As Sirius stood up, both of them fell to their knees and watched the mighty beast stare at them without making any other move.
They could literally hear their breath and heartbeats. Sweat poured out of their bodies, yet their bones felt so cold that they seemed to be made from solid ice.
Kelvin paused in the middle of the hall. "What are you doing?"
When they heard Kelvin's voice, they looked at him, and that reduced their fear a bit. However, in the next moment they remembered Sirius, and their eyes veered right back to the wolf, but Sirius was back to sleeping.
It was as if he never stood up.
"Are you done kneeling for my beast?"
Asher's voice rang. He leaned against his right hand, staring at his fearful citizens.
"Lord Asher." They came close and kneeled.
"What is the matter?"
"Ahem! I… It's about the 5,000 wild chickens your men brought from the forests."
Asher looked at Kelvin. He was shocked to hear about the number of chickens but couldn't display his shock before his citizens.
He recalled Kelvin making mention of it once, but that information had grown vague in his mind.
"What happened to the chickens?"
"Nothing happened to them, My Lord. We just…"
"Speak." Asher insisted with a frown.
"My wife has been talking about my neighbors cattle and the farmers' enhanced seeds. Sir Kelvin made me and my friend in charge of the chickens, but they're too ordinary. We want special chickens."
Asher raised an eyebrow.
Alex chuckled softly while Kelvin coughed.
"That's the reason you came?"
Upon hearing Asher's tone, both men trembled.
"You'll be rewarded for this. Why hasn't this entered your mind, Kelvin?"
Everyone was baffled by Asher's response.
Asher stood in a massive wooden shelter looking at thousands of feral Kadaknath chickens. These chickens were found in the Ash Mountains and were jet-black. They looked like warrior chickens and were much stronger than other wild chickens. Domestic chickens were weaklings to these forest survivors.
Their meat was richer than that of domestic chickens, and their eggs were also richer and bigger than that of domestic eggs.
They went about their business, eating and walking about. Many of them paid attention to Alex because of his armor. The rest of them (Asher, Kelvin, and the poultrymen) seemed inconsequential in their eyes.
"What a bunch of proud little birds."
A hen glared at Alex, causing him to point at it. "Did that hen understand what I just said?"
"Stop fantazizing." Kelvin retorted with a serious face.
"My Lord, these are their eggs."
When Asher saw the thousands of eggs, he casually picked one, and a thought popped into his head.
[Ding! Would the host like to fuse 1000 eggs, thereby producing an upgraded version? Yes or No.]
Before everyone's eyes, a thousand eggs vanished and became one egg that was two times bigger than normal and shimmered like a reflective glass.
[Hexakad Queen egg: Consuming this egg would increase the strength of an individual by 500 catties and also increase lifespan by a few years while strengthening the bones. Effects reduce with continuous intake.]
500 catties was beyond his wildest imaginations! This meant this egg before him could instantly give him 300 kg worth of strength, and he would have eaten a lot before it lost its effects. This was a fast way to increase both his strength and that of his army before the beast tide.
While examining the egg, he noticed it had a layer of glass-like protection over it. The glass-like layer had hexagons, which had tints of deep gold. It made the egg look regal.
Asher instantly cracked it and poured the slightly viscous content into his mouth, including the golden yolk. Almost instantly, a change occurred inside of him.
A strange heat burst out from his stomach and spread to the rest of his body.
Feeling the internal changes, Asher clenched his fists, and during the process, his knuckles made loud popping sounds.
A broad smile graced his face.
Seeing him so excited, Alex and Kelvin felt like tasting that egg.
Without delay, Asher returned to the chickens.
[Sensing host's intentions to fuse all the chickens to produce five diamond-ranked chickens? Yes or No.]
When the light died down, five 1.2-meter-tall Kadaknath chickens appeared. They had golden combs, golden wattles, golden eyes, and golden chest feathers, but the rest of their bodies were jet-black.
[Hexakad Hen Queen: A territorial diamond-ranked wild beast that can lay 100 eggs weekly. Its eggs and meat are a delicacy and are good for the body.]
As if knowing what he desired, the Hexakad chickens separated and laid a heap of 100 eggs each!
The poultrymen were stunned and salivating when they saw the beautiful work of art these mighty chickens just laid.
"Make sure you separate them. Kelvin will handle the distribution and sales of the eggs. But that will be later. For now, my men just fought a war. Make sure they're rewarded and also send some to my castle."
The poultrymen were excited. What would their wives say when they saw these mighty hens?
After Asher left, Kelvin shipped 90 eggs to the castle, left 10 for the poultrymen, and took 400 straight to the military camp.
There he called for the assembly of the leaders, and surprisingly, Alex was there.
"Aren't you supposed to be guarding Lord Asher?" Alec asked him with a plain expression.
"He has Sirius." Alex replied with a straight face.
"He just wants the present Sir Kelvin gathered us for." Lambert scowled, causing Alex to rush him, but Lambert skillfully evaded.
Eritrea crossed her arms, and her focus was on the basket covered by a cloth. She lifted her gaze to Kelvin.
"When are you opening it?"
"Why is she so serious?" Alex asked Lambert in a soft tone.
"She lost to Big Brother Alec in a duel."
Alex lifted his head and saw Eritrea staring at them with an unreadable expression.
"Lord Asher has ordered me to share these eggs accordingly, and the rest belongs to the lower ranked soldiers."
Kelvin removed the cloth, revealing the dazzling eggs before their eyes.