LOGINShare
Chapter Forty-Six: Six Months Later Part One
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56Running and running, deep into the dark forest with nowhere to go. I stopped behind a redwood tree to catch a breath. Resting my back against its trunk, I breathed through my nostrils while covering my mouth with both hands. I stood still, trying to keep my ears open, but the noise of my pounding heart hampered me from hearing them coming.
Wait, they got Green Bits! Hunters! They could still track me down. Tilting my head up, beyond those star-like lights on the canopy was the sunny sky. I sighed — if only I could fly to get away.
“He’s close!” That was Brock’s voice shouting.
“Hush, he might hear you.” And that was Sven’s. The sound of their loud footsteps and rustling leaves were coming from all sides.
Tilting my head up again toward the canopy, I decided to make a daring move. My fingers dug on the bark and started climbing as fast as I could.
“There he is,” Sven exclaimed. His voice alarmed me to make a twist around the trunk, and arrows m
Related chapters
The Game of Heavens and Earth Chapter Forty-Seven: Six Months Later Part Two
As night came, we were in a secret hideout in the forest, inside a massive willow tree with its vast canopy of long leaves able to house ten people. This was the first line of defense in case of another raid. If ever a raider group tried to sneak toward the town, we would ambush them from behind. Our only light source was candles, though the double wall of black curtains around the roots dimmed their illumination. Because of that, our hideout wouldn’t get spotted by any incoming intruder. However, we couldn’t make a campfire due to its flame brightening more than candles. Therefore, the Mayflowers brought our dinner instead of cooking it ourselves. We were sitting around, doing our own leisure while waiting for something to happen through the night. I was reading some history books I borrowed from the town’s library. “Did you hear that?” I caught a strange, unfamiliar sound. We were a bit anxious, despite most of us were armed with Wilt’s conjured swords.
The Game of Heavens and Earth Chapter Forty-Eight: Raid on Rockflower Part One
“The Blood Eagles are coming,” Brock moped on his chair with his thoughts drifting away. “I know,” Wilt said while massaging his eye bags. A lot of us didn’t sleep well. We kept our watchful eyes up during the night in case of another raid coming. By dawn, everyone had an emergency meeting in the guildhall. “Maybe we should negotiate?” Mrs. Smith proposed. “Yeah, good luck with that, Mary,” the Astute Guildmaster exclaimed. “Even if we pooled our money together to bribe them, they’re still not enough.” The other leaders nodded in agreement. Abraham didn’t say a word on his throne since the start of this meeting. He had an anguished look on his face while pressing his pounding temple with his hand. Perhaps bearing the role as the new Guildmaster during this dilemma was too much for him. “The Blood Eagles are coming,” Brock mumbled. “Maybe we should surrender?” The John’s Horn Guildmaster said in defeat. “Remember the Dal
The Game of Heavens and Earth Chapter Forty-Nine: Raid on Rockflower Part Two
It was too fast. The tornado took a drop on the guildhall, tearing it to pieces, followed by a powerful squall that swept everyone within the town wall. I managed to embed my fingers against the ground and held on while my eyes closed. “Lady Marseille!” Deborah’s distinctive voice shouted. A crackling thunder was shot toward the sky. That must be Mjolnir being thrown. In an instant, the squall disappeared. Once my eyes opened, the tornado was gone, but the dark sky was still there. “Thank you, Lady Marseille,” Raja thanked in his giant form. All of my friends were clinging to him, much to my relief. I glanced around to see who was left inside the town. Aside from my friends and Raja, I found Marseille, Deborah, the two Green Bit chiefs, and several people standing around. The squall must’ve blown away most of the townspeople. Before long, Mjolnir got back to its owner. “It’s Marseille Thorkellson!” My eyes bulged. “That voice.”
