Jack stared at the soldier’s pale expression and controlled himself from exploding due to anger.

The soldier flinched back after seeing Jack gaze in fear.

“What happened there?”

“Weren’t you just pursuing the enemies, then how did this lead to your demise?”

“You are saying 1500 men just died like this?”

“I don’t knorr….know.”

“We were advancing and killing soldiers of Kinley but soon our people started to disappear one by one. We tried to locate them but all we found were scattered dead bodies of our comrades.”

“We have only heard the scream of the name Alex but we found nothing. As soon as I noticed the anomaly, I rushed here to report you.”

Jack clenched his fist tightly and gritted his teeth in anger.

How could he forget the name?

The surviving soldiers from the second defence line were scared to the point that they didn’t dare to touch weapons.

Hearing his name was enough to give them a heart attack.

Previously, they had thought of two conjectures.

Either Alex and his men escaped after destroying the route or they were hiding here and in the second case, the person who fled didn’t like Alex and wanted to stay with him here and die.

They even had thought of asking him to take their side in case he was betrayed, which was simply unforgivable for them as he was a sinner who slaughtered their fellow countrymen.

And now once again he was blocking their way.

Jack’s blood boiled for revenge as he thought about the name and spoke with a sneer”Good!”

“So, this is where that rat is hiding.”

He walked around and shouted to his men standing behind him.

“My men! Inside the dark forest, there is a sinner who killed your brothers and trampled over their corpses.”

“He didn’t even leave survivors, even though our people surrendered and begged for mercy. He is a cruel and rotten bastard who enjoys himself in another suffering.”

“Anyone that brings me his head will be released with 5000 gold coins,” Jack shouted with a vicious smile.

“We will kill him and tear him apart!” One of the soldiers shouted and followed and loud shouts spread across.

“Kill the sinner.”

“Kill the sinner!”

“Kill the sinner!”

The patriotism for their country burnt in their eyes as they glared fiercely deep inside the forest.

If only they were sane, it wouldn’t take too long for them to realise that what they were doing was worse than the other side.

Didn’t they also kill the survivors, cut the commander’s head and use the heads of the dead and showcased them as trophies?

But sometimes extreme patriotism overtakes one mind and clouds one sense which makes them unable to discern what was wrong or right turning them to walk into the path of extremist

“I want all of you to advance and kill his people before his eyes and bring me his head. We will present his head and use it as an example to showcase our strength to others who dare to raise their head against us.”

The soldier’s eyes sparkled with greed after hearing the bounty.

5000 gold coins were enough for them and their children to leave a life filled with leisure and comfort.

Overtaken by greed they didn’t care to think about the enemy’s level and his strength.

They didn’t even know the basic information, not the opponent’s strength or weakness yet they were ready to jump ahead without any precaution.

Jack after finishing his speech ordered all of them to head inside at once.

Denver, the Transcendent rank lieutenant walked beside Jack and spoke with a frown”Commander, don’t you think you are too hasty?”

“Alex and Riya had killed Legendary rank easily. Shouldn’t we take some precautions?”

“Moreover, it’s already night. Searching for them wouldn’t be easy.”

“I know!”Jack observed his advancing soldiers.

Unlike Sheldon who was at Transcendent rank, he was at Legendary rank and he also had made quite a name in his early days.

He was a retired veteran and was known for his fiery and aggressive temper but he was brought back to lead the troops due to the current situation.

“I may be hot-headed but I am not a fool.”

“It was Duke Sheldon’s careless mistake that took his life. If he had used his full force, he wouldn’t have suffered such a fate

“Moreover, only Alex and Riya are the only ones who can contest against a Legendary rank but they also have their limitations. They can’t take on a thousand by themselves.”

“From the report, I saw that Alex knew a spell of wide destruction which he combined with his swordsmanship to rampage but in this place, isn’t he restricting himself?” Jack spoke with a wide grin and ordered.

“We will disguise ourselves as common soldiers and delve further and look for an opportunity and as we find it, we will then seize the chance and kill him. But before that, we will tire him out entirely through continuous waves of soldiers.”

…..

Crackle!Crackle!Crackle

A faint crackling sound echoed as the surrounding darkness was pushed by the fire.

The soldiers continued to move through the bushy forest and reached the steep lands that were going up.

All of them carefully observed the terrain and searched as they looked around,

They first checked out the sound of the tapping of dried leaves while trying to hear the enemy’s movements.

They could perceive the eeriness around them. Although, everything around looked normal and the trees looked ordinary.

It was this normal atmosphere that was scaring the **s out of them.

The soldiers exhaled deeply as they heard the rustling sound of leaves and were suddenly alerted but even after some time nothing odd happened.

Step…Step…Step.

While the soldiers marched, he stepped on a twig which broke with a crackling sound.

His face stiffened as he heard a swishing sound and before he could turn, he was whacked by a thick log which sent him along with others flying like a rag doll.

Arghhh!

“Where did this log come from? Did someone attack us?”A soldier shouted

When the flame is shown in the darkness, the area which they couldn’t see was lit up.

They looked towards the left.

They looked towards the right.

There was nothing amiss except spotting a pair of logs leaning on the tree trunk.

The man leading them thought this was weird and moved carefully towards it to observe the logs.

As he continued ahead with his search.

Swish!

“….”

Pair of hands emerged from the darkness which warped around the necks of the soldier at the back.

They couldn’t even make any movements or scream for help. In a fleeting moment, his neck was twisted and life escaped from his life.

It made a small thud sound as it fell but the others didn’t hear it due to the tapping sound and rustling of leaves caused by a gentle breeze.

Soldiers at the back started to disappear one after another. Before they could react, a pair of dead hands grabbed and twisted their necks.

The small groans that escaped from their lips were quite faint and suppressed by other footsteps.

And unknowingly the soldiers at the front started to move towards their death without noticing anything amiss.