Rumble!
A hundred and two riders leaned in to reduce the air resistance as they rode through the woods. All of them were women!
They emerged from the forest and Morgana came to a halt. Others also came to a halt.
Their eyes were fixed on the settlement ahead. All that remained of it was corpses of people and animals, blackened grass, and destroyed properties.
Even flies and crows that were attracted by the corpses were also dead!
“Such vileness.” Elah, the most powerful male knight in Silver moon spat with furrowed brows.
Morgana frowned. “Death Knights. They will spread their plague throughout our lands if we don’t kill them quickly.”
“It’s only one Galvia ship that came to our shores. They shouldn’t be more than one hundred Death Knights and yet they’ve massacred a village of 400 people in one night!”
Elah ground his teeth.
Death Knights were a result of Galvia’s dabbling in forbidden alchemy. This empire loathed Magi force and anything that wasn’t a knight.
For this, the Nightfire kingdom was their sworn enemy and they had launched a war by sending a fleet of Death Knights!
These knights were known to have implants called abomination. It made the knights the ultimate weapon of death.
Coming in contact with them meant contacting the plague. Even breathing close to them could be dangerous. Everything about them, from blood to their presence spreads incurable illnesses!
Just one ship had reached their shores and a settlement was already gone.
“Let’s move.”
Morgana kicked her horse. It neighed, turned and they followed the blackened path left by the Death Knights.
Even the grass they stepped on withered and became black, making it easier to track them.
After an entire day of pursuit, Morgana and her women reached the outskirts of a town.
Morgana’s pupils shook at the terrifying sight of the town in flames. Screams and cries echoed from the town along with the crumbling of burning houses.
Unable to control her rage, Morgana rode into the town. The moment she entered, she saw knights clad in pitch black armor dragging women and children to the town square.
The men were cut down mercilessly. These knights had pulsing red eyes and the parts of their skin revealed were dry and gray!
They let out deep, menacing growls.
When they spotted her, they let go of their captives and drew their swords, growling heavily.
Morgana knew these were men who had been transformed into monsters through forbidden alchemy.
Galvia saw mages and any form of Magi force as the evil of the world but she saw them as a greater evil.
Her right eye glowed. In the next moment, she unleashed a scorching beam that sliced through the armors of the Death Knights!
Black goo poured from the fallen knights. The captives scrambled away but who mistakenly breathed in held their throats, gasping for breath.
Their faces became white with blue veins protruding from everywhere.
Morgana rode past them and arrived at the town square. To her shock, she saw dozens of Death Knights with flame torches surrounding about a thousand peasants, consisting of women and children.
When the only Death Knight wearing a dark blue cloak saw her, his red eyes gleamed.
“H… Heretic!”
Shing!
Over fifty Death Knights tossed away the torches, unsheathed their swords and faced Morgana.
“Onward! For the Emperor!”
The captain pointed his great sword at Morgana.
Rumble!
A hundred and one riders emerged a couple meters behind Morgana, their swords drawn as they got ready to engage.
“Queen’s Glaive!”
Elah roared, his right arm burst into blood tendrils that morphed into a large one edged blade!
He leaned closer, his eyes locked on Morgana who was about to clash with the Death Knight. Her foolish decision would cost them their lives but he didn’t care.
Since she chose to be foolish, they would all be foolish.
Suddenly, an orange beam shot out of Morgana’s right eye, cutting through the Death Knights like tofu!
Just by turning her head, she massacred all fifty Death Knights before spending time on the captain until there was little left of him!
In what seemed to be in a blink of an eye, a dreadful charge became a charge against fallen foes.
‘Her Eye of Horus is an unmatched talent!’
Elah gasped, a soft breath leaving his slightly open lips.
Both he and the hundred women slowed down and eventually came to a halt.
Elah made his horse approach Morgana. “These people can’t be saved, My Lady. They’ve been touched by the Death Knights. We should complete what they wanted to—!”
Elah’s breath hitched when Morgana glared at him with her Eye of Horus activated.
His soul almost left his body.
Knowing that Morgana could cut through a castle wall with the powerful beams of that special eye, he didn’t think for a moment that his helmet would protect him.
The eye gained a soft emerald light and an eye appeared in the sky above the town.
A soft green radiance washed over the town, cleansing the illness and restoring the people to the peak of their vitality.
Some even gained extra years to live as their old illnesses or handicaps were gone.
Huff! Huff!
Morgana panted. She was a knight at the Exalted rank, struggling to break into the ranks of the Awoken Ones and become the youngest to ever become an Awoken One.
But in order to heal a little more than a thousand, she had almost exhausted her force. This made her feel dread for Nightfire that was currently facing a fleet filled with Death Knights.
It meant they faced at least ten thousand Death Knights!
Nightfire kingdom, the last home and pride of mages would certainly fall if they had no counter.
“Galvia has made their move on Nightfire but this company proves we might be next on their list.”
Morgana turned to Elah. “Will mother allow us to aid Nightfire? They’re our neighbours. It’s obvious that we’ll fall if they fall.”
“You might have to speak to her in person.” Elah responded.
Grunting in anger, Morgana turned her horse and rode away. Elah rounded up the others and they followed her.
If Galvia had truly set out to conquer the seas and not settle their feud with Nightfire then, united, they would fall!
Elah tightened his grip on the reins.
…
Paradise.
Two figures, a white haired woman garbed in a blue garment and a bald man with a monocle on one eye clothed in a black garment with golden linings at the hem approached a huge black door inlaid with gold to make it more regal.
It was Aquila, Grand Mage of Ashbourne mages and James, the chief of the Ashbourne apothecaries.
The moment their eyes settled on the paladins, the paladins pushed open the door, revealing the sacred hall.
Seated on the throne was none other than their lord.
Asher Ashbourne.
