Three days after his encounter with Lord Toras, Asher stood on a square wooden platform, in the fields of the estate, staring down at thousands of Dothan and Edom warriors while two Adeptus Paladins flanked his sides.
Nero stood a meter behind him. Right below the platform were two individuals, prominent in the dominion; James and Aquila.
With the encroaching danger like a sword of Damascus hanging over paradise and his entire domain, Asher spent the night writing recruitment letters to the races beyond the inner wall.
Pulling the Grand Aegis would leave the Great Dividing Wall defenceless and he doubted the Frontline Legion would be able to handle the orcs without heavy casualties or utter annihilation!
The next option was right before his eyes.
To his right were gray knights in linen clothing that made them look like mere commoners. Though they look so buff that one could mistake them for wolves had it not been for their facial structure which wasn’t as sharp as the wolves.
To the left were the half giants also clad in commoner attire. Nothing like the beast skins they once donned with pride.
In fact, they were quite comfortable in this new clothing.
Eight thousand men stood before him. All of them had fought in several battles and wore the proud scars of victories and defeats in tandem!
These were the numbers that volunteered to join the Ashbourne troop as their hunger for battle couldn’t be quenched by the luxury of comfort in paradise.
“There are three thousand Edomites and five thousand Dothanites, My Lord.”
Nero whispered.
Asher nodded.
‘Are the requirements fulfilled?’ He asked inwardly. Time wasn’t on his side, foes were at every corner, he needed nothing more than the lord upgrade system or should he say…
The mortal scroll.
The scroll with the power to mold anything and everything in the mortal world to his desire so long as he fulfilled its little requirements.
[Yes. Should I proceed with the upgrade? Yes or No?]
[Warning: It requires an exorbitant amount of your king blood.]
‘My blood is the only channel to mana, I understand.’
[No, you don’t. Your king body isn’t anything like there has ever been on earth. It has the potential to grow out of the dimensions of the mortal world. Your current form can be considered a weak stage when compared to the physical abilities your king body will possess. Giving away your blood slows down the process.]
Asher frowned.
‘Why didn’t you inform me about this sooner?’
[Consider, Lord Asher. The king body won’t just increase your physical abilities without your size. As a multidimensional being, first of your kind and probably the last, you cannot simply be of the same size as a human. The density of your energy cannot be contained in such a small body.]
‘I see. Go ahead with the upgrade.’
Golden pillars of light fell from the clouds. People in the inner wall looked at the beams with shocked faces. Some were frightened while others were simply stunned by the awe inspiring yet destructively dangerous sight.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Adeptus Paladins behind Asher came before him and crossed their glaives, shielding him from the violent wind blasts.
Asher discovered he could now see beyond the golden beam and in it he saw one of the rat beastman.
His flesh literally melted off, leaving his bones. Suddenly, a vibrant blob of blood dyed the bones crimson. In the next moment, the bones began to grow larger, new organs, ligaments, blood pathways, skin and every other thing formed from the golden beam covering up the enlarged bone frame!
It happened in less than a second. So swiftly that Asher didn’t believe what he saw.
Yet it wasn’t all.
After the flesh was formed, white hairs grew out of its skin. The ones from the beastman skull formed thick braids that rested on it’s broad, muscular chest.
The beastman’s muscular arms were equipped with hard claws at the end of each finger. In the next moment, parts of armour made out of dwarven ore covered him.
Clad in gray plate armour with two golden pauldrons, each with the head of a howling wolf, a white cape and two handed great swords held with both hands, the rat beastman looked no different from a legendary knight.
A survivor of a annihilated crusade.
A gray knight!
And there were three thousand of them! All with the strength of veteran saint-ranked knight and clad in armour that gave them the advantage against others with inferior armours.
The only thing Asher could see as a flaw was their lack of helmet.
Thud!
Metal slammed the earth as all three thousand gray knights, 7 feet tall, fell on one knee and plunged their great swords into the ground.
“The predators of His Lordship are ready. We shall hunt down your foes and make the edges of our blades the last thing they see.”
They lifted up their heads, revealing their menacing faces featuring bone chilling jet black eyes that granted them the ability to see 240-270 degrees almost perfectly.
So while facing him, they could still see their comrades with the same clarity but those directly behind were out of their range.
However, due to their numbers, it was horrifying to say there was no more blind spot because they all saw each other!
At this moment, the light beam on the half giants shine even brighter causing the gray knights to utilize their force in order to strengthen their bodies against the ghastly windstorm.
Boom!
A golden ripple blew outward and 5000 8-9 foot tall monstrosities of metal were revealed. Clad heavily in scarlet armour made of dwarven ore, one white pauldron with the head of a howling wolf and a white fluttering cape like the gray knights.
However, they had great helms. The great helm had flat tops and a slim opening which couldn’t even allow people to see the eyes of the knights.
As if the armour seemingly dyed in fresh blood wasn’t enough, all of them wielded two handed war hammers, daggers at their waist belts and crossbows over their backs!
Their two hearts beating as one, they fell on one knee. The earth shook as these knees of the knights clad in armour that weighed over a ton crashed into it.
Before his eyes were a troop that looked like the evil, the doom of knights, abominations of war!
Their armor was dyed because of the bloodshed they would cause would eventually dye their armor.
These men were…
Scarlett Templar Knights!