Chapter 1325: Attacking assassin
Rowan held his hands up, thinking that it was the last time he was ever going to breathe life again. In his last moments, he couldn’t help but think about his brother, about how there was so much they still had to live for.
But a few seconds later, nothing happened. He opened his eyes, seeing a large Orcanine standing in front of him.
"BU TO TO! Leave now, young one," said Narito as he punched the Red Mankey zombie away with one fell swoop.
Rowan, with his heart beating out of his chest, immediately turned around and ran away. Even though he’d just been saved by an unknown person, there was nothing in his mind right now except for his brother. Nothing mattered. Loren was his only family member remaining. He couldn’t lose him too.
He ran and ran and ran. Everywhere, he saw nothing but bloodshed staining the Sacred Tree. Red Mankeys fighting against other Red Mankeys. Demi-humans committing crimes against their very own race. The sanctity of their kingdom was no more. The only thing that remained was warfare.
He eventually found himself atop the very crown of the Sacred Tree, right where the Monarch’s palace was located.
After all, this place was where his brother was stationed. Loren was in charge of making sure that their Monarch was protected.
And it was in that moment that he saw someone emerge from the gates.
Rowan’s eyes widened. It was his brother!
"Loren!" he called out. However, the Red Mankey kept on walking out of the doors, seemingly not even recognizing the brother that was calling out to him just a few meters away. "Loren!" Rowan kept calling out.
And it was at this moment that Rowan finally saw that behind Loren, there were other Red Mankey soldiers marching in line.
Behind them was a demi-human being dragged in chains.
It was a Nymph. Her usual flowers and petals and vines that surrounded her body had become completely rotted. It was as if she’d been kept in a terrible place for such a long time that her glow had completely been snatched away from her.
"Monarch!"
He could see the chains still binding her. "What are you doing?!" Rowan called out.
And it was at this moment that the other Red Mankeys finally took notice of him. They all turned their heads at the same time, with their red eyes glaring at the Red Mankey calling out in distress.
"You...," they all said simultaneously. "You... must become like us."
They marched towards Rowan, their movements sinister and without any kind of life at all. It was as if they were just a corpse moving through a puppet’s string.
Rowan gritted his teeth and picked up a spear from the ground. Then, he swung it towards the zombified Red Mankeys chasing after him.
And suddenly, a huge force blew these Red Mankeys away and sent them off flying everywhere.
Rowan looked at his own spear, surprised by his own power. He didn’t even put that much power in his strike.
But then, Shadows emerged in front of him, revealing two Orcs ascending from out of nowhere. They were the ones who had fought those Red Mankeys, not Rowan.
"Didn’t I tell you to run away, boy?" said Narito.
"RAH TA TA! We shall take care of this."
Hundreds upon hundreds of Shadows emerged as these giant Orcish figures ascended and began to fight these Red Mankeys in full force.
The zombies tried to fight back, but each time they struck the Orcs, they would turn into an incorporeal shadow and immediately counterattack with their knives, sticking them in the back of those Red Mankeys’ traitorous bodies.
"... help...," said the Nymph.
"The monarch!" shouted Rowan. He immediately lunged towards their Monarch, an instinct within him wanting to save her from harm.
Narito caught the hem of his shirt just in time before a spear was about to skewer him from the side.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Slippery little Red Mankey. Why haven’t you become like your brothers?"
Everyone turned to the hooded human figure, who had now shown himself amongst his army of Red Mankey zombies.
"And who are you? Orcs? I’ve never seen your kind here before... well, no matter. Your strength will prove useful once you have become one with the Ersatz."
Crystallized, dark armor began to manifest around the hooded figure, showing himself to be a genuine Nascent Spirit cultivator. His sword gleamed with a sinister reddish hue, before he swung it towards the Shadow Orcs.
The attack was far too fast for the Orcs to withstand. They tried to disappear back into the shadows, but no dice.
Just as the reddish crescent cleaved the Shadow army in half, a protective aura emerged out of their bodies, neutralizing the attack in an instant.
Tied on the Orcs’ waist was none other than the same talisman that the Rebornian army wore.
It was a safeguard. One that allowed them to withstand three full-on attacks from Nascent Spirit cultivators! The wooden talisman cracked a little as they used one of its protective auras.
"WHAT?!"
The hooded Ersatz assassin backed away for a second, completely shocked by what he just witnessed.
"It’s a little protective measure I give my allies."
A voice. Youthful, yet powerful, echoed off into the Sacred Tree. The hooded Ersatz warrior looked around warily for the source of the voice, before his eyes eventually landed above the tree itself.
Michael floated in the skies, with the sun behind his back, its brilliant rays shining into his hair and making it look even more golden than it already was.
"How did you that...," the Ersatz assassin asked.
"I should ask you the same thing. How did you all figure out a way to use the Artifice on demi-humans? Can’t tell me? Well, I guess we all have our secrets."
Suddenly, the Ersatz assassin disappeared from Michael’s sight, only reappearing behind him. His red, ghoulish sword was mere inches away from Michael’s neck.