Chương 191: Black and White (II)

The soldiers all stopped and grabbed at the flying sword. Their voices shouted out with pure feelings of motivation to defeat the monster before them. At that moment, when the voices of the soldiers and Zero merged, something unexpected happened.

Swirls of golden light from the barrier reached towards the sword and wrapped themselves tightly like a woven thread. A pair of golden wings sprouted from the hilt and decorated the sword. Bright golden light streaked through the sky and impaled itself perfectly into the Swamp Fairy's heart.

A bright light erupted from the sword's tip and out from the wings, creating a large halo effect.

Large spider cracks formed around the Swamp Fairy's skin as light escaped from it.

Boom!

Small pieces of the Swamp Fairy erupted outwards and dissipated like smoke. Cheers of the soldiers could be heard resounding around Zero.

He could feel the surrounding areas of the room becoming purified of the malice energy. The air became pure, making it easier to breathe. His body started to glow white, initiating his leveling up, but no messages appeared before him.

"Hell, yes!"

"We're alive! Thank you, Lord!"

"I can't believe this. He did it!"

"Did you see that? In one throw?"

The soldiers swarmed around him like a locust patting his back with glee.

"Thank you!"

"You're our life savior; you know that?"

"That was so cool. How were you able to do that?"

"You must be very powerful to summon such a large barrier."

The other soldiers nodded in agreement. "I'm glad that we came to you. We made the right decision."

Zero couldn't help but smile. The thanks he was getting from them were unexpected but refreshing. Even though they were his enemies at the moment, they were allies.

"I'm glad that you are here. If I ever see Russ, I'm going to kill him." An older adult with a bushy beard stepped forward. "I can't believe he threw us under the bus like that."

"Yea, that rat had the nerves to treat us like dung. Who the hell does he think he is? God?"

"Better that he falls into the depths of hell and be burned alive for it."

"Burned alive? That's too nice. Torture him till he screams out in pain. That rat thinks we are dispensable."

The other soldiers nodded in unison; Zero could feel the hatred in the older man's voice. "Now our mission is over. We can't go back to what we once were."

"What do you mean, Dave?" One of the younger men came forward, confused. "Isn't hunting down the dragon our priority?"

"No."

Zero felt relief from hearing Dave's words. He could not thank the man enough.

"We're dead."

"What are you talking about? Stop joking around."

"I'm not. We all died, and this is the afterlife."

"What!" The voices of the soldiers shouted in distraught.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Come on, Dave, this is not a time to joke. We just killed a monster."

Dave sighed. "Most of you know my words are true, and the rest just want to believe that everything is still the same. But it is not. You should know better than I that we left the physical life and cast our shells behind. Wake up! We need to move forward to what is happening now."

"But my wife!"

"No, this can't be. I'm leaving behind my girlfriend. I can't do this."

"So there is no heaven?"

"Was everything a lie?"

"Are we in hell?"

The confusion between the soldiers was high.

"Where is Valhalla?"

"Where is the paradise that we were promised?"

"Dave, how can you do this to us? You are breaking all of our beliefs."

"I did nothing!" Dave roared. "We fought, and we died. Russ abandoned us all to die under the hands of the monster. Not once did he fight. There would be no grand paradise if there were; we should've been taken to such a place."

"B-b-but this can't be."

"Accept it."

Many soldiers gasped in shock. They were all having a hard time believing what was happening.

"Our real mission has just begun."

The soldiers turned towards Dave, confused.

"That would be?"

"To make Russ pay." Dave's voice was harsh with anger. The aura around the soldiers was becoming thick and dark.

Zero could feel the unsettling energy coming from everyone. Something was screaming in his soul, telling him this was not the way to go. He had a gut feeling that all one thousand soldiers would turn into something worse if he let them continue on this path of anger and vengeance.

"Stop!"

All the soldiers faced him, confused. The thick air was still heavy around them but lessened when they heard Zero's voice.

"Is this how you want your loved ones to see you when they pass? Do you want them to see you twisted into a monster?"

Everyone cast their eyes downwards in shame. Zero's words struck home, but some felt burning anger for vengeance.

"Then what do you want us to do?" Dave was slowly morphing into a monster. His hands were becoming claw-like, and half of his face was contorting.

Zero felt the root cause of all the sudden change was Dave himself. He knew that he had to help change how Dave was thinking quickly.

"Do you want to take away our vengeance from us?"

"No. It's not like that at all."

"Then what is it."

Zero thought it over. "The path that you are going will turn you all into monsters. Look around you; see how you are changing by the second?" In all honesty, if everyone changed into a dark spirit, he would be in the middle of them. Then he would not be in a good position. Moreover, he was not sure if dark spirits were reasonable to talk with.

Dave examined his surroundings and was shocked to see that people were slowly morphing into hideous demonic looking shades. "How?"

