Boom!
A massive amount of dust rose up, and it was accompanied by a fearsome shockwave that made the sturdy trees of the desolate forest tilt, their leaves struggling to remain attached to the branches. The wind made Alex squint.
Asher frowned. The convoy came to a halt, and the knights unsheathed their swords while looking toward the east, where the source of the explosion was.
Asher came down from the carriage. The moment his foot touched the ground, he felt a mild trembling causing his eyes to narrow further.
“Something’s coming.”
He muttered under his breath.
“Is it a beast?”
A knight asked.
“It has to be.”
“If it is a beast, how big does it have to be to cause such an explosion?!”
Everyone’s faces became solemn.
The desolate forest was known to be a wilderness because it stretched the entire length of the Ash Mountains. Meaning that it reached the extreme ends of the Ash Mountains, which were the Black Iron Mountains and the Azure River.
Hundreds of thousands of beasts lived in this paradise, and from there, thousands emerged every winter.
Leading his men, Asher went into the forest and crouched behind a shrub. He found a horse, greatly different from any other horse he had ever seen, in a fierce battle against a king-grade wolf, a beast that could reach the saint grade if it lived long enough.
Naturally, this predator should have had the upper hand, and the claw wounds on the horse showed that the king-grade wolf was not weak, but the horse was more fierce. Few things pointed to its lineage as a centrak, and those things were the obsidian spikes protruding from its fore and hind legs.
Instead of the white bony spike, the Centraks had the spikes on this horse that were like carved gemstones, and it had a horn on its head!
The long horn stood proudly on the muscular unicorn’s head, and its mane fell like waves, continually caressing its long neck.
Its aura was wild, untamed, and doubtlessly prideful. With uncanny speed, it evaded the wolf’s bite and plunged its horn into the wolf’s neck. The wolf howled, launching its claws toward the horse’s back.
Swish!
The horse suddenly shot forth with great speed, lifting up its forelegs and stomping down on the wolf. A piercing crack fell into Asher and his men’s ears. It was followed by the wolf’s cry.
Neighing loudly, the horse stomped on the wolf’s head, killing the predator. It snorted, waving its tail proudly as it stood atop the defeated opponent.
Neigh! Neigh!
More neighs came from the distance, and when Asher turned, he saw a large number of centraks galloping toward the unicorn. When the unicorn saw them, it neighed in return before leading its herd away, leaving a great amount of snow thrown into the air in their wake.
No one was able to speak. The dead wolf was definitely a half-step sacred rank beast. It was capable of fighting sacred knights and coming out victorious, but that horse, a beast that was supposed to be at a disadvantage, killed it so brutally.
“I can’t believe I saw the son of the wilderness in my lifetime.”
Though a whisper, the stunning silence made everyone hear it. Asher turned toward the speaker, who was Moses.
“Son of the wilderness?”
“My lord, almost every soul living in Bashan knows of that horse. It is called the son of the wilderness because of its unmatched speed. It’s the only creature that is able to match and even run faster than the dragons of the legends.”
Asher’s eyes widened. Explore hidden tales at empire
“That means what we saw…”
“Is a mythical beast and one of the most perfect of its time.” Moses completed his sentence, excitement pumping through his veins. Mythical beasts were known by how perfect they were. The more perfect the mythical beast, the more powerful they were.
The son of the wilderness had the most perfect agility since knowledge about mythical beasts was gathered by the mages. To possess the most perfect agility, the son of the wilderness had perfect limbs, perfect eyesight, and a perfect body!
Such a legendary creature was king amongst the horses!
“Is such a beast supposed to be here?” Nero frowned.
“No. It has never been sighted in these parts. For the son of the wilderness to lead its herd here, it must be protecting them from something.”
Moses’ eyes flashed. “Something dangerous.”
Asher frowned.
“Let’s return. I shall send a scouting party to find out the reason why that unicorn is so far away from its domain.”
While the others walked back, Asher lingered. His eyes focused on the distance. The unicorn appeared atop a high ground, looking at him. It could see a bright golden aura billowing off Asher, though it was invisible to human eyes, but there was a terrifying crimson aura hidden within the golden aura, and it made the unicorn narrow its eyes.
‘That’s a magnificent horse.’
Asher stated inwardly as the unicorn dashed off. Somewhere within him, he wanted that horse of the legends, but it was far out of his reach.
Maybe one day, they would meet.
….
Three days later, Asher rode into Ashkelon, but he and his men were shocked to see the state of the city. It was full of snow and, worse, sick people!
Boom!
The door to the meeting hall in the lord’s manor was swung open, making Katarina and her officials frown, but when they saw the muscular, gray-haired man clad in his white coat, their eyes widened.
“The count.”
Someone gasped.
“Remain seated.”
Asher ordered as he approached the throne, which was covered with a white cloth. His BloodBlades and Moses were behind him.
The moment Adam and Katarina saw Moses, who they knew as Buba, their expressions changed.
Moses saw rage in Adam’s eyes, so he averted his gaze and exhaled softly. ‘I knew this was bound to happen.’
“My lord, sorry to interrupt, but why is this man here?” Adam pointed at Moses.
Katarina’s eyes widened. She had no idea Adam would go out of his way to pose a question to the lord’s choice, but it was understandable since the same man kidnapped his wife and burned down his clan.
‘What will his lordship do now?’
She thought, looking at Asher’s face.
….
A/N: I’m out of the hospital and I feel much better (Haven’t slept after writing just one chapter.)… So updates will retun to the usual.