Chapter 179 - 179: The Fourteen Heralds, Two Classmates
Jason wore a sleek, silver-trimmed tunic. A pair of custom-forged longswords rested comfortably on his hips. Back on Earth, Jason had been the star quarterback of their high school.
He had spent four years forcing Red to complete his math assignments under threat of physical violence, frequently tripping Red in the crowded cafeteria and laughing as Red's lunch spilled everywhere.
Now, fueled entirely by Red's stolen soul mass, Jason moved with enhanced grace and arrogant confidence. His eyes practically shined with the golden life force ripped from Red's chest during the summoning ritual.
Beside him, Chloe adjusted the straps of her deep blue spell-caster robes. She carried an ornate staff glowing with a bright sapphire light. She had been the head of the prom committee back home.
Chloe frequently handed Red fake party invitations to give him the wrong address, relishing the chance to mock him the next day when he arrived at an empty house. The potent magic she currently wielded was bought entirely with Red's agonizing death in this very room.
They looked like royalty themselves and radiated an aura of immense, otherworldly power.
"You rang, your majesty?" Jason asked casually. He leaned against a marble pillar and chewed on a piece of dried fruit. "Chloe and I were busy training the royal knights. Well, beating them into the dirt, mostly."
Lord Malakor bristled at the blatant disrespect. Voranthar raised a hand to silence his minister. The King had them summoned for the benefit of the fourth continent. At that time, he didn't care about them as he could summon another batch, but now, the king, the apostle, and the god who ruled the continent had invested far too much into them.
Now, they were important assets. They were intensely arrogant, but their battlefield capabilities were absolutely terrifying. They had full freedom to do anything, even crimes, and they will be forgiven. Except treason.
The original plan of the god of the continent was to summon 30 souls and divide them in pairs. After getting rid of Red, there were 28 of them, and they were divided into fourteen groups, most in a pair of male and female. And they were referred to as the Fourteen Heralds.
"A mercenary force is pushing through the eastern mountains," Voranthar explained, pointing at the spilled wine on the map. "They slaughtered our Vanguard bases. I need the two of you to go to the Shattered Maw and show these mercenaries the true might of Aethelgard."
Chloe twirled her staff and shared a highly amused look with Jason.
'Finally, a real fight,' Chloe thought, a wicked smile forming on her lips. 'This medieval world was getting incredibly boring.'
"We will handle it," Jason promised, cracking his knuckles. "We will turn their little mercenary army to ash before lunch."
After saying that, they left the same way they came from.
Meanwhile, Hawl drove his metal gauntlet into a crack in the stone wall and pulled himself upward. He grinned at the sheer physical exertion. Vane scaled the cliff face a few feet away, using his spear shaft to vault over loose rocks.
They reached the summit of the Shattered Maw simultaneously and peered over the rocky ledge.
A fully entrenched Fourth Continent battalion occupied the high ground. Dozens of archers stood behind thick wooden barricades with their bows drawn. Several soldiers shoved massive stone boulders toward the canyon edge to crush the Vanguard marching column below.
"Ambush!" Vane shouted.
He threw his spear. The weapon pierced an archer's throat instantly. The Fourth Continent soldiers shouted in alarm and turned their weapons toward the cliff edge. A volley of arrows rained down on the two climbers.
Hawl ripped a wide slab of slate from the ground and held it up as a makeshift shield. The arrows shattered against the stone.
"Finally!" Hawl cheered. He hurled the slate slab directly into the nearest barricade. The impact splintered the wood and crushed two soldiers.
Hawl vaulted over the ledge and charged into the enemy ranks with bare fists. Vane drew a short sword and followed right behind him to parry a thrusting spear. The local garrison outnumbered them vastly.
They assumed they could easily overwhelm the two scouts.
A chorus of metallic whirring suddenly echoed up from the canyon walls.
Dozens of Clockwork Grappling Spools shot over the ledge. The metal hooks bit deeply into the stone. Elite Kobold assassins and Grey-Fin warriors zipped up the vertical cliff face with terrifying speed. Then, the Troglodytes hauled themselves over the ridge right behind the assassins and roared at the local defenders. And at last, the humans and the rest of Iron-Arbiter's force came.
"Where did the monsters come from?! Shoot them down!" the guards shouted.
"Hold your positions! Don't let a single one of them cross the boundaries!" the general ordered.
The Fourth Continent soldiers braced their spears to receive the charge.
The Vanguard forces entirely ignored the garrison's defensive formations. A Grey-Fin took an arrow directly to the shoulder, snapped the wooden shaft with a swipe of his claw, and drove his dagger through the archer's chest.
A Troglodyte grabbed a tumbling boulder meant for the canyon floor and hurled it backward into a cluster of spearmen. The resulting crunch of armor and bone echoed across the peak.
Vane watched a Kobold dart through the shadows and slit three throats before the soldiers even realized they were under attack. The Second Continent fighter swallowed his pride and admitted these mercenaries were absolute nightmares on the battlefield.
The Fourth Continent garrison broke ranks and fled in total panic. They realized too late they were fighting actual apex predators.
The slaughter ended in minutes. Hawl wiped blood from his chin and laughed out loud at the fleeing survivors.
Suddenly, a massive shadow eclipsed the morning sun.
Hawl and Vane looked up and saw a sleek flying vessel descended from the clouds above the canyon.
Twin sails woven from shimmering mana caught the wind, and a dense levitation crystal glowed brightly at the ship's keel.