Chapter 214

King Luke observed the battlefield from within his knights camp. It was like a bloody massacre among the burning wildlife. Screams were filling the air unable to tell who's side they even came from. Time passed quickly while King Luke gave orders to his men. He was unaware of the intruders that had invaded his camp.

"Your Majesty, your tent is on fire!" A knight called out from behind.

Turning around King Luke could see the direction his tent was in. Smoke and flames could be seen burning his tent to ash. His heart began to pound as he wondered who could have done it. Who could have got inside the camp?

"Find them! Don't let the intruders escape!" King Luke shouted quickly snapping back to reality. If he did not do something they could escape his grasp.

"Yes, sir!" The knights began to scurry away to find out where the intruders had gone.

The king rushed in the direction of his tent. Closer he got to the tent the more anxious he felt. He was not sure what they might have found inside his tent before burning it. He also was unaware of what their intentions were in coming directly into the camp. It made him uneasy.

Shinngggg! CLANG!

Raising his sword quickly he blocked a sudden attack from his right. The king's eyes locking into direct eye contact with Vorbuk. Those red eyes gave him a chill down his spine. They were calm as his footsteps were silent as if he was a phantom haunting the king. He had not heard Vorbuk sneaking up on him from the shadows. If he had reacted any slower there was no guarantee he would have survived that strike.

"We meet again, your majesty." Vorbuk said while holding his black sword firmly in hand. Being formed from his own mana he felt at one with the dual bladed sword.

Vorbuk was not as skilled as the king at swordsmanship. He had practiced while fighting against the undead but his time to use the human form was limited. Most of his practice went into controlling his own mana because only in gaining better control over mana could he hope to extend his time to use this form. This meant that Vorbuk had to work extra hard to keep up with others when it came to things like wielding a weapon against the king.

"I knew it was strange I didn't see you with the prince." King Luke muttered to himself as he swung his sword at Vorbuk.

CLANG!

The weapons collided with each other once more.

"You know you wont make it out of this in the end. Why bother going through with it?" Vorbuk asked while striking at the king again and again. Their weapons repeatedly clanging against each other.

Vorbuk could feel himself getting pushed back by the king. He knew his skills were not on par with those of the king. The reason he fought was because he had finally found something worth protecting.

King Luke was not much different from himself. He also fought to protect someone important to him, his daughter. There was no going back for King Luke after he had already come so far. Deals made with Chynir could be seen as making a deal with the devil. They could not be broken so easily and he could only push forward with his part of the deal. Hoping that after his death the god would still honor the deal between them to not harm his only child.

The king was not willing to fall easily to the hands of Vorbuk or anyone else. Even if he was willing to die that did not mean he would willingly sit and wait for his death. He would fight to survive til the end.

Mrrrrrroooaarrrrr!

The call of a tiger could be heard from behind King Luke. Chase was slowly walking up to the king from behind with Daryl. Daryl had his sword at the ready as they approached.

"Your Majesty!" Some knights shouted for their king as they came running from different directions.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The king's blade continued to strike against Vorbuk's as he heard the call of his knights approaching.

CLANG! THUD!

King Luke managed to strike the dual blade out of Vorbuk's hands. The blade landing on the ground away from them. His blade pointing at Vorbuk as he stepped towards him.

"Is this all you can manage to do while trying to stop me?" King Luke asked Vorbuk seriously. It almost felt like an insult to his position as a king. After speaking he could see a smile slowly slipping onto the man's face.

"Of course not," Vorbuk whispered his answer. "I'm not a swordsman after all."

The king flinched.

Vorbuk's hands began to move as the shadows rose from the grounds. Striking out like violent spikes as they aimed for the surrounding knights. It would be impossible for him to strike everyone at once. He also did not desire that kind of needless bloodshed. Those men were only following the commands of those in power. If the ones in charge fell those in lower positions would fall out of order and become useless on their own.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Bodies began to collapse all around as the darkness struck them down one by one. Every strike was made in directions of those who looked like they held higher positions among the knights. Only slowly down after a portion of the knights had fallen. Part of the knights of lower status had began to run away in panic.

A slither of darkness wrapped around the king's neck swiftly from below his own feet. Vorbuk was using the king's own shadow to render him unable to move. The king's hand shaking until his he could no longer hold onto his sword. Dropping it to the ground with a heavy thud his hands moved to grasp onto the darkness that held him by the throat. The king was struggling to breathe.

"Vorbuk?" Daryl called out to him as he rushed over to his side. "Don't over do it."

"It's fine." Vorbuk replied while glancing over in Daryl's direction. At a time like this the man was still worrying about others. "You don't need to act like a mother in this situation."

"... What?" Daryl felt like he heard something that really bothered him. "What are you talking about?"

"... It's nothing." Vorbuk felt like if he said anything further he would only cause unneeded trouble for himself.

Daryl on the other hand froze as he pondered what he had just heard. He wanted to retort against his actions being interpreted in that way.

Vorbuk waved his hand slowly as the shadows slowly released King Luke. The king collapsing to the ground on his knees as he gasped for air. Coughing repeatedly as his throat tried to clear up from being strangled. The knights that were in the area had no idea how to react to what was happening. They could not act rashly when their king's life was in danger. If they reacted without thinking it could lead to the death of their king. Inside they felt conflicted on what choice they should make.