Chapter 144: A Total Surrender

Howard's shoulder burst out with blood while Ridenthol looked at his 1.8 meter tall body protecting him.

A second later, his shoulder instantly healed before Howard activated his Dream Ki to the maximum. A powerful surge of energy mixed in with the Dream Ki markings growing across his skin. He felt extremely at ease. 

"Thanks. I'll take care of this now!"

"Your welcome! Go get him!" Ridenthol wiped a tear from his eyes. "I'll be here! Fighting the Jarkales!" 

Swoosh!

Howard's strength surged to the peak of the A rank and entered into the S rank while the Ki Heart Ring on his body glowed. Because he didn't have Ki Hearts yet, normally sustaining the power of the S rank would be impossible, however, his Ki Heart Ring gave him just enough strength to fully activate Ki Resonance.

All the Ki in the air seemed to surge towards Howard while he activated King Fire Sprint with his Ki. He turned into a white blur of light that instantly appeared in front of Reslan and General Lorklan.

'Shit! This is bad! I have to take him out quickly, or he'll knock me off balance!' General Lorklan underestimated Reslan and the Four Guardians. He had strength that rivaled his own, but just less control of Ki. If Howard entered the fray and caused him to even move in the wrong direction, he could get crushed by a single blow.

In battles at the S rank, the Jarkales couldn't take nearly as much damaged as the Horned. They relied purely on their Ki to win battles.

General Lorklan dug into his heart and a massive energy emerged that sent his Ki soaring to the peak of the S rank! He activated a skill called Lost Redemption. 

Lost Redemption was a technique all generals learned that came from the original Jarkales warriors. It caused a Jarkales hand openings to rapidly absorb energy to the determent of their veins, and their organs.

It would heal in a week or two, but it was very similar to the skill Howard used. He knew that he had no choice but to get serious! Howard had somehow strength in the S rank now!

"Don't think you're the only one with skills!" Reslans' body also surged with a massive increase in strength. "Howard, hit him with all you got!"

"This is payback, you asshole!" Howard's body activated Dream Ki and also an energy hidden inside of him. The same flame he used to fight Nellon all those months ago appeared on his body and surged towards General Lorklan.

His fist started to burn from the powerful flame while he ignited it with all his might.

General Lorklan eyes widened in shock and disbelief.

'What the hell is that power? That flame seems like it can kill anything in its path?' General Lorklan stepped back to dodge and tucked his legs overhead before he spun rapidly away from the incoming silver flame.

Unfortunately, Howard activated his Dream Ki with that fused flame and appeared above him and slammed downward.

Normally, Howard would stand no chance of even touching General Lorklan, but a large ax slashed through the air above him and caused him to use his Ki to slightly dodge.

Ultiametely, Howard's hands connected, a massive force traveled into General Lorklan's back before he coughed out blood. The next moment, an ax went through the air and right towards his neck.

"I surrender!"

General Lorklan closed his eyes tightly and held out his hands. "I surrender!"

Swoosh!

Reslan instantly stopped the blade in midair before Howard smashed his foot into the back of General Lorklan's head. He kicked him so hard that his armor dented and his body curved like a crushed snake. He instantly raised his hand and prepared to finish him with his silver flame. The unnamed flame that burned his hands could take care of this monster for ever.

"Stop Howard! Look around you!" Reslan pointed to the fallen White Mist Warriors. "Tell your men to stop attacking and retreat, or we'll cut off your head."

General Lorklna looked up at Reslan and gave him a thumbs up. The next moment, a white beam of Ki shot in the air, and split in six directions.

All the men on the battlefield stopped fighting, at least as far as Reslan could tell. He took a deep breath and smiled before looking at Howard. His pale arms had been burned and his torso seemed to be beating nonstop. His veins had even turned white which made him look exceptionally scary.

"I-I can only do this once," Howard closed his hand and stopped the silver flame. "Are you sure abou this, Reslan? If he dies now, we'll lose one enemy."

"Yes, but they surprised us," Reslan pointed at the East Branch. Roughly 300 Jarkales were inches away from the Green Gate. If they got in, all the noncombatant Horned would get killed. "I'll seal off his Ki right now. Is that fair, General?"

