Vol 1 Chapter 4 (1/2)

Before I understood the gravity of an everlasting promise,

The three people, who vowed they would never abandon me,

had already fulfilled theirs in different ways

After I understood the weight behind everlasting promises,

I rather wish that they had never pro

-Gong Hua

“Gong Hua!”

Gong Hua immediately opened his eyes, and as he turned around, he saw Mila rushi+ng towards his bedside She started to pull him up in a hurry

He was shocked, since Mila had never treated hihly, nor shown him such an expression on her face She looked extremely anxious

“Mila, what happened?” He asked

Mila grabbed up a dress nearby and speedily pulled it over Gong Hua’s head She did it in an incredibly rushed and ruggedHua’s entire body was jerked from the bed Mila then yelled, “Go!”

Gong Hua continued to be dragged out of the tent by Mila He was speechless with shock He even wondered if he was being abandoned But Mila was gripping his hand tightly the entire tiht? He felt

The situation outside the tent was of apparent chaos Everyone was hurrying to pack their things, and sos like, “Stop packing everyone! Hurry and leave!”

So Hua The terror-struck faces of everyone around hiely faasps of surprise All of this, all of this… was the same as that day!

Gong Hua stopped walking He realized Mila was running towards the town She wasn’t heading towards where the soldiers stationed, the ca unmistakably towards the town

When he stopped, Mila also had to stop Only when she turned around did she see so Hua’s expression She readily co will be fine Oill protect us”

“Owen said I wouldn’t have to go to town” Gong Hua replied fearfully

“I know” Mila continued, “But it’s an eht We’ll head there first, and then I’ll explain everything to you, how’s that?”

Gong Hua shook his head This shocked Mila Ever since she started caring for Gong Hua in Owen’s place, noHua would obediently follow and never refused Even with this, she felt so… but, refusing to listen noas far worse!

“Gong Hua, It’s far too dangerous here Come with me!”

Gong Hua still shook his head with all his ht No matter how hard Mila pulled him, he wouldn’t move The sheer impatience she felt at that moment al Hua has such strength over her, when his body was so slender and those soft fingers didn’t appear they’ve suffered tough or even mild manual labor

She yelled in a hurry, “Gong Hua, please hurry and co, tons and tons of them!”

But in Gong Hua’s head, he couldn’t understand what’s so scary about beasts To him, the toas much much scarier;;

“Gong Hua!”

Mila really didn’t knohat to do then, until an accustomed voice saved her

“Mila! What are you still doing here?”

Cedric ran over He had originally planned to check on how far the beasts had advanced, but who’d think he would find Mila and Gong Hua still here

Mila looked like she found her rescue tea Hua, she refuses to leave I don’t knohy…”

In the e in Cedric’s expression and halted her words, following the direction of his gaze There was a rising mass of smoke and dust from afar

I “Hurry”, to Mila before the two of the towards the town

“I don’t want to go!”

Gong Hua felt at his wits end He didn’t want to go to town, but Mila and Cedric were ignoring all his pleas He didn’t knohat to do, wanting to get out of Cedric’s grasp using force, but also unwilling to leave Mila’s side…

While he struggled with the two choices, they had already reached town

With a month’s worth of renovation, the toasn’t actually that scary anymore The scattered corpses were nowhere to be found, and the rubble fros was piled neatly on the side Nonetheless, no anized, the raw iron-like stench of blood still lurked across the area Once you stepped in, al

Gong Hua gripped Cedric’s ar onto

As Cedric and Mila ran past the town roads, scenes from the other day seemed to reenact themselves He wasn’t clearly conscious at that time; it was as if his senses had all been replaced by pain He only felt really, really painful He felt he had to do anything to lower that pain

So, he used all his power, and screamed

He screaed out of his body, and then there was lots of noise around hi, ain before him as well

At that tis were or as happening, but now, he grew to understand… By the time he was clearly awake, his eyes were filled with red, and the smell of blood, the smell of blood, the smell of blood…

After running across half the town, a hillock suddenly showed up in front of the three of thehts people found miraculous recently

Why would there be a hillock in the middle of town for no reason? It had to be the work of the culprit who destroyed this town… But just “what” can make a hillock like this?