"Let the darkness go and instead remember the time when you were all fighting for a just cause. Like how we all destroyed the Swamp Fairy."

"We? Wasn't that you?"

Zero gently smiled. "My friend, it was not just me. I had all of you backing me up." He reached out his hands towards Dave.

Dave looked down and backed at Zero. His hands slowly reached up towards Zero and grasped onto it firmly.

"Instead, think of it like this. Russ is the type to use the people around him like dirt. That means the people of the City of Diadem are in trouble. You know that Russ has his fingers wrapped around the King. Eventually, he will possibly rule from the shadows."

"That's true. Then this gives us more of a reason to kill him now."

Zero shook his head. "Leave the vengeance for now. You need to worry about taking your family out of the city and into a safe haven."

"Where would we go?"

"How are we supposed even to do that? We're dead, for crying out loud."

"I don't know, but it's possible to talk to the living."

"How to pray to tell?"

Zero thought it over. Was there a way, or was he making this all up as he went? Then it hit him. He remembers when his deceased mother came to him in his dreams to tell him that he loved him. When he woke up, he was crying. He still remembers that dream even to this day.

"Dreams."

"Dreams?"

"Yes, why not. It's worth a shot."

"So where shall we go? How are we supposed to know where safety is?"

"The Elven City of Elements. Look for the light that burns the brightest in the city. You should start now and then later. The more you push it back, the more it becomes a problem. If they fail, Russ could go back and conscript your sons or daughters."

"It seems you know more than we know." Dave's body was reverting to his human self. The dull color around the soldiers was turning more vibrant in color, giving them a new life and purpose.

"Did you hear this, men!" Dave shouted. "Our priority is to our loved ones and our family! We can not have them suffer. Till they are safe, our revenge will hold for now. This young man still has his sanity in place. Move out. Let's go home!"

The soldiers nodded agreeing with Dave, but not everyone converted over to Dave's words. So finally, Dave turned around and headed toward the direction of their home.

"We'll see you again."

"Yes, I wish you luck." Zero waved goodbye. He wondered why he had not seen any angelic beings or white spirits down from heaven to pick up the dead. Was it because they were almost turned into a demon, or was there something more that he didn't understand?

"Don't worry, a young dragon, the next time we meet, you might need our help." Dave chuckled.

Zero was staring at Dave in surprise. He did not expect Dave to find out that he was a dragon in the first place. When did he notice? Thinking over such thought, Zero wondered how much did Dave know and understand about this world but instead, he kept silent.

As Dave and the thousand groups of soldiers headed back home, Zero saw a few people left behind. These few people were having a hard time reverting back to their human form; instead, darkness was eating away at their souls.

Zero souls shook. He felt horrible despair, hatred, and anger emerging from a few soldiers. His mind was in overdrive and his instinct screamed. Something was wrong and he did not know what. Looking around, he felt the pull of dark energy pooling around a soldier.

Unconsciously a word erupted from his mouth. "A shade." He whispered. How did he know this? He did not know, but he just did.

All the essence of 'life' energy started to pull around him as the trees and plants started to wilt and die. Any longer, Zero could tell that the energy would destroy a large part of the environment.

"Ugh," A young soldier held his claw hands to his face. "I-I can't. I want to k-k-kill."

"Russ, How dare you to abandon us."

Zero could see the rapid transformation of the three soldiers left behind; it was a struggle between good and darkness, all happening at once. It was apparent in all of their body, making Zero uncomfortable. He thought he had helped turn the mind of the soldiers, but he was too naive.

"Calm down. You guys, don't let it get to you." Zero called out to the three, hoping it would reach them. "Don't you have love ones?"

"Love ones?" One of the three responded. A hint of madness was clear in his eyes. "No. No. No."

"Russ! You will pay!" One of them roared with anger, and a blast of black energy erupted outwards from his body. Like a torrent of black emotions, the human turned into shades with gleaming red eyes. Their power was brimming with hatred and anger. Zero's words couldn't get through the surge of malice that swirled around the first of the three.

Like a chain reaction, the second one also morphed into a shade. Their energy spread outwards and dampened any other remaining colors that were left. Zero felt a sudden chill down his back; these two out of three humans that turned into evil beings were powerful. He could feel the surge of energy that they were outputting. His instincts told him to run, but his mind told him to get ready to fight.

A foul dark order seeps out of their bodies. Everything that they touched, a heavy curse was set on the field. Yet, zero could tell that these curses were not standard; not a single plant bloomed and shriveled up and died.

Zero did not know what the two would do to him; instead, his hands summoned Kamori. He was glad that Kamori can be summoned over and over again. The two full converted shades bolted off into the darkness with the bent to take their revenge, while the last one was hunched over into a ball.

"L-love ones. Loved ones." The young man continually speaks over and over again in a whisper.

He was shaking hard as the darkness around him slowly swallowed him up.