1408 Waiting For Your Return
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
The Sphinx stopped after smashing into several Underworld Monarch Frogs. The punch had left a few cracks on his face. There was no sign of blood, but the Sphinx was obviously injured.
The Sphinx roared at Mo Fan furiously from around eight kilometers away.
As Egypt’s God of Death, the Sphinx’s status was almost unmatched. It had been ages since anyone dared to challenge his authority, but this human had managed to injure him! The dignity of a Supreme Ruler was inviolable. The only way he could take revenge was by killing the human!
The Sphinx stabilized himself. He did not place any hopes on the useless army of undead. They were extremely excited when given the opportunity to slaughter the humans, and had countless ways of torturing their prey, but they were completely useless when they were up against a truly threatening existence. Their numbers were insignificant. In the end, the Sphinx still had to do the dirty job!
That being said, it was necessary to show Osiris his strength. Otherwise, Osiris might think he had started to age…
“What the hell are you roaring for? Just kill him, kill him now! Are you telling me that all of you can’t even handle a petty human!?” the Cold Prince grumbled from atop an Underworld Monarch Frog.
The Cold Prince did not expect a little Advanced Mage to possess such extraordinary power. Even his ‘god form’ was no match for the young man. He could even take on the entire army of undead!
The Cold Prince knew Mo Fan was only trying to buy some time. Lots of powerful Underworld creatures were still coming out from the Great Pyramid of Giza. However, if the people of the North Valley were evacuated to somewhere safe, it would be difficult for him to accumulate the hatred he needed to obtain more power!
The Great Wall had already bought a great deal of time for the people of the North Valley to evacuate. The Cold Prince could not allow just one Mage to stop his plan of letting the Underworld creatures take over the mundane world. If the entire army of undead was here, even multiple Demon Mo Fans would struggle to stop them!
The Sphinx turned around when he heard the annoying little fly buzzing around his ears. He stared at the Cold Prince coldly!
BANG!
The Sphinx raised his paw and slapped the Underworld Monarch Frog’s head without any mercy!
The Underworld Monarch Frog’s head exploded right away. The slap also broke most of the Cold Prince’s bones and knocked him to the ground.
The Cold Prince was already suffering from serious injuries, and releasing the deadly black smog had drained a lot of his vitality. The Sphinx’s slap left him half-dead in the ground.
“Damn it!… I am the one that brought you here from Egypt, I am the one that Summoned you to the mundane world. You should be grateful, you should be worshiping me!” the Cold Prince yelled furiously.
The Dark Pharaoh of Serpents, Scorpion Lord Medusa, and the Sphinx had not shown any hint of respect to him ever since they showed up. Only the Underworld Monarch Frogs, hauling the Great Pyramid of Giza like slaves, were willing to obey the Cold Prince’s orders. However, the Underworld Monarch Frogs could not withstand even a single blow from Mo Fan. Besides, the Underworld Monarch Frogs were extremely slow and nearly brainless. Even all the Underworld Monarch Frogs combined would still struggle to take on Demon Mo Fan!
The Sphinx successfully got rid of the noise that was bothering him after slamming the Cold Prince into the ground. He stared at Mo Fan viciously in the distance.
The more injuries that Mo Fan had, the wilder his demon blood became. He did not waste his time exchanging glances with the Sphinx. He dashed through the ravine at remarkable speed, and took the initiative to engage the Sphinx!
The Sphinx did not really hurt him much. It was Demon Mo Fan’s turn to treat the Sphinx!
Mo Fan was engulfed by several layers of flames, as if he had turned into a brilliant sun rolling through the ravine. The ferocious flames surged at the Sphinx, blasting the enormous creature back to Northguard Fortress!
The fortress had long been overrun by the army of undead, and was covered by a sea of undead now. Countless undead perished when the fight between the Sphinx and Mo Fan was relocated to the fortress. They could not live for more than a second under the overwhelming power of Ruler-level creatures…
The Underworld creatures leading the way subconsciously slowed down when they saw their leader being knocked back to the fortress. They were wondering if they should lend their leader a hand, or continue forward. Yulin City had already been evacuated. They had not found a single human there!
The Sphinx rose to his feet with an enraged expression. He let out a furious roar when he saw the army stopping.
The Underworld Executioners and the Twin-Bodied Demon Cows immediately headed for the next city!
More Underworld creatures had passed Mo Fan’s line of defense. They were completely unstoppable. The black tide of undead had devoured Yulin City in less than an hour!
The numbers of undead were just too shocking. Mo Fan was still able to stop the undead coming from the broken wall in front of Northguard Fortress, but as more segments of the wall collapsed, the undead were pouring into the North Valley like rivers from every direction. How could Mo Fan possibly stop them all on his own?
Besides, the space would clear up significantly once the undead went past Mo Fan and entered the spacious North Valley. The army of undead was unstoppable due to their numbers. Even ten Demon Mo Fans, even a hundred Demon Mo Fan would struggle to stop them all!
When the tide of undead came, even the sturdiest walls could not stop it!
—
Mo Fan’s burning eyes flickered with a sense of helplessness when he saw the army of undead flowing past him.
Mo Fan recalled Headmaster Zhu’s speech the day he became a Mage…
The numbers of demon creatures were hundreds, or even thousands of times the numbers of humans, and Mages only made up a small portion of humanity. The only way they could win with such difference in numbers was by becoming stronger. Each of them had to be strong enough to take on dozens, hundreds, or thousands of demon creatures…
How strong would he have to be to stop the army of the Great Pyramid of Giza?
How strong would he have to be so he did not have to see corpses littering the streets and tears pouring down like rain?
Did he manage to buy half a day for the people?
