Chapter 378 The Deciding Night [Part 1]
The night was softly dark, sinking deep enough to gradually drown every trace of brilliant light into the forgotten folds of the clouds.
Beneath the ground lay a sentimental reflection of this darkness.
Amidst this faintly lit night, three figures walked, leaving behind a trail of significant destruction.
Bodies were crudely beaten and battered, left to gape for whatever was left for them of the air to breathe.
The three figures walked forward, nonchalant of the destruction behind them.
Although one particularly did seem a bit flat and unbefitting of this league.
He trembled slightly as he walked and could barely keep up as the other two figures before him gallantly parted their way through the decrepit streets of a once familiar kingdom.
After a couple of steps, cutting through one or two corners and the muscled lady easily delivering bone-breaking blows to those that obstructed their path before they could even register it, they finally got to their destination.
The three of them stopped in front of a towering barricade, made of metal.
Despite its de-aged state, the gate to the castle still stood as a colossal and intimidating sentinel of defense.
Dwarfing the two soldiers that stood in front of it.
The lady—one of the ladies, with wildness written for her appearance stepped forward.
She paused, glancing around the environment with sentimentality hidden deep in her vermillion eyes.
She wouldn't say it, anyone wouldn't, but this place sure did bring back memories.
It would be unfair to classify them as good memories, given the fact that many have been thrown into a monster-infested Desolation and made to desperately fight for their lives.
But it was also the most they could make of good times.
She, herself, would have said fate was at least a little bit fair to them for what those times provided.
The peace, the bonds.
But at this point.
'Fuck fate'
Annette better than anyone knew fate had no hand in this.
That is why it hurt her more than anyone.
The least she wanted everyone to do was stand together. And the more she thought about it, the more pissed off she got about it.
She had wanted to rip Braham apart for a long time but Raven and Gilbert had protected him too much.
Of course, she knew how much of an asset he was. But she also knew that men that think only of themselves, like Braham does, only end up being disgusting rats.
She breathed in a great deal of air, and slowly breathed out.
The desolate state of the outskirts pushed her to the edge of her anger but she needed to keep her cool.
She was wise enough to lecture herself that much.
She closed her eyes to do her breathing exercise and looked at the guys in front of her.
Her eyes were strong, she didn't need an extra effort to make them almost want to pee their pants.
"I will say this only once. We were comrades at a time. I have no bone to pick with you, but I don't have to kill you. You have another chance to choose your side. Many don't often get a chance like this."
Her eyes narrowed seriously at them.
"Do you really think what Braham is doing is right? He betrayed us, all of us, what makes you think such a man values your loyalty."
The guards stood in front of her, despite the fear that made them want to fold, they met her eyes with unstable but commendable determination in their eyes.
One of them finally spoke,
"Since the day we became his party members, we swore loyalty against all odds, and we believe he works in the best interest of the party. He calls us family, if you think young master Braham betrayed you all. Then we betrayed you all."
Immediately he stopped talking—not a second late—his head was aggressively squashed by the air itself, leaving the sight of a grotesque horror to behold.
Ellis almost vomited and quickly turned away as the two bodies fell lifelessly to the ground.
Annette took a glance at the lady beside her, confirming with her expression if she had any problem about it.
Immediately she got her answer and proceeded to the front.
She stopped in front of the gate and looked up then sucked her teeth.
"Dang, I've always loved this Gate…" She muttered to herself.
Then stepped back a couple of steps, clenched her fist so tightly and pulled it back, feeling raw power course through every fiber of her muscle.
Veins ran across her forearm as she strengthened them incredibly.
And then she lunged forward and blew her devastating blow.
One that resounded through the night and made the earth tremble.
Following that, however, was a decorum so perfect that anyone would have been jilted into thinking nothing worked.
The next second however…
The gate began to creak. What started as creaking began to shake heavily.
Suddenly, Jeci grabbed Ellis by the collar and flew back.
Just as she did, the gate shattered into smithereens of metal shards flying everywhere and destroying what was left of the structures in the outskirts.
As if that was not enough of a destruction, the walls slowly began to crumble—proof of how long both sentinels have resiliently held each other through the tough decades.
Annette stood dauntless despite the gate's last tantrum before its demise, narrowly closed her eyes and punched away the shards that came her way.
Then she had to close her eyes and look the other way when the wall collapsed, covering everything with its dust and rocks.
It was getting deeper into the night already, the dust smoke only made it tougher.
She didn't take longer before she opened her eyes and managed to see through however.
When she did, she heaved a big sigh.
'Oh, fuck, I don't think Northern is here… these fuckers were expecting us'
In front of her was a troop of no less than three hundred men.
All armed with different kinds of armors and weapons but commonly armed with one thing:
A trained, disciplined and determined look on their faces.
Whatever Annette and Jeci had been facing outside there were nothing compared to these trained bunch of Sloria.
Suspended up the walls of the castle was an open balcony and on it four individuals stood.
One leaned on the terrace of the balcony, his beautiful blue eyes gracefully falling on Annette.
"Instructor Annette, long time no see. Welcome… have you come to finish this once and for all?"
Annette looked up and smiled but her smile slowly faded as she made sight of the green-haired boy.
She gritted her teeth and glared ferociously.
"Oh that son of a maggot"