Wicked Reincarnation

Chapter 228: Counterattack

"Yano, what are we gonna do?" Mil watched how Yano paced up and down. None of them has ever seen him this conflicted.

Usually, he'd be able to dish out a decision quickly but this time Lia was involved. They all knew what this meant. Yano's brain and heart were telling him to do two different things.

Right now, Yano, Mil, Skyla, Lu and Holn and some of the mortal captains assembled in Yano's dining room. Everyone waited for Yano to come to a decision.

The light of the chandelier cast a dark shadow over Yano's face. Then finally he sat down and spoke up, "The Mortal World needs us more. Lia herself said she'd be fine."

It came to a surprise but also not. No one knew what to say until Skyla slammed her hand on the table, "Are you going to abandon Lia?"

The moment she said those words, she regretted it. She knew it wasn't easy for Yano, that Yano was the one who suffered the most under his decision.

Yano's lips twitched and as expected he got angry for the first time, "There's no other choice! I believe in Lia. The Mortal World's about to stop existing, so we gotta prevent that!"

Skyla couldn't refute. The Mortal World was indeed the priority here.

"Alright," Yano calmed down, "Let's think of a plan when we get there and checked out the situation. Let's prepare to leave."

The tension in the air was high. It wasn't easy to say anything. They all knew about the situation, they could only go along with Yano's words.

"But," then one single person rejected Yano's idea, "Isn't it more logical to fight here?"

It was the bartender.

"What?" Yano turned to the bartender and sized him up.

"There's a saying, if you want to purge evil you have to take it by its roots."

"I think you mixed it up a bit," one of the other mortals said.

"It doesn't matter," the bartender continued, "What I mean is even if we save the Mortal World now, it'll be in danger later in the future. We can save it, again and again, it'll always be the same. We've to get rid of the mastermind, I guess it's the Ghost King here. In order to save the Mortal World it's important to stop the Ghost King, only then can the Moral World be safe."

"But all the mortals," Mil spoke up.

"Yes, sacrifices need to be made," the bartender was convinced of his words, "But we can save the greater good."

The words were quite similar to what mortals would say. To the immortals, it was a surprise that the mortals who could die so easily were talking about sacrifices so lightly.

"Thinking about it, it's more logical," another mortal said, ''We already pledged our loyalty and will help. We'll die anyways so at least let's go out with a bang! Whatcha guys say?''

The present mortals looked at the 5 captains.

***

"Behind!" Noel pulled Lia with him as they ran through the palace followed by various attacks and a mob soldiers.

"Is there any other exit?"

"No. Only the entrance," if there was another way inside the palace, they wouldn't have struggled so much in the first place.

Right after Lia gave Noel his new power, they were immediately discovered. Maybe because the light that Noel emitted was far greater than in the past attracting the soldiers who were already searching for them.

"Here!" Lia dashed into a hallway but instead to go into a room, she jumped up and touched the ceiling. Noel quickly caught on and supported Lia.

Their frantic heartbeats combined couldn't drown out the imposing footsteps that drew closer.

"A bit more," Lia whispered as Noel held her up. Just when the soldiers turned around the corner, Lia and Noel disappeared.

"Check all the rooms!"

There wasn't any other exit in the palace but there were various shortcuts that led to the other floors. Right now, Lia and Noel climbed through a small shaft that ended in a room on the second floor.

They crawled through the gap in the ground and found themselves in a bedroom. It was the one Lia used to occupy in the past.

From the window, the plaza could be seen. As well as a shocking sight.

"That bastard!" Lia grit her teeth, Noel gave her a wry smile, "You curse quite a bit now."

Lia ignored him.

"Let's get out of the window," Noel continued.

"No," Lia decided on the spot, "We need to stop Min."

From the window, the plaza and the rest of the capital until the end could be seen. A place that just buzzed with an insane amount of ghosts.

Min has set all the ghosts free. Lia understood. He didn't care anymore what would happen to the Immortal World.

***

"Your highness," the assistant knelt in front of Min who sat on his throne with the cube in his hand. A golden ring graced his finger.

"Be quiet."

"Yes."

The assistant could feel the incredible force Min exuded. Min's anger was unrivalled.

Indeed, Min was furious at his assistant's blunder. Letting Lia so easily inside the palace and even failing to catch her until now, just how incompetent were his men? But there was also an upside. He could use this as an excuse to get rid of the Immortal World.

Most of the hidden families have perished and Min has gained an even stronger power now. There was no need to wait any longer. Once they were all dead, Min could gain more cores. However, there was a problem, a big problem. Min was running out of ghosts.

