Age of Beast Tamers and Exorcists
Chapter 62: Ashbane’s Chronicle

Chapter 62: Ashbane’s Chronicle

A few minutes ago. Magnus Alaric heard a knock on his door. He had engrossed himself in making a note with his calligraphy pen before then. He raised his head in time, looking at the door until the third knock came. And then he said, "Show yourself..." Almost as soon as he granted passage, the door creaked open. Lys stomped inside. Alaric locked his eyes on him, tilting his head. Lys stood there, eyes showing terror as though he had seen a phantom. Alaric sighed and returned to making notes as though he had lost interest in what was at stake. "Speak," he said in a low, commanding tone. Lys stuttered, sweat oozing in his palm. "A male Necrot..." Warm breeze slapped the back of his neck, passing through the open window behind him. The calligraphy pen dropped from his hand, and he shifted his glance to Lys with care. A flicker of concern and worry crossed his face. "Please report this to the appropriate personnel as soon as possible! Because..." Lys stuttered, his breathing coming in an erratic manner, "... the male Necrot appears to have the sigil..." "... An active member then? Hmmm..." Alaric mumbled, "... we are in for trouble if he dies..." "... And, as a matter of fact, Zmey Ashbane went after him..." "..." Magnus relaxed his jaw. It came to him right away that Zmey Ashbane was the genius student and also whom he had appointed Lys to watch. But, whatsoever, he sighed and moved away from his seat. Wrapping his arms behind him, he approached the door with caution. He stopped by Lys’s side. And he said, "Send words to the royal house to gather some armies. Our elite fighters are outside the kingdom. I will take care of the rest without troubling neither the Magi Lords or other instructors..." Then, he walked by his side. Lys, put on edge, turned. And said as loud as he could, "We don’t know the Necrot’s rank already! Brute force of the royal army... do you think it is enough...?" Alaric glanced over his shoulder. "It won’t. A lot will die anyways..." Lys gaped. His eyeballs rolled in terror. He swallowed, his chest tightening. Alaric faced front back. "A Necrot that can risk roaming in the capital is capable on his own, to begin with. Not to talk of active members. Gods, how long has it been since we faced an active member?" Lys made a slight bow. "Ten years..." Alaric nodded his head. "Yes. We don’t know for certain who will stay alive or who will die. Maybe one of us or the armies... or the newbie that dared to risk everything. Whoever dies ends up a hero of the inhabitants of Eldengrove, though. So notify the royal house. And Ryu, together with Joan. They are the Task Recruits with the highest cultivation levels..." Then, he proceeded towards the door. Lys bowed. "Understood, Archsage." *** Sounds of boots marching on the ground echoed all of a sudden. The flop-flop sound of approaching horses screamed out too. Zmey’s instincts kicked in immediately. He rubbed his hand over his jacket until he touched something. Taking it off his jacket, it was a small beetle... ’Curse it! Lys has betrayed me!’ The Royal Army were of different classes, as Zmey could depict from their style of movement. And the kinds of weapons they had. Pale blue inner dresses pointed out below the iron armour the spearmen put on. A large, blazing flames heraldry was on the shields. The men placed their spears over the edges of the shields in a horizontal manner. And the sharpened ends locked in both on Zmey and the two men. They had the house surrounded. Some archers, in silvery, fish-scale armour, knelt in haste afront. They knelt before the spearmen. Then, they drew their golden bows, with metallic arrows in them. Zmey clenched his fist as everything sank in. Then he noticed Skyler Kingsley and Callista Gillingwater standing behind the spearmen. One was with her bows too, while Callista was with a short sword. Even the two Task Recruits (or Failed Mages) were a sight to behold. The Royal Army commander, a strong man in cool gear, said, "Listen up, thou trio!" His white horse stood nearby. "We are the armies of Eldengrove, with a heart of flame and an unbiased sense of decision. Be it a Marked One or not, we will stand against you. Not only will we stand against you, but we will capture you back into the heart of the kingdom. We don’t care how much blood we have to shed here. But our human strength is enough to win over any Marked One! Move an inch and be my guest!" He sheathed his long sword, raising it high in the air with a loud roar. The dull moonlight lit up the edge, showing how the weapon could slice through a tree with ease. Not to mention a flexible human being. The half-man chuckled as something crossed his mind. He turned his head backwards, drawn by the stretching sounds of strings. But he didn’t give that the least bit of his attention. He glued his eyes to the cloaked man. He chuckled more, both in understanding and rage, as he gestured at the newcomers. "I didn’t know this was how low you would resort to stopping me," he intoned. Skyler tiptoed and leaned over the shoulder of a spearman to get a clear view of the front. Of course, she saw the strange guy who was next in line after her in the Sanctuary. She tilted her head. ’Was that the voice of a man or a woman?’ Meanwhile, the cloaked man bowed to the half-man. "You appeared unnoticed today, my lord. Even if I had anticipated your invitation, I wouldn’t have gone ahead to make a deal with humans. They not only would have taken me into custody but would likely have turned me to shreds," he explained. Zmey gritted his teeth. ’I have no time for this... I must get Asmodeus now...’ Instantly, he paced forward and extended his hand towards the cloaked mans shoulder... But at that moment, a tiny sound whipped through the air. He heard it. And in the next second, an arrow flashed atop his arm and bored into the wall of the house behind him. Only afterwards did Zmey realise that something had grazed him. Blood trickled down his arm, and he froze it mid-air. He looked forward, his jaw tightening beneath his mouth. One of the archers groaned. "Another sudden movement and you’re already down!" Zmey yelled at the archer. "Keep the muscles down, you damned rat! I don’t have a business with this display of stupidity. I would warn you to not meddle with mine either!"