The Game of Heavens and Earth Chapter Fifty: Journeying Alone Part One
“I couldn’t take it anymore.” I trembled as the fear of death kept weighing me on all fours on the ground. “I had a horrible life. I just wanted to end it all.” Everyone was frozen in gawk. None of them had anything to say. After a short yet dreary silence, Alex knelt and wrapped her arms around me. I clenched my teeth together to keep myself from screaming while tears continued to gush out. After another short silence, Katie spoke, “Zeki, is your guild’s proposal still open?” Heads turned to Zeki. He smiled. “The Boston Tea Party will welcome him with open arms.” “That’s a great idea,” Marseille sighed in relief. “As long as he’s inside the Great Blue Zone, he’ll be okay.” “Then it settled,” Wilt declared. “Sam will be leaving with you.” He then glanced at Raja. “We still have much work to be done before another raid comes.” With that said, everyone dispersed with haste. “In the meantime,” he offered me his hand to stand up, “we’ll help you p
The Game of Heavens and Earth Chapter Fifty-One: Journeying Alone Part Two
It was morning. A bright ray woke me up when it struck my eyelids. Before continuing my journey, I needed to get something to eat. Utilizing my powers and my months’ worth of experience in thriving in this dark forest, I managed to catch a few squirrels and roasted them. I kept their furs in case I could sell them at Sweet Haven. I chuckled upon remembering Alex skinned a deer in a bloody fashion, causing Katie, Brock, and Li to faint. Moments later, I gathered mints and herbs to make toothpaste that I learned from the Green Bits. It wasn’t like the ones back on Earth, but it was better than getting tooth decay. I kept moving westward, with my sense of direction to guide me. It was lunchtime. I gathered the firewood to cook all the squirrel meat. I was now all alone, surrounded by towering trees and the night-like darkness when my senses went alarmed. It came from behind. As I turned around, there was a massive horned serpent crouching several yards away. It
The Game of Heavens and Earth Chapter Fifty-Two: King Aurelius Part One
The Blood Eagle warriors brought the prisoners in the middle of the camp, all bound with ropes. They had them lined up before the dejected crowd of raiders. How funny it was that everything that happened had led me here, standing among the droves of the scummiest people around, not realizing that I wasn’t one of them. “Make way! Make way for the king!” someone cried. There he was, the one from that red chaff with the highest value. The crowd stepped back, giving way to Aurelius, the King of the Blood Eagle Guild. He had six dangerous-looking warriors flanked from both sides. Dressed like a high-class Roman, Aurelius walked in a regal gait like a king, or a Roman Emperor since he came from that era. His smug face got that vibe too, and he looked kingly handsome enough to make any Roman girl fawn all over him; that wouldn’t work on modern girls, in my opinion. The king beamed at the prisoners. Some of them were frightened, others looked defiant, and the rest ga
The Game of Heavens and Earth Chapter Fifty-Three: King Aurelius Part Two
While looking for a place to sit and eat, I noticed something odd about this camp. This place was large enough to accommodate hundreds of people here. The Blood Eagles were supposed to be over ten times the number; that included the mercenary guilds and the raiders they press-ganged. Also, there was supposed to be a fleet of seventy-two landships. Only a single one parked next to the hill-fort. Where were the rest of them? I headed toward the landship to investigate. It looked the same as the first one I saw months ago. However, after a closer look, I was bewildered to see damages on its walls, especially the diagonal slash that stretched the entire front of its keep. They were like battle scars. Something must’ve happened to this guild when they went to Everlasting End. “Hey, hoodie!” My nerves froze. I was the only person around who was wearing a hoodie coat. Did the Blood Eagles find out about me? “Hey, hoodie! Over here!” That sounded like
The Game of Heavens and Earth Chapter Fifty-Four: King Aurelius Part Three
As Cara explained, a few weeks after the Sack of Ashpile, ten mercenary guilds arrived with their landships. The loot that the Blood Eagles acquired was able to hire them all. Together with thousands of raiders press-ganged to their guild, they began their journey to Everlasting End. After passing through the Equator, they faced erratic weather, giant monstrous worms, dragons, and beyond. To my surprise, no one got recalled when they reached Everlasting End. “What’s it like?” I asked. “I don’t know,” Cara answered. “We could see a huge land at our horizon, but none of us got to step foot on it.” The pupils of her eyes started to contract. “We were only halfway until they came out of nowhere.” “What happened?” I asked again. “Is it the G8?” “I-I don’t know.” She trembled when a horrible memory of that ill-fated battle resurfaced. “W-we lost so many. We didn’t even know who attacked us. We managed to get away with only one landship left.”
