Life didn't get easier, even in another world.

336 Hopeless

They did as they had planned. They had planned on attacking all seven temples of the religion. They assumed that as long as they could take down the temples, whatever the devilish holy saint wanted to do would come to a halt. That was their aim and their purpose. To stop the holy saint even if it was for a short amount of time.

To execute their plan, they laid an ambush and attacked two of the temples. One at the Stlinct Mountain range, the Temple of Rift, and another one at the central jungles, the Temple of Nature.

And as for their strategy... They were correct. The holy saint seemed to put importance on his temples... maybe he put more importance than they imagined.

“Beathan! Beathan please!”

Plopped down to the ground, a woman was shaking the body of a man who was laying on the ground, cold and unmoving.

“Beathan!”

The scarlet eyes of the woman were shaking uncontrollably, gradually getting red and teary. A hand grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back. A spear flew past where her face was just seconds ago and dig the ground.

“We have to go, Ella!” Another voice from a woman yelled at her. “Beathan’s shield won’t last against that man’s power any longer!”

Matilda pointed at the dense wall made out of thin and thick green branches and roots as she shouted to the woman who was plopped down to the ground.

.....

“Get up! You can’t waste his sacrifice like that!”

BANGGG

The sword that Matilda was wielding glowed gold before she moved her hand horizontally, parrying that attack of a swordsman and cutting a spell in half before it reached her allies.

She glanced at the man who was laying on the ground before her feet. His body had been cold since the moment he blocked the holy saint’s attack using that artifact. The bracelet has lost’ its glow, as well as the man’s eyes. Blood was oozing out of his mouth, his silky and soft long black hair was messy, and his limps were motionless.

She glanced at the scene before her eyes. She looked at the building, the temple, which was greatly damaged. Her sword slashes had left marks on the walls and signs of an intense battle were visible all around, but the temple was still there. Still standing, still not crumbled.

They couldn’t destroy the building, nor could they take down the Temple of Rift completely.

“We’ve got to flee...”

She commented through gritted teeth, holding back the rage and her grief, and clenching her sword tougher instead and pulling back her friend with her.

“We’ve got to flee...”

She repeated those words again and again while taking in the scene before her eyes. An army of soldiers was whipped from the earth, one of the generals was down after using all his power, and the others were struggling to find a way to retreat.

They managed to ambush the holy saint back when they attacked the Temple of Rift and could inflict some damage there before fleeting, but their plan wasn’t as successful this time. The holy saint was waiting for them at the temple and welcomed them with a surprise gift, an attack that they couldn’t resist no matter what. They had not seen such a thing in their lives. They never knew such a power existed.

“Huff... Huff... I... I can’t...”

This time, a man’s hoarse voice entered their ears. The man was panting heavily while blood was dripping down his nose and mouth.

“I can’t... It’s not working...”

The ring on his finger was glowing gold, as well as his eyes, but he looked helpless and pitiful despite that.

“The time... The time is not working on him!”

Alan shook his head and gasped for more air.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

Emil shouted at them as he created a transparent black and purple layer in the air. The others glanced at the portal for a moment before looking back at the battlefield, at their friend’s dead body, and at the nearing enemy, before jumping inside the portal.

. . . . .

“Beathan is dead, and Ivor... Ivor acts strangely...”

Stefan thought about his friend with the power to control the law, Ivor, who started to act strange, more like a madman, since they came back from the Temple of Rift. This was the reason why they didn’t take him to the Temple of Nature, but his situation only worsened instead of getting better.

“It’s probably another effect of the artifact...”

A gloomy, husky voice replied to him. The owner of the voice, Emil, was leaning against the back of his chair, staring blankly at the air. The others in the room were no different than him. All had grim expressions, having mixed feelings of anger and sadness.

However, they were not in a situation to vent their frustration or grief for their deceased friend. All they could do was think about how to act so that their sacrifice wouldn’t be in vain.

But what could they do when they didn’t have any choices in front of them?

Stefan leaned back on his chair as well, not saying anything anymore and just looking at the others. His eyes lingered on Matilda who was leaning on her fiance’s shoulders, shedding tears in silence, and Alan, who was staring at the air with his eyes vacant and lifeless. Stefan moved his hand to the inner pocket of his shirt and pulled out a piece of paper. A piece of paper that was neatly folded, but had blood stains on it all over. On the piece of paper, a few letters were written in neat handwriting.

From the greatest sister in the world, Selena, to her stupid little brother.

Stefan read those words, again and again, a bitter smile forming on his face the more he repeated those words in his mind.

He was the emperor. He was considered a great emperor in history before the events with the holy saint ruined everything. He was brave, strong, and smart. He was the hope of his land. Some even compared him with the great emperor, Emperor Reynold.

But now, he felt helpless. He felt weaker than a newborn baby and dumper than a mushroom. He felt so useless, so worthless. He felt like scum.

The emperor picked up a quill and a paper. He moved his trembling hand and wrote the exact thing that was in his mind. His hand was shaking, making the letter dirty and the ink splashed on the paper, but he didn’t care. He held back all of his feelings and scribed word after word.

From the stupid little brother to her sister, Selena.

Please, run away.

. . . .

“This is the place.”

Alan pointed at a distant location with his finger, before tapping the map with the same finger.

“There must be the last temple... It matches the information... the information Beathan had gathered after conversing with nature... and also the things I found out.”

In the end, they decided to come to the last location. The last temple. The place they saw was more dangerous than all of the other temples.

Because they knew that attacking the other temples would only bring about the same outcome. They knew that the holy saint knew of their plans and was prepared for them. They knew that

That was why they came to the place that was the most dangerous of all. They had a plan in mind. They couldn’t afford any more losses, so they decided to only observe the place for a while. The plan was not to act rashly and listen to the orders at any cost.

Following those orders was rather easy.

Or so they thought.

It was a rather cold evening. The sky was gradually darkening and the weather was getting more and more chilly. It was a normal evening in not a so much normal location. The few people who had been observing the possible location of the last temple for two days were idly chattering among themselves.

“I can stand shift this night.”

Alan commented nonchalantly as he sat on the branch of a tree, hidden behind some leaves.

“Didn’t you stay up the last night? It’s my turn!”

“Since when do emperors stay up the night as night shifts?”

“Since the day they participate in a battle.”

“Tsk!” Alan clicked his tongue as threw aside the remnants of the apple he was eating.

“Why would you take part in the battle anyway? Go back to your castle, sir emperor!”

“Oh?” Stefan raised an eyebrow. “You are saying that I’m not needed here?”

“Exactly, sir great emperor!”

“Pfft!”

Stefan chuckled at Alan’s words, not offended by them even the slightest. As Alan’s closest friends, these people knew that this was his way of showing his worry.

“I can take the shift tonight-”

RUMMMBLEEEE

Just as Matilda was standing up to replace Alan, a loud sound and intense rumblings of the earth caused her to stagger on her feet.

It was not just her, but also everyone else that was frozen due to the sudden sounds and shaking.

“What is that...”

Everyone looked up at the sky where Emil was pointing at. They could see a huge and bright red thunder in the sky.

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