The Call of the Forces

by Yuri Ajin

  “Hmm…” Kai thought. “It’s possible... I didn’t pay attention to it... I was too focused on the mark.”

  “I see. Honestly, I wouldn’t have noticed it myself had I not observed your second attempt.”

  Kai frowned.

  “But what should I do then? I won’t be able to remake the core.”

  “Don’t worry. I think I know the solution. Thanks to your energy-controlling ability, instead of removing the Shell, you can try and block the existing one, and create yours, a thin layer with a spirit mark, on top of it.”

  “Sounds interesting,” Kai mumbled. “But how can I do that? More precisely, how can I wall off the old one?”

  “Use your Forces of Space and mix them with the protective spirit technique I taught you. I bet something like that might work.”

  “That's not very reassuring, but I’ll give it a go.” Kai nodded and focused on the last Crystal.

  Having done as Rune’Tan had advised him and preserved the artifact, he calmly continued to form a spirit mark from his memories.

  It took him two hours to fill the artifact with his knowledge related to cultivation that included stages, various resources, potions and pills, fighting styles, key aspects of Forces, and much more. He also added a part of his life story, that is, the bits between his arrival to Caltea to the Grand Tournament.

  Attention!

  You have modified the [Crystal of Knowledge: Sizzling Flame Barrier Technique].

  You have created a [Temporary Crystal of Knowledge: Information by Kai Arnhard].

  “As expected, it has some flaws,” Rune’Tan said. “Because of your tinkering, it’ll last for about forty days...”

  “It’s not that bad,” Kai replied. “The main thing is that I did what I had planned to do.”

  “By the way, I have some good news. I did find something that may be related to that tattoo you described.”

  “You did?!” Kai asked in surprise. He honestly thought that Rune’Tan would come back empty-handed. “I’m listening.”

  But before the redhead had time to tell him more, the plane shook violently, and all the soldiers instantly woke up. A bright red stripe stretched across the sky. It was an energy trail formed by huge crimson wings of a humanoid creature with scarlet hair and a long scorpion tail.

  At the next moment, everyone except for Kai and Rune’Tan heard a frightening voice in their heads.

  “I wonder if I should thank you for letting me know where the Gates are or torture you before I kill you all?!” Liu said with a grin.

  Chapter 21

  TIME TO ESCAPE

  A heavy, bloodthirsty aura filled the plane, even though its source was more than eight miles away. All the passengers, including Kai, (who didn’t hear Liu, but who did notice the insectoids attempt to invade his soul world) immediately understood who their pursuer was.

  For a few seconds, there was a heavy silence in the cabin. Turning on the radio, Diamond contacted the cockpit.

  “Full speed ahead!” he ordered. “How much longer till we reach Novosibirsk?”

  “Two hours, sir,” one of the pilots told him. “But if we accelerate, we’ll get there half an hour earlier.”

  “Fuck!” Diamond cursed. “We’ll be putting potential allies at risk...”

  “In that case, maybe—”

  “No ‘maybes’! Do everything it takes to get there as fast as possible! We must get away from this thing, otherwise... Push comes to shove, we’ll cancel the landing and continue flying. Do it!”

  “We’re on it, sir!”

  Turning off the radio, Diamond sighed heavily and leaned back in the passenger seat.

  “The fucking roach!” he exclaimed and kicked the empty seat in front of him. “Why the hell is it even alive?! We nuked the damn place! Nuked it! What did Dale and Laura sacrifice their lives for?!”

  “I’ll help,” Lily said, closing her eyes.

  Seeing her ki and Forces activate, Kai figured that she was going to speed up the plane with the help of Wind.

  “I don’t like this…” Shacks muttered. “I’m gonna go outside and check it out.”

  The archer disappeared, followed by Kai, and the two reappeared on the left wing of the plane.

  At this altitude, the atmospheric conditions were rather harsh, but it didn’t bother the two. They held to the metallic surface with the help of ki that also protected them from the wind.

  “Curiosity got the best of you, too?” Shacks asked, but Kai didn’t answer him.

