After a few seconds, he searched around for Robert and Alice, but their seats had already been emptied. The people were all heading home, so the archways in the arena were fully crowded.
Arth panicked, having no idea what to do. Should he find Robert and Alice first? But he couldn’t just let the councilor return to the Upper Ring. This was his only chance while the councilor would still ride on his carriage. Upon several thoughts, he finally decided to follow the councilor. The painful sting on his wounded arm and cheek worsened as the cold wind blew against him.
He did a simple dressing for the injury in his arm while he jogged out of the arena. His hands were painted with dark red from all the blood, which caught the attention of the people. But this was no time to think of his appearance. His mission must come first before anything else.
Nightfall came as Arth stepped outside the arena. An enclose
“You’ve grown so big now … little Ali, and your hair … keeping it long as always, eh?” The grand knight cocked his head, a smirk forming on his lips. He had the same white hair, black eyes, and light skin. Their family indeed had decent looks and beauty. But the evil smirk on her brother was like the one you would see from a mad villain. “Call me by that name again and I’ll torment you worse than you can ever think of, before you end up just like father … just like that devil,” Alice’s spat, her black eyes becoming vicious. Arth had never seen her as serious as this before. He could sense the overflowing hatred and resentment in her eyes. “Get the councilor now,” Alice said, turning to Arth. “We’ll handle these two.” Arth looked at her with worried eyes. “Are you sure?” “We don’t have much time. You need to kill our target now.” “But what about—”
The worst became even worse. Arth shivered in fear, his lips still parted in shock. The ones standing ahead of him were the formidable foes he would not want to face. The glorious members of the Frostguarde had crushed the ground after jumping from the flying beast in the sky. Reinforcements of knights and cavalries from the Upper Ring had also just arrived, halting behind the elite group. It was indeed … a trap. Arth swallowed hard the lump on his throat. He could not believe that Tristan was a member of the Frostguarde. All five of them were dressed in cerulean-colored cloak, even the Divine Knight himself. One of them had a middle-aged face of a man, holding a long blue spear. Another member was a red-haired lady wielding a brown staff. That was all what Arth could notice, as his arms were already trembling with fear and exhaustion. Divine Knight Kael removed the hood of his cloak, revealing his black hair fixed backwar
“You’re all screwed, now.” Robert still had the guts to tease his opponent, though he was already on the ground, coughing with blood. “Curse you, rebels!” The grand knight went outrageous, stabbing his broadsword against Robert, but then … The sound of thunder clapped and rumbled throughout the skies. They all paused and looked up. The dark clouds began to glow with yellow light, illuminating the open grounds of the bailey. Something big was about to happen … something that was truly beyond what they expected. The glorious judgment from the heavens had finally come. Thousands of golden arrows fell from the clouds, like rain, with glowing drops, but these drops were as deadly as life-ending catastrophes. “Let’s move!” Arth immediately helped Robert to get up. Then the three began to rush back towards the Lower Ring. As they hasted, Arth looked back, seeing
After six hours of riding nonstop, they finally reached their hideout in White Forest. As soon as Arth stepped inside through the main door, he immediately brought Alice straight to her room. The space inside was slightly bigger than Arth's bedroom. It was more comfy and warm. The usual, sweet scent of Alice greeted him as he went inside. Every time he got close enough with Alice like this, her aromatic, flowery smell had made Arth remember of the flowers back in Frostwood village. Giving him a weird but good feeling, he wished that he would always be close to her like this … always. Arth carefully placed her on the soft bed. His hands were still covered with dried blood, so he washed them first before he returned to her. He got a small towel and a bucket of warm water to clean the dirt on her skin. “I was so worried,” Arth sighed and shook his head slowly. He soaked the towel and gave a gentle wipe
“Three hundred and seventy-eight knights …” King Terrowin’s voice echoed around the dark throne room, then silence followed; a dead, cold silence. He stood from his blue crystal-made seat and then climbed down the wide steps. “One grand knight …” the king continued. Kael was in front, kneeling, with his head looking down on the blue floor. He had just returned from their huge loss after their encounter with the Forgotten Winter. And being alone with the Cold King made his heartbeat race, as if chased by death itself. “And another one of my High Councilors …” Kael closed his eyes, shamed. He went against looking at the king’s face. He had already triggered the devil's outrage, and it’s about to explode unto him. Silence filled the throne room once again. The only thing Kael could hear was his chest pounding hard. His palms were freezing. How fortunate Kael was that they were both alone, for if not … he could never face anyone anymore. His failure was a huge disgrace that he might
"I still can’t believe that was my last chance to enjoy walking around the capital in public!” Robert complained while stirring the boiling soup on the pot. “Now we’re all wanted in every corners of Glacia.” “At least we came back in one piece,” Arth replied as he was chopping the vegetables on the kitchen counter. “Yeah, we’re now close to our goal anyway. We just have to kill the last councilor before we make our step in taking down the king,” Robert said, wiping his hands on his apron, then he went to prepare the plates. “Do we really have to kill all councilors? I mean … are all of them really that bad?” “By the time King Terrowin sat on the throne, he immediately replaced the good councilors with the corrupt ones … evil friends of his. That’s when corruption began to spread in the kingdom.” “So if we eliminate the fourth councilor, we can now kill th
After breakfast, the whole team started on their daily chores. Luna went out to replace Janshai, Robert left to harvest more woods, and Alice worked with the laundry. As everyone was pretty much occupied with their tasks, Arth just stayed outside the hideout, waiting for his cold-blooded mentor to arrive. He was feeling uneasy, so he tried walking in circle, shaking his hands. 'This is a bad idea,'Arth thought.'How in the world am I gonna work with that … that rude guy?' A few minutes later, he finally spotted Janshai walking from afar, appearing amidst the white snow and trees. He still wore his black coat from last night, with his hands hidden inside his pockets. Even though Janshai had been up all night, it was surprising to see him still actively moving. “He really is not human,” Arth concluded in a soft whisper.
“Desoland?!” Arth yelled, holding his head, his eyes wide open. He tried his best not to panic, because the air was much harder to breathe in, and he would die early if he did. It was more than strange to experience a hot environment without the sun. The wind had triggered a slight irritation, as if it was intoxicating his skin, good thing he was wearing a sleeved cloak. “Wait … what exactly is the Desoland?” Arth asked Janshai. “Is this the Underworld they’ve been talking about?” Janshai took a few seconds, giving Arth a cold stare before answering. “This land is beyond the borders of the Underworld. Desolated as what it is, no single demon has lived here. There are, however, powerful demonic beasts that inhabit this … wretched land.” “Wait, how in the world do you know all of this?” Arth sharpened his eyes suspiciously. “Is it because of what that summoner said earlier … that