The ghosts that he set free in the capital wasn't enough for the whole Immortal World. On the spot, Min decided to guide the ghosts to a part of the Veil first. His fingers swiped across the cube until he looked at his assistant,

"Get Sal and barricade the capital. Don't let any immortals leave. Instead, gather them in the plaza. If you want to redeem yourself finish this in less than 15 minutes."

"Yes, your highness," the assistant bowed and left. If there weren't enough ghosts, then Min just had to create a new ones. Min rose from the throne and walked out, preparing himself.

Less than 15 minutes later all immortals assembled in the plaza. In fact, there were too many to fit, so they were all squished together. Min was satisfied at zhis sight.

"Good job," he told his assistant and Sal, the new captain with flower petals in his eyes, who landed next to Min's side.

"Thank you, your highness," both bowed.

"Get someone, no, get everyone who has the fire attribute immediately here."

"Yes," then they left to fulfil Min's order. Min's eyes swept across the mass of immortals as he stood on the balcony and spoke to them, "Everyone."

The anxious and scared immortals were instantly relieved and reassured at the sight of the Ghost King. Some even cheered.

"Dark times continue to befall us. It seems like more people want to harm us. Everyone, do you want to be of help?"

Min's solemn and deep voice of great magnitude caused the crowd to be deeply impressed, they instantly cheered, "Yes! Of course!"

"Then, thank you," Min held up his hands, "Your sacrifices will be forever remembered during the destruction of this world."

Wait for what? The immortals stared at each other. Sacrifices? Destruction?

What was their Ghost King talking about? Yet it was too late to even realise. With a sweep of his hand, several immortals started to fall to the ground, their bodies violently shook and foam spit out of their mouths.

Then the next thing that happened caused an even greater uproar. The immortals who stood next to the victims, saw ghosts emerging from the dead bodies of them. Mass panic was instantly triggered. They understood. The Ghost King was trying to turn them into ghosts.

"R-Run!" all the immortals tried to escape the plaza but the soldiers surrounding it made it impossible.

"Free us!"

"Ghost king, why are you doing this?"

"Help! Anyone!"

"Get away!"

The immortals started to fight against the soldier but as they were powerless, they turned to harm one another.

"Everyone, there's no need to react like this. You should be honoured to give up your life for a good cause," Min indifferently watched the crowd as he waved his hand. Again and again, until all the bodies fell to the ground and only ghosts swirled around.

Taking out the cube from his robe, Min ordered the ghosts to rush to the other parts of the Immortal World.

"Your highness," Sal and the assistant came back, "We've brought them."

"Well tell them to burn all the corpses," Min didn't look up from his cube.

"Yes."

Not even as a burning fire erupted before him. As long as there were corpses, Lia could evenly, no maybe even manage to topple Min.

The bitter aftertaste of Lia almost getting him during the broadcast was still violently swirling in his mouth. That stupid, nave girl actually possessed the qualification to become the Immortal King. It wasn't right to Min.

As the blazing heat burnt everything to a crisp, Min spoke up, "I need more. Sal, come with me to the next city."

Sal wordlessly nodded. Once Min extracted the souls out of everyone in the next city and turned them to ghosts, it'd be enough to cause the downfall of the whole Immortal World.

The sizzling of the fire slowly died down as Min was ready to head back but then found himself falling off the balcony through the air until the hard impact of the ground clashed with his back.

"You!" Min roared as he fixated his gaze on Lia who fell with him. This eyesore was trying to ruin his plan again.

"Noel!"

Min watched as another male jumped from the balcony and rushed towards the soldiers in the plaza.

Min threw Lia off him and mocked her as she pulled out a knife, "Without corpses you are nothing, why are you still trying to stop me? Only with him?" Min stared at Noel who started to fight the soldiers.

"You'll be surprised how many people want you gone."

"Oh," Min looked like he heard something amusing.

But this time, Lia wouldn't falter in front of Min. She wouldn't be afraid nor lower herself before him anymore. She has made up her mind.

Lia and Noel were ready to stop Min once and for all. Seeing what Min did to the crowd, Lia felt nothing because after all, all these people hated her as much as Min did. However, she still knew it was wrong. Then, seeing how Min burnt all of their corpses, Lia knew he wasn't going to give her any chances.

It was ok. All Lia needed to do right now was to prevent Min from going to the other city, and draw out as much time as possible until Yano and the others arrived.

It was a fortunate thing that all the captains were in the Mortal World currently.

However, Lia was wrong. There were, in fact, two captains currently present in the plaza.