When the paladins saw the towering general—seven feet and two inches tall—clad in heavy pitch-black armor with a helmet that didn’t even allow them to get a good look at his eyes, unease settled over them.
Adam inhaled deeply, preparing for a mighty dragon roar that would no doubt reduce these invaders into a blood mist. But then, his breath caught. His eyes froze at the sight of the figure before him.
Sirius.
Although the beast looked a bit different and had a wilder, feral aura instead of the calm, noble presence it once carried, Adam was certain that it was Sirius!
His irises dilated.
“General, what are your orders?!” a soldier called out when he saw that the enemy was getting closer but the general had yet to give any order.
Adam didn’t answer. Instead, he lifted his right hand.
“Stand down,” he commanded without even sparing a glance at the men behind him.
Though uncertain, the soldiers obeyed, raising their spears to a neutral stance.
They exchanged puzzled glances, a bit confused as to why their general had given such an order.
As Adam squinted, the approaching wolf slowed its pace. And as it neared, the hooded rider pulled back his cloak.
“Sir Adam. It’s been a while.”
Asher smiled.
Adam’s expression shifted—from slight confusion to dawning realization, then shock.
This was his lord! The features were different—white hair, lighter skin—yet the presence was unmistakable. And beneath the cloak, Adam could sense it: a stronger, more formidable build.
His lord wasn’t the same man who had left the county. He had changed—his appearance, his temperament and his strength!
Thud!
Adam fell to one knee and slammed his fist into his breastplate as he bowed his head.
“I hail the arrival of His Lordship!”
Gasps rippled through the ranks. The soldiers’ eyes widened before they too fell on their knees, their cloaks fluttering in the breeze as they stared at the man many had presumed dead for the past four months.
‘He’s back!’
Thanks to the display beneath, Lucas’s heart pounded in his chest. His eyes lit up in excitement and he sprung to his feet.
“He’s back!”
“What?” The captain turned sharply, as did the other guards.
“It’s his Lordship. The White Wolf has returned!”
The captain’s eyes widened. “Lower me down this instant!”
Even as he gave the order, he was already marching towards the elevator at a fast pace. “Lucas!”
“Sir!”
“Come with me.”
Lucas felt like he couldn’t breathe due to excitement and fear. Was he going to meet him—the man who took off the head of an Archduke’s son?
The man who took Count William’s capital and drove his Elvin daughter mad? The White Wolf who had annihilated the jackals for attacking the keep?
The warrior lord that all the powerful generals of the county submitted to? The man who built the Great Dividing Wall, splitting a vast section of the north?!
Lucas could hear his own heartbeat—loud and heavy, as though his heart might burst out from his chest.
Now that His Lordship had returned… what would happen? Would he shift the tides of the war at the Great Dividing Wall?
Would he save the county from Count William’s barbarian army?
While Lucas was filled with excitement and patriotic thoughts for the county, the captain’s mind was filled with how he was going to impress Asher.
Although he wasn’t planning on lying, it still didn’t change the fact that Asher’s return was a great opportunity for him.
While this was going on, Asher stared down at his men, feeling both melancholic and at ease.
He was back home.
“How have you been, General?”
“Expecting your return.”
Asher raised an eyebrow. But when he glanced at the expressions of the soldiers, he knew Adam spoke the truth.
“The county must not be in its best state, then,” Asher murmured. “Let’s go.”
Sirius took two steps forward, then halted.
“Before I forget…” He gestured toward the warriors behind him. “These men behind me. Make sure they’re well-fed and sheltered. They’re your lord’s personal troop.”
With those words, he rode in with Adam by his side.
The paladins and the Frontline Infantry stared at them until they couldn’t see them anymore.
After moving through the mountain passage for a short while, they emerged into a vast field, spanning countless kilometres.
Hundreds of soldiers trained in formation. And beyond them—thousands of farmers tended to their crops in the fields.
Their wheat was growing nicely.
This vast field was enclosed by four towering mountains, created by the system when Ashkelon was sent underground.
These mountains served as a formidable defense. Without them, an enemy force could easily block Ashkelon’s routes, sealing its fate in battle.
But with the mountains, the attackers had only two choices—either they had to scale a thousand feet of sheer rock or force their way through the heavily fortified gate. Even if they succeeded, they would still only reach this outer field.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t Ashkelon. To truly enter Ashkelon, they had to breathe another gate—one attached directly to the mountain like the first gate to see the passage to Ashkelon itself.
Ashkelon had a total of eight gates: four Great Gates and Four Minor Gates. The four Great Gates were the gates that one could see from outside the mountains, while the four Minor Gates were positioned at the backs of the mountains, which led directly into the city. It was here, at one of the Minor Gates, that Asher stood.
“Count Asher has returned. Pay your respects!” Moses roared, his voice carrying across the gathered soldiers. Adam, unable to speak, simply watched.
The moment he said that the soldiers set their eyes on Asher and fell on their knees.
“We hail the Count!”
Asher’s gaze swept over them, and a hush fell. Some of the men, feeling the weight of his stare, began to sweat.
Crank! Crank!
A mechanical sound drew Asher’s attention. Turning around, he saw a massive wooden structure attached to the mountainside, stretched from the ground all the way to the summit!
And right now, there were two figures, a man and a boy being lowered down in what looked like a wooden prison but Asher knew it was an imitation of an elevator.
An elevator was a prison anyway… people didn’t just know about it.
Seeing such an innovative structure, Asher’s eyes flickered with interest. “Who built that?”
“Mr. White,” Adam answered. “After the incident, Ark White went back to work and also brought out designs he had created during his days of depression. This was one of them. The ballistae was another. We finished the construction two weeks ago.”
“And you’ve been building it for how long?”
Asher turned to Adam.
“Three months and a week with a workforce of 20,000 men.”
Asher was impressed. He would have to pay Ark White a visit. That man had officially transformed into a living treasure!
At that moment, the lift reached the ground. The captain opened the door and walked out, followed closely by the young boy behind him.
He took in the sight before him—hundreds of soldiers, frightening diamond-ranked and gold-ranked knights on their knees made the captain certain that this white-haired man was truly their lord.
He noted that Asher looked a lot more handsome than he seemed in the picture they had and a bit bigger in muscle mass but his gaze… that remained the same.
It was a gaze he was used to as a footsoldier.
The gaze of a warrior.
Thud!
Both he and Lucas dropped to one knee.
“We hail the return of His Lordship.” Continue your adventure at My Virtual Library Empire
“You came from up there?” Asher pointed toward the mountain’s peak.
“Yes, My Lord.”
“Then…” Asher dismounted. “…Take me there.”
As he was led into the lift, Asher observed the men at the massive wheels. Blessed with strength-enhancing talents, they were able to turn the thick wooden handles, rotating them in slow, steady circles. The ropes—each as thick as a grown man’s two fingers together—tightened, pulling the elevator steadily upwards.
When Asher reached the top, he first faced the wind but the sight of the vast expanse was too grand for him to consider the distress of the wind.
Seeing him gaze at the expanse silently, Lucas spoke from behind.
“Now that you are back, I’m sure we’ll win the war.”
Asher glanced at the young boy from the corner of his eye.
“What war?”
….
End of volume 3: Into The Depths.
Thank you for reading up to this point. Asher’s wild journey as a commoner has reached its glorious end, I’d say.
Await the next volume: Duke Of Ashes