Everyone was afraid of this hillock before, but not anymore That hillock was the destination to which Cedric and Mila was running Once they saw the hillock, Cedric felt really happy, but after running for a few seconds, he realized there was a huge proble matter

But at this point, he could only act hero and use his life to run up there But as he reached the top, his foot slipped and he al mat, until Owen appeared and supported the both of them

Cedric heaved a sigh of relief

Owen helped theuys run off to?”

Cedric didn’t have the breath to respond with anything After all, he had just run for his life while carrying a girl

Not to mention, he wasn’t a more than physically healthy Spiritmancers, but rather one of those Spirit Charmers that’d fall over with a breeze in the wind It’s just that he followed the ar him to train his body, so his stamina was better than the usual Spirit Charmer… But by “better”, he irl in his arms

Gasping for breath, he uttered, “Be… beas…”

“The pack of beasts is co!” Mila helped him finish

Hearing this, Owen furrowed his brows and said, “Mila, quickly take Gong Hua and hide in the back Cedric, you… forget it, you catch your breath!”

Oanted to have Cedric report the situation, but seeing hoas dying from lack of air, he had to erase that idea from his mind

“All soldiers come to the top of this hillock and lie down! Do not alert the beasts!”

With that order, Owen saw the rabbed Cedric and forced both of them down

Mila rushed in, sliding Gong Hua behind the hillock All theCas Cas saw thehtaway and rushed over For a ten year old child, hiding in a destroyed toas a truly terrifying experience Afterwards though, he saw the aard expression on Gong Hua’s face He asked dubiously, “Gong Hua?”

Gong Hua raised his head to see hi this, the fear Cas had in his own heart immediately left hi Hua’s back, whispering softly, “Gong Hua, don’t be scared! My brother and Brother Oill protect us”

Mila saw that and si Hua towards Cas, so that she could take care of otherthe people one by one

Cas, noticing how Gong Hua continued to feel scared, ih, Cas himself felt more reassured

At this ti Hua suddenly asked quietly, “Cas, if one did so in the past, but now thinks he shouldn’t have done it… What is that called?”

Despite finding Gong Hua asking that question at such a time odd, Cas properly replied, “You made a mistake”

“What happens… when you made a mistake?”

Cas replied matter-of-factly, “If you made a mistake, just say sorry!”

Although Cas’ tone sounded really assuring, Gong Hua still felt as though soain, “You just have to say sorry?”

Cas nodded forcefully, “Mhry, they wouldn’t be the next day!”

Gong Hua looked at Cas, and solemnly replied, “I’m sorry”

Cas was puzzled He asked back in question, “Are you practicing how to say sorry with me?”

Gong Hua shook his head Right when Cas was going to ask for details, a thunderous roar shocked hied hiht

But, this roar was only a prelude of as to co it were various other types of roars as they were surrounded by many beasts

Everyone’s faces instantly paled

The horror of the people hiding behind the hillock, who couldn’t actually see anything, was yet far less than that of the soldiers up front As soldiers, they should have been brave, but now distress showed on their faces

However, one can’t blaht would

Not far from the hillock, atop the roof of a half-destroyed house, a beast whose fur was glowing a pale blue stood, the area around it croith many other beasts, their amount even more than the number of soldiers there

Although he kneas supposed to re Cedric, “What is that beast? I’ve never seen such a… such…” He didn’t knohere to start to describe that thing

Actually, the pale blue beast wasn’t very big, probably about the saer beasts that around it as well, but it one enable presence, a presence not even the beasts bigger than it had

Its shape was similar to a wolf, but the fur was pale blue and elance it would seem like an art piece sculpted from ice

Yet, it was undoubtedly a living creature Its six eyes ilely on its face as its thip-like tails swung in the air Fro to scratch its neck… or,black claws on its front leg

Cedric let out a groan, “We’re doohtclaw…”

“Nightclaen asked in suspicion, “What is that?”

“A physicalized spirit… the physical spirit of a beast and one of the most blood-thirsty ones at that!” Cedric smiled in melancholy, “Stand up It’s already seen us”

Hearing this, Owen looked at the beast and alhtclaere all facing their direction Being glared at by those six black pearls, Owen felt a chill run up his spine, a chill cold as ice

Cedric stood up first and dishearteningly htclaw that destroyed the town? If it was, then everything makes sense Only a physical spirit can make an entire town like this…”

Owen stood up in exasperation, but still suppressed his e? Hurry and stand behind et ready for battle! This isn’t your first time in battle Do you need me to tell you?”

