Baron Snow slammed the palm of his hand on the wall and laughed out loud. "What a brave lad."
He signaled one of his men with his eyes, and that man left.
A few moments later, he returned with a rotund, fair-skinned man. This man stood out because, in the wasteland, most had pale skin. It was rare to see someone looking rosy.
"That's the Jon you asked for, and the rest of them are still alive, so... come sign." Baron Snow took a sheet of paper from the same man who brought Jon and waved it toward Asher.
"I would like to see all of them, and I hope for your sake that you haven't touched the women."
Baron Snow frowned as Asher's words fell into his ears. 'This brat has the spines of a dragon,' he thought. He meant Asher was as confident as a dragon but had misunderstood his current position.
"Bring all of them."
Not long after that order was given, nine other individuals were brought out. Six of them, excluding Jon, were men, and the other three were women. Asher could see, apart from being tied, none of them were harmed, but they looked starved.
"Bring them out of the gates, and we'll discuss other matters."
"You brat!" Baron Snow bellowed and pointed at the merchants, who had glimmers of hope in their eyes. "Kill them."
Shing! Shing!
His men unsheathed their swords and approached them. "Boss, should we kill the women?" one turned to Baron Snow and asked.
However, the answer he received was a mighty white wolf landing right before him! Sirius had closed the gap in that short span. None of them were able to react to its astonishing speed.
Thud!
The soles of Asher's boot connected with the bandit's head, launching him off the wall. Asher quickly unsheathed his sword and swung upward at the second man.
The man swung downward to intercept, but the power behind Asher's sword was beyond his imagination.
The sword flew out of the man's hand, and Asher slashed his chest without thinking. He could hear Sirius dealing with the others.
Asher took a step backward, watching the sword of the third man almost graze his nose.
The moment the sword tilted downward, he closed the gap and thrust his sword through the man. He wasn't able to pull it out when the fourth man swung his sword horizontally.
Asher discarded the thought of retrieving his sword and stepped back. The mercenary rushed him, swinging his sword while yelling.
Asher retreated, keeping an eye on Baron Snow, who stared at him with murderous intent.
Thud! Asher heard a sound behind him, causing him to roll forward toward the first attacker.
The figure behind him swung his spear so fast that his men, who were recklessly swinging their swords, couldn't react to his throat being slashed open!
At this point, Asher had already picked up his gold-ranked sword and turned to his second attacker.
It was a man of average height wielding a spear taller than him. His aura was that of a silver-ranked warrior.
Asher gripped his sword's hilt with both hands and closed the gap. He deflected the spear as Alec had trained him, borrowing the momentum to spin.
His sword reached the man, but instead of slicing through flesh, it scraped a hard surface. Asher felt as though he had swung his sword against a rock.
When he got a better look, he noticed a faint yellow barrier that slowly vanished from the man's body. 'A talent!' His eyes narrowed.
The spearman came again, his spear moving like a snake. Asher swiftly recalled when Alec used the same move against him and stopped at his eyes.
Had Alec not been a loyal subordinate, it would have been a good opportunity to kill him. 'My eyes are the target!'
Knowing this, he tilted his body and leaned backward. The position made him unstable, but as the spear was about to be retrieved, he grabbed it and swung his sword with all the strength he could muster. His battle force blasted out, unleashing a red force that increased the sharpness of his sword twofold.
Swish!
The spearman was stunned to see the cut in his abdomen. He spat blood and fell off the wall.
Breathing heavily, Asher looked ahead but didn't see Baron Snow anymore. The man was already heading towards the castle entrance with his guards.
"Sirius!" Asher yelled.
Awoo!
Sirius jumped off the wall and raced toward Baron Snow. Before he reached the entrance, ice sealed the gate to the castle, causing Baron Snow's expression to sour. He never expected Asher's beast to be gold-ranked.
"You know, I've never killed a noble before." A dangerous light flashed in Baron Snow's eyes. Almost instantaneously, he grew into a 2.5-meter-tall giant, grabbed a guard's spear, and hurled it at Asher.
The spear tore through the air, whistling like a missile. Asher threw himself to the right, narrowly avoiding it. The spear carried enough force to blow up a human head!
When he stood up, Sirius was engaged in a fierce battle against the giant. No doubt, his talent shocked Asher to the core.
He never thought a talent could make a man a giant.
Sirius growled and clawed at Baron Snow, but he evaded. He picked up a stone and hurled it with such force that it slammed into Sirius's face, turning its head to the side. The other men tried attacking Sirius, but their weapons bounced off its fur.
Consumed by anger, Sirius took a deep breath and exhaled a white mist everywhere. When the mist cleared, Asher found himself standing in an ice fortress. Baron Snow and his remaining men had become frozen statues. Baron Snow himself was frozen mid-attack, trying to strike Sirius.
Apart from Asher and the merchants, who were trembling at the terrifying display of Sirius's elemental powers, no one else outside the castle survived.
"Sirius, you might have anger issues," Asher muttered.
He climbed down from the wall and patted his wolf. "The last silver-ranked warrior must be inside the castle. Come, let's find out what he's doing in there."