  He stared at the distant bright red dot pursuing the plane and continued to frown.

  “He got stronger. But he’s now at the initial level of the Elementalist Stage. How’s that possible?” Kai asked.

  “The rushed reincarnation process and a damaged Shell. However, a soul can’t change. It’s still the soul of a Holy Lord, which he was before the reincarnation. That’s why he became stronger. He healed and reached the peak of his current strength,” Rune’Tan explained. “He must’ve used some very strong defensive technique to shield himself from the blast. I suppose that this only made his spirit wounds worse and downgraded his level from mid to initial. I haven’t told you before, but starting from the Exorcist Stage, if your soul is wounded... Well, you’ll have to take two leaps back in order to make a baby step forward.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” Kai said and nodded, looking closely at Liu, who was rapidly catching up with the plane.

  “It’s missing a hand,” Kai said, seeing the limb replaced by a copy made of blood.

  “Yeah, seems so.” Shacks nodded. His vision was just as good as Kai’s.

  The trick was that Liu’s Blood Recovery, which repeatedly restored his body even after receiving mortal wounds, had a time limit. If he didn’t heal the wound within a minute after its creation, then he could no longer fix it. So, having lost an arm and waited too long to start the regenerative process, he could no longer get it back.

  “We need to try to fix this.” Shacks smiled and took his bow from his Ring.

  Mist enveloped his hand, quickly taking the shape of a Gold-rank arrow. Nocking it, he began to pour ki into it, preparing to fire.

  A second later, he took aim and released the bowstring. Leaving behind a trail of mist, a dark-gray arrow with a shimmering green tip pierced the skies.

  It reached the target in a matter of seconds. However, Liu moved sharply to the side at the last moment, dodging the projectile.

  Or so it seemed.

  Sensing a sharp pain in his legs, the confused insectoid looked down. In the place where his leg was just a second ago, there was nothing save for a bloodied stump.

  Shacks grinned triumphantly.

  “Gotcha!”

  Kai analyzed the attack and realized just how strong Shacks had gotten. Thanks to his energy vision, he was able to see that although only one arrow was fired, several dozen of them had formed during the flight. To him, the formation looked like a large circle, the center of which was the main arrow surrounded by numerous small spheres. When Liu dodged, the force from the center instantly flowed into the sphere that was closest to the target.

  It was only after the hit that Liu sensed that there was something more to the attack than just a simple arrow.

  “Not bad,” Kai said, astonished, remembering how he was able to leave only a dent on the chitin. “You just won us a few extra minutes.”

  Despite the lack of a leg, Liu flew at a tremendous speed, faster than their plane propelled by Lily’s Wind. At this rate, he’d catch up with them in half an hour.

  “Yes, but on Saha, fights usually end with this technique. Now this cockroach knows what to expect from me...” Shacks frowned. He didn’t want to use this technique again, as its supply was limited.

  “You’re right. But there’s something you haven’t noticed...” Kai smiled. “It’s not defending himself or attacking, although it had an opportunity. And I don’t think that it’s dumb enough to underestimate us again. I think that it has to
use all his strength to fly this fast.”

  Shacks looked at Kai thoughtfully and then bowed his head.

  “You’re right...” he said, a little surprised. “But how does that help us, besides giving us a few extra minutes?”

  “That’s all we need. I have an idea, but I need you to distract it. Would you attack it again?”

  Squinting at Kai, Shacks shrugged.

  “Sure.”

  Kai sat in the lotus position and concentrated on the Forces. Shacks fired several more times, forcing Liu to dodge again and again.

  Three minutes passed. Kai finally opened his eyes. Rising, he walked over to Shacks.

  “Here, try this,” he said. “I advise you to protect your palm with something.”

  Looking down, Shacks saw an extremely unusual arrow in Kai’s hand. Its tip gleamed with a bright scarlet glow, and its shaft radiated a cool blue, since it was entirely made of ice.