“Battle?” Cedric forced a smile, “Owen, that’s a physical spirit… Do you have a faith?”

Owen felt annoyed, “Faith? You mean the Spirit of War? What soldier doesn’t believe in it?”

Cedric looked in Nightclaw’s direction, saying calmly, “Then, that is the Spirit of War”

Once he finished, a wave of gasps surrounded them

Owen instantly grabbed Cedric by the collar, pulling hi furiously, “You bastard! Are you trying to destroy the troop’s ht behind us? So you’re thinking of not doing anything and just let Cas be eaten by the beasts?”

Cedric turned ghostly pale with those words Although completely in a daze, he muttered, “No, no matter what, Cas can’t die…”

“Good!” Owen directly gave out an order, “For Cas, release all of your “soul spheres”! There are too many beasts I’m afraid we can’t block all their attacks”

Cedric nodded, and at the same time, a pale blue, semi-transparent sphere appeared from his chest, which then flew to the top of his head

If a Spiritmancer’s weapons were blades and swords, then a Spirit Charmer’s would be his soul spheres

A Spirit Charether, and then controlling those links to attack his ene spirits required a certain a this tih Spirit Charmers often hide behind Spiritmancers, in actual battle, eneet would always be the Spirit Charmer!

To handle the situation, Spirit Charmers usually prepare already linked spirits and hide them in their body, in case of any unexpected situation These linked spirits take the form of a sphere, so they were named as soul spheres

“Are you kidding !”

One soldier yelled, then ju also bewildered the other soldiers

Seeing that happen, Cedric wanted to slap himself in the face This was all because of his foolishness!

“Settle down, all of you!” Owen bellowed, “If we could run, I would have already have taken all of you and left! This place is surrounded by the forest If you think you can outrun the beasts, then leave!”

Not long after he spoke, a scream traveled their way As there was no one else around, the scream could only have come from the soldier who had escaped The scream proved Owen’s words to be true Every soldier present sed their desire to flee

Although Oas right, it made him more distressed than happy He had planned to let Mila and the children run away even if he had to die… But everything had turned to shambles now If even a trained soldier couldn’t run away, how could women and children?

There was no place for them to back up any Nightclaw and prepare for battle But the h it seemed there were “only” a few tens of beasts across from them, but from the screams of that soldier earlier, it appeared there werein the forests!

Owen had to make measures for the worst, and soundlessly asked, “Cedric is there any way you can take the other military persons and leave? Even if we need to forfeit our lives!”

Cedric thought for a moment, and with a pale face, shook his head

Honestly, even they had been the usual strong opponents, he would have found a way to escape No otten Cas to safety

But their opponent noas Nightclaw!

In front of a physical spirit, the power of a Spirit Charmer was that of a child!

Cedric had used up all his brainpower, but yet couldn’t think of anything

What could he do? Could he not even save Cas?

As Owen and Cedric watched Nightclaw, Nightclaatched them back

Huhtclaw’s eyes, but soe He felt that he had to act with discretion

His original destination wasn’t here but soed fro creatures were dying incessantly It was most likely a warzone

Nightclaw craved battle, but he loved a free lunch all the more That’s why he found wars perfect! He only had to watch the two sides slaughter each another eapons, and corpses would start piling up one by one on the ground By nightfall, he’d have a mountain’s worth to feast on

But halfway through his journey to the East, Nightclaw had been lured here by the smell of blood

He could tell countless things had died here as soon as he stepped into this place However, he was also confused This was not a place the war should have reached yet, not by far

There’s also a thick stench of blood flowing from the direction of those humans… Were they the ones who caused the entire area to smell of blood?

