Chapter 73: Warrior’s Heart

The area around Dornick Port was still brightly lit, but groups of soldiers and militia began spreading out with torches, searching for any remaining enemies. Influenced by the heroic deeds of Lin Qi and Enzo, these soldiers and militia felt their blood boiling, wishing that a few Beastfolk or Black Spirit Tribe members would suddenly appear so they could have some real action.

However, the streets of the city area of Dun Er Ke were complicated, with major roads and small alleys tangled like a spider’s web. The mobilized soldiers could not block every street, and there were always small alleys left unguarded that people could slip through. This was especially true when those people had above-average strength, making these ordinary soldiers even more ineffective.

Five big men from the Black Spirit Tribe had already left the city area of Dun Er Ke. They stood on a small hill outside the city, looking down at the city with its flickering lights. They bared their chests, standing perfectly still against the cold wind and blizzard, like five ancient trees firmly rooted in the earth.

After an unknown amount of time, when a squad of Dragoons riding with torches galloped towards them, still miles away from their hill, the five big men from the Black Spirit Tribe knelt down on the ground simultaneously. They stretched their hands towards the sky and sang a song with a desolate, heroic, and wild tone. Tears streamed down their faces, and the cold wind froze the hot tears into ice crystals on their faces. Soon, a thick layer of ice covered their faces.

The cold wind howled, its shrill sound like the roar of demons from the North Sea. The men’s singing did not carry far before the wind tore it to pieces. When the song ended, the five men slowly stood up. The big man who had been stabbed in the chest muttered softly, “Howl, and the other brothers, your spirits are following us in the sky. We will take you home!”

Another big man who had been stabbed in the chest said quietly, “Home, back to our home, back to the land where our ancestors lived. There, your spirits will rest with the spirits of our ancestors. When we call upon you, we will fight together again!”

The five big men simultaneously cut their left palms. Using the blood on their right hands, they drew a strange symbol in the air in front of them that looked like a beast’s head. The bloody symbol emitted a faint light in the air, and a strange power subtly spread out around them.

Suddenly, eight very thin beams of blood-red light shot up into the sky near Dornick Port. The flickering red lights and the light from the symbol here echoed each other from afar. An ancient aura simultaneously rippled from the five warriors, as if an extremely ancient will had possessed them.

The eight thin beams of blood-red light flickered for a while and then disappeared. Sparkling points of light gathered from around the five big men, swirling around them for a moment before sinking into their bodies. The five big men cried out loudly three times, then laughed heartily towards the sky three times. After that, they turned and strode boldly into the darkness.

The squad of nearly a hundred Dragoons, ordered to block the key transportation routes, arrived at the foot of the hill. They found no trace of anyone. They casually found a place sheltered from the wind and set up a checkpoint.

The five big men had long since left this place. They strode southward, moving at their fastest speed.

Crossing the entire Western Continent, reaching the southernmost port, and boarding a ship to cross two thousand miles of ocean was the journey to their homeland. That magical and magnificent black land, which haunted everyone’s dreams, though filled with countless evils, was also home to countless heroic, loyal, passionate, and simple Black Spirit Warriors like themselves.

They left Dun Er Ke, they left Arthur, they left with clear consciences, with righteous confidence, and with complete honesty, just as they had come.

They sang songs passed down from their ancestors all the way. Although, with the passage of time, even the oldest Elder in the tribe no longer understood the exact meaning of the ancient songs, these songs continued to be sung. Just like their favorite musical instrument, the wooden drum made from the roots of old trees from the Black Spirit Continent, its clean, simple sound always echoed in their souls.

Two years ago, a group of their companions, summoned by the tribe’s Elder, had pursued a group of despicable slave hunters to the Western Continent, chasing them all the way to Dun Er Ke. Those shameless slave hunters had kidnapped the granddaughter of the First Elder of the Tribal Alliance, formed by seventy-three thousand native tribes of the Black Spirit Continent. She was the Alliance’s Saintess, who could speak from birth and possessed supreme talent in the Spirit Arts.

Twenty-three Ancestral Spirit Warriors closest to the Alliance headquarters were gathered and ordered by the Elder to pursue them.

But those slave hunters were powerful. They had been unable to defeat them all the way to Dun Er Ke. When the enemy loaded the person they needed to rescue onto a large ship, preparing to transport her to the Odin Ice Plain, everyone felt despair. A warrior’s honor did not allow failure. They had made a decision: if they could not rescue that honorable Saintess, they would all die in battle.

A turning point always comes so quickly and so strangely. Arthur encountered these powerful, simple warriors. Using the connections of the Black Tiger Family, Arthur easily swapped their Saintess out from the hands of those slave hunters.

Some of their companions escorted the Saintess back to the tribe, while the remaining ones pledged allegiance to Arthur, swearing an oath in the name of their ancestors’ souls to serve him.

But today, they had fulfilled their oath. Eight companions died in battle, and they chose to die by burning their souls and lives. They had completed their vow. They left with clear consciences, they left with honesty and openness! They needed to escort their companions’ spirits back to their homeland. They wanted their companions’ spirits to rest in the ancestral tombs.

Their companions had chosen such a noble, such an honorable death in battle. Therefore, they must escort their companions’ spirits back.

Baring their chests, turning their backs to the wind and snow, they journeyed south. Just as they had come, they would cross the continent, cross the ocean, thousands of miles away, was their homeland. There was the incredibly fertile black land that oozed oil when squeezed, countless mighty beasts, countless towering trees, and the girls they loved.

The people there were simple and honest. The people there had hearts as broad as the sky. The people there… would not scheme against each other like Arthur and his people did!

“Brothers, we are going home! Follow closely all the way, follow us home. Do not get lost on the way home!”

The big man who had been stabbed in the chest laughed heartily.

The other four big men laughed too. Get lost? How could that be? Good men born from that black land would never forget the way home, even in death!

Amid the loud laughter, the Ruby in that big man’s belt suddenly became extremely hot. A dazzling red light burned through his belt and shone out.

Before the big man could react, twelve complex Runes appeared on the Ruby. Then a red beam of light shot up into the sky.

A fierce explosion occurred. The red light flattened and burned to ashes the hills and forests within nearly two hundred meters.

The smiles of the five big men froze on their faces. Their bodies were completely annihilated in the terrifying high temperature.