Chapter 18 Battle

The city of Ether was imprisoned inside a dark barrier. After research, the ghosts of Lucifer's army found that the barrier was an old barrier created to protect the city. However, it also had a flaw which was once it was activated it wouldn't go down and the conscious form that was inside it would not be able to go out. After some time, they also found that the spies of Frozen Land activated the barrier with ease. That means they knew about it beforehand also the barrier would remain active for at least a week.

Inside the chambers of the City of Ether, Lucifer had a grim expression. Taro, Shawn and Karl too were there. The atmosphere was tense, everyone was trying to make sense of what just happened. They were trying to find the truth by forming various theories.

"I think King Snow will win the battle. After that he would absorb King Sword and then breakthrough to level 12," said Shawn.

"The question here is not what he would do, But why he did that?" said Lucifer.

Instead of attacking a weaker opponent, King Snow attacked Sword King, it was a gamble because both were at the peak of level 11.

"Maybe, he feared an attack from King Sword after his victory over us. By attacking King Sword he had the insurance that we won't interfere due to the barrier," said Karl.

"I don't think that is the reason. As he knew about the barrier, he would have defeated us and activated the barrier. So attack from both fronts is not the reason. Also, he was cautious until Taro entered the frozen land, suddenly his personality turned into that of an aggressor. That can only happen after a crazy power boost. Something far above absorbing Taro." said Lucifer.

"I would suggest that we should use this time to get stronger. This war would take some time. If we can get rid of the barrier before it gets over we can capitalize by attacking the victor." said Taro.

His straightforward thinking was correct. The rest of them agreed to it and each of them went to train and improve. Lucifer started meditating and visualizing new techniques. Taro started consuming ghosts and tempered his will. Shawn started doing a ritual through which he could gain better power in exchange for losing his happiness. Karl started experimenting with conscious bombs.

On the other end, the army of frozen land was at the doors of the Kingdom of Sword. Snow King was on a big eagle-like ghost, he was at the center. The generals were on wolf ghosts. The reason high-ranking ghosts had a companion was to protect themselves from sudden attacks. In case of ambush, the soul of the beast would get destroyed first. The higher the level of ghost the higher the level of beast provided to them. The foot ghosts that marched by floating had no companions or summons. They were literal cannon fodder. In case of soul shortage, they would get consumed by ghosts of higher standing. Many of them did not have their own will and acted only to serve their owner.

Sword King saw the army of Frozen land. He had a smile on his face, they were in the range of destruction bombs. However, he wanted to know the full strength of frozen land before using them so he kept the ghosts from the cave on standby.

" Surrender Sword King, If you surrender I'm willing to make you my subordinate," said Snow King.

A loud laugh echoed on the battlefield, the laugh was of Sword King. "Just because you reached the peak it does not mean you're my equal. Apologize for your mistake and surrender and I will let you be my slave," said Sword King.

The reason why both Kings were insulting each other was to show their determination and confidence. The harsher the insult the more confidence you have. The logic behind that was if a King thinks that he might lose a battle then he would try to be as nice as possible with the opponent so that the opponent would not harm his kingdom after defeat. However, if a King randomly insults the opposing King means that if he loses then his Kingdom would face the ire of the winning King.

Currently, the Sword King showed more confidence by asking the Snow King to be his slave instead of a subordinate. The morale of ghosts in his camp went up due to that. Whereas in the camp of Snow King, it did not have any effect. The reason for that was the soldiers of Frozen Land knew their King they Knew he had the habit of coming out as weak and killing his enemy when their guard would be down. So they did not care about this practice.

"Arrogant, to think that you have such delusion. We shall have no mercy. Warriors of Frozen Land attack." said King Snow.

The warriors created various bombs, some had ice affinity, and some had dark energy. Soon a barrage of energy blasts got bombarded all over the Kingdom of Sword. The ghosts of the Kingdom of Swords created a dark barrier and saved the majority of the area. However, there were tons of energy blasts so some of them managed to get through.

The King of Swords vanished from the place and came in front of Snow King. There were no energy fluctuations. King Snow tried to create an ice wall however soon various shards pierced his soul from the back. His eyes became wide when he realized that King Sword was an assassin-type ghost. His essence had no presence and the same with his attacks. The body of Snow King was erased within seconds. However, soon it resurfaced a few meters away. The eagle soul on which the Snow King was travelling perished. All the ghosts of the frozen land watched that scene in horror. The companion of their King died just like that. They became angry and started sending energy blasts towards Sword King. Right, then the army of Kingdom of Sword attacked. Multiple energy blasts dropped from the sky, and Countless ghosts charged from the castle. The whole land became chaotic, with multiple attacks and battles all around.

Sword King charged towards Snow King, he closed his eyes and let out countless shards around him while charging. However, soon he felt a mighty presence before he could react Snake King entangled his soul with his soul. King Sword felt like his soul was getting suppressed his thinking slowed down. At that moment he prayed that ghosts from the cave would notice and release destruction blasts to save him.