8 They Shall Have No Burial

Thorian had the advantage for now, but he couldn't hold it for much longer. Exchanging blows back and forth, he was already panting with exhaustion. In contrast, Derk's breathing remained smooth and synchronized, reflecting the vast difference in endurance between the two.

At the same time, as Derk exercised his limbs, his body gradually warmed up, and his punching speed became faster and faster. The effect of the cold, which had made him feel sluggish and numb, had faded away, revealing the true skills honed by his decades of training.

"You'll be dead soon; consider being my prisoner after this." Derk laughed maniacally. His fighting experience was rich, so he attempted to use words to make Thorian's fighting spirit falter.

"In the end, I'm just a teenager, and my not fully developed body can't compare to this warrior's." Thorian's mood was as calm as ice. Having sharpened his will throughout the day yesterday, there was no way his fighting spirit would falter.

"Now!" Thorian thought, knowing that in the next attack he would eliminate the rest of the soldiers, and extending his ice-covered right hand, he jumped back to distance himself from Derk. Derk wanted to pursue him but suddenly saw a watery blue light emitting from Thorian's palm. His face darkened, and he shouted, "Everyone attack at the same time!"

Derk gritted his teeth as he raised both arms to cover his face, forming a protective shield. At the same time, he ran towards Thorian without pause, planning to endure the attack while seeking to end the battle as quickly as he could.

But Thorian, who had formed large ice spears, had attacked all his enemies. With a snap, Derk was the most affected, and horrible wounds appeared within seconds, causing an extreme wave of pain. As for the other soldiers who were inexperienced on the battlefield, they had been pierced by the spears.

"How can this be possible?!" Derk had fallen to his knees and suddenly discovered that several spears had been embedded in his body, leaving him with wounds and open cuts slowly oozing blood.

Fresh blood flowed from the wounds and from the side of his body, while bloody muscles could be seen hanging around the spears. Even the broken white bones of his forearm could be easily seen.

Derk was beyond surprised. This is impossible! A waterbending master couldn't do something like this, let alone a child who doesn't seem to be older than ten. How could his ice spears penetrate his armor? He shouldn't have the strength to do it.

He had no idea. But Thorian was a child who manipulated the ice perfectly. Because of this, he was extremely dangerous, and all these recent killings were a clear demonstration of that.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

"Do you feel it in your body?" Thorian walked step by step in front of the man who, moments ago, claimed to want to take him away.

Extending his hand, subtle blue flames shimmered, and Derk's eyes were horrified. "You are his son."

His blood loss was becoming more severe, and his breathing grew heavier.

"Your Fire Nation wiped out my village. When I grow up, I'll visit your home and kill even the dogs. I'll search for your family and slit their throats, kill as many as possible, and everyone will feel my pain." As Thorian approached, his voice as cold as ice, he pronounced Derk's death sentence as he knelt.

As he said that, the sword in Thorian's hand flickered twice, shooting two ice blades towards Derk.

Swoosh, swoosh!

The ice blades flew toward Derk's neck. He was horrified to see Thorian's firebending, and when he saw he was being attacked again, he lost all hope of living.

The next moment, he felt like his world was spinning; he really saw his own feet, chest, back, and that severed neck.

Then, total darkness awaited him.

Derk had died.

Decapitated by a child younger than ten, his head flew away, and his body fell to the ground as he lost strength. Blood gushed from his neck, staining the surrounding snow red.

"It's done…" Thorian murmured as he waved his hand, dispelling all that curtain of snow he had created.

For their enemies, there would be no burial; they would all serve as food for both wild creatures and Doki, who could easily eat their bodies.

"Grandfather!" Darío cried out in horror as he saw his grandfather not reacting. He opened the top of his clothes so he could breathe better, but he didn't exactly know what was happening.

Thorian walked towards the boy who seemed to be his age, manipulated crystal-clear water with his hands, and began to administer first aid to the old man, but when he learned of his overall condition, he shook his head. "Your grandfather has passed away; there's nothing I can do."

Darío thought it was because of the blow to the head and silently cried, his eyes filled with resentment because his grandfather was an incredible person. There was no one nobler than his grandfather, and those damned soldiers of the Fire Nation killed him.

"Do you hold resentment? Then stand up, finish off those who killed your grandfather, and promise not to stop until our nation is free from these people." Thorian threw an ice knife at Darío, who took it and walked towards the soldiers, who would soon die from their wounds and how frozen their bodies were.

"Aaaahhhh!!!"

Crack!

Thorian looked around and shouted, "We are still at war; they are still killing us, and if you want to do something to defend your families, you must fight. Anyone who wants to learn will be instructed by me; I will form a special group to take down the invaders, but make no mistake, I will do it with or without you."

Having said this, he walked towards the corpses, stripped them of useful things, and Doki began to drag them to the seashore.

Everyone who was hiding came out one after another to repair everything that had been broken; some others went directly to help the old man, and some more to prevent the blood from being seen, which was inevitable.

Looking at the Fire Nation cruiser, Thorian waved his hand, and its flag burned completely along with the others in other places.

When everything was done, along with the others who hadn't said a word, they began to remove unnecessary things from this place to prepare and use it.

Darío looked at this cruiser and said, "If you want to use it, you can put a flag on it; one that represents water could work to not scare the other villages."

Thorian didn't say a word, looked into the distance as everyone was feeding Doki, and asked, "How many people are in this village?"

"About five hundred people, the warriors, were taken away a long time ago, so only orphaned children and the elderly remain." Darío was a very intelligent boy, so he quickly responded to Thorian's questions, whom everyone feared and respected.

"I'm going to teach you how to fight. My goal is to unite all the tribes that have abandoned their desire to fight and form a group to hunt down the cruisers that travel alone through our territory." Thorian said, expressing his thoughts, Once I teach you here, you should find a suitable place to settle.

If they planned to fight on their own, they should have a safe base and, of course, an identity. Masks were a good option, so Thorian, at Darío's suggestion, found an old man who offered to prepare the masks.