Immortal Kingdoms

Miko returned to the foremost wagon to join his sister and the climbed into the carriage through the door. Then, he sat down and tapped his communication bracelet to link up with the rest of the brothers in the rearmost wagon before he spoke in a stern, impassioned tone.

"Since we can't take the normal trade route through the various towns and cities, and for obvious reasons at that, we will need to go through the tropical rainforest, the canyon of despair, and the lost wilderness before we could reconnect to the populated areas. More specifically, the border towns between the two kingdoms."

"I don't need to mince my words, the journey will be arduous, expect the unexpected and don't let your guard down! We may encounter natural disasters, apex predators, stupid bounty hunters, but we must forge onwards unhindered!"

"For our brothers who may rest eternally on this one way track to greatness, entrust those who may live on to carry your ambitions! I swear on my honor that as long as I draw breath, my will shall never bend!"

The men immediately echoed the sentiment without an ounce of hesitation.

"My will shall never bend!"

"My will shall never bend!"

"My will shall never bend!"

…

"Boss, in case I never made it, you know where I left my will just like everyone else amongst our brothers. In my will, I didn't leave much, only information about my little sister who should have turned six years old by now."

"Honestly, I left her as an infant, but I won't say much. Everything you need to know is in my will. Her birthday, favorite food, a list of her friends, her location, and a location where I periodically buried away stashes of money that I meant for her to inherit when she turned sixteen."

"If I don't make it with the rest of the brothers, just bury my share of our profits, however much it may be, in that location. Then promise me that after twelve years on the date specified as her birthday in the will, she will find the fortune waiting."

"Just tell that brat that her big brother had always kept an eye for her in the dark."

The entire compartment went silent for a brief moment of time before Miko finally responded.

"Are you done, Azazel? Is that it?" Miko looks at this hulk of a man who had one hell of an eroded scar across the bridge of his nose.

Azazel rubbed the bridge of his nose and smiled faintly, nodding his head.

"Alright, alright, good." Miko nodded his head repeatedly, his oversized hoodie falling to shade his expression.

"Very good, very fucking… GOOD!"

BANG!

Miko threw a heavy right jab that almost dislocated Azazel's jaw as he smashed sideways into the interior wall of the carriage.

"Fuck your sister man! If you want anyone to take good fucking care of her, do it yourself! And you dare call yourself a brother?! Is that what brothers are to you?! A bunch of nanies you toss your fucking responsibilities onto?!"

"Do we look like a group of housewives to you?! Who here has ever raised a child before?!"

"I'll tell you what you piece of shit…" Miko reached over with his skinny hands and picked Azazel by his collar, glaring hard at the man.

"Speak one more word about dying and I swear to god above whether he existed or not, I'll send your sister right after your sorry ass. At least, she wouldn't spend the rest of her life grieving over what sorry ass of an excuse her big brother was, to not have the bit of courage to confront her face to face at least once before kissing this world goodbye!"

"Shame on you!" Miko tossed the man aside, his hoodie accidentally flashing to reveal that his eyes were somewhat moist for the briefest of moments, but he quickly pulled the hood back down forcibly.

"Anyone else with a death wish to speak of!?" Miko deliberately raised his voice, all the joy he had felt from getting Leonardo's approval went down the drain due to some stupid fucker.

Like he did he need them to remind him that they couldn't afford to die, not today, not tomorrow, and certainly not anytime soon. If they were prepared to die, they wouldn't be scrambling away from one town to the next.

However, sometimes, a man is forced to make a choice.

"If you can't afford to die yet, then scram before it's too late! Go back to being a babysitter or whatever, but I stand here with a choice, and I've already made up my mind to see it to the end!"

After he finished, Miko climbed out of the carriage once more and returned to the roof, laying down while he chewed away at a new dagger. However, the moment he locked down his jaw, his deep green eyes constricted and he immediately went onto a reverse handstand before following up with a smooth backflip.

Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

Sharp air splitting sounded as the thick canopies ahead were torn through, revealing three speeding, massive crossbow arrows each being at least two meters in length.

Miko Instinctively evaded the first bolt that shot right through the foremost wagon before he could even alert the group. With a loud crashing sound, the wagon flipped over as it's splitters scattered about, forcing the other two wagons to veer off course to stop by the roadside.

However, before all that, Miko knew he couldn't allow the second and third bolts to pass by him. Thus, his internal energy cycled rapidly, his veins webbed across his skin, and a green flame jutted from his hands to envelop his two daggers.

With a loud clanging sound, he struck the second bolt from below, the steel blade of his dagger screeching along the shaft of the metal arrow before forcing it to ricochet and smash into the third bolt, deflecting both shots with a resounding boom and a bloom of green fire.

"An ambush!" Miko shouted hoarsely, to which those in the rearmost wagon responded by tossing aside their dark cloaks and revealing their personal weapons and gear below.

As for the foremost wagon, what remained of its races was a think cloud of dust, rubble, and shattered wood concealing the silhouette of the massive beast as it roared.

Although concerned about his sister, Miko had much more pressing matters to attend to as a hail of arrows descended from the sky, filling the airborne young man's field of view.

"Careful!" He shouted before striking the edges of his daggers together in a fierce clash, causing yet another beautiful emerald explosion of sparks and fire that covered the sky indiscriminately.

The momentum of the explosion sent Miko back to land in front of Leonardo's wagon after incinerating the flood of arrows, but he quickly snapped back to inspect the situation with his sister.

"Misaka!" He called out with a hint of concern.

A strong gale billowed from the center of the wreckage, uplifting the thick curtain of dust. A macabre scene greeted Miko as the massive siege bolt impaled through Azazel's back and out through his broad chest, pinning the man to the ground with a massive hole peering through his mashed lungs.

Everyone else was gaping in shock at the man who was resolved to confront his little sister not one minute ago. Misaka as well, all she could remember was Azazel striking the carriage floor with the blunt end of his sword instinctively when they heard Miko cursing outside.

The next instant, everyone was blown a safe distance away, but the man late in his fourties had no spare time to dodge or parry. Thus, everyone survived, save for this man.

Miko's eyes reddened underneath his hood before he recklessly rushed into the thick canopies, having determined the distance and approximate location of the ambushers.

Misaka split the remaining members in two separate groups before taking one of them and rushing after her brother, patting Azazel's thick shoulder silently as she shot past the dying man.

She swore to herself that she'd line up the heads of everyone single one of them on spikes right here before this man drew his last breath.

Inside the middle wagon, Leonardo, Pandora, and Juvia were listening in on the conversation when shit went south. However, following their agreement, unless absolutely necessary, Leonardo and company won't make a move.

"Will you compensate their families in case of death?" Juvia suddenly asked in a lowered voice.

Pandora and Leonardo gave her a weird look, but the latter didn't answer, he simply closed his eyes to rest. It was about time for him to simply lay back as a background character and enjoy the peace it brought.

What fucking compensation? He barely gives a damn about these people, let alone their distant families.