Chapter 104: Open Arms

An extremely dented blue bus arrived in front of the Sixth Station.

A sandstorm had made it impossible to cross the Great North Path that they needed to make it to the Sixth Station in time. Just like most things in life, the Furnace was unpredictable. A few of the roads that had been paved by the Founders using Ki had gotten completely decimated, which made it even harder to travel along their chosen path.

It was already dawn, and the scheduled execution was supposed to have taken place. However, for some reason, Barabin hadn't decided to run out of the bus and make it to the Sixth Station in time. In fact, he even took a break, but what really pissed off Zack was how nonchalant he seemed to be.

"I can't believe you! This is your student!" Zack screamed at Barabin as he casually opened the door. "Aren't you worried about her?"

"Someone is flying towards us," Barabin sighed and crossed his arms. The next moment, a pillar burst from underneath him and he caught a man with a black cape in the sky. Looking at his face, Barabin could tell this had to be Kreal. Monica had described him down to the strand of hairs on his head.

Swoosh!

Kreal felt a jolt of energy burst through his body while Barabin caught him in his arms. He had nearly fainted from getting tossed, and couldn't help but vomit from the inertia of getting caught.

Uah!

Kreal spit down onto the ground below only to look at the two horns on Barabin's head. The small man that seemed to be only 1.5 meters tall looked like if he wished he could kill him in an instant. However, he just found him staring into his eyes.

"Is Una safe?" Barabin looked at Kreal and raised his brows. "If you killed her, I can toss you to the surface. I assure you you'll die on the way!"

"She's-it's my fault. She's running and it's my fault!"

"You live another day," Barabin lowered the pillar and tossed Kreal to the side. "Ugh, I guess you ran into Carter? I could sense his energy from 1000 kilometers away." Barabin laughed and tossed Kreal over at Monica.

He instantly seemed to wilt like a dead flower and fell onto the floor. Tears kept coming out of his eyes as he tried to manifest the courage to stand. He couldn't. Not after almost killing the girl he loved.

"Hi, I'm Zack," A hand picked up Kreal from the floor and slightly turned. A large force traveling behind it. "I think I owe you this!"

Boom!

Kreal skirted against the dirt and crashed into a boulder on the side of the road. He spit out more blood before he saw a large ice spear heading towards his face.

Closing his eyes, the ice spear cut directly into his hair. A few of his black locks fell onto the ground, his body tensed everywhere posible, before he exploded with more tears.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Kreal slammed the floor. "They-they almost made me do it! They-they were going to kill me!"

"He's pathetic," Monica pushed her brother back and shook her head. "However, she's alive because of him. You can break his arms with me later."

"Ugh!" Zack smashed the floor with his foot.

The amount of rage he felt really surpassed his expectations. He had been waiting to see Una for over a year and then she just disappeared! If he didn't get her back, he'd destroy everything! The Dark Ki inside his body had caused him nightmare after nightmare for nights on end! Seeing the man that facilitated the nightmares, he wanted to explode!

"I-I guess you're right," Zack had a few ice spears behind him that he decided not to use. "Una can kill him! When I see her again, she can cut him in half!"

"I see her," Howard said with a smile, pointing over at a woman in tatters running in the whisps of sand. She looked like a small speck in the horizon, but still brought them great joy. "However, it seems like someone is chasing her."

"Allow me," Barabin counted over 100 Aresoul soldiers, and gently stepped on his back foot.

Boom!

Barabin instantly arrived in front of Una and caught her in his arms. Hugging her with all his might, he watched the final tear fall out of her eyes. She instantly felt safe. The countless cuts on her body painted a terrifying picture of what she'd had to experience.

Even now, the Aresoul dared open more doors and unleash more attacks. Barabin's calmness seemed to fade, and an extremely terrifying anger manifested inside of him.

"I normally don't go after small fry, but you hurt my student," Barabin held out his hand and a thousand spikes seemed to surface from the earth. Instantly, all the attacks flourishing towards him seemed to get destroyed by the rising mountains of Earth Ki.

A few unlucky souls got pierced by the tips of the spikes, blood trailing out of them as they shook in disbelief.

"No-no way," One Aresoul recognized Barabin and felt his mind in tatters. "We-we were just following orders."

"And I'm following instinct," Barabin shut his hand before three men seemed to disappear into a ball of Earth. Inside of them, the three bodies completely disapepared. However, the deranged look on Barabin hadn't faded.

"You all have two minutes to run. You've all used up so much energy I could kill you with one hand!"

Barabin normally wouldn't have been able to defeat the Aresoul so easily, however, remember they'd attacked Carter with 75 percent of their strength! The few that managed to escape from him and chase after Una had been using their last bits of energy to try and waylay the escaping woman.

Unfortunately, they'd just run into another high level threat from the Horned. First, it was one of the Founders, and now the 4th Strongest Guardian was standing in their midst.

They instantly turned and bolted. A few even shitted themselves in fear of their deaths.

"And-you're safe now," Barabin gently tapped Una's head. "However, I sense three of the Founders in this area. What the hell is happening?"

"I-I missed you Barabin!" Una couldn't hold back her tears. "Thank you so much! I appreciate it so much! Ugh, I love you teacher!" She hugged him hard and kept crying harder and harder. "Ugh, how did you find me? What happened at Jarlon Valley?"

"Howard pissed off the Aresoul. There will probably be a large battle between all Four Nations in the future. No biggie," Barabin smiled and rubbed Una's brown hair back before looking into her dazzling brown eyes. "I-I brought a set of clothes for you to change into. Zack's here."

"I'll-I'll say hi to him in a few minutes," Una coughed and closed her eyes. "I feel a little faint. You mind tucking me to bed teacher?"

"Of course," Barabin watched Una collapse into his body and tossed her over his shoulder. "And now it's time to go see Carter. I'm assuming he fetched his morning water already."