"Hehe, I lost!" General Lorklan laughed! "Of course! Take me prisoner! I'm much more useful when I'm alive! Haha! A prisoner of the Horned. I wonder how long it will be until the other Generals here about it! I'll be the laughing stock of the Furnace."

"I-I'm out of energy," Howard fainted onto General Lorklan, and smiled one last time. "Hehe, I wonder how Monica did? I bet she looked so sexy kicking their asses."

"Sleep, Howard," Reslan caught him and reached down before cuffing the fallen General. "Now, you mind telling your men to get the fuck off our base? They can have you back in a month if you behave."

"Woohoo! We won! We actually won" Ridenthol jumped up and screamed brightly. "I can't wait for tonight! My wife is going to be so thrilled! Haha! Nice job Howard."

Ridenthol turned to the right and saw a massive explosion shoot into the air. 

'What-what's happening? Is one battlefield still full of people fighting?' He took a deep breath and rubbed the back of his head. 'So strange. Who would dare disobey their general?"

###

Monica and Priscilla took a deep breath together.

Monica's blue dress and stockings had been torn in several places while dots of blood glistened off her pale skin. She hadn't anticipated that the Jarkales would be so difficult to defeat. However, there seemed to be this one Jarkales that was much tougher than the others.

He alone had been fighting Priscilla and Monica by himself and had incapacitated Sheldon and several other students. The other Jarkales had all stopped fighting, but this one man seemed to refuse to proceed. He had monstrous yellow eyes that glowed with a fierce pride that was hard to label. He looked like a spell had taken over him, and unless he died nothing would keep him from casting blood against the yellow grains of sand.

"Janro, the General has given the signal to surrender. Just stop fighting!"

"You're my men! Attack them with all your strength! After we kill them, think of all the rewards we'll get! I'm the commander here, attack!"

Janro had a strange disposition that allowed him to climb to the peak of the Jarkales Youth. When he had been a child, his mother had been a Jarkales lower class woman that tried to woo men to stay alive. He frankly wasn't even sure if his father was General Lorklan or any of the other men she served for him to survive. 

When he had been young, he regularly trained against more powerful Authoritarians, and developed what his tribesmen called a Blood Ki Heart. It was something only the most bloodthirsty Jarkales developed. It literally was a small heart made out of Ki that was nested near his shoulders fused from the blood of those he killed at a young age.

Mixed in with that heart was Ki from Authoritarians, and other beings. Of course, it only slightly increased his strength. The real thing that made him stronger was his desire for revenge! He wanted to completely wipe the Furnace of all that looked down on him! And for some reason, this urge got compounded when he looked at Priscilla. It was like the two of them were natural enemies! She disdained him and he disdained her. Both of them had suffered in their lives in various ways, but only one of them could live!

"Monica, I'm going to need your help," Priscilla looked down at her hand, a small mass of blood was there. "I need you to make sure Sheldon doesn't die. Can you take him back to the base while I take care of him?"

"We can kill him easily together!" Monica wiped a tear off her eye. "He-he's on his last legs! Let me attack him with you!"

"He's been trying to kill Sheldon for the last five minutes, and I keep getting hurt defending that little man." Priscilla pointed at him. To say that Jenro used annoying tactics would be an understatement. When he first attacked, he'd instantly debilitated three Horned students, and then constantly made Priscilla defend them. She had two holes in her arms that hadn't healed, and a few scratches on her beautiful pale skin. Her black shirt had been dorn and hug off her shoulder revealing the tight white top underneath. With her black hair floating back, she looked extremely worried and depressed.

"No need to worry," Jenro said, raising his hands. "I'm not fighting the battle anymore, just that girl. Once me and her are finished fighting, I'll do what the general says. However, until then! Stall the other Horned!"

"But-but…" One of his soldiers responded. His blue eyes started to water in fear. "What if the General dies?"

"He won't die! Do what I say! I trained for years to be here! Let us fight!"

"I'm ready," Priscilla smiled at Monica. She put Sheldon on her back and walked away from the other Horned. The other Horned also seemed to want to stop fighting, but didn't dare approach Priscilla. "It's just me and you now, hotshot. Let's get this done."