11 The Place I Belong

"You're leaving so soon?"

I turned my head to see my beautiful wife leaning against the wall by the open door. Rays of gentle moonlight shone through the door and windows dimly lighting the room. Here was my study.

"Yeah. The battlefield is where I belong. Take care of Green. We aren't in the clear yet. We don't want to waste Uncle's hard work."

"…Are we not telling him? You know that we can't hide it from him forever."

"I know. He has started having doubts. He'll figure it out sooner or later but now is not the time. Ayra, how's the array?"

"It has been prepared. It's going to take three days before you reach the Border."

"Thanks."

I gave Ayra nod as I faced the door intending to leave.

"Be careful."

When I reached the door, Ayra's soft voice came out.

"Mm. It's almost that time of year. If he can enter the pellet transformation stage within a month, let him enter the academy."

My eyes were set on her gentle face as moonlight graced upon her beauty. My hand slowly approached her soft cheeks to caress them with. Once our skin touched, emotions bubbled as if they were about to pop out. I opened my mouth and a gentle whisper was let out.

"I may not be coming home soon."

"Don't worry. I'll wait. It may take years, tens, hundreds even tens of thousands of years. I'll wait. If I finish up everything here, I'll be coming to stand by your side till we're withered and thin."

I looked at her eyes as our faces came closer. The tips of our noses came in contact but we didn't stop. We got even closer till our lips touched. A soft sensation filled my lips as I could feel her warmth through them. Our lips parted but our eyes met. We saw a sense of longing reflecting in them. Although reluctant, I closed my eyes as I turned away. The battlefield was where I belong. It was where I needed to be.

…

I opened my eyes to see a familiar landscape. The sky was bloody red and even the ground was dead. No vegetation was to be found within miles. As strange as it may sound, I felt something homely about this place. I breathed in familiar air invigorating my spirit. I checked my bearings before flying off to a direction.

As I approached my destination, sounds of howling and weapon clashing filled the air. The pungent smell of blood entered my nostrils as my eyes turned grave.

"I'm finally back to this hell hole."

Taking in the atmosphere, three beams of light flew heading straight at me. I narrowed my eyes and soon saw the figures stopped a few steps away and bowed.

"Commander! Welcome back."

"Status?"

"Yes! Those damnable things somehow heard that commander was away prompting them to send out their own commander dealing damage to our army. We sent our own elites to hinder him but we're still being pushed back."

"Name?"

"It's Blood Hound Ji, sir!"

"So, it's him. It seems like he doesn't care for his own life anymore. Hmph! Since he's sending himself to us, why don't we guide him to his journey? Straight to underworld! Let's go."

"Yes!"