Quiet days didn't last long. In the second week after Mieko had just taken control of Angel Island and Upper Yard, a storm began to brew in the shadows.
On the sea more than a dozen li away from Upper Yard, dozens of men were racing across the White-White Sea on strange, skateboard-like tools, rapidly closing in on Upper Yard. Their clothes and appearance weren't much different from ordinary tribal natives, but their eyes carried an uncommon sharpness and resolve.
"Wyper…" one of them called softly, his voice heavy with both gravity and expectation.
"You are the descendant of the Great Warrior Kalgara. As the finest among the younger generation of our Shandian people, you must remember this: no matter how hard the road ahead is, you must reclaim Upper Yard—what should have been ours from the start!" A middle-aged man, bare-chested and dark-skinned, with wings on his back, stood on a gliding board. In a steady tone, he spoke to the young warrior beside him—also bare-chested and winged.
"Father, I understand. I will never disgrace the name of the Great Warrior Kalgara!" The young warrior had a cannon slung over his shoulder, and the ferocious tattoo on his face only made him look more imposing. While expertly controlling the gliding board under his feet at full speed, he answered with unwavering eyes.
"Uncle Wyper, this time we'll definitely beat Gan Fall's bunch and take Upper Yard back!" A shirtless young man around twenty followed close behind. Hearing that, he spoke to Wyper with brimming confidence.
"That's right. The grudges of over four hundred years—it's time to settle them once and for all. Otherwise, our descendants will forget the glory of the Great Warrior Kalgara!"
"Yeah! This time we're taking it back, no matter what!"
"The vow of over four hundred years—the vanished chime of the golden bell will ring out again!"
…
Before long, one Shandian warrior after another sprang onto Upper Yard, surging toward the depths of the forest with battle intent burning in their chests.
"What a pain in the ass, those natives." On the central high ground, Mieko was crazily kicking and striking a wooden post. He suddenly stopped, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and shook his head helplessly.
"Then I'll let you taste what despair feels like… God's Judgment!" A chill flashed through Mieko's eyes. He threw his right hand up—and the lightning surged like a dragon, shooting straight into the sky before vanishing in an instant.
"Mieko-sama, what happened?" Odin, standing by on guard, froze for a moment and hurriedly asked.
"Odin, a bunch of unwanted guests broke into the island. Take men and deal with them."
…
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…" In the dim forest, the Shandian warriors moved with agile precision, leaping between thick trunks again and again as they rapidly closed in on the central high ground deeper in the woods.
"—SHIII!!"
Without warning, a piercing, grating sound exploded through the air. In that instant, it was as if all color were ripped from the world, leaving everything washed in a ghastly white. Immediately after, an unbearably dazzling pillar of lightning slammed down from the heavens, crashing straight into the middle-aged man at the very front of the formation.
"What just happened?"
The sudden turn of events stunned everyone present, confusion flooding their faces.
"BOOM—!!!"
"AAAH—!!!"
That terrifying lightning pillar showed no mercy. It struck the defenseless middle-aged man head-on, blasting him violently into the ground. A scorched black crater over a meter wide appeared on the earth, with thin arcs of electricity still crackling and dancing inside.
"Father!!"
The tattooed man's pupils constricted sharply. He cried out in disbelief, his face twisting.
"Uncle Wyper!!"
The other Shandian warriors rushed to the crater's edge, leaning over anxiously to peer into the bottomless hole.
"How is this possible?"
"I—I think I saw a lightning pillar fall from the sky…"
"I saw it too. What the hell is going on?"
With their leader gone, the Shandian warriors instantly became like snakes that had lost their head, shouting in panic and disarray.
"Father…" Teeth clenched, the tattooed man sprawled on the ground in frantic desperation, craning toward the crater's depths as he yelled at full volume.
"—SHIII!!"
With no omen at all, another brilliant lightning pillar came crashing down—its target the tattooed man lying at the crater's edge.
"Wyper, watch out!" The blinding lightning turned everything around them a stark, washed-out white. Several Shandian warriors not far away went pale and shouted a warning.
"BOOM—!!!"
But the lightning fell far faster than sound could travel. Before their words even fully left their mouths, the dazzling pillar had already smashed into the tattooed man.
"AAAH—!!!"
Along with a shriek of agony, another scorched black crater appeared—overlapping slightly with the first.
"Damn it—what the hell is this?!"
"Did we do something wrong?!"
"Is the god punishing us?!"
"Ahhh… what sin did we commit?! Is it a sin to take back our homeland?!"
Many of them looked like they were on the verge of breaking. They clutched their heads with both hands, eyes bloodshot, staring at the two connected scorched pits—bursting into furious roars every so often.
They had come brimming with confidence, fully prepared to die for their ideals if needed. But they never, ever imagined an ending like this. They hadn't even seen the enemy's face, yet the two strongest warriors among them had been annihilated instantly by two lightning pillars from the sky. It drove them to the brink of collapse.
"Move! Surround them—don't let a single one of these invaders get away!"
Not long after, Odin arrived in a hurry with several dozen soldiers of the God's Guards, encircling the Shandian warriors tightly.
Odin lifted the great sword in his hands, his expression cold and indifferent. He barked at the group—who had already lost the will to fight—his voice like ice.
"Who are you people? How dare you trespass on Upper Yard?!"
"Trespass?" A young man's eyes burned red as he forced down his grief, glaring at Odin with rage and roaring, "We're only taking back our own native land… Upper Yard was always the homeland of our Shandian tribe! What wrong is there in reclaiming our own homeland? Why does even the heavens favor you?! I refuse to accept this—absolutely not!!"
Odin had no idea about the Shandian tribe's connection to this island. Even if there was some history, he couldn't be bothered to dig into it.
"You said even the heavens favor us?" After hearing the young man's roar, Odin's mouth curled into a smile. He pointed at the two craters and asked in a teasing, mocking tone, "You mean those two pits?"
(End of Chapter)
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