Latest chapter
The Game of Heavens and Earth Chapter Eighty-Three: The Foxfire Guild Part Three
By the next day, while reinforcement would arrive at any moment, Katie had finished our flag’s design. The whole gang loved it when she showed it to us before presenting it to the Mayflowers. Katie and all the seamstresses in the hill-fort gathered together to knit our flag inside Wilt Hall. We were astonished that Katie could knit. We waited by the entrance for hours. Mrs. Smith, Hassan, Commander Raja, Miranda, and the two Green Bit chiefs arrived with a wooden pole and silver ball. “How’s it going?” Hassan asked. Before anyone could respond, Katie came out to present our flag. “What do you think?” The flag was divided diagonally from the lower hoist-side corner, with the blue upper triangle and the green lower triangle. At the center along the dividing line was the fiery silhouette of a foxfire. “Looks good,” Miranda said, and many agreed. “It is.” Commander Raja asked curiously. “What are the symbolisms on those colors?” “L
The Game of Heavens and Earth Chapter Eighty-Two: The Foxfire Guild Part Two
It was afternoon. Marseille and I were strolling around Hammerhorn, with the newly blue sky that covered the entirety of the hill. This place was littered with emptied tents. Much of the supplies and valuables that the Blood Eagles left behind were now spoils of war. It was nice that the bathhouse and bridge remained intact. While everyone was tidying up their new home, Marseille told me what happened during the battle. It turned out that she and Deborah arrived to save Mrs. Smith’s group when a Blood Eagle company finally caught them crossing the river. As veteran elites, they managed to turn the tide of battle in our favor. Once the news of Commodus’s demise had been spread, the few hundred surviving Eagles and raiders began to scatter in retreat. Marseille stated that the big shots and guilds would eventually hunt them down, along with Alvarez, Javier, and the Storm Brothers. They would never pose a threat to this world ever again. For two days, my friends
The Game of Heavens and Earth Chapter Eighty-One: The Foxfire Guild Part One
I failed! I failed! I was so close… I was about to pass out from the blood loss. My eyes were getting heavy. Once they shut, that would be my end. “I got you! I got you!” Commodus bragged. “Didn’t I tell you that you’re nothing but a bug?” His loud, boastful voice was ringing my ears, which kept me from losing consciousness. I took a glance at him. My fist was still hovering near his face. That gave me one last idea as I quickly grabbed his hand that was holding the spear, grasping tightly so that he wouldn’t escape. “I got you,” I said with a weak voice, concentrating all my super-strength toward my fist. “What do you mean…?” Commodus was no longer bemused when my fist near him shook. He then realized my intent once my thumb released the full force from my bent index finger. “No, no, NO…!” Bam! A flick on his forehead and Commodus was sent zooming down the ground, along with his spear. My scream thundered throughout the sky in excruci
The Game of Heavens and Earth Chapter Eighty: The Duel of the Wits
After I regained consciousness, I was in a different location, lying on the ground with an aching back — again. Once I returned to my feet, my senses alarmed me to duck. A halberd almost cleaved my head. A knight in red armor appeared from nowhere and prepared another swing. I slammed the ground with my heel to rock his footings before sending him flying with a punch. Two more knights, four Greek hoplites, six Chinese armored warriors, and dozens of raiders appeared in front of me. I waited for them to make a move. However, my eyes bulged to find Cara and her friends were among the raiders. They were shocked to see me again. Boom! I caught a cannonball before it could strike the back of my head. Several dozen yards away, a cannon team was reloading. The Eagles were about to gang up on me. I jabbed the ground, knocking them off their feet. Then I threw the cannonball back toward the cannon, and it broke into iron scraps. More enemies got close,
The Game of Heavens and Earth Chapter Seventy-Nine: The Duel of the Wits Part Two
