Eleazar’s eyes narrowed. “We both know your skin has been hardened by force to the extent that my talent can’t work on you.”
The Scarlet Order Knight grunted. “Your honest reply has guaranteed you a swift, painless death.”
Without saying any other word, the Scarlet Order Knight closed the gap, swinging his longsword with a deadly arc, aiming to cleave Eleazar into two.
Eleazar blocked the strike by raising his shield and then thrust his spear forth with all his might. But to his shock, the Scarlet Order Knight tilted his body in such a way that the spearhead deflected off his pauldron!
The armor was left with a slight scratch but that timely deflection allowed the Scarlet Order Knight to swing his sword upward.
Just as it was about to strike, a light blue hue wrapped around the sword, stopping it in its tracks and allowing Eleazar the chance to escape the dangerous situation.
‘He hasn’t even unleashed his battle force, yet he’s a Scared-ranked warrior like me! Is this what the Edomites have achieved with their advanced armor technology?’
Eleazar didn’t have time to continue his thought as the Scarlet Knight lifted his sword, its blade glowing with a grayish-white light.
Realizing the rat knight was about to use ‘Output’ Eleazar also gathered his force into his spear and thrusted it forward, his mouth wide open as a fierce yell forced out of his lungs.
Imbibed with his talent, the spear collided with the sword and both the opposing forces erupted into blinding light as they clashed violently.
Then, Eleazar noticed what seemed like the intricate designs on the scarlet armor light up. The Scarlet Order Knight seemed to be pulled off the ground by some unseen power.
Or that was what it seemed to him.
In truth, the knight had jumped but the dense amount of force pouring out of him made it seem like the earth had imploded and thrown him off it!
“Die!”
The Scarlet Order Knight roared as he slashed his sword downward, unleashing a massive crescent-shaped sword light.
Eleazar was about to raise his shield when the flutter of cloaks carried by the wind fell into his ears.
The scarlet knight also heard it, but it was too late.
Puchi!
A spear pierced through the knight’s sturdy breastplate from behind, emerging out from the front while converted in his bright, red blood. With practised ease, the spear was pulled out and Levi flicked the blood off his spear with one smooth motion.
Your journey continues with empire
Around him stood ten other cloaked paladins, similar to Eleazar, and one could only see their masked heads.
Levi chuckled. “I admire your talent, I truly do, but sometimes brute strength is all you need.”
Eleazar scowled. “They must have sensed the force spikes from our fight. Has the main force struck the gates?”
Levi turned briefly as if he could look beyond the tall walls.
“Soon. We should locate the rest of the slaves before it becomes chaotic,” Levi replied, glancing at the fallen Scarlet Order Knight before following Eleazar to the battered young slave.
Meanwhile, on the main gates of Tachmon, the knights stood at full alert. Their eyes fixed on the short white-haired man standing openly amid tall trees about a kilometre away.
“It’s Achilles,” the rat knights whispered to each other.
“I heard his appearance means the paladin will follow soon,” another muttered.
A captain snorted. “That man is the one who made Commander Ivar retreat? A tiny human that I can squash like a bug?”
The captain chuckled as he considered his size. At 7 feet tall, with impressive muscles to match and clad in an armor that weighed a ton!
He stood like a titan among the mortals.
“Shut up.” A voice came from behind, freezing the captain in place. It was Ivar’s voice!
The captain’s bravado crumbled. Trembling, he stepped aside, relinquishing his position. Ivar strode forward, taking his place atop the wall overlooking the gate.
“Kryos vessel,” Ivar’s voice sharp and commanding, rang out. “It pains me that you have chosen to side with a feeble race. You will have to die for your choice… unless you change it.”
Empowered by force, Ivar’s voice went far. But he received no response from Asher.
Ivar’s eyes narrowed. “Crossbowmen. Kill him…”
Then, almost as an afterthought, he muttered softly. “…if you can.”
The captain standing behind him heard the faint mutter, his eyes widening.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Thirty knights unleashed their Star-breaking crossbows in unison, the bolts streaking toward Asher like falling stars.
But a wall of ice erupted from the ground and blocked the bolts.
The bolts barely scratched the surface, and were unable to even lodge into the ice!
“What is that ice made of?!” one of the knights muttered in disbelief.
Swoosh!
Asher moved. Drawing his blade, Euodias, he then dashed forward with a speed that made him a blur. The crossbowmen fired desperately, but Asher was unstoppable. He deflected some bolts, shattered others, and evaded the rest, his Kryos frost shimmering with each moment.
At a certain point, it was obvious to Commander Ivar that the weapons that had kept their adversaries at bay for all this long were now useless against this foe.
His eyes narrowed.
“You are strong, Achilles,” Ivar called out. “But even then. You barely know much about your talent—that’s your weakness.”
As he spoke, his body began to shift. What seemed like horns grew out of his head and back, but they weren’t horns at all. They were his rat hair which were stronger than steel and as malleable as molten iron. Those hairs moved like tendrils behind him.
In the next moment, they writhed, elongated with a hiss. They shot forward, closing the gap hundreds of meters between Ivar and Asher, but another ice wall erupted to stop them.
CRACK!
The tendrils smashed onto the barrier, leaving spiderweb fractures in it.
For the first time, Kryos ice cracked!
“I knew it,” Ivar said, a grin tugging at his lips. “Your ice has not reached the stage where it is unbreakable. This also means it can be melted.”
Commander Ivar chuckled as he turned to his knights. “Knights of the Scarlet Order. Come, let us rid Edom of this stubborn plague.”
Together with 60 Scarlet Order Knights, Commander Ivar charged out of the fortress gates, heading towards Asher with his halberd gleaming under the sun.
Asher stood motionless, his golden eyes glowing with cold intensity at the sight of them. Without a word, he began to walk toward them, the tip of his sword dragging against the earth.
“Achilles you have come to die!” Ivar roared, unleashing his talent once again, causing those horn-like tendrils to shoot out once more.
But this time, Euodias crackled with azure light, streaked with lightning.
Slash!
Asher swung his sword horizontally in a broad arc, unleashing his ice offensively through the blade of his sword.
When it met with the tendrils, they were severed clearly, causing Commander Ivar to let out a groan of pain.
Asher’s eyes flickered with resolve.
He assumed a proper battle stance and gripped Euodias tightly. Then, he spoke a word, one that made Commander Ivar’s bones grow cold.
“…Eden.”