In the same spot Ascalon once stood, there was a 6-foot-tall snowwhite eagle that had crimson marks across its eyes. The scary-looking eagle flapped its wings and shot into the sky. With each flap, a mighty gale was blown down, gradually clearing the hot ash until the barbarian cavalry could see.
When Eritrea saw the large creature, she lifted up her Great Thunder Bow, nocked three arrows, and slowly tracked his pattern.
Unfortunately, Ascalon saw her and swiftly closed the gap. He was heading for the Ashbourne army at a high speed.
Swoosh!
Eritrea released the arrows. Crackling with lightning, the arrows traveled through the air with great velocity. The azure lightning crackling on the body of the arrows reflected in Ascalon’s amber eyes. He opened his beak and released a white, icy mist that collided with the lightning arrows, causing an explosion mid-air.
Ice and fog spread outward, and Ascalon burst out of the fog, his wings folded as he dived down toward the troops.
Eritrea rapidly launched arrows. Her rangers left the cavalry to the infantry and focused on Ascalon. The dark night looked quite stunning from the view of the valley, as one could see hundreds of blue lightning arrows heading for a huge eagle.
Seeing the lightning arrows, Ascalon frowned. He transformed into his human form midair and pushed his hand forward. Almost instantly, 100 large ice spikes fell from the sky!
“A mage!”
Eritrea’s eyes widened.
“Rise!”
Ascalon reverted into his beast form and spoke in a deep, reverberating voice. A dense fog gathered around the Thunderstorm Rangers. It was so dense that their clothing became slightly damp.
In the next moment, earth spikes burst forth from the earth!
“Ah!”
Hearing the cries of her rangers, Eritrea’s eyes trembled. These were her sisters!
She had already lost 30 to the Abyss creatures; she wasn’t going to lose more to some white-haired mage.
Eritrea swiftly nocked five arrows and channelled all her battle force into the bow. The lightning runes on the bow lit up, and it began to crackle. The crackling became so intense that it spread to the rest of her body!
Luckily she wore the ovok armor, so she wasn’t harmed by the powerful elemental force.
Crackle!
Ascalon, who flew toward the clash between the infantry and the barbarian horseriders, sensed the sudden change and turned his large eagle head.
“Mage or not, you’re still a rank below me!”
Eritrea ground her teeth and released the arrows. The impact threw her several meters backward, tossing and tumbling on the ground while Ascalon looked at his chest in shock.
The moment Eritrea released the arrow, he found holes in his body. The arrows were long gone!
They had pierced through him and vanished into the distance!
“That…!”
He fell from the sky.
“Ascalon!” Gath bellowed.
He turned his horse and raced toward the falling eagle. He threw his spear, and it pierced through the armor of a soldier fighting 20 meters away from Alec. The soldier never expected the spear, but he still fell on his knees.
Another soldier rushed toward him, but the man had already lowered his head. He died on his knees, holding the spear.
Alec saw it happen.
He watched the man he had been training before meeting Asher fall, but there wasn’t a ripple in his eyes.
‘The insatiable beast that can never be slain is war!’
That saying from Duke Atticus Ashbourne echoed in his head as he approached the soldier.
He looked about and saw the fierce clash going on before locating Gath on horseback. The man had slain three more silver-ranked Ashbourne soldiers, and this was those he saw him kill.
Alex looked at the spear in his arms and breathed out. His muscles tightened and his eyes narrowed.
His eyes followed Gath until the chief reached where Ascalon fell.
As Gath dismounted, he saw his bleeding mage and son and turned to get a warrior that would take Ascalon out of the battlefield when he saw Alec walking toward him.
“Pick up your spear and face me, Chief Gath of Gath.”
Gath laughed furiously.
“Do you think… Your size makes you a threat?!”
Swoosh!
He executed a thrust, but Alec blocked it.
Alec spun his spear and slapped Gath’s head before he could block it. The force sent Gath staggering to his left.
Gath shook his head and ground his teeth. He launched a sudden, sweeping strike, but Alec dropped his shield and slapped the attack off with his hand!
Gath frowned. Something was amiss.
Alec spun his spear and slammed the bottom against the ground, causing web-like cracks that kept spreading until they reached Gath’s foot. He obviously wasn’t interested in instantly slaying Gath.
“R… Run… They’re diamond…”
Ascalon’s broken words fell into Gath’s ears too late.
He thrust his spear toward Alec, executing the five phantom strikes, and the true one came for Alec’s eyes, but Alec grabbed the spear’s tip and nodded.
“You fought well.”
His flaming spear closed the gap faster than the eyes could see. At this moment, Gath realized what Ascalon wanted to say.
He was actually against a diamond-ranked knight!
Pish!
………….
First light. The skies were still dark, but it was morning, and some Ashbourne soldiers could be seen walking about a battlefield.
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Just before the last Centrak company fell, the battlefield was flooded with 1000 barbarian shield and axe infantry, but when Alex showed them their dead chief, they all surrendered.
However, the forces under his command also had losses.
He stood at the top of the wall in a black tunic top and black pants, his long hair swaying in the cool morning breeze as he watched his men fish out the dead Ashbourne soldiers.
To his left was Eritrea, who had bandages on her arms, a result of her bow launching her away. And to his right were Adam and Katarina.
“What did you say about not bending the knee to His Lordship?” Katarina said with a soft tone.
Looking at the battlefield, Adam sighed.
“For possessing such a general and such valiant troops, I chose to bow… to His Lordship.”