The raining weapons almost got me as I leaped into a safe distance. While keeping myself out of Commodus’s reach, I threw whatever I could get my hands on at him; branches, trees, and rocks. However, he evaded them with the same grace and agility as Cutler while manipulating the weapons to fly toward me. I had to dodge them with every inch of my life until I hid behind a tree once again. “Damn it, I need to get close.” My blood began to boil. “Wait, why did I say that?” Why did I feel the urge to attack him? My brain told me not to do anything stupid. “Calm down, Sam.” I breathed in and out when my rage grew. “Calm down.” “You’re quite confident for a newcomer,” Commodus’s booming voice wasn’t far from my hiding place, though not close. “I sensed both your fear and rage were conflicting. Signs of experience. Tell me, are you a warrior back in our world?” “I’m a former social justice warrior,” I replied. “I think that counts.” “You sounded doub
The Game of Heavens and Earth Chapter Seventy-Eight: The Duel of the Wits Part One
For a long time, we had a staring contest. My plan was that if Aurelius even flinched once, I’d give an earth-shattering punch before making my escape. Fighting a commander was one thing, but there was no way I could go up against aGuildmaster. As minutes passed, none of us even blinked. If I could land just one blow, it’d be over for him. He would never survive against my super-strength. Still, I didn’t have the confidence to fight him head-on. Aurelius observed me with hate-filled eyes as the raging battle thundered around us. What was he waiting for? I must get back to my friends. “That was genius!” he burst out laughing, to which I flinched. “You masked your escape when Anne unleashed her moon. We expected you to hold your siege or run away. Instead, you blow up your town as a diversion so you can bring the heaven stone to Hammerhorn. A better-fortified position. “Such a shame that there’s no one left in that hill-f
The Game of Heavens and Earth Chapter Seventy-Seven: The Eagles' Resolve Part Three
The five of us remained on guard. Those who were weaponless picked up the bronze knives that were scattered all over the ground. I, on the other hand, grabbed the uprooted tree. As we got close to finishing him off, Cutler cackled again before he was coughing heavily. Eventually, cracks began to appear all over his body. “Cutman?” Brock called him out. “It’s Cutler,” he corrected before coughing again, yet he was motionless. He had no strength to spare a glance at us. “That boy’s name is Wilt, huh? Let me tell you. He went down with a brave face.” His breathing was slowing down. “Thanks for the hunt, Foxfires.” He drew one last breath with a satisfying smile. “It sure is fun….” He slowly became dust. “He….” Katie took a deep breath five times to cool herself down. Her skin was no longer burning red. “He went down like a warrior,” she said begrudgingly out of respect. It wasn’t long for Zeki and Commander Raja to arrive, looking exhausted. “Is everyone
The Game of Heavens and Earth Chapter Seventy-Six: The Eagles' Resolve Part Two
The bugs were the first to charge while the tengu braves followed behind. In a short moment, we were being surrounded, struggling to watch each other’s backs, especially Alex. “Alex,” Katie called while kicking a monstrous wasp in mid-air. “Now’s the time to do your magic.” “I can’t… focus…” Alex struggled to come up with a magic tune while most of the enemies set their sights on her. “I need to focus.” Cutler was observing our battle, waiting for his chance to strike. “Commander Cutler.” Another tengu brave appeared. “Our forces managed to regroup after the enemies ambushed us. We struck them back in a six-pronged assault. King Aurelius is now clashing with Chief Bess as we speak. And Rockflower’s denizens are almost at the river with the heaven stone.” “Good,” Cutler said. “We’re making progress.” “Why are you doing this?” Katie demanded, and the enemies got her attention. Cutler signaled the bugs to stop attacking. “Why are you dest
The Game of Heavens and Earth Chapter Seventy-Five: The Eagles' Resolve Part One
Back on the ground, we were heading to our rendezvous location with the Green Bits to help them stop the Blood Eagles from reaching Mrs. Smith’s group. However, ten seconds had passed, Li had everyone halted. “Look, Storm Brothers!” He pointed at them stuck on a redwood tree, about twelve meters above us. They were back in their human forms, but they had white eyes, scorching burns, and smokes rising from their bodies. “They’re unconscious,” Commander Raja sighed with relief after watching them motionless for a while. “They must’ve been caught by the blast.” “Good, we should finish them off,” Alex stated. “You’re right.” The commander summoned his spears. “We have to make sure they will never be a threat ever again.” The rest of us reluctantly conceded. Even though the brothers were now defenseless, they were too dangerous to be left alive. “Enemies from above!” I cried when my skin crawled in alarm. Twelve tengu braves pierced through
