" Clink"
The upper gate shut again as multiple guards entered the prison stairway. They had reactivated the mana restrictor, but that didn't mean they were safe. These prisoners were cold-blooded killers and even with the mana restrictor could kill them swiftly.
As they approached the bottom and entered the dark room they could smell smoke. Something was burning and as the first guard stepped on the stone floor his foot slid out from under him. His fellow guards reached out and caught him stopping his fall.
They all slowly placed their feet on the slippery stone floor and one guard bent over to feel the ground. Lifting his hand his eyes finally adjusted to the darkness...Ash... and the smell was...
' A burning corpse." One guard exclaimed looking out further into the room. " No...Corpses."
They all looked to the back of the dark room where they could see a light orange flame glowing reflecting off the damp walls. Bodies were piled up...Every single lifeless body was stacked up on top of each other and lit on fire using a fire cast.
A flash of light filled the room as one guard summoned his weapon, The others looked at him confused for a moment, and then they followed his eyes to the top of the pile.
A pale figure sat with blood staining his bare chest, his hands turned red and his hair turned the color of ash as he sat with a proud smile at the top of the pile. The other 4 guards then summoned their blades.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tsucko and Kalci had returned to the cathedral and were going over the battle plan with the generals. Tsucko took the lead in the plans assigning people to different locations. Kalci stood off to his right and would occasionally jump in to go into more detail.
" Vulsus." Tuskco directed his gaze to the commander of the true mages. " You are going to be positioned at the rear of my main regiment."
" Oh...No support for commander Thasher?" Vulsus pointed on the map to where Thasher and his unit would be located with about half of the 145,000 troops on this invasion operation.
" I don't believe he'll need any. Once they find out me and Kalci are in the field they'll send the majority of their troops and best fighters to this location on the east side. That included general Neko."
General Neko was one of the names on the list under the biggest threats section. He was the leader of the Emerald Kingdom True Mages and ran the school for True Mages deep within its capital. Producing some of the best True mages in the world.
" You can send a few capable mages but no more." Tsucko continued " Also Thasher" His gaze shifted to a visibly bothered Thasher. "...You got a problem."
" Yea..." He responded without hesitation or paying any attention to the villainous look in Tsuckos eyes. "You're acting like they're going to send every single strong soldier your way and taking most of the troops and leaving me bare bones."
" Yeah, I am, because once they notice me and Kalci in the same location they'll be gunning it for us. So I need-"
" You and Kalci are strong enough to handle them...They won't be sending their top dogs after you right away."
The other general's eyes all widened as Thasher cut off Tsucko and talked to him without fear. Tsucko narrowed his eyes out of slight anger at being talked back to in such a way...but also he felt as if he was right...He wasn't a military general in his past life so he isn't exactly educated in military tactics and probabilities.
" They'll keep their best in defense of the king, I believe you and Kalci could handle them with slight difficulty."
"...So what are you worried about?" Kalci asked
" Taking so many troops is pointless and will lead to more casualties than needed, and I think in actuality I'll need them more."
"...And why is that?" Tsckos eyes turned from ones of irritation to ones of curiosity. From all his research there would be no reason for any exceptionally strong foes to go to Thasher, while their average soldiers were stronger than his own it shouldn't be too much to handle for a large invasion army.
"Hm..." He seemed to be contemplating whether to say or not. Possibly his loyalty to the previous king was showing. However, after a short moment, he seemed to come to terms with what he was doing and parted his lips.
" This wasn't in any of the letters. We only mentioned it in our few short in-person meetings but we believe their king has a secret army."
" You believe or know?" Tsucko asked.
" It's practically confirmed, but we don't have an idea of where they are held or what their purpose is. What we do know is they are most likely made up of mostly semi-humans or half-humans."
" So why are you so concerned then," Kalci asked
" While we don't know who they are we do have one idea for one of them...The major general Culcio. His squad's usual location is about 40 miles directly north of my location on the map...If he showed up my unit would be decimated.
" You don't think you can handle him." One of the older generals asked. " Don't forget you are the lead commander for a reason."
All the generals seemed a bit lost as they had never had access to such classified intel, and hearing Thasher sound so concerned made them even more worried.
" I could put up a bit of a fight but remember he's half human..."
" What else is he?" Another younger general asked.
" We don't know for sure but...We think it's...We think he's half ghoul."
" What!"
All the generals in the room exclaimed this word at the exact same time. Tsucko and Kalci both sat wide-eyed.
" Ghouls have never had an interest in humans. They've always remained pure. Plus they live in the mountains on the very west side of the Emerald Kingdom where it's unlivable for humans." The older general continued to show his disbelief.
"..." Thasher remained silent, his mind seemed to be lost elsewhere.
Tuskco was just as confused as them. He had never seen a ghoule but there is plenty of information on them. They live in the mountains and have only been known to breed with their own kind...Along with that their peaceful. They never attempted to attack humans and lived in their own bubble.
" If that's true," Tsucko mumbled.
"That's bad," Kalci replied in a whisper.
Ghouls possess a natural weapon built into their bodies. If that were to manifest into a human then it would lead to the creation of a killing machine. It would breed a being closer to demons than humans.
The room was ecstatic with talk about this possible killing machine being out there. Thasher still remained quiet staring down at the map and Kalci seemed to be awaiting Tsucko.
" Okay." As soon as Tsucko spoke the room fell quiet. " As soon as we breach their border me and Kacli will begin clearing out until we feel comfortable. As soon as we reach that point Kalci will be sent over to reinforce Thashers regiment."
" Me." Kalci spoke [" That's not a short walk."]
" You can make it in time, you're much faster than me in long distance. Plus I'll probably be caught up dealing with some other people."
Kalci seemed to contemplate for a moment before nodding his head in agreement. He shifted his gaze to Thasher who nodded at him.
" If that guy shows up... I"ll kill him."