"What? Where are they? Damn it! ULF… you bastard bloodline!"
The King of NOSX roared in anger.
Meanwhile…
"WOAH! Where are we?" Tal asked, looking around in confusion.
"ULF? Tal… is that you?"
Tal turned quickly.
"Elder Pilates? What are you doing in the south? You're supposed to be in the north!"
Everyone looked around in shock. The warriors were whispering among themselves, completely confused. Somehow, they had travelled over eight hundred and forty kilometres in less than a second — something that would normally take half an hour or less depending on the urgency.
Elder Pilates suddenly dropped to his knees.
"Tal… ULF… please save us! I made a terrible mistake banishing you. Please forgive me!"
The warriors stood frozen, still trying to understand what had just happened.
"Please, Tal ULF," Pilate kept begging. "The King of NOSX will discover you are here!"
Tal didn't respond.
Instead, he grabbed Pilate and suddenly moved forward at extreme speed straight toward the King of NOSX.
They clashed in mid-air.
Tal used Pilate as a shield, and a single hit from the King of NOSX instantly killed him. Pilates body went limp. Tal threw the body aside and continued fighting without hesitation.
BAM! WHAM! CH-CH-CH! BOP! BOP!
The two warriors kept exchanging blows again and again. After a while, both of them realised something shocking.
They were equals.
They had the same strength.
The King of NOSX was slightly faster… but Tal had superior battle awareness.
After a long clash, both warriors stepped back for a brief moment.
"Now I see why my men couldn't kill your predecessors," the King of NOSX said calmly. "You are quite a combatant."
"Really?" Tal replied. "Well, thanks… but I still have to win."
The King of NOSX laughed.
"Ha ha ha! Kagemori is the name. Remember my name, Tal ULF!"
"HGGGNN!"
"GRRRR!"
WHAM!
They clashed again,harder than before .
The fight continued for several days. Their bodies became exhausted, their punches slower and weaker and finally…collapsed at the same time.They spoke quietly among themselves.
Kagemori looked at ULF and said,
"ULF… you don't know how to lose. You win, the people I care about die"Tal said.
The words stayed heavy in the air.
Not long after that, Tal was found by the Southern warriors. They approached cautiously, unsure of what they were seeing.
One of them asked,
"Who is the person beside you?"
Tal looked at them seriously and replied,
"Do not engage.
He is the King of NOSX."Healing lasted a day for Kagemori, while for Tal it lasted five days. Tal grew respect for Kagemori and asked Kagemori why he attacked. He replied, initially I'd say we were good friends, in fact we were best of friends in your past life, I could call it.
ULF came to my land.
Tal interrupts: you mean the land where the NOSX resides? Wow! ULF got it in him.
Kagemori continues: I wondered what a man with an eye and hand is doing here. He said he travelled all the way from jogger land to be king. I laughed out because it was quite hilarious a handicapped man would challenge me. To my surprise he was quite serious.
I accepted the challenge mocking him. I put a patch on my eye with my arms tied behind my back. He had the power but lacked the speed enough to rival mine. An hour passed — this man, to my surprise, didn't stop swinging.
So I took him off his feet and sat on him mocking him.He felt embarrassed and I offered him wine so as to restore his honour. We laughed, smiled, joked with each other. ULF had an eye for a woman, which he eventually slept with her and impregnated her, and his name was Jodia ULF.
At twelve years, I dropped him off on Joggerland. To my surprise, he came back saying the warriors don't value him and claimed he had siblings, asked us to help him wipe out his other siblings, and I took him, heded towards Joggerland, and wiped out every one of his siblings.Jodia ULF became king, and often he would visit his mother. With time, our bond grew stronger—until the reign of August ULF.
I went to August to let him know I still stood with him. But to my surprise, he dismissed me. He said his predecessors were foolish to have been my ally, speaking endlessly about his vision of a political world—one ruled not by brute force, but by control and order.
I looked at him and said,
"August ULF, what will be, will be. Know this—your land is the weakest against external threats. Whatever dream you build will not save you when any king,from the far north of the Mediterranean comes for you."
He did not flinch.
"Wisdom belongs to rulers," he replied calmly. "Strength belongs to warriors. A king does not need to be both."
I laughed.
"A flock of sheep," I said, turning away, "can never protect a lion from bears."
And with that, I left.My slight dislike began at that moment, though I still believed August was merely a confused man.
Centuries passed.
