Chapter 58: Survival for 24 Hours Part 5
When the emperor heard, he said give me the information quickly. I didn't want to waste time. We had to know before it was too late.
When the minister March heard, he started telling what the report said.
Everyone started hearing this, their focus was now on minister March.
From the information that SHO told us, this race was known as the stone plant and they already invaded four planets.
The first planet they invaded was totally destroyed because of relentless fighting and not proper cooperation between stone plant monsters.
When they attacked the second planet, this time their cooperation was good but the planet natives fought to the last breath and in the end the planet was now so radioactive that no one could go there now.
The third planet they invaded was successful but the royal family that controlled the planet took the surviving citizens to another location that only the SHO director knows.
The fourth planet they invaded was successful but this time the emperor of that planet used SHO heroes help and held them for 2 years before they knew that the planet was already on the brink of destruction, so they took all the citizens and moved to a safe location with the help of SHO.
In all situations SHO directly could not help them in their fight. They were not available to help those planets because they were far from them and their situation was very dire.
From their selection we can say that they will only attack those planets that are somehow going to be destroyed in less than twenty years, but this sentence minister March skipped and did not tell anyone. He also knew about planet destruction. The emperor personally told him everything he knew about planet destruction. He was his most trusted minister.
He even trusted him more than his children or commanders.
And he continued, the only information that SHO had for now.
And the SHO director said that he already sent reinforcements for help.
"What can we do?" Prince Marek was the first person who asked after hearing everything.
The emperor heard Prince Marek's question and said that we have to handle this situation carefully. We cannot risk our planet. If the planet was captured or destroyed we would lose everything, even if we were alive.
Everyone could understand the Emperor's words.
The Emperor and commanders revised their plan once again after the information. After everything was decided they started preparing for invasion and left the throne room and from their new plan, now every commander and prince would control one legion except for commander Adrian and commander Elyn and start moving to join the sixth commander Kalieth who had now reached where stone plant monsters were and was waiting for Emperor order.
Commander Kalieth knew that the Emperor first wanted a talk with the stone plant leader.
Far far from Duskwild
An unknown planet
SHO headquarters
The director of SHO was sitting on a chair in his office, reading the report about Arthur.
And became very irritated.
"I told him not to go on that planet."
A stubborn old man did not obey my order and now his life was in danger.
He threw the report to the wall. He was at the same age as Arthur with white hair, white beard and black eyes.
Then he asked his secretary, who was standing beside him, how the preparations were going.
"Everything was ready. We already contacted the nearest headquarters of SHO and they were ready to send heroes.
But Duskwild was very far, so they needed at least three days to reach there with full speed. So we can only wish nothing happened to Arthur."
"So then did my meeting with the planet emperor happen?"
"Sir, it will start in another 20 minutes. I already took all the necessary steps."
"I see."
"So let's decide after I complete the meeting how dire the situation was."
The SHO director stood up from his seat and watched the window, remembering why Arthur went to a dying planet like Duskwild.
And started cursing him.
"Idiot Arthur, I told you not to go."
Now on battlefield on DuskwildHour 15
Ank POV
The fifteenth hour came in the soaked blood of Arthur.
Arthur had already stopped moving and I was protecting him.
He was still breathing but he was stuck in the same position. His sword was on the ground. I knew he was barely holding himself from falling on the ground but I could not do anything that helped him except protecting him.
One stone plant monster soldier again attacked me from behind and succeeded.
"Master!" I screamed and in one hit I killed him.
He didn't answer my call and only collapsed on the ground.
For the first time since this hell began, the old man wasn't saying anything about my mistakes. He was defeated, laying on the ground waiting for his death.
And now I was alone.
The realization struck harder than any blow. My heart started hurting, panic stabbing through me like a knife. The tide of monsters pressed harder, sensing weakness, their glowing eyes fixed on us like predators circling prey.
No. Not now. Not like this.
I came near the old man. Blood sprayed from my own wounds with every motion, but I didn't care.
Arthur couldn't fight anymore. That meant I had to fight for the both of us.
And now stone plant monster focus again returned on Arthur. I noticed that and I stepped in front of him, planting my body between him and the horde.
"You'll have to go through me first!" I shouted at the endless tide with all my strength.
Hour 16
By the sixteenth hour, I was no longer Ank, who conquered the universe, the being that any gods fear to look at, the entity everyone feared when my army marched, the mortal that achieved a dream that no one achieved before, the boy who trained under Arthur.
I was something else now.
The monster soldiers came, faster, harder, like a flood breaking through a dam.
And then something shifted.
My vision sharpened. I didn't think anymore. I just moved.
A soldier swung at my skull. I ducked, sliding low, my sword slicing its legs apart. Another lunged at my back. I twisted, pivoted, and thrust my blade through its chest before it even reached me.
It was like my body was moving on its own will. My exhaustion didn't vanish, it was still there, screaming at me, but my movements became cleaner, sharper. My blade no longer dragged, it flowed.
Is this instinct?
No. It was something deeper. A primal rhythm, born from the crucible of endless survival. My body had been tempered by pain, sharpened by suffering, pushed beyond limits until it found a new way to move.
I wasn't just fighting anymore. I was hunting.
Every swing was precise. Every strike shattered a core. Every movement was a dance of death.
The horde pressed, but I pressed harder.