Chapter 12: Beast Tide
'Double upgrade! Do it!'
Before Asher's eyes, a white light engulfed his men. He gazed at the procedure with squinted eyes, waiting to see if the system could regenerate some of his men's missing limbs.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
The light eventually left. And like when a box covering a package was opened, the actual thing inside was revealed. The reveal of seven Shura Vanguard swordsmen left Asher gobsmacked.
All of them grew up to 6 feet with not even an inch less. Because of the double upgrade, they skipped the silver rank and landed in the gold rank!
All of them wore silver half-plate armor with chainmail underneath. They wore a thick coat and a gemstone button at their neck. Their armor wasn't as shining as Alex's, but it was also made from refined steel. A blue loincloth wrapped around their waist down and had an extension at the front. The extension had an exquisite embroidery of a wolfhead.
Their helmets had proper eye holes with wings at the sides but no crest, as that was special to the commander. But while they had no crest, their helmets had dark blue plumes.
The plumes just stopped at their necks, so they weren't as long as Alex's. All seven shura vanguards had a metal aspis shield on their left hand. The shield was big enough to offer adequate protection but not too big to hamper their swift movement, nor did it make them too light.
Strapped to their waists were four finger-wide swords, forged by an unknown blacksmith, but when a vanguard unsheathed his sword from the scabbard and brandished it, Asher saw the mastercraft in that work.
"Your Lordship!"
All of them went on their knees. The sound of their metal armor and chainmail making sounds due to their movements fell into Asher's ears, but to him, it sounded like progress. Looking at the buff valiant gold-ranked sword knights under his command, Asher didn't know what to feel.
But one thing was true.
His military powers were powerful enough for him to contend with any baron in all of Tenaria.
[Shura Vanguard: The King's Guard! A special personal troop possessed with the spirit and blood of the shura, making them weapons of destruction on a battlefield and walking walls of defense while protecting their Lord. They are the Lord's last line of defense.]
"Take our dead. We'll give them a befitting burial."
Asher gave an order, and the vanguards swiftly carried it out.
After they left, Alex came up to him. "Your Lordship, that mage was just a silver-ranked mage. How could he produce a diamond-ranked abyss knight?"
Asher pointed at the corpse. "It was through blood sacrifice. It's a spell that is done with the corpses of hundreds of thousands to produce an abomination much more powerful than the rank of the mage. That silver mage lost control over that abyss knight, but its purpose was to destroy the tribes around, or Nineveh was the target all along."
"I see."
Alex nodded.
"Should we leave the corpse here?"
"No. We're taking him to Nineveh. I need him to get answers from Eritrea."
After some minutes of silence, Alex turned and looked at Asher's calm expression. A scene of a white-eyed man flashed through his eyes, causing him to clear his throat loudly.
"My Lord, what happened to you earlier?"
Alex wasn't like Alec. While Alec didn't question Asher, Alex wanted to know. He was more free with Asher and would occasionally give his opinions, even when Asher didn't ask for them.
"Ashbournes are sometimes associated with the Shura. Have you never pondered about that?"
Alex's eyes widened upon hearing that.
"I thought the shura was a certain species of fearsome beast! No one told me it's a lineage of fearsome warriors."
"Kek." Asher chuckled.
"My Lord, you killed a diamond-ranked ogre when you're a silver-ranked warrior. You're a monster!"
"I'm still human."
Asher flashed a casual smile, patted Alex's shoulder, and walked away with his hands clasped behind him.
"We ride for Nineveh!"
Alex yelled, causing an invisible shockwave that made Sirius look at him. His men were also stunned at how loud his voice was.
Thank goodness they were far from him.
Everyone mounted their rides and began their journey back to the stronghold.
As the wind blew against Asher's face and the snow fell on his head, he couldn't help but grunt softly. While his men were filled with strength and their powers were even increased by several folds, he had grown weary.
He was only able to keep pushing himself due to his willpower.
Flap! Flap!
That sound made him look up. It was a messenger falcon.
Upon seeing it, Asher regretted not carrying one along. That way he could have easily sent for reinforcement.
"Alex, remind me that I have a new law for the army. Do not forget."
"Yes, Your Lordship."
Asher nodded and received the messenger falcon. After the bird perched on his forearm, he took the rolled-up letter in the cylinder strapped to the falcon's back.
A cold gleam zoomed past his eyes after he was done reading the letter.
"What is it, Your Lordship?"
"Silverleaf has encountered a beast tide."
Alex's eyes widened.
They haven't found a proper captain for the bastide, and the security there wasn't much; after all, the entire army wasn't more than 700 strongmen and women.
"Let's ride for Silverleaf."
The group made a U-turn, and after journeying some distance back, they followed a small passage in between two hills. Silverleaf was located inside the Ash mountains, some kilometers away from Nineveh, but since they were closer, it wouldn't take them much time to reach there.
Wu~
The cold wind blew against Asher's face as his hair fluttered. A picture of Mary's wings flashed through his mind, making him wish for an elite air force, but that was still far away.
...…
Silverleaf Bastide.
"Don't let them cross the walls!" A bronze-ranked shieldman bellowed as he thrust his spear through the eyes of a white-furred creature, which had bone scythes for forelegs, a long body, two normal hind legs, and a bushy tail.
The head of this beast looked similar to that of a cute cat, but once they opened their large, sharp-toothed mouth, fear would take hold of their prey, who would usually be stunned because these creatures have a habit of only revealing their heads.
These beasts were the infamous White Fury!
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A/N: We're still three reviews short!
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