Asher, seated on Sirius’ back, gazed at the vast plain before the Great Dividing Wall, where white tents sprawled like scattered petals.
His eyes danced around the vast field, quickly locating the weapons of war—massive structures covered by large clothes and secured with stones.
Hundreds of men grunted and strained as they hoisted the trebuchets up the wall using thick ropes.
Even diamond-ranked knights found the task exhausting, their stamina drained by the sheer effort.
The Temple Servants moved swiftly, healing bruised palms gained during such gruelling labor.
“We’re lowering the old trebuchets for these new ones,” Kelvin murmured beside Asher, still on horseback. “They can launch large brimstones to 1000 yards and have a lever to adjust their range, increasing its range to a maximum of 1200 yards.”
Asher’s eyes narrowed. “They got the blueprint of the design I created?” He remembered the day he had combined multiple trebuchets together to create a single one that was more powerful and capable of hurling brimstones.
However, he hadn’t expected that the blueprint would be out so fast.
“It was a combined effort of Blacksmith Dan, Mr. White and several mages,” Kelvin explained. “The records and tomes from Tiberias have accelerated the growth of our mages. Some are on the verge of breaking into the diamond rank.”
“Good. Send a word that I commend them for their effort.”
A scribe trailing them quickly jotted it down.
Turning, they glanced at the paladins who were riding their horses into the camp in tight formations, three at once.
The long line stretched like a serpent winding through the field.
“It’s been two weeks. The paladins seem to have blended well with the other troops,” he noted.
A smile formed on Asher’s lips as he spotted Eleazar assembling some tents while still on horseback. The soldiers around the tents would raise their hands in greeting, uttering words Asher could not hear, but the smile on Eleazar’s face suggested they were kind.
It hadn’t been easy for Eleazar due to his skin tone. While other paladins had quickly forged friendships within days before the journey, Eleazar had remained isolated at first.
“The boy with golden braids has potential,” Kelvin remarked. “His ability to manipulate objects with his mind is outstanding.”
“It’s beyond that,” Asher said. “In the future, he might match Nero.”
Hearing that, Nero, who rode silently behind them atop his Silver Blood horse, cast a glance toward Eleazar.
“You don’t consider him a competition?” Asher questioned without looking back.
“If he isn’t one now… he won’t be then.”
Nero’s words made Asher and Kelvin chuckle. The scribe, on the other hand, shivered.
Was this truly an eleven-year-old boy?!
Nero was obsessed with training. As the last of BloodBlade lineage, the weight of legacy pressed heavily upon him. As a Titled Knight, he also had a mantle to keep.
‘Training never ends.’ That was his motto, and it had worked for him. Now, as a Sacred-ranked knight, he could stand toe-to-toe with a saint, if only for a short while.
This was a great feat considering fighting above ranks wasn’t that common.
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Almost all the generals and commanders had reached their peak. A few like Nero, Eleazar, Paul and Adam were the future of the county.
For now, some of them were nothing compared to the powerhouses like Aquila, Eritrea, Alex and Lambert, who had been at Asher’s side since the beginning. But in time, they would rise.
“Where is Uriah?”
Asher turned to Kelvin.
“Over there.” Kelvin pointed.
Asher followed Kelvin’s finger and spotted the silhouette of a man perched atop a watchtower on the wall. A cloak draped over his shoulders, billowing slightly in the wind.
“According to the report, he’s always up there, always watching,” Kelvin continued. “Ever since his raven was killed, he merged with two red-tailed hawks and also reached the gold rank.”
“So he knows where our enemies are?”
“Not exactly. They have a man with a certain talent—someone who can pinpoint Uriah’s birds and have them killed. But he can still inform us when the enemy forces are on the move. Because of that, we have never been caught off guard.”
Asher hummed in approval. “How many men do we have now?”
“Grand Aegis Legion consists of 20,000 Aegis Heavy Infantry, 4400 of them are fresh recruits. We also have 2000 Goshen Longbow Archers. The unit has increased to 3000 but 1000 remained stationed at the Goshen barracks…”
Adjusting his monocle, Kelvin squinted at the paper in his hand and continued to read.
“The Heavy Cavalry, the Bladebreakers, have 5000 cavaliers. There are also 2000 Stormbringer Archer Cavaliers and 200 mages.”
Kelvin breathed out. “That brings the total to 29,200 soldiers. If we include the Crimson Temple’s Dragon knights, we have 30,200.”
“Dragon knights?”
“Lady Sapphira has awakened another talent, one believed to be linked to her origins. It’s the first summoner profession I’ve ever seen.”
“A summoner?”
“Indeed. She summons a species of spirits called the predator dragonfly. They don’t need armor because it can develop a scale-like armor over their bodies when in a war state and they are permanently granted fairy-like wings.”
Asher narrowed his eyes. “And their strength?”
“The scales are able to withstand blows from sacred-ranked weapons and also grant them the strength of a veteran diamond-ranked knight. In addition to their ability to fly and their shooting skills, they have been a major reason in preventing Count William from breaching the wall.”
“What else do you know?”
Kelvin leaned back a bit, then coughed.
“Once she breaks into the imperial rank, their ranks would increase.”
Asher narrowed his eyes further. ‘This is a Zenith Grade talent—no doubt about it!’
“However, there’s a drawback,” Kelvin continued. “She has to feed those spirits with her force and that hinders her growth. If she dies, her knights will all die once the fire which represents the energy dies. So, they make sure she’s safe. And as a fairy, she’s bound to live longer than all of us.”
“My Lord, your tent has been prepared!” Lambert’s voice called from afar.
Asher nodded.”Ah, I see. Let’s go.”
_____
Later, Asher sat at his desk, scribbling notes about Sapphira’s abilities on a piece of paper. Kelvin would never lie to him so all he said was the truth.
Which meant one thing… Sapphira possessed a Zenith Grade talent!
However, this wasn’t joyful news.
He leaned back, staring blankly into thin air.
The side effect of anyone with Zenith Grade talent was…
Death!
It gave them an incredible edge but it always came at the cost of life.
With a heavy sigh, he dropped the ink pen. It was late. Several hours had passed since he sat down to write, think and analyze.
His head ached so he glanced at his bed, considering rest.
Boom!
The ground trembled beneath him as an explosion ripped through the night!
Without hesitation, he grabbed his swords and strapped them to his side before rushing out of the tent only to see flames rising into the night sky, engulfing the horizon.
“The West Division is under attack!”
Nero hovered behind him.
“An attack?!” Asher’s voice was sharp. “When did our enemies breach the wall?!”
