Chapter 141: Jarkales vs Horned

"When you see the white of their eyes, they should already be dead," General Lorklan patted his lead lieutenant on the back of his shoulder pads. He had extremely focused eyes and seemed to be peering endlessly into the distance. "I'm going to be waiting here for when the Four Guardians reveal themselves. As for that small Horned boy, remember, direct all 99 of your soldiers to attack him with all their might!"

"Yes General! This battle has been an extremely long time coming. I'll delight in their blood. I think we might be lucky enough to run into the White Mist Warriors. Heh, they'll drop like flies!"

White Mist Nation and the Jarkales had battled many times, and most of the time the Jarkales won. However, there had been one time when the White Mist Warriors killed over 20 Jarkales soldiers. General Lorklan still felt rage from losing his son. He tried to hide it in his eyes, but this trip across the Open Furnace was personal.

His son had been one of the strongest warriors he'd ever raised, but when he was 15 snuck out with his platoon to try and earn meritorious credit. Unfortunately, he ran into Bermenthol and got slaughtered. Power usually lost to experience and planning. That was just the way it was.

However, he sort of saw his son in Jerold, and decided to keep him on his left side. When the battle started, the two of them would get to watch it from an intimate distance.

"We'll start attacking now," Commander Henlong said and bowed his head. "General Lorklan, however, we are getting reports only one Horned is on the other side of the field."

"That's probably that small Horned boy then." General Lorklan smiled and nodded his head. "That's fine, it will be 100 of you vs him. If you don't win, I'll be shocked. Haha, this will be great! Greatest battle of all the century! One teenager slaughtered in seconds!"

"Maybe he has a card up his sleeve," Commander Henlong said with a bow. "We'll be careful. They know this terrain around here too well for us to be too confident."

Commander Henlong summoned a Ki Movement ability called the Verdict Steps and appeared in front of his men. Many of them were young, and inexperienced. This would be their first difficult battle. Of course, there were many who had slaughtered hundreds of people, but they had yet to ever killed a Horned.

The Horned's reputation really was just too big for many of them to face. They had learned since they were children that the Horned had once dominated the Furnace because of the Demon King Earl. He smiled, and found a Jarkales named Warrestor in the bunch. He was one of the strongest Jarkales he'd seen in a long time. He specifically walked up to him and patted his arm with a smile on his face.

"Warrestor, take your platoon to the right and flank that one boy. The rest of us, attack him outright! Once you have a perfect shot, hit his neck! Sever his arteries and make sure he dies!"

"I'll do it with confidence," Warrestor bowed his head and spun his cape. Nine individuals in similarly glowing white and yellow armor disappeared into the spirals of sand. 

Commander Henlong then held up his hand.

"Jarkales 9th Platoon Attack! Shwo the general what we can do!"

###

'I'm insane," Howard slightly hopped up and down with excitement. "The White Mist Warriors need to be in close range to do damage, so all I'm doing is stalling for them to flank the enemy."

Howard had spent an hour thinking about the best way to make use of the White Mist Warriors, and another three hours building another sand dune tunnel that they could use to ambush the enemy.

Underneath them, literally, there were now 10 tunnels with 5 exits for the White Mist Warriors to attack from. If everything went well, he'd draw all the soldiers into the center of the sand dunes and they'd die.

The battlefield had 10 large sand dunes that looked like mountains towering all around him. The five hatches for the White Mist Warriors to attack from were in 5 of those mountains. They were each about 1000 meters apart from each other, and had a small narrow path in between them. The Jarkales started to appear in the distance, white beams of Ki forming in their hands as they spotted Howard.

'And… here I go! Being a moving target!" 

Howard activated his Dream Ki as 10 powerful bursts of Ki shot out of the Jarkales front platoon.

Boom!

Howard spun in the air and disappeared into the distance. 

The Jarkales attacks caused 9 large clouds of dust to appear floating in the air. A second later, beams of light began to blanket the sandy field, striking Howard as he flittered about from place to place.

The Jarkales instantly realized this had to be some type of trap, but didn't stop attacking. Howard was just too much of a tasty reward to kill! Countless beams of light shot from the Jarkales front men!

