Chapter 107: Opaque reality [ 27 ]
"You must be Ren. Fear not anymore, for I'll rescue you from the hands of these ugly monstrosities," a calm voice sounded behind Ren.
Ren, shocked and horrified beyond description, tilted his head backward and saw a strange man walking toward him with a serene smile on his face.
Before he could even reply, the figure of the man suddenly disappeared.
Ren immediately slapped himself, reminding himself that it was just an illusion and that no one was really coming to save him.
He shut his eyes and awaited the two monsters ready to devour him; he was prepared to accept death.
But then...
SHRIEK!!
Two loud, painful shrieks echoed around him, causing him to immediately open his eyes to see what was making the terrifying monsters cry out in pain.
To his surprise, the wolf and the vampire-toothed chimpanzee were lying dead on the ground. The head of the wolf was beside its body, and there was a large hole in the stomach of the vampire-toothed chimpanzee.
Close to the vampire-toothed chimpanzee, he saw the back of the same man he thought he had seen earlier.
The man turned to face him. In the crescent glow of the moonlight, he was able to see the man's face, which bore a strong resemblance to Rowan's but had more mature features.
At first, Ren thought of no other person but Rowan's father, Dragun Winterseed, but he quickly dismissed the thought since Dragun was dead.
"Who are you?" he asked quickly.
Dragun looked at Ren but didn't bother to reply. He activated his GLIMMERFADE spell once again and moved toward the other monsters, catching them unaware as he used offensive magic to slaughter them one after another.
Some of the soldiers were risking their lives fighting and were almost on the verge of death when they noticed the monster they were battling suddenly fall dead to the ground.
Ren watched the scene with a dumbfounded expression, unable to understand what was going on.
Minutes passed, and minutes turned into an hour in this part of the walls of Winterseed II. At this moment, many monsters could be seen lying dead on the ground, while the other monsters still alive left the soldiers they were previously fighting and watched out for the invisible killer.
Around the battlefield, the few soldiers still alive stood and watched the impossible scene unfold.
They began moving back toward Ren, who was close to the gate, while their eyes remained focused on the scene.
"What's happening?"
"Something invisible is killing the monsters for us!"
"Is this the handiwork of the gods? Are they really not angry with us for giving away Lord Rowan's staff of authority?"
They discussed amongst themselves as they retreated far away from the scene to avoid getting killed by the monster killer.
Some of them felt solemn that this monster killer hadn't arrived earlier to save their colleagues who fell into the hands of the evil monsters. They felt sad recalling the gruesome scenes of their comrades pleading for their lives while the monsters devoured them.
Among all of them, only Ren knew what was happening, but he didn't even know how to explain it to the others.
He could only watch for the rest of the time until the last monster—the same snake who had swallowed so many soldiers—was slain.
"Yes!"
The soldiers couldn't help but cry out in joy.
Ren was still looking at the battlefield to see if he could at least find a trace of the invisible figure.
"You asked who I am earlier."
He was still focusing when the same voice sounded behind him. He felt a touch on his shoulder and turned to see the same man standing beside him.
The soldiers standing around Ren were also taken aback by the voice, and they all tilted their heads toward the huge figure who resembled someone familiar.
Just like Ren, they thought it was Dragun Winterseed, but at the same time, they knew Dragun was dead, so they didn't dare make certain assumptions.
Dragun observed their facial expressions briefly before smiling and revealing his true identity. "I am Dragun Winterseed. My son sent me here to rescue your people."
Everyone looked at him as though they were seeing a fool and a ghost at the same time. Even Ren couldn't believe his ears.
"Dragun Winterseed is dead! How can you be someone who is dead?" one of the soldiers exclaimed.
"If you are dead, does that mean we're seeing a ghost?" another asked.
The soldiers voiced their disbeliefs, but Dragun only shook his head and waved his hand dismissively. "I have no time to explain my identity to you. I need to get to the other part of the walls as soon as possible. If you have doubts, send a crow to my son and ask him. I'm sure his reply will clear up your doubts."
After saying that, Dragun disappeared, leaving the soldiers puzzled and staring among themselves in confusion.
The soldiers stood in stunned silence, eyes fixed on Dragun's fading figure.
"What just happened?" one soldier asked shakily.
"Did you see that? He just... disappeared," another replied, rubbing his temples.
"What was he saying about crows?" some asked.
"All his words are strange, he might actually be a ghost!"
The use of crows as a means of communication was new to them; thus, they found Dragun's words really strange.
As they discussed among themselves, suddenly the real question dawned on them. "If what he said is the truth, then how did Lord Rowan know we are under attack?"
Ren listened quietly, unsure how to explain everything to them since it would only sound like gibberish to them.
After sometime, he told them their next phase of action and they rushed into the village to meet the people at the village square.
---
At the northern wall, chaos reigned. Soldiers were on the verge of death, barely holding their ground against a massive, tusked beast.
As the creature raised its claws to strike, Dragun appeared in a blur of motion. Without hesitation, he conjured a massive fireball and hurled it at the monster.
The flames engulfed the beast, reducing it to ash in an instant.
Luckily this massive beast was the only one in this location and after killing it, Dragun disappeared and arrived at the other locations as fast as he could to take care of the monsters.
He appeared at the wastern side of the village where the monsters have already slayed more than half of the men fighting them. A few of the monsters were focused on killing the soldiers while others continued pushing against the wall to break it down.
Dragun didn't waste time after observing the scene and kicked into action.
He exhausted his mana reserve defending the people.
But not so far away from the village, hidden in the darkness of the nights, two strange and powerful figures became irritated of him for his heroic actions.
"It is that bastard, Dragun!" One of them cursed angrily.
He turned to the one standing beside him with gritted teeth, "We should kill him now that he has appeared!" He urged.
Nevertheless the figure beside him was eerily calm and only shook his head, "Let him be for now."
....
AUTHOR NOTE: Sorry for the delay everyone!