“It’s him!”
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The soldiers on the walls of Winter Stronghold gasped, their eyes fixed on the man with short white hair, riding a muscular black-and-red horse galloping on the snowy plains. Flanking him were his loyal aides, Moses and Simon, both clad in sleeveless scale-leather vests that left their scarred, muscular arms exposed. These were the marks of countless battles against rat beastmen and the feral beasts in the forest.
They wore a cloak, lined with fur at the shoulders, to offer them minimal warmth against the biting cold. Yet, they had long since learned to endure such hardships. It was the first week of the second month of the year, only five days since the battle against the rat beastmen army, but the tale of Edom’s humiliating defeat had spread like wildfire.
Among the human slaves in Edom, whispers carried the story and soon the news travelled to the ears of some smaller human strongholds in hiding.
Above that, almost everyone in Winter Stronghold knew of the battle since those who went to deliver rations returned with tales of the news. Seeing the man who they said could conjure unmelting ice from thin air and defeated 500 Obsidian knights, along with 10 noble rats, with nothing but a band of 100 men wielding wooden weapons.
Now, seeing him approach, the soldiers were struck in awe.
One of them squinted at the rider as he passed through the gates and galloped toward the stronghold, heading for the castle.
The soldier turned to his companion. “Is he truly… Kryos’ vessel.”
“Of course he is!” The other soldier snapped. “He has the hair and the power! Didn’t you hear? Not even 10 noble rats could scratch his ice dome. And don’t forget—they also say he’s the reason for that strange mist a month ago!”
A soldier beside the doubtful one retorted.
The doubtful soldier frowned. “If he is truly Kryos vessel, does that mean we are saved?”
“It doesn’t,” came a stern voice from behind. The soldiers turned around to see their commander standing with his arms crossed, his face as hard as stone.
“C…commander!”
“Lord Kryos was lord over all races in Bashan—human and non-human alike. He won’t save you simply because you share his lineage,” the commander said coldly. “And besides, it’s been almost eight centuries since he last appeared and also in a body that isn’t from his clan. Even if this man is his vessel, without Kryos’ pure lineage, I doubt he would be able to manifest Lord Kryos’ true armor.”
“C… commander… why would you say that?” The soldier’s voice wavered with doubt.
The commander frowned at the naive soldier. “Do you even know why Lord Kryos was called the Snow Wolf? Because of his divine beast, the Snow Wolf! If White Hair was truly Kryos vessel, we should have seen the beast by now.”
With that, the commander turned and strode away.
“At least he drove off 500 Obsidian Order Knights and their dreadful mages with nothing but 100 men who had lost their glory,” the soldier muttered under his breath.
The commander’s stride faltered for a moment, a vein pulsing on his forehead, but he kept walking, grinding his teeth.
Meanwhile, two figures—Anderson and Naomi—stood behind a window, watching Asher as he entered the stronghold. She clenched her fist as the people clamoured around Asher, singing praises of his name and calling him the Achillies, the undefeated!
“He barely defeated 500 men and they’re calling him undefeated.” Naomi scowled.
Anderson raised an eyebrow. “Let them call him whatever they want. In the end, he serves us as a soldier and that’s all there is to it.”
Naomi snapped. “Can’t you see that he’s outgrowing the boundaries we set for him? That man is slowly winning the hearts of the people! Because of him, we have discovered the Ramoth Stronghold and that’s solely because they have hopes of meeting him! People now see him as a saviour. Soon, they’ll see him as I Am’s messenger. And when that happens, we will lose all our control over him.”
Anderson frowned. “The Achillies.”
He clenched his teeth as realization dawned on him. For the first time, he understood why Naomi was insisting that Asher was a threat.
Was this his plan all along? Pretend to give up his authority, only so that he could usurp their rule and merge the stronghold with his domain?
“Turns out he’s not as innocent as he seems. And we made a mistake trusting him.” With those words, Anderson left.
Naomi smiled a bit. “Kryos vessel? Hump! A man who isn’t born of our lands is unworthy to bear such a noble talent. You will never be the next Lord Kryos.”
After muttering those words to herself, she also left, heading for the council hall.
Shortly after, the council members assembled. Asher walked into the hall, his expression calm as he faced the round table of solemn-faced council heads.
“Captain Asher, welcome,” Anderson said softly.
Asher looked at him and responded with a nod.
“We have all heard of your outstanding victory,” Anderson continued, “but the reason for your presence here is shrouded in mystery.”.
“I want more men,” Asher replied plainly.
“What?!” Naomi’s eyes widened. “We already gave you a hundred of our best!”
Asher turned his head toward her. “Your former best, I presume.”
“Such audacity. If they were our ‘former best’ how could they defeat 500 Obsidian Order Knights despite being outnumbered and out-armored?”
Asher sighed, his patience running thin. “You gave me men who were unstable. I don’t need to exchange facts with you for you to know the truth.”
Naomi trembled but said nothing.
“How many did you lose and how many do you require?” Isaac asked while Lord Winter remained quiet.
“I lost 40 men and I require 240 men.”
Anderson furrowed his brows. “How can you lose 40 men, and you now want 200 more as a replacement?”
“Clearly,” Isaac interjected, his arms crossed, “after defeating 500, Clan Edom will retaliate with twice, maybe triple that number next time. With 60 or even 100, he will be unable to defend.”
“But you will be giving him too much power!” Naomi protested. “The people already call him Achillies, the undefeated and his men follow him without a question. Do we want to keep a man who might turn our very own people against us?”
A heavy silence filled the hall for a few minutes until Lord Winter cleared his throat.
“Give him more men.”
Naomi’s eyes widened, trembling, but no words escaped her lips.