All those terrifying titles were accumulated in just 10 years!
Something didn’t add up to Asher.
There was more to these people’s story that he was itching to know about. Even Atticus, who called himself a failure and the reason for their fall, was treated like a deity in the eyes of barbarians. He also found and learned a new art that was probably higher than the shura battle force art.
Tilting his head downward, his eyes wandered through her famous quote, and it made him feel that truly, Ariel Ashbourne was truly a powerful ruler.
“What’s her quote?”
Alex asked softly.
“A beating heart can bring both joy and pain. Depends on who has the heart.”
Rumble!
Debris fell from the cavern’s roof as it began to tremble tremendously. Asher quickly followed his men as they ran toward the exit with various thoughts about the cause of this trembling in their hearts.
Boom!
A large sound rang.
It came from outside the cavern, and along with the sound came a severe tremor that caused some vanguards to fall.
Increasing his pace, Asher followed Alec and Alex, who were at the forefront until they came out of the tomb. Asher turned his head to the right and his eyes trembled.
Massive balls of lava were erupting out of the mouth of a volcano that had been dormant for centuries! The balls wreaked havoc in the forest, incinerating the trees and opening large craters.
But this was just the start as molten lava flowed down from the volcano, melting the snow and ice that had been accumulating for almost three months!
Boom! Boom!
While Asher watched this horrifying scene, one massive lava bomb able to destroy a building fell toward them.
Alex leaped into the air and split the boulder into three parts with swift swings of his sword.
Bam!
He landed heavily, his boots left a deep print on the snow.
“Your Lordship, we need to leave.”
Both he and Alec said at the same time.
Asher turned toward the direction of the Silverleaf bastide and back to the active volcano.
“There was no prior knowledge about this. The civilians in Silverleaf have to be evacuated immediately!”
“But your safety comes first.”
Alex insisted.
“Shuras.”
“Your Lordship!”
All seven gold-ranked knights who were on their mounts responded in unison.
“Head for Silverleaf. Protect the town for as long as you can.”
“Understood!”
[Ding! New upgrade quest.]
[Upgrade Quest: Save your small mining town from complete destruction and protect the legacy of the Ashbournes from being consumed by fire. This can be done by killing the cause of the eruption. KILL THE DRAKE!]
[Reward: Gain powerful materials to upgrade your commanders’ equipment.]
“Your Lordship!”
Alec exclaimed.
Asher climbed his horse, ignoring the concern on his commanders’ faces. “Both of you come with me. I know what’s causing this problem.”
Alex and Alec were bewildered. Could there be another cause that was not natural? It was hard to think of what could cause the eruption and how their lord knew about it, but even with their doubts, they followed Asher.
Asher held the reins tightly as his horse dodged the lava bombs that were constantly erupting from the volcano’s mouth.
Boom!
The sounds of the huge lava bombs hitting the ground, trees, and sometimes animals were loud enough to distract anyone. And as if that wasn’t enough, molten magma was flowing down the volcano, heading for the ground.
Hot ash was already rising up, and they were running straight into it!
A dark shadow flashed past him, but Asher caught it from the corner of his eye.
Shing!
He drew his sword.
Yet he wasn’t fast enough as a scaly creature jumped out of the hot ash fog and swiped its claws at his mount.
His horse screamed and fell face down, throwing Asher off. He tumbled to the ground and stood up the next moment.
All of a sudden, a long tail came from his back. Asher caught sight of it on time and swung his sword at it.
Clang!
His sword bounced back, and he staggered backward. As he held his aching wrist, Alex came from his right and swung his sword at the creature. He could still spot it even in the dense fog.
To Alex’s shock, his sword also faced a fearsome resistance but managed to leave a shallow cut. But the creature did not take the cut lying down. It slammed his horse with its powerful tail covered in thick black scales.
Boom!
Alec appeared out of nowhere and slammed his shield into the ground. A fierce gale cleared the fog around them, exposing the 6-meter-long creature covered from head to tail in thick scales. It had eyes that looked like boiling lava and its claws scorching hot.
Those claws had killed his horse, and its tail killed Alex’s!
Even though the drake was the lowest member of the dragon family, it was still much more powerful than other creatures at its rank.
It lunged at them.
Asher swung his sword upward, and the collusion propelled him 10 meters backward.
Clang!
Alex pierced the drake’s right foreleg, causing it to scream. Alec quickly thrust his spear to land the killing blow, but the drake’s scales turned dark red, and his spear made sparks as it hit the reinforced scales.
It turned and clawed at Alec, but the agile knight easily evaded the claw swipes.
All of a sudden.
Boom!
A lava bomb landed before him. It came along with a force that flung Alex 12 meters backward, and he crashed on his back.
He grunts. Just as he was about to get back up, he saw the drake burst out of the fog above him, about to remove his head, but it suddenly halted right before his face.
It’s scalding hot saliva splattered on Alex’s helmet. His eyes met the drake’s fearsome eyes before the man who held its hail dragged it backward.
“Come back here!”
Alec roared.
His muscles pressed against his armor as he dragged the creature weighing over 16,000 catties toward him.