  The arrow was a Gold-rank peak-quality artifact, handmade of highly pressurized energy, Forces of the Sword and Space as well as the power of the Cold Void. However, there were some drawbacks. For example, as it was the first application of an old idea, it was rather unstable. Without ki, it’d fall apart in a matter of seconds. If Kai wished to develop it properly and turn it into a technique, he’d need to spend at least six months working on it until it was ready for use. And even then, it’d be far from perfect.

  “Interesting…” Shacks grinned and put on his gloves. As soon as he took the arrow in his hands, it instantly covered them with ice.

  Pulling the bowstring as far back as he could, which required enormous strength, Shacks froze. He looked like a statue of some Greek god as he focused on his target. He didn’t want to miss this time, so he was in no hurry to shoot. But to do that, he needed to distract Liu somehow.

  A blanket of dense fog seeped from under his feet and covered the wing. Four clones emerged from the silvery mist and took their places next to the two cultivators. Their bows, although made of the same mist as them, had the stats of a high-quality, Gold-rank item.

  They aimed and fired in unison. They kept doing so until the real Shacks finally let go of the string. Shrouded in fog, so that it wouldn’t differ from the rest, the Ice Arrow, whose lifespan had already halved, whistled as it was sent flying.

  Liu didn’t have knowledge of elements of Space or Wind, so flying and dodging midair wasn’t easy for him. He had to focus almost all of his ki to maintain and control his wings, which made him unable to use other techniques and turned him into an easy target.

  The arrow pierced his chest at full speed, and a red-blue explosion thundered across the sky. The aura surrounding the plane disappeared.

  The two cultivators stared at the crimson cloud of snow dust that formed after the explosion. Eventually, however, Liu’s figure emerged from the storm.

  Kai was aware that he wouldn’t manage to kill Liu with this attack. He just wanted to slow him down. With the Cold Void’s ice settled in his veins, and body bound by the Forces of Space, his speed dropped by a considerable amount.

  “We have two, maybe three minutes,” Kai said. “That’s how long it’s gonna take for it to get rid of my influence and pick up speed. But it has lost its focus, which gives us an opportunity to hide.”

  “You never fail to amaze me, buddy!” Shacks said with a broad smile on his face. Putting his bow back into the Ring, he waved his hand, dismissing the clones.

  “When did we become friends?” Kai arched an eyebrow.

  “Oh, come on, don’t be like that! We better go back inside; I have an idea.” The archer winked at him, turned into fog, and disappeared.

  “What happened there? Why did the aura of that creature disappear?” Diamond asked as soon as the guys got back inside.

  “We managed to slow the thing down and buy us time to escape,” Shacks replied. “It’s time to get down to business.”

  “My lord, are you talking about—?”

  “That’s right,” the archer confirmed. “Get ready.”

  The rest of the passengers stared at Shacks and his teammates in silent confusion, wondering just what he was planning to do.

  With a grin, the archer took out an item that resembled a small pyramid from his Ring. Slowly spinning, it hovered above his open palm. One by one, his teammates surrounded him and began pouring ki into the item.

  [Lighthouse of Lost Dreams]

  Rank: ???

  Quality: Low

  Everyone, except for Shacks, who was the owner of the Lighthouse, saw the same description. However, it wasn’t difficult to figure out that it clearly surpassed the Royal rank.

  “Let me guess — it’s an artifact of the Belteise Empire?” Kai asked Rune’Tan.

  “That’s right. We didn’t have a lot of craftsmen capable of creating items of this level, so their style is easy to recognize.”

  And it was true. Over the past twenty thousand years, the Bright Moon Clan had tracked down and looted almost all the ruins of the fallen empire, thus gathering a large collection of rare and powerful items.

  “Orbruento!” the archer exclaimed after a few seconds, activating the artifact.

  Nobody saw or even felt anything. Nothing seemed to have changed. Only Kai, being the only one who could actually see the energy surrounding them, realized what had happened.

  The airplane disappeared. It could no longer be seen, felt, or heard. It didn’t even leave a contrail.

  It was completely invisible.

