CHAPTER 189
THE RETURN OF THE KING (3)

Hans stood in front of a lavish store, named Romero’s Radiant. He couldn’t help but mutter, “ And that man said, he has nothing to lose. All I see is a lot of shiny things to lose.”

“Who goes there?” A mage, of the seventh circle, stopped their advance in the store. He was busy pushing back the undeads till now, and when his time to take a little rest came. The guests with written intentions on their faces showed up.

“He is a seventh circle, kid,” Joshua Smith, the devildom teacher, pointed out to Hans as he scanned for any more security measures. “Listen,” Joshua addressed the mage, “we need your mana gems to secure citizens, I’d appreciate—”

“What the heck are you doing?” Hans interrupted.

“Asking for help. He’d underst—”

“Haa.. you are…do you think, he’d help us if you ask. His job is to make sure this store does not incur any mishaps either from undead or from us.”

“It's better to talk things first, kid. Violence is not the answer to your every problem.” Joshua commented, turning to the mage as he requested, “Please provide us with some resources, there are several people stuck out there.”

“Hmpf…” the mage scoffed, “Not my problem.”

“I don’t have fucking time for this, Deli,” Hans shouted, activating his most efficient spell simultaneously.

~ManaStorm~

A quick step mana storm was nothing grand and certainly was not powerful enough to send a seventh circle mage packing. However, it had a stunning effect on people with high-level powers.

Krosh art second stance: HeptaPose

From one to two, two to three.. and finally, Delimra blurred into seven figures, all slashing the mage with superficial wounds and poisoning his mana by leaving some traces of her dead mana in him.

Unable to access his mana, the Seventh Circle mage pulled a healing potion, but Hans’s quick SeedBullet broke the vial before he could drink it. “Say this to Kansas, collect this debt from King Samwell. I’ll be using this to save his citizens.”

~SonusBind~

The holey vines conjured before Hans’s stretched hand, right at the Mage’s face. “This would hurt a little,” Hans commented and the vines started spinning, generating a shrieking sound, propagating towards the beaten mage. “I agree, that violence is not the solution for every problem.” Hans commented, aiming at Joshua, adding, “But a wise man once said, it can solve most of them.”

As the mage’s ears bled, he lost consciousness, prompting Joshua to say, “Can’t believe, two kids took down a seventh circle.”

“ We should add this on our resume, Deli" Hans chuckled but his anxiousness still gripped him. He muttered the words taught to him, "A mage is not dangerous but a prepared mage is.” He pointed out several artefacts in the store, all broken by none other than him.

“When did you destroy them?” Joshua looked baffled for the first time.

“Fighting a mage in his own territory is dangerous. So the first thing you have to do is break their failsafes.” Hans commented, collecting as many as wood gems he could find. He added, as he picked the last one, “Don’t you teach that to your students?”

“Not now, at least—”

“Concordia also didn’t teach these things either,” Delimira chimed in.

“Then, I guess, it's in my blood talking.” Hans stated as he dragged a bag full of mana gems out while several of them find their new home in Hans's space bag. He looked at the sky-reaching-icy-walls, far from his position. “Just you wait. I’m coming.”

“So you robbed them, now what?” Joshua asked while Delimira and six others waited for the answer curiously.

“I have a trauma, being in command, but I’ll try once more,” Hans said as he unloaded all of his gems in the street. “Phew.” He heaved a long breath and reached deep within himself, connecting his conscious to the mana gems and drew upon their immense mana. The streets still echoed with screams and the sounds of battle, but he remained steadfast, focusing all his concentration on a colossal task, to summon his largest forest yet.

~SilvaOrtus~

The gems glowed with an ethereal light that grew brighter with each passing moment. Trees sprouted from the cobblestone streets, their roots bursting through the ground like nature reclaiming its territory. Vines crawled up the sides of buildings, turning stone structures into overgrown fortresses of greenery. Flowers blossomed in the midst of chaos, filling the air with their sweet fragrance.

The undead, which had once roamed freely, now found themselves entangled in the thicket of this newly formed forest. The once unstoppable horde was now slowed by the natural barriers and became disoriented by the rapid transformation of their surroundings. “I ain’t done yet,” Hans screamed his face showing the pulsating veins. He was overusing his brain, mixing his consciousness with every grass and tree he had summoned.

He now poured the mana stones, spreading them as wide as he could. “You’ve got an army Xandor.” He screamed, “I have it too.”

~Undying Army~

The mana stone began to weave the green around and soon turn humanoid. Each soldier was a towering figure crafted entirely from tree bark and interwoven branches, bound together by vibrant green vines. Their eye sockets emitted an eerie, ethereal green light, giving them a haunting appearance.

It was not the first time he had shown this trick, but it was the first time, it was made from highly concentrated mana stones. As Hans summoned these wooden guardians, their numbers grew rapidly, forming a formidable assembly. They stood tall and unwavering, their wooden limbs ready for action.

