The Duke's Passion

797  Happening in the east border II

BOOM!

"Keep moving forward!" Heliot yelled, slowly standing on the back of the moving steed, eyes on the fires over the borders. Fires was glowing at the tip of the arrows which soon flew into the sky, dominating the dark sky like stars, about to fall to burn everyone on the ground. Heliot's eyes were sharp, watching countless flaming arrows come at them. He spread his hand, creating a powerful gust of wind with sand forming around it like a whirlwind. In one swift move of his hand, and distinguished the fire and slowed down the velocity of the arrows, making them land without hurting a single knight advancing to the border.

"Ahhhh!" the knights cried to raise their morale, knowing Heliot was fighting with them. Heliot's presence greatly influenced everyone, charging at the undead on the front line. They all expected to battle with that undead that wouldn't stop fighting, even if they lost a limb or two. Therefore, everyone focused on beheading them or assaulting them, which was instant death. No mercy. That was Heliot's orders; it was good that they trained the knights in the land of Karo to show no mercy and to treat their enemies as equals. Whether they were men or women, elderly or even children. Everyone was equal if they stepped foot on the battlefield. Harsh? Frankly, yes. But Heliot knew that if his men were to show the slightest bit of empathy, they would lose. The man they were against would use anyone and everything at his disposal and not lose a wink of sleep. Zero killed his own kin with his own hands to secure his position; there was nothing the man could do to achieve his goal. "Forward!" Another rapturous roar broke out before the front lines engaged in a real battle.

Sparks flew, and blood splashed on the ground, painting it red. The cries and growls synced with the clash of metals and explosions on the ground. Dust ascended in the air, creating a fog, but the battle raged on. As the knights of the land of Karo growled their battle cry, they just kept on advancing, slaying anyone on the way. Some of them would slay one enemy, only to get pounced on from behind and get preyed on by the undead. It was chaos. Disaster.

Merciless.

It didn't take long before piles of body and flesh from both parties littered the ground. Those who were still engaged in battle would either step on them or used their lifeless body as shields. But no one stopped or thought of any tact, only thinking about how to survive this bloody night filled with deaths, blood, and uncertainty. Watching his men fall one after another while the rest continued to advance to the border, Heliot stood still on the battlefield. More knights behind him rushed past him, screaming, but his eyes remained on the towering border that seemed to be so out of reach. "Quentin," Heliot whispered, balling his hand into a tight fist. Despite the mixed scent of blood and gunpowder in the air, Heliot could detect all his men's blood and how many men he had lost in just ten minutes since engaging in the fight. One would think he was idling, but Heliot was observing. His eyes shifted to their enemies, the undead, seeing an old lady fearlessly charge into one of his knights. The old lady fought clumsily against a trained knight, her head rolled on the ground. However, the knight didn't stop or even pause, marching ahead, slaying another undead only to get slayed after killing about five enemies. It was a cycle that started the moment they crossed the threshold of the Spade territory. And watching how this battlefield unfold right before Heliot, the fury in his heart significantly snowballed. Tact and morality might not matter in a war for as long as one had the capacity to kill, but this? Their enemies weren't willing participants, and that only made Heliot's men murderers.

"Moriarty… they had always warned me about you people." Heliot calmly blinked, lifting his gaze back to the border. "How repulsive."

The moment the last syllable rolled out of his tongue, Heliot disappeared from his vantage point. The fire in his magical midnight blue made it appear red, revealing rage that he never showed or felt before. Heliot then appeared midair, thin sand underneath his boots. No one noticed his appearance in the sky as everyone on the ground was busy surviving or killing. But those who had spare time looked at his figure with blank eyes. "That Rufus Barrett…" he breathed out, recalling his agreement with Samael's party and Rufus's plan. "... I don't think I can wait for him or that young Earl to open the borders."

The ground where the battle was raging on trembled, putting a stop to the battle. Knowing Heliot's capability, all the knights under his orders gazed up on instinct. The moment they caught him floating midair, they disengaged quickly, hopping back or bolting forth just to get away from what they thought would happen.

No one fighting on Karo's side was on the ground as they either jumped as high as they could or used the lifeless bodies as stepping stones when a huge area of the ground suddenly opened up. Those who didn't know about Heliot's abilities fell into the sinkhole that appeared out of nowhere. But there were those undeads who were keen enough to copy the knights' actions. When the ground closed, the number of undead was cut in half, but everyone knew that those undeads who survived that sinkhole were undead with a considerable amount of intelligence. "Don't fall behind!" A knight yelled, piercing the still air, and picking up their momentum. "Forward!" "Ahhh!!!" n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

As if nothing happened, the battle continued after a momentary pause. This time, they all noticed that the first wave was just undead to exhaust them. The second wave was much stronger and knew how to fight. And as this continued, both parties fired their cannons, with Heliot covering for his people from the enemy's explosives while adding more speed and precision for their cannons to reach the borders.