Then came news that joggerland was under attack. Without hesitation, I sent a few of my people to help.
To my greatest surprise… only one returned.
I asked him what had happened.
His voice trembled as he spoke:
"Titus ULF killed them all… and spared only me. He said to tell you he has no need for weaklings from our land to protect his."
Silence fell.
Then came the rage.
Without another word… I set off.When I landed on Joggerland, I wiped out a few warriors and went to Titus. I saw him seated at the pinnacle of a mountain, and I called out his name. He looked down upon me like I was his inferior.
Immediately, I threw a punch.
He blocked it effortlessly, grabbed my hand, spun his body, and kicked me with the back of his leg so hard I coughed up blood .Swiftly, I moved out and kept my distance. I looked up and saw golden lightning emitting from his body, and his eyes contained the same lightning color.
BOOM!
I topped my speed. He blocked it, but this time he flinched—and I smiled.
His lightning attacked me like it had a will of its own, moving way faster than lightning should. It seemed to be protecting its host.
I didn't want to believe it, but the lightning acted the same way the mythical deities described XAN, the fastest guardian.It is said that XAN has near-to-none levels of speed. Its sole aim is protecting its host and the person he likes most in the person's life.
"Wow… I think that's what saved Talia," Tal said.
Kagemori smirked, saying, "I just knew you weren't that fast.""But I kept up with you," Tal said.
Kagemori replied, "Good for you to think that—but XAN kept up, not you. Hahaha.""Do you mean I possess XAN?"
"Of course you do," Kagemori replied. "You said it yourself—he saved your wife and son. Listen, Tal, there are things you don't know. If you're willing, I will take you to the city of Vamps, also called the land of NOSX. But before that… who won between you and Titus?"
"I fled. There was no way to beat Titus as long as XAN had him guarded. I thought I was naive, so I decided to come back and try if I could kill you instead and avenge my men, who were humiliated but unfortunately I couldn't still avenge them.Tal apologized for what Titus did to his men and told Kagemori that he is ready to visit the city of Vamps with his wife, Talia. The warriors wanted to go—they wanted to see other places outside their land.
Meanwhile, Tal wondered about the animals in the jungle in the western region of the land.
They all gathered at the end of the northern region of the land.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
They all appeared in the land of NOSX, which is 250 kilometers away from Joggerland.Talia was stunned upon seeing the city of Vamps, same with the warriors and her dad. They were all amazed by the beauty of the city. It was filled with snow, and the city lacked sunlight.Everyone began freezing. Kagemori carried them to his castle, where it was chill and warm. He announced to his people that he had guests and that they should prepare food for them.
A few moments later, they all gathered in the dining hall. Dishes were served.
Talia became disgusted and lost her appetite. What was served to them was raw meat."What's the matter, Talia?" Tal asked.
She looked at him, her eyes narrowed. "We don't eat raw meat."
Kagemori replied, "It isn't raw—it's been boiled for three minutes."
Talia's jaw dropped when she heard that. Wondering what a proper meal would look like, she suddenly noticed a nice smell. Looking down at her plate, she saw grilled mackerel and sushi, with chilled milk in front of her.
Talia looked at the others' plates and saw the raw meat. She thought she was hallucinating—but she wasn't. It was real.
Kagemori asked, "Anything wrong? You just took a bite—you seem to like it."
Talia blinked, then immediately grabbed another bite, looking at him.
Kagemori smiled and said within him"Hmm… seems like she likes it.(No one knew that XAN travelled over twenty thousand kilometres passing through the Portal that traps everything that tries to pass through just to get the food for Talia, and that she didn't eat raw meat. They saw her eating raw meat, while in reality she ate sushi, grilled mackerel, and drank chilled milk).
When they were done eating, they went out to visit the city of Vamps and were amazed by the white skin the NOSX possessed.
They questioned Kagemori why his skin was normal. He said this: their bodies are for heat survival, while the white is for cold resistance.After the tour, Talia and Tal finally had some alone time to themselves.
"Owh…" the baby yawned. Tal put him to sleep.
Tal walked up to Talia and asked, "Why do you always stare at nothing?"
"I'm not staring at nothing," Talia said. "I'm just wondering… have you ever thought of what could be beyond the clouds? And the seas? What if there are other people living a far better life than us—with better food?"
"Better food?" Tal said. "You seemed to really like the meat."
"No, I didn't," Talia replied. "Just forget about it."
"Well, well… what can I say? You are one hell of an observer, aren't you?"