The Duke's Passion



848 The rumble

"Advance!!"

That word exploded in the area as more knights shouted the same word as they prepared for the horde of undead coming their way. This wasn't just a small wave of undead, but rather a number they had never seen before.

Ileliot sighed, watching the knights in charge of fighting follow Rufus's lead before his orders. Understandable. During this time, the knights were trained to make decisions on their own. Right now, what they needed was to fight and survive until I leliot's orders.

"How infuriating," mumbled Heliot, but didn't stop the knights from charging at the undeads. Instead, he kept quiet as his eyes veered toward the countless undead, making waves in their direction.

There was nothing he could do.

Rufus already brought these hordes of undead into this town, and there was nothing he could do to prevent it. Heliot clenched his teeth until his jaw tightened, swallowing the displeasure he felt at Rufus's selfish decision.

"I will surely collect the interest of this debt." Heliot breathed out, blinking ever so tenderly. "Remember this, Rufus." - and also, Samael, the reason they were all in this situation. Although it wasn't Samael's entire fault, blaming him just felt right. Because at the end of the day, it still felt as though Samael instigated everything, even when he didn't. Ile was also the perfect target to push the blame on.

Heliot turned around, facing those who didn't move from their spot, as they weren't a part of the advancing team. All eyes were on Heliot, ignoring the battle ahead.

"From hereon, your only duty is to rescue everyone who wasn't affected by the mad king's abilities!" Heliot shouted from the top of his lungs to raise his men's morale. "Our plan continues and we'll bring all of them to the safe area!"

"Half of this group will head to the safe area, Clear up the paths and make sure the shelter is ready!" he added, still shouting. "Hasten! Every second counts!"Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Yes, Your Ilighness!"

With that being said, the knights moved according to the royal orders. A small unit was created to clear up or create a path for the rescue team toward the said destination. Claude had given them the location of the safe place but considering it would be a long way, they were already expecting that this safe house wouldn't be enough.

In simple words, the knights of the land of Karo were already aware of what they truly needed to do. And that was to clear an entire town or two, safeguard it and make it their safe zone. A small unit might not be enough for that, but they had to make it happen.

As the knights quickly made their move to execute the prince's order, Heliot turned around once again. Rufus and half of the knights engaged in combat. He could hear Rufus yelling, giving out orders about what the knights had to do.

However, with the number of undead still coming in their direction, it would be impossible.

"Focus on the rescue...?" he repeated what Rufus told him with a tinge of mockery. "By that, to use my ability to stop large debris... hah... how insulting"

Heliot let out a scoff, insulted at Rufus's request. Heliot had no problem joining the rescue team. He had faith in his men, and he knew they would do a great job. Rufus was also reliable. But Rufus was taking his time to unleash another sphere of light with the number of undeads approaching this ruined town.

"I never thought there were people in this world who could ever press a nerve I didn't even know exists," whispered Heliot. The dirt on the ground slowly rose in the air. His eyes slid to the corner and then picked up a pebble that was floating to his side.

When he blinked slowly once again, Heliot rolled the pebble in between his thumb and index, eyes ahead.

"Now, I discovered something, he continued under his breath. "Not only they are annoying, but I dislike when people order me around."

Heliot blew air on the pebble in between his fingers before he pulled his shoulder back. A small gust of wind circled around his hand, and in one swift throw, the pebble catapulted toward the battle ahead.

The pebble avoided the knights on his side until it hit an undead straight in the forehead. The knight who nearly got bitten by it froze, pecking up, only to see the hole in the undead's forehead. Silence followed as the undead landed on his back with a thud, making the knight take a step back.

RUMBLE!

The ground shook, causing the knights fighting to stop attacking. Many of them simply blocked the charging undead with their swords and shields, feeling how the ground shake underneath their boots.

They knew this rumble.

The Land of Karo was known as the land of gold. That was on the surface level. There was much more in this land and its people that outsiders didn't know about. Since the said land was full of sand, they were much closer to the ground they stood on.

Every time the ground shook had its own message. And this one... they knew what this meant. "Tall back!!!" A yell on the battlefield was heard after a second, snapping everyone who has consciousness into reality. "Find a higher ground!!"

The knights pushed their enemies away and quickly found a higher spot. Some of them completely fell back, running away from the battle scene. Others had to defend and fight, only to follow the rest before taking a strategic retreat.

Rufus, who was now standing on top of the establishment, gazed down. His brows knitted upon seeing the knights retreating. But before he could wonder what was happening, he caught a crack underneath an undead that had a hole in his forehead.

The crack crawled away quickly and before they knew it, a large arca sank with a loud boom. Rufus narrowed his eyes as a cloud of thick dust fogged the area where it happened and after a second, he saw a large pit where large numbers of charging undead were falling, trapping them all in a pit.

"I... didn't intend to annoy him, but it didn't seem that bad," mumbled Rufus as the corner of his

lips curled up while a small sphere of light formed at the tip of his sword. "The sphere of light... bless their tainted soul..."

Rufus started his chant and the ball of light grew bigger and bigger, blinding everyone on the ground. After a minute of concentrating his energy, Rufus swung his sword down and the sphere of light landed straight in the pit that trapped countless undead.

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