Death Won't Stop Me

Get out of here!

In the uninhabited island off the coast of the mainland. Throne room.

Arthur is sitting in his throne while Cador was on his right side, giving reports. There are six people in front of the throne below the stairs, kneeling.

Furthest from the left were a good looking man in his early twenties. He had a long, undercut hair tied in a bun. He was wearing a black leather jacket that had spikes on the shoulder and a red scarf around his neck and was tucked inside his jacket.

Next to him was a woman with blonde hair tied in a double Dutch braid with the tail ends resting on her shoulders. She was wearing a white sports bra with a black bomber jacket on top, skinny jeans and tactical boots.

Geraint was kneeling next to her and on his other side was a middle aged man with a buzzed cut white hair and a choker with bones and skull at the middle. He had a flame tattoo streaking from his left eyebrow towards his neck like a falling meteor and was wearing a black, buttoned down dress shirt with a white undershirt.

Next to him was a very fat man in a simple printed shirt and baggy pants. And surprisingly, the last one on the right was Eddie.

"And that tallies to nine dead and two incapacitated. But with our kills amounting to almost a hundred guides, our kill-death ratio is one to three, give or take." Cador finished his report with their tallies on their skirmishes with the spirit world for the last three months and stood quietly on the side.

"Those two incapacitated, will they be able to fight once the plan starts?" Asked Arthur.

"No, sir. One had his eyes burnt, while the other had two limbs destroyed." Cador hurriedly replied.

Arthur pondered for a bit then nodded. "Since we can't use them, dispose of them. Lancelot, I'll leave that to you."

"Yes, sir." Eddie respectfully replied then stood up and left the throne room.

"Geraint, what's how's the awakened mortal?" Arthur turned to asked Geraint in the middle.

"He kept to his daily routine like nothing has changed. From work to home and from home to work. I noticed that his guardian has a very strong perception to be able to sense me even with me intentionally hiding my presence and staying at least a hundred meters from it's host. So, my guess is, he already knows that he is being watched." Geraint reported back to him.

"Very well, keep monitoring him. If there is contact from the spirit world, kill them both, immediately." He listened to Geraint's report and thought for a moment then gave him another task.

"Yes, sir." Geraint replied and walked out.

"You four, Dinadan, Yvain, Galahad and Esclabor. Stop the hunt and call back all the other knights. Recuperate and consolidate your energies." Arthur then commanded the remaining four.

"Yes, sir!" The four shouted in unison then all left the throne room.

"Cador, how is Lancelot's progress?" He waited for all four to leave the throne room before turning to Cador to his right side to ask.

"He has mellowed down since his mutation. He has rapidly advanced since then. Last time I checked his aura, he's at level six. He still talks the same way with everyone else, but he is very respectful to you. I'm not sure about his loyalty though." He pondered a bit before answering Arthur's question and adding his observations and conclusions.

"I don't care about his loyalty, as long as his hostility is aimed towards the spirit world." Arthur nonchalantly replied.

"That, you can be assured of, Arthur." Cador said.

Arthur smiled to himself after hearing Cador's assurance.

***

Three more weeks have passed. Jon tasked Midnight to go towards the edges of Blue city and try to sense with it's very strong perceptions if there were any awakened mortals living near the city. He was determined to fined someone stronger than him and learn if there is a way to get stronger faster.

"Master, so far, aside from the soul guides and those watching you, I have only sensed three awakened." Midnight reported back to him after searching the whole city's perimeters.

"Three, really? That's good news! I can't believe there are four of us living here in Blue city." Jon was elated at his guardian's report.

"No, master. All of those three lives away from this city. I could only barely detect them by going a bit outside the city's perimeters." Midnight corrected.

"Outside the city.." Jon pondered. "That's going to be a problem. I can't simply just leave the city. I have a job here." He added.

He thought about his choices. He turned to ask his guardian again. "Which one's the strongest?"

"The one to the north of the city, master. It also seems to be the farthest one because I had to go a few kilometers from the city to make sure if it's a mortal or not." It replied.

"Up north is a mountain range." He kept thinking on all these information and deciding on his choices.

"I'll give it more thought for now. Good job Midnight." He nodded to himself and then praised his guardian for the job done.

"Thank you, master. Can I watch now?" It suddenly asked.

"Hah.. Fine. Go ahead." He permitted the little guy. It let out an excited "arf" then jumped around his bed. He scratched his head in helplessness and let the little pup do its thing. He sat on a mattress beside the bed and continued his meditation.

***

One more week have passed. North of Blue city. On the foot of a mountain.

Jon was looking at the top of the mountain. He was wearing a trekking outfit and had a huge camping bag on his back. "Are you sure it's this way?" He asked for confirmation.

"Yes, master. I sense the awakened is about two to three miles after this mountain." Midnight appeared on his right shoulder and slumped its tiny head, as if perching on his shoulder.