"He's clearly using Dream Ki! It will only last a few minutes at most!" Commander Henlong's body suffused a powerful beam of Ki that turned into a straight line of light. It instantly shot over 2 kilometers in a second and turned in the air towards Howard's location.

Boom!

Howard spun in the air and then rocketed towards the Jarkales. A large flame of Dark Ki appeared around his body while he held out his arms.

"Die!" Howard screamed and thrust forward a massive ball of light with all his energy. At the same time, he instantly covered over half a meter with a burst of Dream Ki. 

He could see a hundred men ducking against a ridge with shields floating over their bodies. In a second, he appeared in front of one of the soldiers. 

Though it seemed like Howard's speed had greatly increased, with his Dream Ki activated he really could move almost 1000 kilometers an hour, so it was no surprise to the Jarkales. They saw him coming and a smirk appeared on Commander Henlong's face.

"Guys split up! I'll attack him by myself! Avoid the Sand dunes! I have a feeling they're plotting something!"

"Die!" Howard appeared in front of Commander Henlong and attacked with all his might. A large flame of Dark Ki appeared around his body before he smashed forward with all his might. At the same time, the Ki Heart Ring on his body glowed which instantly charged his Dream Ki a little bit more. He could feel his heart racing, while his jet black hair shot back. His clothes spun in the wind while he attacked the armored commander with all his might.

"Speed isn't everything," Commander Henlong ducked passed Howard's attack and summoned a large white beam of light around his body. Howard's three attacks instantly crashed into those glowing white lights before he got sent flying back.

Boom!

Howard crashed into a nearby mountain while the rest of the soldiers laughed. 

"Attack him! What are you doing?"

"He's just a teenager. You can take him out yourself commander," A Jarkales soldier replied and pointed at the East Branch. "We'll leave this to you and your platoon. Heh, I see some women in the distance that need a good beating."

"Go ahead, but remember to avoid the sand dunes. Anywhere they could hide traps, you must be careful around," Commander Henlong smiled and looked back at the nine men in Jarkales armor behind him. He cracked his neck and surged his energy to the maximum. He was at the peak of the A rank! Though he might not be General Lorklan's match, he definitely should be able to handle a single Horned!

"His strength comes from his unpredictability. Don't let him get close to you. If a single one of you die, remember, your countless future wives will be without children! Do you understand!"

"Hehe, you forgot I'm using Dream Ki," Howard appeared out of the sand and twisted his arm in the air. A powerful black flame surged around his upper body while an orange flame surged around his right. "You'll be the first one I'll kill to save those I love! Now die!"

Boom!

###

Howard's hand ripped through Commander Henlong's armor and sent blood bursting into the air. 

One of the first things Howard had learned when training with Demon King Earl is always attack first with half strength! When the opponent thought you were down, then was the perfect chance to strike!

He used all his strength to send Commander Henlong flying into the distance. A large wound broke apart along with his armor as his blood painted the sand. The white of his eyes seemed to darken when he realized how stupid he'd been! How had he not remembered that Dream Ki didn't always play by the rules!

Boom!

Howard kicked Commander Henlong in the back of the throat and crushed him against the ground while spinning in the air. Nine beams of light shot towards him while he danced away from them in the air. 

Swoosh!

Howard appeared in front of another member of the platoon and swung out with all his might. At the same time, he saw a white light beginning to form in the distance.

"Get away from them!"

Boom!

Howard's body went flying back from a Ki Burst from a nearby foe. He could barely breath and felt something crushing into him as his body spun in the air and eventually crashed into a mountain.

He got up quickly and dodged a few dozen Ki blasts from the Jarkales. They snaked through the air and attacked him even as he ran around mountains.

"I'll take the lead now!" Warrestor wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Everyone, spread out as much as possible! Don't let that Horned approach and don't underestimate him! Go on top of the sand dunes and attack him with all your might! This is a stalling tactic! Try and find out why they're stalling, but at the same time don't hold back!"

"Ugh, he seems pretty reasonable," Howard wiped the blood off the side off his mouth. "Too bad we Horned will be the ones to win the battle! Just give me one second and I'll be taking your head!"