Chapter 142: Ambush

"What do you suggest, Jerold?" General Lorklan looked out on the battle. Howard clearly was trying to lead the soldiers into a trap, but they seemed to be avoiding falling into his hands. "Should I attack soon, or wait for the A Guardian to appear?"

"I think you should attack the East Branch directly. I mean! Sorry to be so presumptive sir, but I find it a little bit odd that Horned is here. He's one of their strongest. It seems to imply they know your location!"

Jerold did a slight bow out of nervousness and pointed at Howard. A white beam of Ki split into eight strands and attacked his body from all sides, however, he seemed to be extremely elusive. Using Dream Ki, he appeared behind another soldier and sent a blazing punch into his back. The soldier slammed into the distance before Howard returned to dodging attack after attack.

Jerold noticed that Howard keeped trying to lead the Jarkales towards the mountains. There also seemed to be disturbed areas near the base of the mountain. It was clear that they had traps, and ot Jerold's knowledge, the Horned weren't terrible with technology, nor were the White Mist Warriors.

"Oh hoh, very keen observation," General Lorklan pat Jerold on the back. "I might just do that," General Lorklan got up and stretched out his fingers and gently placed down his silver helmet. He took out the ax from the back of his glittering armor and patted Jerold down on the back. "I guess I'll kill whomever I see inside the East Branch. Don't want any of these Horned coming back."

"S-sorry if my opinion isn't good enough," Jerold laughed. "I-I apologize! I just noticed something weird with those mountains! The terrain isn't suitable for you to fight a guardian. Are attacks are straight and they can use Ki Channeling!"

"I know!" General Lorklan patted Jerold on the head. "Now don't get hit with any more rocks! I'll be right back!"

General Lorklan activated all the Ki in his lower body and surged towards the East Branch. 

Howard instantly felt his Ki rushing forward and felt his heart beat faster and faster.

To his left, he noticed General Lorklan turning towards him with a smile. He sent a surge of sand flying into the air that completely blanketed his vision.

Howard couldn't let him escape! He instantly activated all of his Dream Ki and Dark Ki at the same time. Activating King Fire Sprint, he also activated the first level of the Fire King's Last Stand! His power instantly exploded to the peak of the A rank before he rushed at his maximum speed. Dozens of white beams flashed passed him before he turned into a blur.

"You're not going anywhere!" Howard turned his fist and instantly slammed with all his might into General Lorklan's face. His rage was so intense that General Lorklan almost felt stunned by the Ki Fluctuations in the air. He turned and saw Howard's fist in the air but for some reason he couldn't stop it!

'How did he get stronger so fast?' General Lorklan slightly dodged to the right before a punch skinned against the side of his face. The inertia shot him back a few feet before he bounced against the sand.

Boom!

Howard took a hit right into the back while a few Jarkales broke formation and rushed towards Howard. They ran passed the side of the sand dune and gathered all their Ki to attack. Their bodies began to glow brightly while a powerful Ki contaminated the air around them.

"Stop!" General Lorklan held out his hand. "What are you doing, idiots? Pay attention to the terrain!"

"Now!" Bermenthol's voice appeared from underneath the terrain before hundreds of swords shot through the air like beams of light. The silver edges of the blades blurred in various directions and attacked the nearby soldiers.

Four men instantly regretted their decision to chase Howard. Their heads flew into the air and crashed into the sand before a trail of blood formed behind them. A second later, the White Mist Warriors all ran out to fight the Jarkales. Hundreds of them rushed the battlefield while General Lorklan slowly clambered to his feet.

"You-you improved, but you can't do that more than once," General Lorklan smiled and pointed at the East Branch. "Why don't we have a race? I'll meet you at the East Branch. Try and stop me before a hundred our dead."

"Not so fast!" Reslan's voice shook through a mountain. He broke through the wall of a nearby mountain while the hundred Jarkales started to fight with the White Mist Warriors. Blades clashed with beams of light while the massive Reslan jumped towards General Lorklan. His massive shadow blocked the escape of General Lorklan who smiled for some reason. Compared to what he expected, the Horned's strategy was much more simple.

"So, it's you two verses me? Do you really think you can win?"

"I have to win," Howard smiled and activated his Dream Ki once again. His black hair flittered in the air while the Dream Ki markings on his body slowly spread across his torso. "You just said you want to kill my friends. Killing you will save them."

"You're naive. I defeated you in one second before. Don't think just because you hit me I will lose." General Lorklan held out his hand, and pointed to a few White Mist Warriors fighting behind him on the terrain. "The White Mist are soon going to start dropping like flies. What the hell do you think will happen once we're dead. It will be you 2 versus all of us."

"We'll just make this fast then, Howard," Reslan cracked his neck. "Now Howard attack him with all your strength! We'll finish this now!"

"You'll finish what? As far as I can tell, you're barley in the S rank." General Lorklan's body began to glow brighter and brighter while he sucked in the Ki around him.

The Jarkales, just like the Horned, had the ability to channel energy, however, the difference between how they could use it was night and day. The Jarkales sucked energy into their fists and attacked form a small point in their hands they called a Ki Opening. It was sort of like a small mouth that could be used to channel the Ki in the air. 

However, unlike the Horned, they couldn't sense frequencies, so their attacks were only made up of pure Ki. However, that didn't mean they were weak! General Lorklan was literally probably one of the strongest Jarkales in the S rank. He was an extremely formidable foe!

He immediately burst with his top speed towards Reslan and created dozens of light like snakes manifest around him. In a second, all those light beams seemed to merge into two gigantic fists that punched towards Reslan's face.

In response, Reslan also swung forward with all his might. A large explosion instantly sent out a large cloud of sand in both directions. Howard could barely remain standing while the two massive Kis clashed.