Great Devil! (Part One and Two)

"Fall in line!"

"Bid farewell to the war zone!"

"Bid farewell to the fallen heroes! Bid farewell to our comrades still fighting! May our comrades in battle return safely!"

"We came here with no regrets in this life! We leave now, but should we be summoned, we will return!"

At the command, the thirty-seven men dropped to their knees in unison.

They kowtowed toward the war zone.

They bid farewell to their verdant youth, to the elders and friends who had left their names here; they also bid farewell to this unbroken mountain range, practically formed from the flesh and blood of the Guardians! The wind roared across the open sky and rushed toward them.

It brushed gently across their faces, as though the fallen heroes of the ages were bidding them farewell as well.

Amid the silence, the faint sound of choked sobs could be heard.

The group turned and walked farther and farther away, one step at a time.

They entered the boundless Wind and Sand Desert, where yellow sand rolled up to the sky.

Now that they had truly left, the group instead fell utterly silent.

They kept looking back along the way.

Though the yellow sand filled the air and they could see nothing, they stubbornly turned back to look again and again.

The two guides could not stand the oppressive silence.

They opened a conversation. "Um... Uncle, Grand-Aunt... which of our Feng Family secret realms did you come from?"

"Secret Realm One, First Squad!"

The group answered blandly.

"The secret realm where Uncle Feng Blade is?"

"Yes. Has he gone back?"

"Yes, he's in the family now."

Smiles immediately spread across everyone's faces. Once they returned, they would have a proper drink with Feng Blade. That bastard had taken advantage of his position as captain