Nightclaw re restless Seeing this, he simply lay down and had them scout the situation

With his authorization, the beasttowards the little hillock

Some armed humans were on the hillock, and they were not about to just sit around waiting to die Naturally, they too raised their weapons and retaliated Nightclaw expected this He didn’ta few beasts Rather, he saw it as an opportunity to eliminate the weaker ones

Although the two humans had teamed up quite well, how could their level of skill block htclaas a bit skeptical, but he couldn’t see anything special about those humans no matter how hard he looked

He becao out into battle hi at hier

If not for the failure of the beasts to contain their hunger, forcing them to stop for a snack, there was no way he would’ve stopped for a few tens of men

Nightclaw stood up and, taking one large leap, arrived directly at the bottom of the hillock He folloith another few leaps, each shocking in length He then hopped onto the hillock and roared

Along with the resounding tone of his roar came sequences of spirits bound in a ht towards the hillock’s apex

Atop the hillock, Cedric hurriedly patterned his soul spheres into a net in an attehtclaw, but his spirit net was vanquished immediately after the hurricane came into contact

Without the spirit net’s protection, he and Oere knocked awaypain that prevented theround When Cedric forced himself to crawl back up and raise his head, he found he was surrounded by the beasts…

“Ge!”

Cas shrieked, dashi+ng towards the hilltop right away Even Mila couldn’t stop hi after Cas with all her ht, but she still couldn’t catch up

Cas was immediately marked by a beast wholly coated in black fur, its tiny blood-colored eyes fixated on hi that Cas was harmless, the creature raced at him without hesitation

Cas didn’t notice at all He only looked his brother’s way and desperately ran to save his older brother The fact that he was a mere ten year-old child didn’t seem to matter

Mila noticed when the beast had coh time She could only hopelessly scream, “Cas!”

Mila’s abnorht Cas’ attention He turned his head, but it was all too late The enormous beast loo the black-furred creature’sdown…

A large shadow suddenly shot fro it in the air

Cas re the shadows as vines… or rather, extre vines!

Subsequently, swar everythem away The humans ere on the mound didn’t receive the same treatment, however

Soldiers gaped in horror at the vines everywhere, so at the vines Sooner or later, though, they realized that the vines wouldn’t harm them and even pushed the beasts away to protect theed from terrified to doubtful

“Ge!”

Cas rushed to Cedric’s side, the latter covered in blood and dirt Although ed to Owen and the beasts, he was undoubtedly injured quite heavily as well

Cas quickly propped up his brother so that he could sit

“Just what is happening?” Owen shouted while eyeing the vines around him He felt that he was close to insanity First there’s some rando out?

But he didn’t have the tihtclaw had arrived

He wasn’t sure if it was any use at all, but Owen still raised his sword in preparation Yet, Nightclaw didn’t care about hiazed in one direction

Noticing the unusual situation, everyone followed the beast’s line of view… Gong Hua sloalked over, vines dancing all about hi him

Nightclaw felt his hairs instantly stand up upon seeing this, those six eyes entirely fixated on Gong Hua He was incredibly surprised How could he not have noticed such a dangerous being at all?

“Gong Hua?” Owen felt rather confused, but was, for theHua

“Owen!”

Cedric abruptly yelled as he saw a single beast leap onto the hillock, watching Owen and waiting for a chance to sneak attack

Oas stunned for a second, but when he turned his head, the creature’s jaere already right before his eyes He cried out, retreating as he envisioned his own death… but the beast suddenly fell to the ground, struggling and whi

Taken aback, Owen then noticed the vines strangling the botto it doards until it coround

The situation enraged Nightclaw He roared at Gong Hua, shooting out hurricane-like spirits that storust

Gong Hua didn’t antic vine cahtclaw soon leapt onto the vine and started ripping at itthe vine to tatters

Once the enor little vines started attacking Nightclaw correspondingly These swift and agile little vines gave Nightclaw et No matter how fast he tore at the vines, he still couldn’t overcoenerated

Nightclaw understood that to defeat a country onehih these small vines looked so thin that they’d break with one jerk, once one vine entangled hih chain

These things gave hihtclaw On the other hand, Gong Huathe vines The situation seemed to be at a stalemate

The other people becale-eyed as they watched the battle between Nightclaw and Gong Hua They had only backed away hurriedly to continue watching this unbelievable scene with blank expressions

Only Cas continued to screa Hua”

Cedric htclaw is a physical spirit! Even the greatest Spirit Charirl?”