He sighed and moved on towards the top of the mountain. He had a feeling that this trip might take too long and he would be fired when he gets back so he just decided to quit his job. He packed up everything he owned and went north. It took him three days to get to this mountain range.

I was night time when he got to the top of the mountain. "Are they still following me?" He suddenly asked as he pretended to look at the scenery.

"Not all of them, master. Four are left. One suddenly went away the moment you went towards the edge of the mountain range. And those four stayed near the edge, they are just following your aura now. They seem to be afraid to just blindly follow you inside this mountain range." Midnight looked towards the back and sensed for a while then answered his question.

"That's good then. I don't think I can fight those four with just me." Jon sighed in relief at the news. "Alright. I'll eat then continue on meditating. I'll continue the journey tomorrow." He added. And set up camp on top of the mountain. He had Midnight guard his perimeter as he meditated.

As the light of the sun washed away night's darkness. Jon got up from his meditation, packed up, took out a map and marked his current position, and went towards the direction that his guardian had given him.

It was about five days after that he only got near his destination. "Master, I fell the awakened very close to us. They are about five hundred kilometers from our current position." Midnight suddenly said as it pointed it's nose upward and sniffed.

"What about my lovely escorts?" He sarcastically.

"They have decided to go in and followed you. They are actually nearer than the awakened." It answered after sensing a bit. "Hm? The one that left has returned. And it seems they are walking faster towards you. Run, master!" It suddenly answered as it sensed something wrong with their pursuers.

"Tsk!" Jon tightened the straps on his backpack and dashed forward, turning into a vague shadow.

About thirty minutes after Jon left the spot, Geraint suddenly appeared, looking at the direction where Jon dashed to. A few seconds after Geraint appeared, four other people appeared beside him.

The three of them were male in full army fatigue. The last one was a female. She had her hair tied to a bun and was wearing the same fatigue as the other males.

"He really did sensed us. Follow him." Geraint thought for a bit then continued forward. The other four exchanged glances and there were shocked looks beneath each other's calm eyes. They were not even able to sense being monitored themselves, considering they were all mutated and the one they are following was a measly nine level ghost. They all looked towards the direction Geraint dashed to and followed.

***

After a few kilometers of dashing, Jon was starting to get tired. Up ahead of him, he saw a huge lake. It's water were very clear and since it was getting dark, the first few stars that you can see in the sky were reflected on this beautiful lake. He felt relieved somehow when he saw the lake. He ran faster than he already has since his followers suddenly rushed towards him.

He stopped beside the lake. He crouched down to drink some water and catch his breath for now. He felt very refreshed after drinking the lake water. He was shocked to feel a warm current rush towards his seed from his throat. It felt like it has almost the same effect as a the spiritual liquid that Ana gave him, albeit much less energy it gives.

"I should take more of this water with me." He said to himself and took out his canteen and filled it with the lake water.

Suddenly, a figure appeared from beneath the lake's surface near him. He was shocked to see a very beautiful woman suddenly appeared on the lake. He felt suspicious on what he saw as this place was supposed to be uninhabited since it was deep inside the mountain range.

He was mesmerized at this beauty that suddenly appeared from the lake. He thought to himself: "Is she the lake's fairy? Wait. Did I offend the spirit of the lake by drinking from it and taking some with me? No, that's not it. Are fairies also real?"

The moment that he saw the woman, the woman had also seen him. But her reaction jolted him from his reverie. She suddenly shrieked as she covered her chest area and her nether regions. He only realized then that the woman was actually naked. She then looked at him menacingly and shouted. "Who the f**k are you?! How dare you peep at me! Are you tired of living?!"

Jon was about to answer when he sensed five people suddenly arrived at his back. He immediately turned around to face them.

When Geraint suddenly caught up, he also saw the naked lady. He almost laughed to himself. "I really thought that this guy went to meet with the little girl from the spirit world. I mistook his sudden departure as something important. Not that he was only going to meet with another girl."

"Who the hell are you lot! Can't a woman bathe in peace?" The naked woman shouted.

"We really thought you are going to meet with that spirit guide you were protecting last time." Geraint said to Jon, ignoring the screaming naked lady.

Jon narrowed his eyes and thought to himself: "So they were not just watching me. They were using me as bait. Are they targeting Ana or anyone from the spirit world."

"What do you want?" Jon asked.

"We were ordered to kill you. No hard feelings." Geraint said. He then signaled the other five to fan out and surround Jon.

"Tsk." Jon clicked his tongue at the sight of the five coming closer to him. He then called out to Midnight and synchronized with him. His sleeves were stretched and he let go of his backpack to the side. He got ready for an uphill battle.

He decided to attack first so as to get a little advantage and targeted Geraint as he seems to be the leader. When he was about to shoot towards Geraint, they were all stunned at a very loud shriek that came from the lake. It was accompanied by a very strong aura and heavy pressure. They all felt like being stared at by a very vicious predator.

"GET THE f**k OUT OF HERE!"