It felt like less than that, but hopefully, it was not too far off…
The truth was, Mo Fan had completely lost track of time. He was too busy fighting the Sphinx, the Dark Pharaoh of Serpents, and Scorpion Lord Medusa. He did not even know if half a day had passed since then…
He was feeling an overwhelming fatigue, yet his rapidly beating heart was not satisfied yet. It was still burning for more!
—
—
The white mausoleum inside the Dark Abyss…
The sky was crawling with zombies, the ground was covered in blood. Everything was ghastly and disgusting, with a rotting odor, but the white mausoleum stood as firmly as usual. There was not even the slightest trace of dust and filth on it. The millennia-old tomb might be brimming with sacred hauteur if it wasn’t for its iciness!
It was Zhang Xiaohou’s second time coming to the blood-red altar. He still remembered everything, as if it had happened only the day before. A million people were on a rocking ship being pushed around by the merciless waves. It was going to sink at any second, together with the million people aboard it…
Zhang Xiaohou trudged up the stairs. He could see his reflection on their glossy black surface. He was covered in dust, his clothes were ragged. He was clearly worn out from the journey here right after an intense battle. His swaying body might fall to the ground at any time.
He came up to the blood-red throne and looked at the empty black armor sitting on it.
The armor was hollow. Zhang Xiaohou could not feel any presence. He did not even know if the man was sitting on the throne. He might have come all the way here for nothing.
“Chief Military Instructor!” Zhang Xiaohou yelled with all his might.
The black armor did not respond. Perhaps Zhang Xiaohou had called the wrong name. Perhaps the man was no longer his Chief Military Instructor, but a king…
“Chief Military Instructor!”
Zhang Xiaohou did not care who the person was now. He didn’t know any kings. He only knew the righteous Chief Military Instructor that had taught them how to fight. Many had died when Bo City fell, but many had survived because of the man wearing an old military jacket back then.
“Chief Military Instructor, I know you are here, you are always here…” Zhang Xiaohou continued to speak. He did not care if the armor could understand him.
Zhang Xiaohou heard his voice echoing in the hall. He took a deep breath. He knew what he was doing was stupid, but he would rather believe that his Chief Military Instructor was still alive. The person inside the icy black armor was still his Chief Military Instructor!
“When I was eighteen years old, I joined the military and went from a recruit to a captain under your watch. You always called me stupid, you said that I’m not sensible enough, that I don’t know how to adapt to circumstances. You say that I’m not talented enough… I did everything you told me, I even learned most of my habits from you. When I made it to the safe zone in Bo City, I burst into tears because of how helpless I felt. I thought it was the end of the world. I completely lost my way, until I saw you and your men going after the Darkwing Wolf recklessly. You helped me to find myself, I swore that I’d become a soldier like you… I didn’t know how, so I was just imitating you…” Zhang Xiaohou wiped off the tears on his face as he was speaking.
“But, no matter how hard I was trying to imitate you, no matter how much time I was with you, I realized that I could never become someone like you. Some people are meant to take on the fight alone. It is their destiny… which is why you invited Brother Fan to join the army instead of me.
“I have to say, your judgment was spot on. Brother Fan is very impressive indeed. He’s just as courageous as you. I was trying so hard to imitate you, but I never learned the most important thing. Meanwhile, he always acted like he disdained you, he did not even consider accepting your invitation, but in the end, he’s doing the same things that you did… you always introduced me to your old friends as the best student you had, but I know that Brother Fan was the most brilliant student in your heart. He told me that the one thing he regretted the most is not telling you in person that you are the man he respected the most.”
Zhang Xiaohou stopped caring about the tears that were running down his cheeks. He approached the empty black armor, as if it did not hear a single word that Zhang Xiaohou had said.
However, Zhang Xiaohou could feel that the man was there. He could feel the man watching him!
“We’ve tried so hard to become stronger. We’ve done everything to prevent the Calamity of Bo City from happening, but when the undead army and the Great Pyramid of Giza came, we felt so helpless and tiny… Brother Fan is still fighting with everything he has, just like you, regardless of how many enemies there are, but I couldn’t do anything other than running to you…”
Zhang Xiaohou was as clueless as he was when he escaped to the safe zone in Bo City. He could only place his hope in the man before him. The man that had shown him the way back in the days.
“I know he won’t run away even if he is overrun by the creatures of the Underworld. He will fight until his last breath…”
“I beg you to save his life!”
Zhang Xiaohou knelt heavily in front of the empty armor. He slammed his head heavily onto the sturdy ground.
Zhang Xiaohou dug his head deep into the ground. He had always wanted to express his gratitude, but his Chief Military Instructor never gave him the chance to do it and say goodbye.
The black armor remained still. It did not show the slightest presence of life when Zhang Xiaohou was talking or kneeling on the ground. It felt like the man could not hear him, or he was never there, or maybe he did hear and see Zhang Xiaohou, but unfortunately, he was not Zhan Kong. The King of the Undead could not care less about the life and death of others.
The black armor remained still for a long time.
Zhang Xiaohou was already feeling a little numb from kneeling for too long. He slowly lifted his head and stared at the black armor that had sat on the throne silently for ages.
Zhang Xiaohou’s eyes flickered with a hint of despair, but he did not give up. “Chief Military Instructor, there’s an old friend of yours…
“Everyone told her that you’re already dead, but she never believed it… she said that she saw you, the day when she was freed from the ice.
“She strongly believes that you are still alive, just like us,” Zhang Xiaohou said after taking a deep breath.
“She said that she’ll be waiting for your return. Brother Fan and I are waiting for your return too… but I’m afraid it will only be me and her after today.”
Zhang Xiaohou let out a wry smile. He saluted after finishing his sentence, and dragged his weary body toward the exit…