The remaining spiders lunged forth as two pink-horned rats raised their hands. Two massive trees, lifted off the ground by an unseen force, hurtled toward Asher. In response, Asher swung his sword with blinding speed, unleashing crescent crimson arcs of energy.
The trees were cleaved into three pieces and the remaining spiders collapsed to the ground, blood spilling from their bodies and staining the pure white snow.
“He killed 50 gold-ranked trained beasts so quickly! It’s a shame that we can’t capture him,” Ivar sighed, a cruel gleam flashing in his eyes. In that moment, Asher dashed toward them, his sword poised low.
During the past two weeks, Asher had discovered something peculiar about Kryos Frost… It didn’t possess a weaker form, like water, nor was it composed of hydrogen and oxygen atoms as he had learned on modern Earth. Kryos Frost wasn’t a substance, it simply formed out of energy.
And the energy coursing through his body wasn’t a battle force anymore!
It was mana!
The original energy known to man! This revelation meant his brothers wielded mana too, granting them supremacy over those who relied on Magi Force or Battle Force. Mana fused the power of a mage and a knight into a perfect union, amplifying their strength!
Asher swung his sword, unleashing a crescent arc of pure ice.
“Shields!”
Ivar roared, grabbing a shield from a nearby soldier. The others followed suit and raised their own. To their shock, the ice pierced several shields before getting lodged into them, sparing the soldiers but Ivar soon discovered that Asher’s true objective wasn’t to kill his soldiers.
Massive slanted ice pillars erupted from the ground, piercing through four unsuspecting pink-horned rats. The ice, as sharp as blades, pierced through their armor!
“Kill him!!”
The remaining six rat mages unleashed their powers, their eyes turning bloodshot as they uprooted several trees and unearthed rocks from beneath the snow with their mind power and hurtled them at Asher.
Asher raised his hand above his head and swung his sword in a circular motion. As he completed his movement the ice spiraled around him, forming a dome that encased him completely.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions rocked the area, but after everything settled and the dust cleared, Ivar saw that the ice dome remained unscathed, without a single crack visible on its surface!
A part of the dome retracted and Asher shot out, unleashing a devastating horizontal slash that eliminated two more pink-horned rats.
Midair, Asher sensed something and twisted his body but the projective that was hurtling his way curved mid-flight and grazed his thigh, drawing a trickle of his blood. Almost instantly, Asher’s eyes turned white and he landed on one knee, clutching his face.
A long horn retracted into Ivar’s head and vanished like it wasn’t there. “We have him. Finish it.”
His soldiers charged. Asher covered his white eyes, trembling as he fought the urge to rip them into pieces. But no matter how much he tried, his rage was gradually taking over his senses and he felt himself slipping away.
In the next moment, a part of his hair ignited, flames spreading out rapidly across half his body. Unable to suppress it, Asher opened his mouth and breathed out a torrent of fire.
High above, the paladins perched on the treetops, who were about to jump down because their captain had succeeded in destroying the rat beastmen formation, were shocked to see the sudden transformation and the enormous amount of flames Asher was breathing out.
“H… he’s like a human dragon,” Levi whispered, his voice shaking.
“What are you waiting for? It’s time!”
Simon roared as he jumped, his voice a rallying cry. Others followed suit, their charge swift and resolute.
As the Obsidian Order Knights retreated from Asher’s fiery onslaught, Paladins descended from the sky, plunging their spears into some unfortunate knights like lightning before their feet even touched the ground.
One by one, the Paladins landed, yanking out their spears and raising their shields before engaging the knights.
On the other hand, Asher became calmer after breathing out the torrent of fire. Panting softly as his fiery gaze dimmed and became normal, he saw that over 30 Obsidian Order knights had now turned to scorched corpses. Not even their armors had been able to save them from the scalding heat Torah’s flames possessed.
‘Has my increased strength allowed the great dukes to exhibit more of their actual power? Ah, so my weak body had been holding them back all along.’
After muttering that to himself, Asher glanced at his thigh and saw that the wound had vanished, but his apprehension remained.
Commander Ivar was dangerous!
While Asher came to this conclusion, Simon and Levi charged toward this very commander. On their way, Simon’s sharp eyes caught sight of a pink-horned rat that was wreaking havoc among their ranks. The creature’s telekinesis was overwhelming for others.
Seeing a paladin whose shield was crumpled into a scrap metal ball and his head crushed by the noble rat’s mere finger flick, Simon’s chest burned with fury.
With a roar, he hurled his spear with all his might. It streaked through the air and struck the noble rat’s head before anyone, even its guards could react.
Puchi!
Even the knights around the rat were given the time to react until their armor was stained with the blood of the one they were supposed to protect!
With the noble rat gone and without its telekinetic dominance, the knights faltered since they couldn’t handle the force of the Paladins’ thrust and were sent flying. And before they could land, spears pierced through their chests, sending them lifeless to the ground!
“Good!”
Levi shouted, his laughter ringing above the chaos. He spun his spear and slapped a knight with its head. The unfortunate knight slammed into a tree and crumpled to its knees.
When the knight raised his gaze, it saw Levi—gallantly clad in his leather vest with a spear and shield in both hands—looming over him.
Puchi!
Chaos intensified as the battle continued and bodies from both sides fell. Yet, the unmatched expertise and strength of the paladins left Ivar reeling.
Were these truly humans?
The same humans who were slaves who had been slaves during his youth? The pines who cowered before their presence, that fled from their strongholds and cities?
The humans who always complained about their weaknesses? About their numbers, armor, equipment, terrain and much more. They always had an excuse to give but these ones… They had overcome all that held them back.
Their armor was nothing to write home about, their weapons were made of wood, they lacked numbers and the terrain wasn’t made to suit them, they made it so!
‘These ones… they have transcended all their limits. And something tells me it’s related to that man!’ Your next chapter awaits on empire
Ivar’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Asher, who stood motionless, watching his men on the battlefield.
“Fall back!” Gritting his teeth, Ivar bellowed.