Chapter 799 (2/2)

Ophelia’s image was very distinct. She had responded even before Shal had realized something was wrong.

“Perfect,” Ophelia said sharply. With a quick gesture, the window exploded outwards. “We are past the point that you need to hide; fight with speed in mind. The attacks are at the edges of the city, but those fleeing inwards will cause more chaos. There is a lot of city to cover.”

Then she was gone, streaking toward the city center. Shal watched her go for a second, wondering how long this crazy charade would go on. When would the people stop paying the price for the games of their leaders…

But then Shal shelved his thoughts and rushed out into the city. Immediately, he located a group of spear users fighting against a contingent of Wights in a nearby gym. To someone of his power, the stone walls were nothing but paper.

With a crash, he tore through the side of the building and hit the Wight lines like a collapsing mountain. Those that weren’t ripped to shreds by his Phantom Thrusts were physically broken by his body. Shal slashed and cut a space clear around the spear users so fast that they just stood, struck dumb, with their spears raised.

Shal paused to look at them. “You stand. Good. How well can you follow?”

To this credit, their leader nodded.

In an instant, the booming roar of the Phantom shook the city. A shadow fell over the district in which Shal stood. The surviving Wights slowed their constant bombardment of Psychic Venom as the craned their necks to look upward.

Shal’s eyes flashed. The weight of the Phantom’s hand crashed down on top of the building. It wasn’t screaming per se, but the Wights made that noise of unwilling death as the stone and wood supports shifted and crushed them to mush against the ground.

But Shal was already thrusting his spear forward, forging a path for himself and those fools that were dumb enough to get separated and attacked by Wights.

When they were out on the street, Shal closed his eyes briefly and listened. He heard the heavy breathing of those that followed him. Beyond that, he heard the dying of Wights. Beyond that he hard crying and fires and screams for help. And beyond that was the light tapping of the Wight hit squads.

There were seven in total in the area Shal could easily sense. In groups between forty and fifty. Some light fighting, but most of the individuals who lived out here in the edge of the city weren’t strong enough to fight a group of Wights.

With a grin, Shal glanced over his shoulder to the group following him. “This will be harder before it is peaceful. Agreed?”

“I…” The man who led the survivors said uncertainty. “We don’t have much strength. The attacks-”

“Almost all of Hastam is burning.” Shal lied shortly. He didn’t have time to baby these fools “The only safe place is the Central Square and the Colosseum, but how long will they remain safe after we have fallen? Take shelter at my back, or make it on your own.”

Shal didn’t bother to wait to see their answer. This group was led by a coward, and the others with the elderly man were likely pupils. Too young to recognize what sort of spear user the man was. Shal immediately set out down the alley and out to the main street. Two Witch Kings looked up from where they were ripping through buildings as they pursued a wounded woman. Immediately, Shal’s face turned grim.

Distantly he could hear other sounds of fighting. But one by one, they were being silenced. Some Shal could tell were spear users ambushing Wights, but there were also more worrisome noises. There was a force amongst the Wights that was systematically seeking out resistance and eliminating it. That was unusual. All of this was unusual. It was too sudden. How had they missed this?

Had they missed this?

Perhaps due to Ophelia’s comment about speed, Shal released the looming image of a phantom that hovered over him. Instead, a giant serpent’s hiss echoed across the city. Shal’s spear flicked out and the two Witch Kings expired, smashed to the ground.

The elderly man and his pupils had only just arrived in time to see Shal’s casual attack and the rapid death of the Witch Kings. “What-”

HISSSSSSSSS.

The whole city rumbled with the fury of the sound. Shal’s eyes blazed, yet he remained torn. There were so many places to go, and he was only-

There was a cry nearby. That was all the impetus Shal needed. This was clean up, and wouldn’t accomplish much in the grand scheme of things. Likely the goal was just to destabilize an already tense city. Even if the death toll was only in the hundreds, this attack would strike fear into every citizen of Hastam.

But still, Shal would fucking enjoy ripping some Wights to pieces right about now.