Chapter 172 – The Cry

 “Why are you attacking the city?”

Calron roared, electric-blue lightning crackling around his fist as it neared the beast’s face.

“You will die soon anyways, so you don’t need to know.”

The robed figure spat out phlegm mixed with blood and blocked Calron’s strike with his forearms.

*crunch*

The bones in his right arm shattered, causing the figure to sink into the ground as he lay there, panting. The robed beast’s body was battered by Calron’s attacks, and he had no way of stopping or resisting the power of the strange Azure Lightning.

“If I am the one to die, then why is it you who’s lying on the ground?”

Calron asked calmly, flashes of blue lightning surging around him. He tried to hide it from the others, but the more he channeled the power of the Azure Lightning, the more chaotic his internal organs became. Combined with using the Divine Perception to negate the soul power of the Saint stage enemies, Calron did not know how much longer he could last.

“Who are you people? If you don’t want to answer my questions, then I have no use for you.”

Calron bent down to stare into the robed beast’s feline face.

The sight of the icy azure eyes in front of him elicited a shiver of terror from the fallen beast.

“My friends and the leader will destroy everyone in the city!”

The robed beast growled while clutching his broken arm.

“You mean him?”

Calron glanced sideways at where the giant figure was fighting.

The robed beast’s eyes widened in shock when he saw a blonde haired man dragging a ma.s.sive corpse by the skull towards their direction.

“Your friend is dead. It looks like I wasted my time trying to talk to you, so you can join him now.”

Calron whispered as he placed his palm on top of the beast’s heart and summoned the Azure Lightning.

The enemy twitched and screamed under the sensation of the violent lightning coursing throughout his body and incinerating his inner organs. The beast finally went still and bursts of scorching steam were expelled out through his skin.

He was dead.

“Done.”

A stoic voice sounded from behind Calron, as Avor flung the giant’s corpse next to the dead beast near him.

Seeing that the conflict was finally over, everyone rushed to Calron and began to talk to him.

“I don’t know how you did it, but I’m glad that you did.”

Linda slapped him on the back and smiled brightly with elation. If it wasn’t for Calron’s intervention, then they all would have definitely been defeated after a short while.

“Hey, Calron, what was that blue lighting that you summoned? It was so cool!”

Rain bounced next to him and eagerly asked with excitement on his face. The image of the Azure Lightning was etched firmly in everyone’s minds, and if they weren’t on the same side as Calron, then it would be a reason for all of them to be deeply afraid of the teen.

Calron was saved from not having to reply by Asra’s entrance.

“Enough! The fight is still not over. The real battle is inside the palace.”

Asra stepped up in front and clasped his hand on Calron’s shoulder while telling the group to calm down. He could tell that Calron had his own secret and right now was not the time to leisurely discuss it.

“Thank you, brother.”

He said warmly to Calron, grateful that the teen had arrived in time.

“Haha, don’t worry about it.”

Calron abashedly laughed, not used to all the attention on him.

“Most of the tower’s families and guards retreated to the palace, including the non-combatants like the princess and the younger ones. Everyone in the Saint stage or above was affected by that dark thing in the sky, so I don’t think that the situation is that great inside the palace.”

Asra started, instantly grabbing everyone’s focus. However, his words were mainly for Calron.

“Regardless of the situation, we have to go inside.”

Calron stated while looking into Asra’s eyes. Avor and Roran silently remained standing behind him, and the others nodded in agreement to Calron’s words.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way. Do you need to rest or should we leave now?”

Asra inquired, glancing at Calron’s haggard face.

“No need, I am fine. Let’s go.”

Calron brushed off the concern and simultaneously withdrew the Azure Lightning back into his elemental core. Unless absolutely necessary, he did not want to use it again.

The others all prepared themselves for yet another battle. However, instead of tired faces, everyone was filled with determination.

It was their families and friends in danger.

At Asra’s signal, everyone began to head towards the palace, running alongside each other.

“You alright, big brother?”

Roran whispered while next to Calron as they rushed ahead. Unlike the others, he knew the price that his brother had to pay for borrowing the power of the Azure Lightning.

Calron smiled at Roran and nodded in confirmation. 

“You fought the last battle, so let me fight this one until you recover.”

Roran was not fooled by Calron’s answer and stated in a serious tone.

“You will not be able to handle them, Roran.”

“Not all of them, but I can manage at least one of them.”

