The vast cavalry regiment poured into Red Plume Fortress. Soldiers hurried to defend the stronghold, with skeletons everywhere. I glanced over and saw the female general, her body radiating a faint blue glow, enter the city and head straight for the ramparts.
Yuna Ji still sat quietly by the city wall, gazing into the distance.
"You two, come down quickly. If we lose this battle, we're finished. The nine enemy generals have joined forces—we're no match for them. These three must be the powerful newcomers, right?"
Water spoke sharply, stopping on the stairs. With a swift motion, she drew the water-blue spear from her back and pointed it at us.
"You two are just the same as before! How could you not notice the enemy has already infiltrated us? Two blocks of wood! Didn't you realize? Yuna Ji—it's Yuna Ji..."
In an instant, Water screamed like mad and leapt toward the city wall, thrusting her spear at Yuna Ji.
I immediately raised Belle with a clang to block Water's attack. But what struck me as odd was that the pale blue glow before my eyes turned to water, instantly enveloping me. I felt a tremendous pressure all around, as if I were about to be crushed.
A hand reached in and grabbed me—it was Mr. Brown, who pulled me out of the water sphere. Then a flash of green light appeared, and Yuna Ji returned to her original form. With two crisp clangs, her jade-green spear blocked Water's blue spear. In an instant, Fire Bull and General Frostbite drew their weapons as well.
"It really is Yuna Ji."
General Frostbite said coldly. I looked over, and Yuna Ji giggled.
"Do you three recognize me?"
General Frostbite stepped forward, staring intently at Yuna Ji.
"Have you forgotten? When we were alive, we clashed countless times on the battlefield."
Yuna Ji's eyes widened, and I stared in shock at these three.
"Gus Bull, Bella Liang, Lydia Lien..."
Yuna Ji lowered her voice, her expression turning cold. A murderous intent flashed in her eyes. With a whoosh, I released ghost energy, drifting between the four of them with both hands raised.
"Can you all calm down for a moment? Yuna Ji, we're here to resolve things, not to fight—aren't we?"
The anger on Yuna Ji's face did not fade.
"Ethan Zhang, you should know these three—they're the main culprits who invaded Grant Territory."
Lydia Lien burst out laughing, stepping forward. The pale blue glow in her skeletal eye sockets intensified, as if she were staring right through Yuna Ji.
"Heaven really does enjoy playing tricks! Yes, we were invaders—we destroyed Grant Territory, even you. But this punishment is just too much, too unreasonable. Yuna Ji, only by killing you can this endless war finally end."
With a whoosh, Lydia Lien had already passed by me. I gritted my teeth, and suddenly a flash of green light appeared—it was Mr. Brown. With one hand, he gripped Yuna Ji's spear, and with the other, Lydia Lien's.
"If you insist on continuing, I'll knock you both down first. Then maybe you'll want to sit down and talk things over."
I looked at Gus Bull and Bella Liang. Though I couldn't see their expressions, I knew they were conflicted. They didn't even seem to want to fight. Instead, they lowered their heads, not daring to look at Yuna Ji.
After a while, things finally settled down. Yuna Ji kept laughing, her cold eyes fixed on Lydia Lien.
"Isn't this better now? Heh, forget it—I won't hold it against you. I've already had my revenge anyway."
"You..."
Gus Bull pointed at Yuna Ji, but Bella Liang pressed his hand down and shook his head.
"Yuna Ji, we tried to talk to you before. We even went to Ebonhold, but all we found there was death. It was Sebastian Zhao—he never allowed anyone near Ebonhold, which is odd."
Yuna Ji rested her chin on her hand and smiled wickedly.
"I've been away from here for a long time. When I left, I gave the order for him to guard Ebonhold—for anyone who dared approach, kill without mercy."
"Why? There's nothing here, nothing at all..."
Yuna Ji stared blankly at the three.
"Is that a problem? I'm the emperor of the Ninefold Abyss now."
"Hahaha..."
Gus Bull clutched his stomach, laughing uncontrollably.
"Stop laughing—what does any of this mean now? Endless war. After we died, the three of us were tortured in hell, and once our crimes were redeemed, we were supposed to enter reincarnation. It didn't matter if we came back as pigs, dogs, or beasts. But when we woke up, we were like this. And when we heard your name again, Yuna Ji, we realized you could end all this, set us free. If your hatred can't be erased, then kill us as many times as you need—until your hatred is gone."