  After a few moments, Shacks turned to Kai.

  “Buddy, would you go check out what’s going on outside?” he asked. “I have to stay here and keep this thing running.”

  Sighing, Kai nodded and activated the Offset Step.

  He was back inside in less than a minute. All eyes were on him.

  “Well?” Shacks smiled.

  “That’s a nice trinket you have there,” Kai said. “But it’s still following us.”

  “Ha, ha, very funny.”

  “I’m not kidding, Shacks,” Kai replied, dead serious.

  Everyone fell silent.

  “That’s impossible...” one of Shacks’s teammates mumbled, eyes open wide. “This artifact grants complete invisibility! It affects even Holy Lords! No one weaker than that should be able to even feel its effect and the object hidden by it!”

  “Urion, calm down!” Shacks ordered coldly, then turned to Diamond. “We should try to change the course. Perhaps it’s just flying behind us blindly.”

  Diamond immediately contacted the pilots and instructed them to turn south. They did as they were told, after that Kai left to check the situation, while everyone anxiously waited for him to come back.

  Unfortunately, he didn’t return with good news — Liu was still after them. To make matters worse, he was even closer.

  “It’s really hard to believe this.” Shacks frowned, covering his face with his hand. “Its aura disappeared after we attacked it. It shouldn’t be able to see us. Even if it had left a mark on the plane, the artifact would’ve removed it...” he thought, trying to understand what was going on. “Damn it, it’s almost out of juice.”

  “How much time do we have left, and can we use the artifact again?” Kai asked.

  “Ten minutes. And yes. We can use it up to twenty minutes a day,” the archer replied. “Do you have another idea?”

  “I do. Turn it off, we’ll need it later... Diamond, tell the pilots to stay on the course. We’ll jump off. Hopefully, it’ll continue following the plane.”

  “Do you understand how big of a risk that is? If we fail to hide from it, we won’t have a chance of running away without a plane,” Shacks said.

  “I understand, but we don’t have the fuel to last us forever. And that thing looks like it could go for quite some time. Also, I’m confident in my plan, so trust me, please.”

  After a good minute of thinking, Shacks finally agreed.

  ***

  “Kai, there won’t be enough parachutes for
everyone,” Diamond said as they started to line up next to the exit door.

  “And?” Kai just smiled. “We’re not far from the ground. The only ones who may need them are your men.”

  The plane became visible again, and its passengers were preparing for evacuation. Everyone was wrapping themselves up with a special artifact rope that’d connect them with each other, and, through Shacks, with the Lighthouse.

  Shacks and his men jumped first, followed by the Union members. Kai’s group was at the back. Ivsim jumped first, followed by Elize and Lily.

  Jiang Si had just approached the exit when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw Kai, smiling. Jiang Si was about to ask what was the matter when a blade flashed in front of his eyes.

  A moment later, his head was in Kai’s hands, frozen solid by the Cold Void.

  “Night Space,” Kai whispered and hid his loot in the pocket dimension, which he then reduced to the size of a pea, and hid in the folds of his robes.

  After untying the rope from Jiang Si’s body, Kai jumped out of the plane.

  Thirty-two people abandoned the aircraft, leaving it on autopilot. The unsuspecting Liu continued after the plane, flying farther south, while its passengers successfully disappeared into the forests of Siberia.

  “I hope you understand that it’s only a matter of time before he finds the Gates,” Rune’Tan said as Kai caught up with the rest of the team. “You have to act fast and find them before him.”

  “Don’t worry, old man,” Kai answered with a smirk. “I have a plan.”

  Chapter 22

  A LEGEND

  “Thirty-one... Thirty-two...” Elize counted as they all regrouped. “Wait... Someone’s missing...” She thought for a second. “Where’s Jiang Si? Didn’t he jump with you, Kai?”

  “He’s dead,” he replied calmly.

  Ivsim, Lily, Elize, and Diamond looked at him in surprise. Members of the Union instantly tensed up. Shacks and his group stared at the raven-haired young man with blank, undecipherable expressions.