1784 A Chat

As Yan Yating watched the two brothers reconnect, he heard Whisker speak to him from the side.

"My brother wishes to speak with you," Whisker said.

"Your brother is the King, right?" Yan Yating asked. He was almost sure, but it was better to ask.

Whisker nodded.

"Alright," Yan Yating said, looking around at the battlefield. "Where is he? I can't see him?"

He took a preliminary survey of the battlefield and saw that the Southern Continent's army was mostly losing before they had arrived.

Not that their arrival helped much either from the looks of it. It had only delayed the inevitable when it came to the fate of the battle.

He wondered how much of a help he could be.

"Wait, I see him," Yan Yating said and frowned slightly.

Alex was in the middle of a terrible battle with him and the girl from the picture Yan Yating saw fighting a group of terribly strong soldiers that had surrounded just the two of them.

Past them, Yan Yating could see the Dragon Emperor doing nothing but floating silently. It looked as though he was trying to recuperate from whatever fight he had fought.

"Should I go there or will he leave that fight?" Yan Yating asked Whisker.

"My brother can hear and see everything I can," Whisker said. "I will act as the intermediary between the two of you for communication."

"Okay," Yan Yating said curiously, wondering how any of this worked.

"Thank you for coming," Whisker said. "I'm glad you could make it in time."

Yan Yating raised an eyebrow in surprise. He could tell it was not the mouse speaking, but Alex who was communicating through him.

"Well, I only did as I promised," Yan Yating said. "I'm sorry we couldn't come sooner, but you know how it is. As outlaws to the empire, we cannot exactly take the teleportation formation."

"I understand," Whisker said. "I messaged you as early as I did, knowing you would need some time to arrive. I hope you have grown stronger these past few years thanks to my pills."

"That you are right about," Yan Yating said. "Do you require some aid? You seem to be in a troubling situation."

"No," Whisker answered. "I can handle myself. I'm trying to get to the Emperor, but there are too many of these people to fight through without significantly reducing my own fighting prowess."

"I see," Yan Yating said.

"Since I will be indisposed for a while, I hope you can take over my soldiers and have them coordinate in this war. I hear you used to be quite good at that," Whisker said.

"Leave that to me," Yan Yating said. "I'll handle everything."

"Thank you. Whisker there will aid you too. He will handle the array my army is holding, so you can tell him what you want the soldiers to do. I'm afraid your soldiers won't be able to participate in our array. I hope that is not too big of a problem."

"Nope, none at all," Yan Yating replied.

"Thank you. I'll talk to you later," Whisker said and looked up. "My brother has gone back to fighting. Let us move closer to the battlefield so I can take over the array."

Yan Yating's eyes narrowed slightly. "Forgive me, but you look quite weak. Are you sure you can handle all of those soldiers?" he asked.

"Leave that to me," Whisker said. "I'm not very good when it comes to fighting, but everything else I'm quite good at."

Whisker jumped onto Yan Yating's shoulder and spoke out. "Brother Huan, we need to go."

Long Huan finally turned back from his brother with somewhat misty eyes and wiped them as he nodded. "You're right, we need to move," he said. "Come on brother. We should leave."

"Before we leave," Yan Yating said as he turned around toward the few soldiers that were on the ground beside them, bound by the Oathbreakers that had come with Yan Yating to this place. "Will any of you speak the Oath now?"

"I will!" one person shouted immediately.

"I will too," another person said.

One after another, the soldiers on the ground started speaking oaths. In the end, only 3 were left who refused to speak the oaths at all.

"Why do you hesitate?" one of the Oathbreakers asked. "Are you still uncertain if that is true?"

"Look at us," another one spoke. "There's a reason why we went against the empire. Come on! Grow some brain."

One of the people on the ground was a slightly older man with thinning hair. He looked up with a hateful look on his face as he stared at Yan Yating.

"Why should we listen to betrayers? You broke your oaths to the Empire, and yet you ask for us to speak one to you?"

The man spit at Yan Yating's feet.

Long Huan looked at the old man. "We're only telling you to do what is right," he said. "Or do you still not believe our words?"

"It doesn't matter, young prince," the man said. "It doesn't matter whether what you say is true or not. We serve the Empire and the Empire belongs to the Emperor."

"The Empire belonged to the Azure Dragon, who my father killed because of what? Greed?" Long Huan asked. "Do you not serve the Azure Dragon then?"

"What has the Azure Dragon ever done for us?" the man asked. "What has he done except sit around in his realm, doing nothing? At least the Emperor looks after the Empire. He helps its people as he should."

"You say the Azure Dragon was killed, but what difference did that make? If he was worth anything to the Empire, his absence would have been devastating. Instead, his death went unnoticed. That Immortal beast has nothing to do with me, so I will speak no oaths on its behalf."

Long Huan remained silent, unable to think of what to say.

"Is that what the rest of you think as well?" Yan Yating asked the remaining two who refused to speak the oaths.

They looked at him from the ground, with heads held as high as they could go.

"We will speak no oaths."

"We would rather die than help you."

The several others who had decided to speak the oaths gasped in surprise. They had not expected such a pushback at all.

"Very well," Yan Yating said and turned to look at the Oathbreakers that were gathered there.

"Have everyone who wants to speak the oath and fight on our behalf," he ordered. Then he stared at the three. "As for those who refuse, don't kill them. They aren't who we are after. That is only the Emperor."

The several Oathbreakers nodded. "So what should we do?" one of them asked.

"Cripple them," Yan Yating said. "They can stay alive and bear witness to the future that they spit on themselves. Let's go."

"KILL US, COWARD! KILL US!"

The shouts from the three rang loud, but none looked back at them. Yan Yating let the rest of the Oathbreakers handle the oath and flew off to the battlefield along with Long Huan and the rest to finally join the real battle.