Zane was standing atop a building overseeing the entire stronghold, alongside his mana technique, nothing could get pass through his detection. Amidst the silent forest, there was nothing he could not see.
The day started to settle in as the soldiers he had trained were slowly waking up from their slumber. They gathered around and made breakfast, almost finishing the rations that the stronghold had kept.
The energy they expended yesterday was outside the limits of what their bodies could take but due to skillful manipulation and indirect strengthening via Gabe, the strain that their bodies went through wasn't as bad as it should have been.
After eating their meals, they started to gear up. They started to weak their armor, due to how it looked one wouldn't have thought it went through war since there wasn't a single scratch nor mark that could be seen on it except for the dirt and blood.
They armed themselves with their weapons covered in dried blood. Despite the stench of blood covering the entire area alongside the decaying bodies of the people they killed last night, no one seemed to be bothered by it anymore ever since they started to go down this path.
Abel went forward and talked to Gabe, they went somewhere private so no one dared listen in on their talks. Although Zane could easily listen on to what they were talking about he didn't, the thought never even crossed his mind.
After doing some basic morning routines, warming up their bodies for the upcoming fight, Zane went to a more secret area where he stood there waiting for someone. He waited until every one of his soldiers finished their routines but no one came, this was something Zane didn't expect.
He brushed this matter off and decided to start heading off to the kingdom. With how many guards there were inside patrolling everything, that elite group that the king had around him and, the looming threat of the Underworld Envoy, this would be the last and most dangerous thing they would do up to date.
Zane went forward and waited for Abel and Gabe to get back so they could head off. After a while, they did head back but there was visible tension between them. Whatever they talked about, it seemed to sow conflict between them.
Gabe seemed a little irritated while Abel looked a little bit helpless.
Gabe broke the uneasy silence by ordering everyone, "Let's head out."
No one questioned this order since that was what they were about to do anyway. Using the map that they had since the beginning, they went back to where it all started.
The march towards the kingdom wasn't as hurried as before nor was it as thrilling as before. It was a simple calm and quiet march across the dense forest. Despite there being captives that are supposed to be saved and the anticipation of killing their enemies, they all were calm and collected just waiting for the inevitable fight.
With how calm and slow they were marching forward, someone of them especially Zane noticed life beside them. There were all sorts of animals running about, they were either foraging or finding their prey, plant life that could move intelligently laying traps, and some odd trees that were hallowed from the inside out.
The atmosphere eased the tension from the earlier scene between Abel and Gabe, to which everyone just ignored quietly eased down. They started to talk on their way but no one interrupted them.
Zane continued on walking from the front, despite him being in front however, it would be extremely hard to notice his figure due to his black cloak that Adam gave him. The serene atmosphere was too calm for something that's about to happen.
Zane muttered under his breath, "The calm before the storm..."
Eventually, they stumbled upon one of the camps that they had slaughtered the day before, it still had the rotting corpses laid in the open with some having bite marks and missing limbs. Despite how sorrowful the scene looked, there was nothing but anger in everyone's eyes, especially Gabe.
After walking over the camp, they continued on walking forward without even looking back. After walking for a little bit more time, they finally reached the place where it all started. The original camp where a graveyard was formed.
The sword Zane struck there was still immobilized within the ground with a still ever strong source of mana solidifying the ground rendering anyone who wanted to blaspheme their burial ground unable to.
That serene atmosphere alongside their walk back never let them forgot why they did this nor for what they did this. Seeing the burial ground that they had made, it just solidified they will more.
Zane stopped moving forward and faced his soldiers, "Are you ready?"
The soldiers under him didn't say anything but instead just nodded, everyone here knew that this was just something to break the silence. They all brought up their arms and started breaking into groups.
Zane nodded and continued walking forward. After going through a bit further they reached an area of decay, life seemed to be sucked out of everything here, and with how brittle the ground was, every single step they took cracked the ground.
The soldiers reached the area where they Zane and Haze fought, it was now a dead zone. No life could ever live here anymore with how this area sucks the life of everything in it. There wasn't a corpse left behind but the battle that happened surely marked this land.
After walking even further, they finally reached the clearing that they had once used to train themselves with. The memories of these past two weeks were now only a blur replaced by the graphic events of yesterday.
There were two guards overseeing this area but apparently they were slacking off not doing their job properly. Zane gestured his soldiers to kill them. The elite group that had still survived went in for the kill, one was shot with an arrow to the head and one was sliced in two.