Roran grinned at seeing the look of confusion on Calron’s face. 

Sensing something strange about Roran’s demeanor, Calron sent his consciousness into the Blood Legacy. Soon, he realized why Roran was confident about his prowess.

Roran finally broke the seal on the ability of t.i.tan’s Fury.

“I’ll count on you then.”

Calron chuckled at the happy expression on Roran’s face. What he did not tell him was that t.i.tan’s Fury was useless if the enemy locked their soul power on Roran, thus immobilizing him completely.

*cough*

Calron abruptly coughed, covering his mouth with his hand. It was a quiet cough so no one paid much attention to it. 

Feeling something warm and wet on his hand, Calron glanced down at the hand that he used to cover his mouth.

It was blood.

………………………………………

*clink*

*katcha*

The group heard the sounds of an ongoing fight as they neared the entrance of the palace. There were five figures present in the courtyard while a dozen dead corpses surrounded them on the ground. Three of the people battling wore the same dark robes as the ones that Calron fought before, while the the other two were suited with light armor covered by an ornate robe. Both of them had a different crest printed on their chest plates.

They were the Tower Lords.

“Father!”

Someone in the group shouted and a curly blonde-haired youth sprinted towards them.

“Erten!”

Asra charged right behind the youth and the others soon followed.

“Avor, go help them.”

Calron said from the back, gauging the situation ahead and noticing the tiredness on the tower lords’ faces.

Avor nodded and swiftly vanished from the spot, reappearing right between the two parties. He stopped one of the robed figures and pushed him back. The tower lords were surprised by the stranger but let their guard down once they saw the group of teens nearing their location.

Two flaming scimitars coalesced in Erten’s hand, as the teen quickly attacked one of the robed figures who was battling his father. 

The enemies were astonished by the unexpected allies, and it showed in their disorganized movements. The three robed figures were already exhausted by their previous battle, so Avor quickly finished off the first enemy and proceeded to the next one. Erten and Asra both managed to defeat the second enemy with the help of Linda, while the last one was finished off by one of the tower lords as Avor distracted the enemy.

“Erten, where is your sister?”

The brown-haired Lord asked while panting, as he supported himself on a pillar that was next to him. Erten moved next to the Lord and looked at his father with worry.

“Big sister is at the Raizel Mansion. What happened here, father?”

Erten responded, nervously looking at the dead guards on the floor. The other teens all gathered around to listen to what happened.

“Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are here to kill the king. If not for that Deity artifact up in the sky, we would not be so helpless against them.”

The other tower lord spat, his face full of scratches and bruises. The others appeared to be stunned by this information, an uneasy atmosphere settling down.

Deity artifact? What is that?

Both Calron and Roran blankly looked at each other, not knowing the significance of it. However, it seemed that everyone else knew exactly what it was.

“These guys were the weak ones… the real enemies are the ones who are currently battling the King and the other tower lords, as they are all above the fifth rank of the Saint stage and some are even at the peak of the stage. If not for that old man from the Raizel clan, we would all be dead.”

Erten’s father spoke in a grave voice, recounting what had happened so far.

Calron’s eyes stared in the direction of the inner palace. His clan’s Patriarch was in there.

“We need to help them.”

Asra raised his voice. His big brother, uncle Kail and the Patriarch were all fighting inside, so he had to go there.

“It’s too dangerous, kid. You will not be able to fight against a Saint stage expert. Even we struggled to resist their soul power, so you will be powerless against it. Moreover, there are around twenty of those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds in there!”

The other tower Lord cautioned Asra, seeing the tenacious look on the teen’s face.

“We will go.”

Linda stepped next to Asra and stated in a firm tone. Both Rain and Harol stood on either side of Linda and Asra, conveying their intent as well.

“Give up, Resir, they’re the Raizel clan members.”

Erten’s father smiled at Asra’s group. 

“Calron?”

Asra turned around to locate the teen. It had been a while since he heard him talk.

“Yo, why are you just standing there?”

Rain yelled, seeing that Calron stood there silently with his eyes closed.

“Something’s wrong… ”

Linda whispered, feeling a tightness in her heart.

It was at that moment, that everyone heard the ear-splitting cry of a wounded bird as it screeched in agony. The torturous cry of the bird echoed in the palace, but only the Raizel clan members knew what that cry meant.

“Patriarch!”

Calron’s eyes flashed open, a seething fury enveloping his chest.