"You're a stubborn mortal. I said leave!"
Lamech's roar sent a gust through Asher's hair, making it flutter. Yet, the response he expected never came. Instead, Asher looked straight into his eyes without flinching.
But what truly shocked Lamech wasn't Asher's defiance—it was the towering man, standing behind him.
The man was 7 feet tall and had long snow-white hair that flowed down to his waist. He was draped in a robe with a simple cloth wrapped around his waist, his bare feet pressed against the blackened soil.
His facial features were too beautiful to behold—marred only by a deep scar across his face.
The man behind Asher wasn't just a guardian. He was Asher's very talent—manifested into a form, shielding him from dangers that even Asher himself hadn't sensed.
'His talent actually lives!'
And right now, it stood behind him.
"You are Kryos' vessel!" Lamech's voice dropped, his once-commanding aura flickering.
Asher felt a palm press against his back. He turned and froze. His eyes widened at the sight of the tall, handsome, white-haired man smiling at him.
"You've been trying to kill yourself ever since we met, Master. Can you stop?"
"You're Kryos?" Asher asked.
The spirit shook its head. "Kryos was my first master. You are the fifth."
Lamech's voice rang from behind. "You need your force—retrieve it now."
The spirit nodded. "He's right. I am made from your mana and will continue to absorb it as long as I stand. Your current self cannot sustain me for long."
Lamech snorted. "Stop being polite. You can't sustain him for even a whole minute!"
The moment Asher heard that he retrieved his energy and the spirit vanished into nothingness.
After that, he looked over his shoulder, his gaze locking onto Lamech.
"Plans have changed," Lamech declared. "Others can leave. You will not."
Below the vast skies littered with countless stars shimmering ever so softly stretched an endless expanse of blackened soil.
In this desolate place, one could see something massive stirring.
On a closer look, a giant serpent lay coiled, its jet-black scales gleaming faintly in the starlight. Its head rested atop its own coiled body.
In this form, it gave the illusion of a small hill!
Suddenly, this creature that seemed to be in a deep slumber lifted its eyelids, revealing a pair of crimson irises that burned like embers.
A forked tongue flickered as it parted its mouth and ushered a soft, feminine voice, deeply enticing and unremarkably familiar to those who were privileged or cursed to hear it.
Belial, the legendary snake rumoured to have swallowed a dragon, had spoken.
Before her stood three formidable beasts—her trusted generals.
Kirin, a dark-maned lion.
Scar, a scarred white wolf.
Loki, a four-eyed eagle.
"You summoned us so abruptly. What is it that could have bothered the queen?" Scar, a wolf with three grievous marks on its left eye, matching the talons on Loki's feet spoke coldly but respectfully.
"Watch your tone, General Scar." Loki squinted at Scar, a glint of anger flashing through his sharp, steely eyes.
Kirin merely glanced at the two generals before bowing to Belial. "You called for us, My Queen."
Belial squinted, her gaze gleaming with pleasure. "My eyes in the air have spotted something miraculous."
The delight in her eyes deepened.
Loki, the oldest general, was shocked to his core. Kirin and Scar merely frowned. They didn't see the importance of this news.
Humans? Aren't they weak and pathetic?
Belial lifted up her head. "The White Lotus has taken the humans in their custody in the Forest of Shadows. But this time, I won't let them have their way."
The glimpse of Ithamar she had seen through the bird's eyes made Belial's heart tremble. Her undeniable rule over Goliathsgrave could be broken with that cursed sword!
"Scar, you have the largest army. Gather your wolves and lay siege to that forest until every last one of those White Lotus is dead. Loki and Kirin will support you with their entire forces."
Uncoiling herself, Belial added, "And I will be there."
Those words made a great impact as they fell into the generals' ears.
"Finally…" A murderous glint flickered in Loki's eyes.
"I would love to taste human meat. What about you two?"
Kirin chuckled. "I prefer feasting on Lamech's corpse."
Both turned to Scar, but he was already walking away. Even until he left their line of sight, Scar didn't utter a single word.
While the Red Moon was preparing for a devastating assault—one where Belial, the beast almost none of the White Lotus had ever seen, was planning to take the field—Asher stood against Lamech in a distant forest, far from where the community was.
Lamech had informed him that Belial must have learned about him and Ithamar through the birds in the skies and she would without a doubt march for the forest.
The reason behind it was that Belial was a mythical beast with an ability to enchant. Over half of the beasts in Goliathsgrave had fallen under her spell!
And unfortunately, among them… was Sirius!
Once a proud warrior of the White Lotus, Sirius had lost against Loki, fallen under Beliar's enchantment and been transformed.
From the White Lotus to the Red Moon, Sirius eventually became their general!
And now he was known as Scar, the general with a great wolf army, a former ally of the White Lotus who had taken more lives than any Red Moon general, who had never identified with the White Lotus.
In simple terms, he was a friend turned enemy who had done worse than a long-time enemy!
Now, Asher stood before Lamech, his sword drawn out.
Lamech's voice boomed.
Asher lunged, assuming the heavy sword stance. He closed the gap in an instant and unleashed a swapping horizontal cut.
Lamech deflected it with the spike protruding from his forelimbs—but Asher wasn't done. After that cut, he followed with a vertical downward slash.
Lamech closed his eyes.
And when he opened them, his gaze sharpened into a glare.
With a brutal swipe, he slammed his right forelimb into Asher's chest causing his ribcage to crack and cave inward!
Yet that wasn't all, Lamech followed up with another strike to Asher's face, shattering his skull!
Asher's body crashed through a tree, then slammed into a second one.
Zillah who was watching this from the sidelines screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Lamech!! He's just a human!"
"No! He's Kryos's vessel! He bears one of the four most powerful talents in existence in his body—yet he fights like a fool!"
Zillah's pupils trembled as she stared at Asher's state.
Wasn't… the human already dead?!