They didn't even need Gabe's buff with dealing with these weaklings. They now formed their own techniques and ways to immobilize the enemy with efficiency. With how they fought yesterday, they wouldn't have made it if they didn't.
They went further in and saw the wall that they had kept been out of when they started training. Its height was unquestioned and its sturdiness was unbreakable. The guards that were up the walls were more alert and called for reinforcements.
Abel went and stood beside Zane and asked, "What's the plan this time?"
Zane simply replied, "They know we are coming, they also know what we could do but we don't know who they are and what they could do. We would be at a complete disadvantage if it weren't for one thing."
Gabe spoke up this time from behind Zane, "And that one thing is?"
Zane gathered mana from all around him and brought out his sword from his storage ring. He infused mana within his sword and brought it up above his head. It exponentially grew in size and with the apparent size it had, it would've been obviously heavy since the ground under Zane stand to deform, cracking it.
The enemy soldiers started to run when they saw this, it wouldn't have cared if this was all but their king specifically told them to fear Zane. His existence was enough to rival the Underworld Envoys, especially since he is one.
After charging enough mana inside his weapon, he slashed his weapon downwards.
"Overwhelming force."
As soon as the sword started going down, there was nothing that could possibly it other than Zane. The impact on the wall was astounding, the seemingly impenetrable wall was cut down in visible half leaving a hole to enter it.
The soldiers wasted no time to enter that hole to start their killing spree. The first soldiers went forward and acted as a shield letting others enter the hole without getting surrounded. While they were slowly trickling in, Abel jumped and latched on the wall using his fingers to embed it into the wall. Gabe on the other hand wasn't doing anything but waiting beside Zane.
While everyone else was doing their own thing, Zane used the mana within his sword and forced it all into Gabe, the initial flow of mana burdened Gabe's body by quite a lot but he still persevered. Blood eyes from his eyes and a slowly increasing headache appeared, the strain on his brain and body would have been too much if there was just a tad bit more mana that Zane forced into him.
It was essentially forcing so much mana into Gabe's body that there was only a hairline's difference of it being fatal. Nonetheless, Gabe started laughing hysterically and finally entered the hole. This was much more mana than he could have ever sustained but with his sudden growth in a day, he could use it all without any further strain.
The buff that Gabe could give now was incomparable to what he could've given yesterday. If yesterday was only five times the increase now it was twenty times. The normal soldiers felt they could rule this kingdom and slaughter, everyone, by themselves but kept their thoughts to themselves.
The buff on Abel was the most terrifying one. Earlier when he could already slaughter them in a blink of an eye, now he could kill an entire squad even faster. His boorish attacks didn't matter, dodging didn't matter, all it took was a single punch and they were dead.
Amidst all the chaos that ensued, Zane was nowhere to be found. That most threatening person in the entire area couldn't be seen nor felt. Zane directly went into the hole right after giving Gabe his mana and went straight to the castle by himself.
He didn't show himself to the guards that were there nor did he mindlessly kill anyone, he was like a ghost, never there. His goal still remained on his mind, save the people he promised to protect. When he saw the majestic castle once more, he could only feel burning anger and regret.
He entered the front of the castle unnoticed and directly went towards the throne. He wasn't wasting he time at all since every second that went by could be another moment that they could have died.
After walking in further in the castle there were fewer and lesser guards, it was an odd situation but with the current attack in front, it could have forced the king to send more people to stop him.
Finally, he was at the grand door that signified the king's place. It was closed shut forcing Zane to open it by himself. He placed his hands on the door and with one push forced it wide open revealing three people sitting side by side on the throne room and a few others right below them respectively.
First of all was obviously the king, under him was the elite guards that constantly protect him through every moment of his life. He was still sitting leisurely but looking in his eyes will show fear and unease.
The second was the Underworld Envoy, he had quite the muscular build and a bloodthirsty look. He was at the edge of his sit seeming wanting to fight Zane right now. He didn't look angry but instead looked forward to what was about to happen. There was no one under him at all.
Lastly, it was the person he never expected to come here at all. It was Adam sitting on the throne that was obviously more grand than the other two. He only had a giant smile on his face that was quite welcoming to Zane.
Under Adam there was only one person, it was the only person who could possibly be beside Adam, it was obviously Eve. Right now she still had the same look from two weeks ago only she was now a little more mature and a mellow aura could be felt around her.
"Welcome back, Zane."