Chapter 10
Hua Ren was getting frustrated. Hei Long was purposely distorting everything. He wondered, was it truly the Emperor's orders to have them killed or was Hei Long doing what he wanted?
Either way, he would not let them kill the innocent villagers.
"Everyone, soldiers of the Celestial Kingdom, I command you to drop your weapons!" He ordered.
Orders from the first General were to be obeyed. The soldiers did as they were commanded, each one throwing their weapons to the ground.
Hei Long saw this and became enraged. "You would dare take orders from a traitor?!" He shouted.
"B-But he's the Ivory Warlord." One of soldiers stammered. "He's the first General. How can he be a traitor? Besides, we saw everything. General Hua Ren only went to talk to the Chief."
"Oh really?" Hei Long said, glaring at the soldier who had spoken. He gave a sinister smile. "What a good man. You shall be rewarded for your words."
With a swing of his sword, he directly decapitated the soldier. Blood spurted as the soldier's head rolled down the ground.
"Hei Long!!!!" Hua Ren shouted, horrified. He just killed a fellow soldier.
Hei Long smirked, turning to the rest of the soldiers. "Is there anyone else who wants to defend our dear Ivory Warlord?"
The soldiers went silent.
He laughed. "As I thought. Pick up your weapons and on my command, you will kill these fucking Rebels!"
Out of fear, the soldiers picked up their weapons, pointing them at the armed villagers. It was clear that they didn't want to but they had no choice. It was either they kill the villagers or be killed by the Berserker.
"This is the end of the road for you, First General." Hei Long sneered, turning to Hua Ren, wearing a sinister smile. "I have longed to see you fall. Now, you are alone and I will relish the moment I stab your heart and watch as your life drains from your eyes."
Hua Ren knew that a fight between him and the Berserker was now inevitable but first, he had to protect and save as many villagers as he could.
"And who says that he's alone?" they heard a female voice say.
Captain Liara Fang, Hua Ren's best friend and also right hand, walked to his side, spear in hand. "I stand by the First General, Berserker." She said. "And I will not tolerate you slandering him."
"Good. Good." Hei Long laughed boisterously. "This is good. I have never liked you either. This will be a good opportunity to kill two birds with one stone."
"You do not fear the Emperor's wrath when he learns of this, Hei Long?" Hua Ren asked. "Assuming you succeed in killing me, do you think the Emperor would not investigate?"
Hei Long scoffed. "And of what need would the Emperor investigate a traitor's death? In fact, I will be rewarded for ridding him of such trash."
"I have served the Emperor and this Kingdom all my life!" Hua Ren said. "The Emperor will not believe your words!"
"Maybe not mine alone." Hei Long shrugged. "But what about the words of the 50 soldiers we brought along?"
Hua Ren gazed at the faces of the soldiers. Those he had trained, those he had fought beside, those he had mentored. Fear marred their features and they all held their heads down, evidently afraid of the Berserker.
"You do not need to fear him!" Hua Ren said to the soldiers, trying to ignite their courage. "He is but one man. I will protect you all. You know this is wrong. Fight alongside me and rid our Kingdom of his kind!"
But none of the soldiers raised their heads or moved.
Hei Long burst out laughing and Hua Ren sighed, disappointed in them all.
If they could just gather courage and fight together against Hei Long, there would be a chance to win but he knew there would be no use talking to them. From the looks of it, they had made up their minds.
He took a deep breath, calming himself as he raised his weapons. "Come at me, Hei Long. It is time I take your other eye."
Hei Long growled. He hated whenever his eye was mentioned. It was an extremely sore spot for it was no beast that took the first eye. It was Hua Ren, who had caught him trying to force himself on an omega. He was a junior officer back then and had been taught a great lesson by Hua Ren.
Since that day, he had vowed to ruin him.
Hei Long raised his sword and shouted; "ATTACK!!!!"
The soldiers charged and the fight began. Blood sprayed, limbs were severed, bodies fell to the ground and heads flew.
Hua Ren and Liara Fang fought alongside the villagers, beating the soldiers they had mingled with, ate with, laughed with. It was painful but Hua Ren knew he had to do it to protect innocent lives.
Things wouldn't have come to this if Hei Long was not bent on killing him. But then, Hei Long wanted to kill the villagers too. Could the village Chief have been right? Did the Emperor order their deaths?
If he did, then why order him to investigate? Why give him an order and secretly give Hei Long another one?
Was it all because of the Celestial weapon? Did the Emperor confide in Hei Long about the Celestial weapon and not him? He shook his head. There was no time to be thinking about such things. He would get to the bottom of the matter after killing Hei Long.
He hit a soldier on the back of the neck with the hilt of his sword, rendering the soldier unconscious. He was trying to keep the killing to a minimum.
"Pull back and leave the village!" He shouted to the villagers. "Pull back!"
Those that had the opportunity ran away but those that didn't were slayed.
"HELP!!!!" Hua Ren heard a woman scream. He turned towards the sound to see a soldier dragging a woman out of her house by her hair.
The soldier raised his sword, about to slaughter the woman when Hua Ren took a stone from the ground and flicked it with his fingers. The stone hit the soldier's hand, making him drop the sword.
Using the flash step technique, Hua Ren got to the soldier's side and with a flurry of movements, sealed his pressure points, rendering the soldier immobile. He helped the woman to her feet and urged her to leave the village.
Suddenly, he felt a strong killing intent. He turned but was heavily kicked in the chest. Blood spurted from his mouth, staining his veil as his body flew and crashed into a nearby house.