Though not suited for complex commands, these wooden sentinels possessed a single directive: to stall the advance of the undead horde. With a silent nod from Hans, they surged forward as a unified force, moving with a coordinated grace that defied their wooden composition.

The forest guardians clashed with the undead, their sturdy forms resisting the onslaught of skeletal warriors and rotting corpses. Branches swung with surprising agility, dealing powerful blows that shattered bones and crushed undead flesh. Green vines wrapped around the limbs of the undead, immobilizing them and rendering them helpless. They were strong, far stronger than what Hans had unleashed in the Glory Wars arena.

The citizens, initially frozen with fear, began to find their voices once more. Shouts of relief and gratitude filled the air as they witnessed their deliverance at the hands of these wooden guardians. Mothers hugged their children tightly, tears of hope streaming down their cheeks, while elderly citizens offered prayers of thanks.

With every swing of their wooden limbs, the forest guardians pushed the undead horde back, creating a precious breathing room for the beleaguered citizens. Families seized the opportunity to retreat to safety, their gratitude toward the wooden soldiers immeasurable.

“Hey!” Hans said, gasping, he was on his last straws, his stamina drained till the bottom, yet he somehow stood his ground. “Is this a picnic, go do your damn jobs.” He shouted to the Devildom people who were just awestruck by the sheer magnitude of Hans’s power.

Joshua snapped out, “What are you doing brats, save as many as you can, hurry.” He demanded and his six prodigies leapt to rescue others.

“You okay Hans?” Delimira asked in concern yet remained vigilante. She couldn't allow any surprises when Hans was totally spent.

“NO, I’m not, Deli” Hans said, gasping. But before she could respond, Joshua interjected, “Hold it for a while, kid, you are doing good. Push them in open so I can get rid of them all at once.” Joshua pointed at the ice walls, “You’ll have no one stopping you from reaching that place, please just a little longer.”

As the wooden Soldiers heard Hans’s will, they began to press inward, the undead horde found themselves increasingly confined, their movements restricted by the unyielding embrace of the living forest. The skeletal warriors thrashed and clawed at the encircling wooden barrier, but it held firm, tough to their futile struggles.

The Devildom people were also helping, flinging the undead to the cage-like structures. The circle tightened further, squeezing the lifeless creatures within as more keep adding.

After Joshua confirmed, that there was no living thing in the vicinity, he showed the attitude of an eight circle, his fiery mana engulfed him as his eyes turned bright red. Hans knew first-hand that he could only stop the horde and it was not for long, he lacked the elements to kill the undead so it was just a matter of time before they could overpower him.

So when he found Joshua and his incredible fire mana, he hatched a plan to use him to clear his path. And now, the plan was hatching. “Burn them all.” He shouted as his control over the wooden army broke.

However, A loud deafening roar, not from Joshua, but came from inside those icy walls. The shadowed sky turned purple as a huge bolt of lightning descended beneath those walls.

“Astrape.” Hans murmured, he never had the pleasure of seeing the full power of Rudolf’s ultimate skill, but he remembered his words, ‘If you ever see me using it then understand, it will be a very shitty situation.’ He looked stunned, “Grandpa -- Hurry,” he shouted at Joshua. The words of Arat rang in his mind —fate has a very tricky way of appearing, whether you like it or not. It's the hardest thing to change in the world. His nervousness fuelled as he also remembered, Rudolf’s and Sierra’s predestined death. “They must be together. No..no.. I already got the bad feeling no, no.”

“It will be fine, Hans,” Delimra patted his shoulder.

“How can you be sure,” Hans looked up, hoping for a definite answer.

“Because I have faith in them. Sir Rudolf might not show it but he is really tough and Lady Sierra, she is the strongest person I know. She will not let anyone die.” She emphasised, “Not herself either. She won’t leave you behind so get a hold yourself.” Delimira was saying, believing Sierra to be present there but none of them knew. She was fighting her own battles. Since she was the perfect adversary of Xandor's mana. the twelve captains together were holding her and everyone in Concordia back.

Delimira pointed at Joshua, “We’ll be soon there, so you have to be in top form, right?”

Hans saw the world mage completing his eight-circle spell. “Yes, you are right?” Taking long breaths, he straightened up his act, and Joshua drowned every undead into a sea of fire. “My name is Johsua Smith, we live in Deadlands. Come find me, if you need something there.” He introduced himself with a genuine smile.

Hans saw the charred path open to the icy walls. he nodded, "Hans Parv thanks you."

“Fuck No!..." Joshua startled and justified, "Thank you... The people in power left these folks to die. You see in the last moments you see the true hypocritical nature of man.”

“Wise words, but we have to part here, let's go Deli.” Hans ran, but stopped at a sudden distance. Turning he said, “Sorry about your other students. I respect his fetishes, but I’m straight.”He left baffling others and disappeared.There were long walls to scale, a mountain to climb. Hans was worried about Rudolf and Sierra. The one he was most afraid to lose.