"There's nothing I can do about it, so don't look at me, heh."
Yuna Ji laughed heartily, and I stood up.
"Can you stop provoking them? Yuna Ji, maybe I have a way to handle this."
Immediately, all three looked at me, while Mr. Brown and Yuna Ji gave me thoughtful glances.
"Fine, Ethan Zhang followed that guy Yin Choujian, and now you're just like him!"
I glared fiercely at Yuna Ji. I really had no way to solve all this. Even with my instincts coexisting, it couldn't be resolved. These endless battles produce no results. Even after talking with Zhan Jue, we still can't solve the decades of accumulated hatred here. Billions of souls are trapped, generating immense power that even Zhan Jue can't control.
"How do we solve this?"
Bella Liang asked hurriedly. I looked up at the sky and smiled.
"There's no solution for now. The only way is to stop the war."
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"Impossible. Even if we fail and are destroyed, it won't solve anything. The nine generals will keep fighting, and we'll have to join the war again."
I turned to look at Yuna Ji.
"The key is your nine generals—why are they like this?"
"Who knows what's happened? When I left, everything was fine—they could still talk to me like normal. Remember, Ethan Zhang, that time we came back? Everything here still followed my orders faithfully, but the only change was that they felt like strangers. Besides obeying commands, they had no emotions left except for war."
Seeing the three skeletons' confusion, I briefly explained to them about the monster inside Yuna Ji.
"So that's it? A split personality."
Bella Liang muttered under her breath.
"Something's up."
Mr. Brown said, and we all looked over. In the distance, a cloud of dust appeared, gradually revealing a figure—a skeleton about my size, riding a horse, with a golden banner on his back. Two daggers crossed beneath the Grant character on the flag.
"Here he comes?"
Yuna Ji stood up and instantly turned back into her skeletal form.
"If you surrender, I'll let you go. Otherwise, I'll destroy you."
I swallowed hard and quietly watched the skeleton below. The two black daggers at his waist were strikingly obvious. I'd seen them countless times—Sebastian Zhao used them to slit enemies' throats.
The three generals standing on the wall watched the scene below with grave expressions.
"Finally decided to take matters into his own hands."
Yuna Ji glanced back at the three generals.
"You three know better than I do why he's like this. After all, you three killed him, didn't you?"
Bella Liang nodded.
"Open the gates and surrender, or I won't be merciful. The enemy nation's order won't tolerate rebels like you defiling it."
Sebastian Zhao dismounted, planting the banner at the gate with a clang, then drew the dagger from his waist.
"Very strong, Ethan Zhang—the one below."
Mr. Brown said. I looked at him. Coming from Mr. Brown, there was no need to doubt it.
"Mr. Brown, you should go down. Aside from you, none of us are his match."
Yuna Ji said, and Mr. Brown shook his head.
"Handle your own business. Fighting that guy would be a real hassle—I'm not going."
I blinked. Yuna Ji sighed helplessly and casually picked up a black spear.
"When that guy died, he said he wasn't strong enough. If only he could destroy an entire army by himself."
Gus Bull spoke as Yuna Ji leaped down. I floated up, ready to follow at any moment.
"Be careful."
Suddenly, Lydia Lien jumped down, spear raised. A faint blue glow lit up beside Yuna Ji, and with a splash, water flew everywhere. Yuna Ji crouched on the ground, her spear broken, and one hand already severed.
"What just happened?"
I stared quietly at Sebastian Zhao. He hadn't attacked, just crouched in a fighting stance, as always—holding one dagger in reverse grip with his left hand, and the other in a normal grip with his right.
"How should I put it? Invisible attacks. All the Immortal Society folks can do it."
Mr. Brown said. I kept watching, releasing a torrent of ghost energy. Bella Liang and Gus Bull also jumped down. With a rush, I joined them below—better to fight than just watch.
Sebastian Zhao raised a hand, his jaw clicking.
"One, two, three, four, five... Too easy."
"Don't get cocky."
Gus Bull charged forward with a flaming broadsword. With a boom, flames scattered. Sebastian Zhao leaned back to dodge, his jaw clicking again.
"The first one—I'll start with you."
I stared in shock as an unbelievable scene unfolded. Gus Bull's body broke apart completely, turning to fragments of bone that exploded outward.
"Ethan Zhang, try showing your strength and fight him."
Yuna Ji muttered, nimbly leaping back onto the wall, giggling.