Standing in the middle of the street and looking at Meng, Michio began to hear familiar voices amidst the chaotic noise around him. The sound of grumbling, snarling, and hisses seemed to come from behind Meng. Only then did he realize what Meng had done.
"How could you?" Michio murmured as his heart sunk in fear. "You're going to kill everyone."
Meng looked at the sky and said with a smile, "Master, I have fulfilled my promise to you." He turned to look at Michio with a smirk on his face. "Run, you fool." He turned around and blocked the attacker with his left arm.
Seeing the dead man's head biting Meng's arm, Michio hit the dead man's head with his three-section staff, knocked the dead man to the ground pulling a chuck of Meng's flesh off Meng's arm. He pulled Meng back and saw one dead man after another came out of the portal created by Meng.
Meng groaned in pain. "Run away, monk... out of all these people, killing you will fill my heart with the most guilt."
Michio quickly dragged Meng back. He turned to the men who were busy pulling others out of burning buildings and shouted, "Dead men!"
Amid the chaotic din, the word "dead men" was heard clearly among those who knew death was coming straight at them.
Lixin looked at the people who were crying and taking care of their loved ones on the street. "If you want to survive, you have to save yourself!" He shouted. He turned to his subordinates. "Stop helping them!"
Shi said, "My lord, we must get out of here."
"It's too late now. Our front is blocked by dead men and our back is blocked by flames. Either way, we won't survive," Bong said. "Our best chance is to fight this through."
Lixin gritted his teeth and said, "We can't defeat these thousands and thousands of dead men." He looked at his subordinates. "No matter what happens, Prince Bong will leave here alive."
Lixin's subordinates nodded at Lixin.
Abrafo said, "Zahog's flame spread too fast. It is impossible for Hajime to take everyone out of here."
"Not only that, but as the poisonous mist continues to pour out of that portal, we will soon be poisoned to death," said Yul, looking around to try and figure out what their best chance of survival would be. "There are still three full hours before the poisonous mist affects us, so we have to make good use of the time. Now let Zahog deal with Huoyan. Now we need to open up a clear path so that these people can escape from here, avoid being burned by Zahog's flame or being eaten alive. We need to close that portal as soon as possible."
The seriously injured Baishui stood up slowly with Jiāo's help. He said, "I will create a path for them. I will create a path of crystal ice to destroy the fire of Zahog, but I don't know how long I can hold on."
Jiāo said, "Your Highness, your injuries are too serious and using too much energy will return you to your original form."
Baishui said, "I have decided." He pushed away Jiāo and transformed into a white dragon.
Yul said, "Baishui, crossing the bridge is the closest to the front city gate. We will try our best to hold back the dead men." He turned to look at Fufu. "Whatever you do, don't get bitten."
Fufu asked, "What if I get bitten?"
Hajime smiled and said, "You will become one of them."
Fufu looked at the rotten corpses coming out of the portal and said, "I don't want to be like them." She pulled out her sword from her shield and rushed in front of Hajime and Yul.
Yul said, "You too, don't get bitten."
Hajime took out the dagger from his waist and took it out of the scabbard. He smiled at Yul and said, "This brings me back down memory lane."
Hajime and Yul rushed towards Michio and Fufu together.
Baishui turned to look at the burning street and found that the bridge was still standing. He raised his head high, and a powerful blast of crystal ice hit the street. The flames on the streets and houses were immediately extinguished and black smoke rose.
Jiāo shouted, "Follow the ninth prince and get out!" Jiāo grabbed onto Zoya's hand. "Let's go."
Zoya smiled at Jiāo and said, "I'm not coming with you."
Jiāo asked, "Why?"
Zoya said, "Everyone has their own life trajectory, and my life trajectory is here."
Jiāo looked at Zoya with tears streaming down her face, "Zoya..."
Zoya smiled at Jiāo and said, "Little fish, leave with the others."
Jiāo hugged Zoya. "Good luck to you," she said.
Zoya patted Jiāo's back gently and said, "You too."
Jiāo broke away from Zoya and quickly caught up with Baishui.
Abrafo grabbed Bong's hand and said, "You leave with Baishui and Jiāo."
