"Dad, we should withdraw our men."
Cain's voice was firm, but the glare from William made his grip on his weapon falter. His fear for his father knew no bounds.
"I must have his head."
Count William dismounted.
"Asher Ashbourne!!" he roared, releasing a faint white mist from his body. Before they knew it, the mist had thickened, becoming a fog that swallowed the count whole.
From within the fog emerged a towering white tiger, walking on its hind legs, its deep growl rumbling through the battlefield. The sight of it made many soldiers, Ashbourne and Tigris apprehensive.
A thunderous force sent Count Tigris hurtling into the sky before he landed 150 meters away, just a dozen meters from Asher. His intimidating form, more brutal than even the famous beastmen of the legends, was backed up by the feral aura emanating from his fluttering white fur.
His roar was so loud that even the cloaks of the paladins before him fluttered.
Asher turned from Alec, who was decimating Tigris forces, to the count, his eyes sharpening by the second until they became ice cold!
This was because Count Tigris had slapped a paladin away with a mere wave of his massive hand before proceeding to wrap his hand around the head of another paladin and slamming him into the ground. The earth imploded from the force!
Undeterred, the remaining paladins lifted their spears and jumped into the fray. But their spears couldn't even inflict more than just some flesh wounds on the count who had an imperial knight body and his talent form had an even tougher body!
Sacred-ranked weapons just couldn't harm him.
Tigris threw a punch, but the paladin mysteriously vanished before impact. His sharp eyes tracked the movement to a different spot—above him was Nero.
Nero closed in on him, tilting to one side to evade and at the same time swung his sword at the count's wrist. It was a well-calculated strike that failed because his weapon wasn't any different from a rusty blade before Count Tigris' hide.
The count roared, spittle flying everywhere as he retaliated with a powerful punch.
Nero slammed into the ground, groaning, his armor had caved inward, pressing against his chest!
Asher's command cut through the chaos and fell into the ears of the relentless paladins who were ready to sacrifice their lives before the count could reach him.
Nearby, Sirius, who was feasting on the wyvern's corpse, lifted up its head, blood dripping from its maw.
"This is my fight, boy."
Asher swung his sword as he strode forward while Count Tigris also charged at him.
With a steady exhale, Asher wrapped his fingers around Euodias's hilt.
Empyreal Sigil Stomp!
Instead of spreading the scroll skill, he concentrated on compressing it, making it as small as the sole of his boot but borrowed the blast to propel himself toward Count Tigris. That sudden acceleration caught Count Tigris off guard—he barely had time to react before Asher was upon him.
It was like he had teleported.
Asher's blade cut open Tigris's right knee before slamming his abdomen with his elbow and unleashing one final slash at his neck, all in a single swift, fluid movement.
His eyes were wide, reflecting his pure, undisguised shock.
He first fell on the knee that had been cut before his head topped to the ground.
If one were to look closely, they would see that his ribcage had also caved inward.
Such monstrous strength.
The Count had never encountered anything like it before.
In that same moment, jagged ice spikes—twisted, crooked, and lined with thorns—erupted from the ice trees, impaling hundreds of barbarian cavaliers!
Then, Asher picked up the severed head, which had now reverted back to the human form. The expression on his face displayed his shock.
His voice thundered across the battlefield. Those warriors who were far away and locked in battle froze mid-strike as they noticed that the other had done the same.
When their eyes fell upon Count Tigris's head in Asher's hand, his gray-white hair swaying in the wind, blood trickling down his neck—silence consumed the battlefield.
The Count, the man who had kept the wasteland under his firm control for decades… the one who once stood at the peak of a great county, the Tigris county which he had built for himself.
The Tiger Lord was dead!
Viscount Syria and several other lords who were the spectators of the battle couldn't believe it.
"Take me out of here!" Count Ira shrieked.
The messenger immediately obeyed and opened a portal. The lords turned their horses and bolted into the forest, some tried pleading with Count Ira to take them along. But the man acted like he never knew them and entered the portal with only his own men.
Panic spread like wildfire. Thousands of barbarian riders turned their heels and fled towards the forest, causing a massive dust cloud to rise in their wake.
When Cain, fleeing with his men, spotted Sofia, he didn't even hesitate and grabbed a spear from one of his men before stabbing it right through her, pinning her to the ground.
"Serves you right," he snarled, grinding his teeth.
"My Lord, hurry!" his men urged.
While his enemy fled, Asher tossed Count Tigris' head aside.
"Embalm it. It will make a fine gift for Archduke Nubis."
Nero nodded. "My Lord…" He hesitated but continued, "Are we not going to chase?"
Asher's gaze remained fixed on the fleeing army while he declared.
"We shall march into that forest and take every inch of that land under our emblem. They're just delaying their eventual end, nothing more."
Asher narrowed his eyes, searching for any hint of hesitation or disloyalty, but all he saw was an even stronger conviction.
"My Lord, grant the Grand Aegis Legion the honor of claiming the wildlands in your name." Alec dropped to one knee.
Although he looked smaller, the formidable might radiating from his pulsing crystal heart made Asher ascertain Alec's current rank.
Alec was the first saint-ranked general under his command and the first man to shatter the limits of his talent!
"Arise," Asher commanded. "Recover and claim it."
Asher's eyes subconsciously drifted toward the priestess, who was tending to the soldiers in critical situations. He found himself lost in her world but for some reason, it unsettled him when she smiled so beautifully at them.
It was needed but still…
Simon and Eleazar rode over, leading his prized warhorse, Bezerk.
Asher climbed into the saddle, stealing one last glance at Sapphira before nudging Bezerk's abdomen softly.
The beast snorted before galloping toward the walls with an entourage of soldiers following closely behind him.