Chapter 10 Clash

"So, they are resting inside the forest of Trivia?" asked Taro.

"Yes, my lord they have made a camp at its Centre, also some of their knights are spread throughout the forest and are resting on trees," said Scout

"Interesting, Resting near our territory. Hm, They want us to ambush them. But why?, If they are capable of fighting war with two kingdoms then why the need for this tactic? Why are they not directly attacking us?" said Taro.

"The only reason there could be, is they want us to leave our home ground advantage and want to fight with us in neutral territory," said Shawn one of Taro's guardians.

"That makes sense, However, he thinks he can fight two ghost kings simultaneously. Either he is too brave or too foolish. Even on a neutral venue, we will rip him apart." said Taro.

"According to the reports, he killed the King of Ether with a single strike. I think he thinks that all the ghost kings are of the same level," said Shawn.

"Hahaha, To think that I Taro would be put in the same strength bracket as that foolish king of Ether. I shall behead this fool with a single strike," said Taro. His voice as well as laughter echoed through the cave.

"Tell everyone to be ready, We won't wait until they reach the frozen land we will attack now. This condition is way better. Even if it's an ambush the war would be in a territory we are familiar with and also would be far from other ghost Kings." said Taro.

"As you command," said Shawn.

Shawn flew towards the sky, once he reached a height his voice echoed throughout the Kingdom of Taro. " Listen, subjects of Taro, the valiant ones, the enemy is at doors, the feeble humans are at the forest of Trivia. Right now as I speak they are mocking us, challenging us for a duel at a neutral venue. These fools think they would enslave us, they think they are superior enough to attack us. This mockery shall be punished so prepare yourselves, prepare your consciousness, for in this war we shall not only annihilate their nights but their very blessed land and enslave all those who looked down upon us."

With that loud howls pierced the sky, the dark clouds consumed the red moon. All that was there was strange darkness. The ghosts were angry, their greed for power was triggered, their ego was squashed, and their existence was questioned. Soon, Taro came out from the lake his very presence intimidated the land, his aura reeked of something disastrous, and his very being looked like a calamity.

The ghosts from blessed land who were at the border quickly flew towards the forest and informed Lucifer about the approaching enemy.

"Begin." Lucifer's words echoed through the forest.

The ghosts stopped their training and hid themselves inside trees. The knights closed their eyes and reinforced the dome with their light magic. With it, the strength of the dome increased. Some of them planted traps all around the forest. Everyone was nervous as well as excited.

Soon the army of Taro reached the forest of Trivia. Taro looked down from a peak and saw the dome.

"Interesting, They are strong," said Taro.

"Their defense is strong, How should we proceed?" asked Shawn.

Taro smiled and screamed " Lucifer, I Taro acknowledge your strength. Bow down and I shall let you and your people live as my subjects." his heavy voice penetrated through the dome and reached Lucifer.

"Taro, I Lucifer too recognize your strength and hence have a proposal for you."

"Proposal, What is it?" asked Taro.

"If you lose you shall become my subject, If I lose I will be your subject," said Lucifer.

"Interesting, I don't know about you humans, but we ghosts don't lose until our existence gets erased," said Taro.

"We can form a soul contract under which we can put a part of our consciousness inside a stone. Once one of us dies the other one can use the stone to subdue the consciousness."

"That's a good plan, However, the subdued consciousness would not be strong and would take time to reach its peak again. So it does not provide much incentive to me. However, if you bet the consciousness of all your knights. Then we have a deal" said Taro.

"I agree, However, you too have to put consciousness of all the ghosts inside the stone," said Lucifer/

Lucifer and Taro both did a ritual, In that ritual, they called upon the laws of the land to form a contract under which a part of their consciousness got imbibed in a stone. Naturally, if it were a tie no party would be able to take consciousness out of stone as only ghosts and humans who would lose their current consciousness would be able to get free from stone.

As soon as the ritual ended, Taro's words spread through the forest. "Don't worry, I will make you a better you. Charge."

With that, the ghosts howled and screamed and charged at the dome.

The dome which was made of light energy resisted the charge however soon as more ghosts joined, certain parts lost their grip and ghosts entered the forest. However, what welcomed them was Knights with swords and a barrage of dark energy blasts. They died as soon as they entered. However on the peak, the illusion of the dome showed that the ghosts were reaping through the knight, there were traps here and there but overall the Knights were not able to hold on.

However this changed when a ghost as soon as he entered blasted his energy core with it, the illusion came off for a second. However, that was enough for Taro to notice.

"Halt."

The ghosts suddenly stopped the mad charge. Taro had a grin he picked up his sword and charged straight at the dome. When Lucifer saw Taro charging, he too charged towards him.

"Bring down the dome, take them head-on," screamed Lucifer while charging towards Taro.

The reason he gave this command was because if Taro somehow managed to destroy the dome then it would kill their essence and would harm their souls.

Bang, both Taro and Lucifer collided. Their swords clashed like thunder crashing on land. Both had a vicious smile and with that, their fight began.