Bong gritted his teeth and said, "I won't do such a thing."
Lixin said, "Abrafo is right, you should leave here now."
Bong said, "Why should I listen to you? My title and status are much higher than yours. You should listen to me. I commend you and your men to fight to the end. Until every dead man has been slain, no one can't leave their post."
Abrafo pulled Bong aside and said, "Listen to me. I want you to leave because you have more important work waiting for you."
Bong said angrily, "Don't be ridiculous, you are always like this. Whenever you are in danger, you always want to drive me away. You always look down on me and say that my skills are not good." He took his hand from Abrafo's. "I can protect myself; I don't need you to protect me."
Abrafo grabbed Bong by the scruff of his neck and pulled him toward Abrafo. "You listen!" Abrafo said, pressing his forehead against Bong's. "If we happen to die here, at least one person needs to survive and take care of U-ri and Meiji. If we die here, you must help U-ri complete our mission." He kissed Bong's forehead. "So, what do you say?"
Bong grabbed onto Abrafo's collar and said angrily with tears, "If you die here, I will hate you forever. Every night I will curse you before going to bed. Your dumbass's soul will never be at peace."
Abrafo chuckled and said, "I will try not to die."
Bong pushed Abrafo away, grabbed the arm of an injured person, and followed the surviving Dreakoris towards the bridge.
Abrafo sighed, turned around and pulled out the sword from the scabbard on his back. He looked at Zoya and smiled, "I'll buy you dinner, if you kill a dead man before me."
Zoya smiled at Abrafo and said, "I accept the challenge."
Abrafo rushed forward and raised his sword to aim at the dead men in front of him. At this time, a vine erupted from the ground, grabbed the dead man, pulled the dead man apart. Another vine erupted from the ground and pierced the dead man's head.
Abrafo turned around and looked at Zoya, "Hey, that's cheating."
Zoya smiled and said, "Child, it seems you owe me a meal." She raised her right hand up, and five large vines rose from the ground and passed through a row of dead men.
Yul quickly moved out of the way, grabbing his sword with both hands as the giant vines rushed towards him, lifting the ten dead men to the ground before slamming them to the ground, shattering their legs. Yul ran forward and aimed his sword at the dead men's head. Yul's sword cut off their heads one by one. When the last dead man's head was cut off, the vines quickly pulled away and grabbed the other dead man's throat.
At this time, the dead men coming out of the portal were coming out too fast for them to kill.
"There are too many of them! We won't defeat them like this!" Jin shouted from behind.
Yul kicked one of the dead men to the ground and swung his sword at the other dead man who was charging towards Hajime. "Hajime! Can you close the portal?" Yul shouted.
Hajime said, "I don't know how." He thrust his dagger into a dead man's head. "But I know someone who might be able to close this portal."
Meng laughed and said, "You can't close it, no one can close it. Master said that there is only one person in this world who can open and close portals at will, and that person is already dead."
Abrafo punched Meng directly on the right side of his face, knocking Meng to the ground. "Who gave you permission to speak?" he shouted angrily. He swung his sword to the right and cut a dead man in half.
The bodies of dead Dreakoris, who were bitten to death, slowly twitched on the ground.
Xiang shouted, "They are turning."
Realizing that they couldn't stop the dead men coming in through the portal, and that soon the dead Dreakoris will turn, Hajime couldn't hold back anymore. He wasn't sure if Kaizen could close the portal, but now he had no choice but to summon Kaizen, "Cover me!"
Hajime quickly moved back to the end of the line, while Yul, Michio, and Fufu moved forward to the front. Hajime took out the amulet Kaizen gave him. Hajime slid his thumb over the tip of his middle finger, smeared the blood on the amulet, and threw the amulet into the burning flames. Hajime quickly stabbed a dead man who was rushing toward him with his dagger scabbard. He inserted the dagger directly into another dead man's head, and at the same time, another dead man broke from the others and headed straight for Hajime. Hajime tried to pull out the dagger from the dead man's head, but it got stuck. Hajime quickly retreated and dragged the deceased towards the burning house. At this time, the head of the dead man who rushed towards Hajime suddenly split in two.