HPDBC Chapter 240: An Ancient Enemy
Chapter 240: An Ancient Enemy
The Silvaran army would have to head southwest to reach the border between Silvara and Romantica, where the land of Silvara would curl and touch the northern tip of Romantica.
The only invasion route would be by the vast ocean. A choice that could take weeks to traverse. Because of the deadly sea monsters and maelstroms that plagued the central ocean of Valkrim.
The queen's special fleet suffered over fifty casualties when she returned early during the assessment month earlier in the year.
On land, thanks to magic-imbued carriages. The distance between the two would take three days at the slowest and one if you rushed with all your might.
Barbatos reached the southern tip in two days. Neither too slow nor wasting their magic for future battles.
The ground below shook as the clouds slowly gathered and turned grey while the sea roiled in an immeasurable rage. The surface was undulating like a wave, growing ever taller.
"Barbatos, how does it look?"
Lorem stepped out of the carriage shared with Asura and the princess, her neck wearing a strange cloth to hide the marks from his kisses. She hopped onto the edge, peering down at the target, which seemed to look normal.
People inspecting the walls and guards with torches. However, their movements felt eerie, like mannequins performing actions that seemed somewhat lifelike but were not.
Barbatos narrowed his eyes and searched for the anomaly. Yet couldn't see even with his spyglass.
"I am not sure, Knight Lorem. I feel this battle will not be easy."
Barbatos swung his arm in a half circle, creating a rift in space, and handed over his spyglass.
She gazed through the lenses and scanned the town. At first, nothing stood out of the ordinary except the movement of the guards, which confused her. Then she realised the lack of commoners or merchants.
"Where did the village people go? Many of them were Romantican's too. Did they kill them all?"
She kept turning her head to observe the silent village, and nobody stood out in her vision.
"I don't like this, there is something amis."
Barbatos stepped back to the huge caravan of students and closed his eyes. Meanwhile, Lorem used her phoenix eyes to scan the town for magical signals, only to find a horrifying reality.
'Everyone's magic is pitch black and writhes inside their bodies like worms!?'
She stared in horror at the town and turned to Barbatos, who had closed his eyes. Then she told him what her special vision saw.
Lorem knew he would believe her as she used these eyes in past conflicts to learn the movements and elements used by the enemy to seal a safe victory.
"Barbatos, do you know how to approach this problem?"
"Everyone has the same pattern and aura?"
"Yes, like strange black worms, writhing without sentience. As if waiting for new orders, they perform like automatons until that time."
"Did you notice anything else?"
People realised something wrong and very dark was happening under the surface of their kingdom and the surrounding nations.
The knights sorted the students into different groups, with most of the first and second years at the back, excluding Asura and his group, including Cil, who were still in the third and fourth years. All stood in a line while watching the knights explain the task at hand.
After the briefing, they handed out disposable grenades and incendiary powder to the leader, and the strongest members of each unit became condensed.
Asura took control of his small group with two first years, three second years and one third year. Their major role was to support the knights led by Lorem attacking the eastern walls and aiming to take down the twelfth lord, Aldric Cavallio. Barbatos confirmed his presence at the camp and left the task to Lorem because of the sheer amount of leeches inside his body.
'I can't believe such disgusting monsters exist,' Asura thought to himself while cleaning his blade and preparing for the battle with Akkrum and the rest of Unit Nine.
He watched the distance, able to see their forms clearly. Like nasty worms wriggling within the human brains with long tails that penetrated their spines, likely to control their movements and actions.
It seemed nobody in the village survived this sad fate.
Their assigned area would assault the east with 500 knights, most of whom were in the last two years of the academy, while Barbatos would take most of the other troops and distract them towards the western wall.
'It seems Vela, Mu Xue, and Xavida will be part of the eastern attack; I can't help but worry. Thankfully, Lucia is there to support them.'
While Asura prepared for combat, his many wives sat in Princess Vela's carriage and discussed things he did not know about.
Lorem approached him in the afternoon sunlight, her scarlet hair dancing with the wind while watching him with gentle eyes.
"Are you ready? I know it will be difficult for you, but if you can make it past this mission, you will no longer be a student. Your true adventure will begin."
She smiled and sat beside him, the clang of her plate armour different from her usual uniform, as she stroked the dirt with her silver gauntlet.
"We have not taught you about these creatures yet. The queen's fight was a great secret. She used her bloodline and lineage to eradicate them to the best of her ability. If only we knew of the male breed, we might have discovered them sooner. But as it stands, it is not worth regretting now."
She reached down and removed her gauntlets, her sharp eyesight able to notice nobody in the area as she stroked Asura's cheek.
"Be safe. I will do my best to protect everyone, but the problem is that the others are not like you and if I don't protect them, they might become mindless zombies."
Lorem reached up and kissed him, a chaste peck on the lips as she curled her lips into a faint smile. "Don't get jealous. I can let you fight without worry because of how much I trust and rely on you to fight without my support, okay?"
Asura noticed she seemed to pull away, but his powerful hand grasped her wrist and pulled her back into a deep kiss that she could not refuse. He placed his other hand on her cheek, and the two stared deeply into each other's eyes as if having a conversation about something Asura couldn't express with words.
He felt guilty about the way he acted, but this was war, and nobody would judge him for it. "Don't get hurt. I never want to see you wounded again, Lorem."
Lorem could see the intense unspoken emotions in his eyes and giggled slightly at his shyness.
"I will try not to. Now get ready because Barbatos will move soon."
She gently tapped his shoulder and stood up before glancing at him. She hoped he understood her true feelings. "Come back alive and happy."
Lorem stepped back and walked to her horse, and Asura watched her the entire time with a calm expression.
'I won't fail this mission or risk the lives of my precious family.'