and armor, fortifying his body to an even greater degree of strength and resilience. Sir Denzel's every strike merely elicited sparks, leaving scarcely a mark on the unyielding armor.
'It's hardly been a day but I'm already tired...' Sir Denzel thought with a frown.
Having to live years as a ninth-rank realm Awakened, he had long erased the sensation of fatigue. Now, gasping for breath, his body ached from the wounds endured during the battle which is troubling for him.
Compared to the two Elders, they don't seem to be as fatigued as him.
Shifting his attention to the side, where battles ensued between the two forces, Sir Denzel becomes even more troubled finding that the other Vampire Elder that is being occupied by the stronger Awakened and Black Hands were starting to gain the upper hand.
Obviously, they couldn't keep this up any longer. It's starting to look bad.
'I tried cutting down the Blood Bunya, but they are protecting it tightly. I tried to overpower the death energy in the ground, but that burnt my hand... this is really bad' Sir Denzel thought, his eyes becoming hazy.
As he was trying to think of a way, the ground suddenly rumbled, and he almost fell.
All of the entities on the battlefield glanced to the left instinctively.
Sir Denzel was included as he could feel a burst of energy coming from the other side of the Great Barricade, and this extreme power could only come from one entity, "Is it the Executor...? Why did he come to the Great Barricade?"
Realizing that he was fighting, he quickly focuses back on the two Elders.
Expecting the two Elders to take advantage of his momentary divert in attention, Sir Denzel was surprised to find that the two Elders were grinding their teeth while eyeing the source of the blast viciously.
Both didn't even pay attention to Sir Denzel, and this provides a perfect chance.
"Great Spell, Incinerator Bullet!"
Bang!
Kaboom!
Sir Denzel fired two shots that exploded upon hitting the two Elders, knocking the two of them away across the desolate ground. Not stopping at that, he leaped at the Vampire Elder and raised his heated sword.
Its blade was steaming strongly with arcane fire mana, "Ultimate Spell, Emberlance Thrust!"
Swish!
Upon seeing the tip of his sword piercing the Vampire Elder right through the neck, Sir Denzel was excited especially seeing that the Elder coughed a mouthful of blood, glaring at him with malice.
Wanting to finish at least one, Sir Denzel twists his steaming sword for the kill.
But out of nowhere, a surge of blood energy filled the Elder Vampire's body. In one smooth motion, he grab the sword and crushed it with his bare hand, shattering the blade into a million fragments.
Despite his surprise, Sir Denzel jumped back to prepare himself for the Elder's rampage.
Although that is what he expected, the Vampire Elder only spat blood to the ground before he quickly dashed to the side, heading towards the blast of energy from earlier. It simply caught Sir Denzel off guard.
"Sir Denzel! I think they are all retreating!"
From the back, another Awakened report snapped him out of his daze.
Glancing around the battlefield, Sir Denzel gasped in shock when he saw that the entire Supernatural army started sprinting towards the source of the blast earlier, dropping what they were doing instantly.
Even when they were attacked, they ignore it and keeps on charging away.
"I don't know why they do that, but this is perfect for us! We could now secure the spots"
Many of the Awakened rejoiced, the battle could be considered their victory.
However, Sir Denzel's unwavering gaze remained locked onto the source of the blast from earlier, the one that was caused by the Executor. His mind churned with a compelling question at the sight of this, 'What kind of heinous act did the Executor does in the past to have incited such a large-scale vehement response...?' To be able to birthed hatred of this scale, what did he do...?
Just the presence of the Executor alone could make an entire army abandon their reason.
Not one of the Supernaturals responded any other way.
Sir Denzel's brows furrowed in response, a chill of realization sending shivers across his skin. His fists clenched with an intensity born from a deeper understanding that produces a somber thought, echoing within him.
'Has our world always been entrapped by the cycle of hatred all long...?'
~
On the other side of the Great Barricade, a massacre was happening.
Despite the ultimate rage that the Supernatural bore towards him, sacrificing themselves to the Origin for power to avenge their fallen relatives and comrades in the past, the Executor butchered them all.
It was an unsightly sight that terrifies even the forces of his own.
Although the constant war between humans and Supernaturals has been going on for years, the two sides also learned about each other. For humans, one thing they learned is that Supernaturals also have emotions.
Sympathy and empathy were present in them, no matter how grotesque they looks.
Unconsciously, humans on the walls that were watching this slaughter resonate with the anger that these older generations of Supernaturals depicted. It was akin to the rage a veteran would have.
Watching the Executor butchering while mocking them, there was no honor here.
If not mocking, he only laughs maniacally.
Every blood that he shed using his black normal spear that somehow was able to pierce through the Supernaturals' tough defense was gathered into a sphere of blood above the battlefield, akin to a bloody eye.
On top of that, there were two other spheres besides the bloody sphere.
Gathering the corpses of the fallen Supernaturals was a black sphere, and the white sphere beside it sucked the soul out of the dead Supernaturals. Natural ways of death were robbed from them by the Executor.
CLANG!
"I'll say this again, animals! All of you that died in the past should be grateful!"
"All Supernaturals should consider themselves fortunate when their lives were taken or used by us, humans! It's the pinnacle of honor your feeble existence could ever attain. To satiate human desires, that is what you are always worth! Let me reiterate once more..."
"No matter the era, you amount to nothing beyond mere SLAVES!!"
"HAHAHA~!"
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