Clang!
Gibeon’s eyes widened when the white-haired man stopped his sword barehand, the icy gauntlet covering Asher’s hand gleaming in the fray.
Asher swung his sword with ferocity, ripping through Gibeon’s armor and grazing his skin!
Alarmed, the chief swiftly retreated, abandoning his sword in Asher’s hand, which was a critical mistake.
Asher hurtled the sword like a spear. The blade’s edge grazed Gibeon’s cheek, drawing blood and a shudder from the chief. Before he could register much less reach, Asher closed the gap and slammed a brutal fist to the very cheek.
Boom!
Blood spurted from Gibeon’s mouth as he collapsed to his knees, his eyes dizzy.
“His armour wasn’t anything like that of the Obsidian Order’s designs,” Eleazar muttered, his brows furrowed. He watched as Gibeon, though struggling with blurry vision, rolled away from Asher’s follow-up punch, pulled out a dagger and aimed for Asher’s right thigh.
With a swift motion, Asher pulled out his sword from the ground and clashed with the dagger. The clash sent the dagger flying off Giebon’s hand, the recoil wrenching his shoulder to ache so badly that the retired rat knight grunted in pain.
Bam!
Asher’s knee slammed into Gibeon’s jaws, sending blood spraying as the rat collapsed to the ground.
“Where are the human slaves?” Asher demanded, his voice cold and commanding.
Gibeon chuckled, blood staining his teeth. “Dead.”
Asher grabbed him by the throat and lifted him effortlessly. The moment their eyes locked, all the hairs on Gibeon’s body stood up in terror, making him feel as if he was staring into the eyes of a giant, ferocious wolf.
“T… They were taken to T… Tachmon Fortress a week ago!”
Asher’s eyes narrowed.
“Tachmon fortress!” Simon ground his teeth as he approached Asher. Around them, paladins combed through the battlefield, gathering their spoils—armors and weapons that could be exchanged for food, a rare commodity in their camp.
Asher turned his head toward Simon. “Do you know about this fortress?”
Simon nodded grimly. “It was once called Winter Citadel, Lord Winter’s true home. But now, it belongs to Edom and is filled with slaves. If they are indeed there, I think we should give up on the idea of rescuing them.”
Asher raised an eyebrow.
Puchi!
He silenced Gibeon with a swift slash, letting the corpse fall to the ground while he walked towards the town hall. “Tonight, we rest here. At dawn, we leave for Tachmon fortress.”
Moses followed Asher as he strode away, while Simon organized the paladins, dividing them into groups, assigning watches, searching for hidden enemies in the town, and scouting parties.
Once he was done, he walked toward the town hall and joined Asher and Moses.
As he entered the wooden hall, he found Asher sitting in the head seat, his arm resting on the armrest where his blade, Euodias, lay.
Moses sat to his right, flames flickering on his fingertips, while Eleazar stood before Asher, his helmet in his hand.
Simon’s gaze drifted from Eleazar’s golden braids to his light brown skin—a strange skin tone in these lands where everyone was pale-skinned. But he couldn’t help but wonder how had this man grown to become so close to Asher in just two months.
“Simon…”
Asher’s voice entered his ears, causing Simon to snap out of his thoughts before he walked and stood before him.
“How far is Tachmon from here?”
“About half a day’s journey on foot.”
Asher narrowed his eyes. “What about on horseback?”
“It would take much shorter, but we don’t have mounts,” Simon replied, shaking his head.
Asher turned to Eleazar. Seeing this, Eleazar coughed slightly. “There are over 400 war horses in the stables at the northern end of the town. Right before the wall.”
Simon’s eyes widened. “You mean the Black Order’s war mounts?! Those horses are well trained and will only obey the knights of the Order alone.”
Asher rose to his feet. “Take me there.”
_____
A short while later…
Talk! Tapk!
Asher, along with Moses, Eleazar Simon and four more paladins who were equipped with their tall spears and broad round shields approached the stable that was previously mentioned by Eleazar.
Asher’s golden eyes scanned the muscular horses and selected from the masses to serve as the mounts of knights. These beasts had been meticulously trained, given special meals to boost their endurance and equipped with legion munching on barley.
As if noticing the group’s presence, the horses lifted their heads, their dark eyes locking onto the small group of visitors. The moment their gaze met Asher’s ferocious golden eyes that almost seemed to glow, their powerful fore and hind legs trembled and buckled beneath them.
Simon’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“H…how.”
Asher breathed out a puff of mist before turning away without a word and began to walk back.
“We shall ride them to Tachmon,” he declared, his voice calm yet commanding.
Eleazar glanced between the subdued horses and Asher’s retreating figure, his expression awestruck.
Moses stepped forward and placed a hand on one horse’s head and began caressing it. Simon braced for the animal to lash out, but it remained calm, even obediently following Moses as he guided it around.
‘D… did he frighten these horses into submission?’ Simon thought, though deep down, he already knew the answer to the question.
_____
Ten Black Order knights on horsebacks escorted two iron-barred carriages as they crossed a bridge leading into a fortress made of black, jagged stones.
The massive metal gates cracked open with a grating roar, revealing more Black Order knights awaiting within.
“I see you have brought fresh ones,” one of them remarked with a smirk.
“Hahaha! It’s from the human village we destroyed last night.” The captain of the knights flanking the carriage responded after a hearty laugh.
As they entered the fortress, the carriages opened, revealing the human prisoners within. Four women and six men, their wrists and ankles shackled with chains, stared at the rat Knights with trembling eyes.
A knight grabbed one of the women by the ankle and dragged her out of the carriage. She slammed onto the cold, hard ground with a scream escaping her throat as pain shot through her body.
“Shut it!”
The rat knight scowled and turned to the others, his voice dripping with cruelty.
The others could only come down from the carriage, trembling.
“You brat!”
CRACK! Experience more tales on empire
“Argh!” A piercing scream echoed through the air, making the fresh slaves tremble even more. Before their eyes, a young, scrawny boy garbed in tattered rags staggered forward. He was flanked by two knights, with a weary slave woman trailing behind him.
Judging by her swollen belly, the fresh slaves could tell she was pregnant.
“You dare ask for more than your ration! You ungrateful wretch!”
CRACKK!
One of the Black Knights swung his whip at the boy’s back, driving him to his knees and stagger. He gasped, his frail body trembling under the assault.
“I… I just wanted food for the woman. She’ll die if she doesn’t eat properly.”
“Shut up!” one of the knights barked at the boy. His armored fist slammed into the boy’s face, sending him sprawling to the ground as blood sprayed from his mouth.
“Please!” The woman rushed forward and grabbed the knight’s whip. Tears streamed down her cheek as she begged. But her pleas were met with a vicious whip strike to her face. The crack of the whip drew a line of blood and a scream of anguish.
Watching all this, one of the slaves dropped to his knees, his face pale and eyes wide with terror.
…
A/N: I was treating my eyes last week. Uploads will resume from today.