Chapter 185: Massacre of the Scholars

The senior scholars of Ghlizan—scholars of language, history, and religion—gathered in front of the North Star Lodge, which was surrounded by barbed wire and soldiers guarding and protecting it from all sides.Domarto came out to them, followed by Lavosier and Rouchi, and they bowed to greet them. The scholars of Ghlizan returned the greeting.

Domarto said in a loud voice that could be heard far and wide,

"I thank you for coming. I have gathered you all here so that we can all discuss our ideas and try together to reach the truth. If you convince me today, I will convert to the Lunix religion. And who knows what might happen after that."

The scholars of Ghlizan were optimistic and began the discussion. They discussed various things, such as which language was stronger in expression, the Ghlizan language or the Franks language. They discussed the religion of the Lunix and the Zurix and the ideas of the philosophers. They discussed various historical events, and each one gave his opinion.

After they finished, Domarto bowed to them with respect and said,

"I thank you for this beautiful day. I benefited greatly from what I heard. Let me think tonight about everything you have told me, and I will give you an answer tomorrow. You may leave now."

The scholars of Ghlizan went out discussing and debating, and suddenly they saw the Franks soldiers standing in front of them in rows, aiming their weapons at them. They were stunned and terrified. They looked behind them at Domarto, who stood smiling silently, and they did not understand what was happening.

The Franks soldiers opened fire on the scholars and fed them bullets one after another. Some of them tried to flee, but they found no way out of this massacre, as the soldiers surrounded them from all sides. A hail of fire rushed to reap them all one by one as they screamed, implored, and begged. Some of them begged Domarto to stop this massacre, but he turned his face away from them and ignored them.

It was only a few minutes until the Franks eliminated the last of the scholars. Domarto breathed a sigh of relief and said to his two companions,

"Here we have gotten rid of all the language scholars who secretly teach the Ghlizan their language. Thus, we do not need to burn the tree now."

Rouchi laughed.

"I don’t think High Admiral Claudy (Moonlight) agrees with you."

Domarto looked at him with wide eyes.

"What are you saying? Has the High Admiral returned?"

"He has returned after suppressing the resistance on the nearby Lunix planets, establishing our colonies on these planets, and supplying them with soldiers. And now he has returned with hundreds of thousands of strong Franks soldiers, and it is time to eliminate the Prince and the Ghlizan rebellion."

Domarto looked at the bodies filling the entrance to the lodge, then said,

"So the strongest man in the Franks army has arrived, and the times of peace have passed, and the time for war has come."

One of the soldiers came quickly and stood in front of the three of them. He began with a military salute, then said sadly,

"I regret to inform you of the news of the killing of General Jasto."

The news fell on them like thunderbolts, and they did not believe their ears.

Who was this who dared to kill the monster in his lair?

Sairi hid behind a tree as he heard the Saint cutting down trees with the swift movement of his sword. He began to think about his next move. This Saint was dangerous, but he needed this sword. But it was a risk; if he lost, he would lose his life and the crystal at the same time, and thus they would lose any chance of regaining planet Earth. The risk was greater than the prize. But he knew that the universe was full of powerful tyrants. And if he withdrew and fled every time he saw one of them, how would he reach Earth? He couldn’t even defeat an old Saint?

But fleeing in his situation was the voice of reason. But this Saint would not leave him. He would track him throughout the planet and inform the Franks soldiers of his existence, and thus gathering his comrades from around the planet and escaping with them on a spaceship would become difficult and full of risk. He had to eliminate this Saint. But he would have to risk every limb in his body for that.

Sairi sneaked between the trees until he was to the right of the Saint. Then he lifted a fallen tree far away with his hand and aimed it at the Saint. The Saint raised his sword high into the sky and then split the tree in half as if he were cutting a piece of paper with scissors. But the tree was a distraction for Sairi, who came from behind and jumped, pouncing on him with his sword to stab him. However, the Saint heard his footsteps, turned around, and engaged him with his sword.

They began to exchange quick, successive blows with the sword. The Saint was taller than Sairi and gripped his sword well, delivering blows with precision, weight, and speed, so much so that Sairi felt his body tremble and vibrate with every blow from him. Sairi began to block the blows one after another, then extended his left hand forward and pushed the Saint back a few steps with his power.

Sairi lifted the dust from the ground and spread it around the Saint. The air became dusty, and the Saint began to cough and could no longer see anything because of the abundance of dust. Suddenly, Sairi surprised him with a blow to his left that wounded his leg, then disappeared into the dust and appeared again from behind him, wounding him in his back.

The Saint closed his eyes and focused on his genetically enhanced hearing. He heard the sound of Sairi’s footsteps on the dust to his right, so he turned and blocked his blow. Sairi retreated and came at him quickly from the left. The Saint blocked his blow and tried to cut him, but Sairi fled into the dust and began to come quickly from his right and left and from above him.

After that, he began to carry stones with his power and throw them at the Saint to distract him by cutting them, and he circled around him and rushed with the tip of his thermal sword trying to stab him. But the Saint jumped to the right, avoiding his sword by a few inches, and kicked Sairi with his foot, pushing him into the dust until his clothes were filled with it.

Sairi stood up, coughed the dust from his mouth, and quickly dusted himself off. But he saw a blue flash from the Saint’s sword, so he retreated. He saw the Saint moving his sword quickly, creating strong winds that removed the dust from the square and restored clarity to the air again. Then he began to search with his eyes for Sairi.

He saw him carrying two huge trees with difficulty with his power and directing them toward him with all his might. The Saint moved quickly, cutting one of them across and avoiding the other. Sairi ran into the forest, and the Saint chased him, cutting down trees quickly with his sword, branches falling as if he were a lion chasing its prey.

Sairi knew that his chance lay in the forest and that if he used it well, he might win with cunning and planning. But facing the Saint in an open square was a path of madness and futility.