The next day, Asher returned to Nineveh with Sapphira. The moment he entered the gates, he saw a tall, white-haired man clad in a golden chest plate over his white tunic.
His golden spectacles gleamed softly as he walked toward him.
This man, who had the air of a noble, was none other than Kelvin, Asher’s regent and ex-butler. freewёbnoνel.com
For some reason, Kelvin still kept his butler job, and after trying his best to have him quit the job and failing, Asher gave up.
“Your Lordship…” He said.
Asher smiled at him, came down from his mount, and embraced him. In the entire domain, everyone knew it was only Kelvin and Sirius that could bring out this side of their lord.
Others could only watch.
After a heartwarming hug, Asher patted Kelvin’s back.
“Did I miss anything these past days?”
“We have begun production. Three trebuchets have been completed as of yesterday, and all of them have been tested to be able to throw large stones with great aim over a distance of 500 yards.”
Asher smiled.
“Archers won’t be able to hit them, but we’ll be able to rain havoc. Incredible!”
Seeing the smile on Asher’s face made Kelvin chuckle. Asher was like his own kid. When he was happy, Kelvin felt happy, and when he was down, he also felt down.
“Tell them I want more. We shall march for Greenock Castle once the trebuchets are ready.”
Kelvin was stunned.
“I thought the plan was to wait.”
“There’s no need for that anymore. We have 15,000 knights; that’s a force strong enough to face the count. The war machines are all I need to march on Greenock.”
“Greenrock Castle will be under tight protection since the count will be expecting our attacks.”
Asher chuckled.
“He won’t expect the Desolate Wolf troop and the war machines. With the trebuchets, they won’t be able to hide behind a wall for long.”
Asher turned to look at Kelvin.
“His forces are divided. I need an ally, and House Mormont looks like a valuable one. Once we attack the count, they’ll look at us differently.”
“But Duke Nubis—!”
“House Nubis has been enemies with our house for centuries. They’re not going to sit and watch us grow even if we try to get out of their way.”
“I see,” Kelvin said. “I’ll summon the commanders for a meeting then.”
“There’s no need. Tell the soldiers that their lord wants to use the arena.”
Sapphira said from behind. Kevin was stunned to hear what she said.
“Why?”
“He wants to fight. He wants to fight beasts if I’m to be precise.”
“What?! But, my Lord, you just recovered!”
…..
Eventually, Asher agreed to fight the next day, but they still gathered a bunch of ovok and one silver blood horse into the arena.
Sapphira, Kelvin, and the BloodBlades stood underneath the arena gazing at Asher, who stood before the beasts.
‘I want something I can fight.’
[Host’s intentions are dangerous. Should I proceed with a weak version of this upgrade? Yes or No?]
‘No. I want to witness my peak and exceed it.’
[As you wish. Would you like to fuse 8 Ovoks and one Silver Blood horse to create an upgraded mutant version, The Thunderous Bloodhorn? Yes or No?]
[Warning! This beast won’t be tamed by the system. It is advisable that the host puts it behind bars before the upgrade.]
Heeding the system’s instructions, the beasts were put behind the steel bars with a mana restriction circuit planted in the cage.
‘Proceed.’
Swoosh!
A mix of black, white, and blue light burst out, and along with it came wind bursts that threatened to sweep him off the ground, but he held himself in place.
With narrowed eyes, he watched the light go down, revealing a 7-foot-tall, steel-like, muscled, jet-black Ovok. It had pitch-black scales over its head, stout neck, shoulders, and forelimbs.
Its eyes were crimson, and azure lightning crackled on the silver horns.
This was definitely a raging mythical beast!
Sapphira gasped lightly. She couldn’t believe Asher just created a mythical beast, beings that were going extinct before her very eyes.
“It’s the Thunderous Bloodhorn.” Her lips parted.
The saint-ranked mythical beast breathed out literal lightning from its nostrils, causing Kelvin’s eyes to grow wide.
Nero took a step back.
While they all had apprehensive reactions, Asher stood before the steel bars with both hands clasped behind him.
His golden eyes boring right into the Thunderously Bloodhorn.
He could feel its oppressive aura weighing heavily on him. More than that, it also looked intimidating, but there was a goal in mind.
That goal burned brighter than the beast before him.
After a while he sighed. “The life of an Ashbourne is full of madness.”
Turning, he glanced at the beast that would have shattered the reinforced steel bars if not for the suppression effect and walked away.
It was time to prepare for tomorrow’s battle.
Throughout the rest of the day, the news leaked out to the rest of the higher-ups. Baron Flameheart, who was in an inn waiting to meet Asher the next day, was shocked to hear the news.
Baroness Katarina, General Adam, Commander Eritrea, and Commander Lambert all arrived in Nineveh that night.
They were more curious to see their lord in action rather than ask why he was fighting in the first place.
Unfortunately, the news spread out even more, reaching the ears of citizens who began to whisper and gossip amongst themselves.
The great thunderous sounds people heard from the arena heightened their expectations and certified the rumor.
Their lord was truly going to battle against a fearsome beast.
Meanwhile, the fellow they spoke about was on the training platform in the castle’s courtyard swinging his sword.
Each slash was slow yet purposeful. He was so absorbed in what he was doing that he had no idea that a slender figure was watching him all this while.
The moment he noticed her, Asher brought down his sword.
“Eritrea.”
His deep voice rang. The figure emerged from the darkness and fell on one knee.
“Your Lordship.”
“Arise.”
Asher smiled.
She stood up. Looking at Asher, whose eyes seemed to pierce through the darkness, she slowly began to walk around the platform.
“Your Lordship, the people know about your fight. Will you allow them to watch?”
Asher frowned.
“How did you know about it?”
“Uh…”
Eritrea was dumbstruck. She did not expect Asher would ask her.
“I heard it from a little bird.”
“I see. Then that bird must have been the one to spread the news.”
“You…!”
Eritrea held her tongue when she realized whom she spoke to. Asher chuckled and pointed his sword toward the weapon rack.
“Pick a weapon. I want to spar with a friend.”
Eritrea blinked several times before rushing for the weapon rack. Explore more stories with