Assassin's Chronicle - Chapter 372

Chapter 372: Sadness

The Shield of Light legion separated into two groups to cross the Transverse Mountains and headed to the north . The two groups then separated into several smaller forces and swept across the plain . Fernando wanted to eliminate as many zombies as possible, and this plan was an effective way to achieve that . After two days, the legion had already eliminated more than a thousand zombies . Most of the zombies were alone or in small groups of less than five hundred . It only took a small squadron of knights to eliminate them . There were only a few injured and they were all taken care of quickly .

Blavi, Ozzic, and Orsie arrived in a nearby village to rest . They were staying by the edge of the town so they didn’t have to face a town ravaged by zombies . Their job was to contact the remaining resisting mercenaries and detect nearby necromancer and zombie activity . Necromancers were very sensitive to light magic and could sense it from miles away . The best thing to do was the have the mercenaries take care of gathering information .

Their next destination was a larger town called Hardikan . According to Fernando’s intel, there were still around six hundred mercenaries there . Most of the mercenaries belonged to Green Wilderness mercenary group . Blavi, Orsie, and Ozzic needed to decide how they should approach the town and whether or not they should allow the mercenaries there to join them at Moramatch . This was the first stronghold they would come into contact with, and they were determined to do things right .

A dozen riders rode toward the town and stopped just outside of it . Christian jumped off of the first horse and walked over to Blavi .

"What are you doing here?" Blavi asked, surprised .

Christian shrugged . "I’m bored," he said . "How everything going?"

"Good," Blavi said . "If you’re looking for Anfey, he’s over there . "

Christian frowned . "What is he doing?"

"Practicing, I think," Blavi said with a shrug .

Anfey was sitting on the ground, staring intently at the fiery longsword in his hand . The sword had melted the snow around him, exposing the dark earth and dried tufts of grass . The sword caused the water to evaporate, and the earth became increasingly dry .

Shinbella watched Anfey quietly from about ten feet away . She didn’t mind the heat but she knew that using combat power could potentially affect Anfey’s concentration . She hated it when people interrupted her practice, so she did not want to interrupt someone else .

Anfey’s grip around the sword tightened . Everything around him seemed to have faded because he was so focused on the elements . He felt the pulsing of the fire elements that made up the sword and concentrated on that . His mind closed in on that pulsing, his heightened senses able to sense the flow of the elements perfectly .

Nearby, a small snake poked its head out of the ground, fooled by the warmth of its surroundings . It slithered out of its hiding place, then quickly ducked back into its hole when its body came in contact with the unmelted snow . Shinbella narrowed her eyes when she saw the red glow in Anfey’s hand .

Seeing that the fire sword had changed into a red blade, Anfey finally leaned back and relaxed . The blade’s elements had completely solidified, and it was glowing a dull red light . The sword looked more like a sword that just came out of a dwarf’s forge instead of an element sword . Anfey waved the sword a bit then returned it to the sheath . As soon as the sword was returned to the sheath, the elemental surges disappeared and the heat in the air dissipated . Anfey stood up and stumbled due to sudden dizziness .

Shinbella hurried over and grabbed his arm, helping him stand up straight . "You alright?" she asked .

"I’m fine," Anfey said, nodding . This was a warning to him . He knew that he had pushed himself too far and he should rest . If not, he should at least try another way to practice . If he kept on pushing himself, he might achieve the exact opposite of what he wanted .

"This is the most dangerous thing to practice," Shinbella said . "One misstep could lead you to lose everything . You need to be more careful . "

"I understand," Anfey said . He stretched and relaxed his body, which was stiff from sitting on the ground for too long . "Thanks for the warning . " He could tell that not only was he physically exhausted, he was also mentally exhausted . He could sense that his inner power had been disrupted . However, he was also optimistic . This was the most he had achieved in magic so far, and he knew he could not relax just yet .

"If Lady Suzanna were here, she would have the same opinion," Shinbella said .

Anfey shrugged and smiled . "You should’ve seen her," he said . "She’s even worse than I am when it comes to knowing her limits . "

Shinbella sighed and shook her head . She was older than Suzanna, but she was not as powerful . She could tell that Suzanna must have spent a lot of time pushing herself to the limit and practicing her craft .

Anfey and Shinbella turned to walk towards the village . He narrowed his eyes when he saw the horses, then smiled when he saw who was standing nearby . "Is that Christian over there?"

Shinbella looked at the village and smiled . "Looks like it," she said . She was a senior swordsmaster and her eyesight was superb . Whatever Anfey could see, she could see as well .

Christian smiled when he saw Anfey and Shinbella approach . Then he frowned and asked, "You don’t look so well . What happened?"

"Just tired," Anfey said . "Don’t worry about me . Why are you here?"

"It’s a little boring back in Moramatch," Christian said . "I wanted to check on you guys . "

"You’re the overseer," Anfey said with a smile . "You of all people shouldn’t be bored . "

Christian shrugged . "Most of the troops are away, anyway . Plus, it’s not like I have any actual power over the army . "

"You still do," Anfey said jokingly . "What, do you want to be a general?" Overseers don’t usually have power over an army, but the composition of the Shield of Light legion was very complicated . There was no telling what would happen and what the soldiers would do if Christian really questioned Fernando’s authority .

"I’m good," Christian said . "I don’t need an army . There’s another thing . The Church has ordered Fernando to look for a man . A fugitive . "

"Who is it?" Anfey asked, surprised .

"Warner . "

"What?" Warner jumped up and asked . His eyes widened and his arms flailed . "Why? A fugitive? What did I do? This must be Salmado’s doing!"

"You killed Cardinal Bergkamp and stole the Book of Life . That is enough to execute you ten times over . "

Warner gasped and stumbled back . He sat down on the ground, angry . He knew that it was Salmado and his men who had caused the death of Bergkamp, but what was his word against a cardinal’s?

"Is it from the pope?" Anfey asked .

"No," Christian said . "It’s from the Holy Court . " He paused then said, "I also heard the pope is sick . "

"How did Fernando react?"

"He is hesitant," Christian said . "He knew that this order was wrong . Warner was Bergkamp’s servant . He couldn’t have killed so many people . Fernando knows this . "

Anfey nodded . "Maybe this order is from Bergkamp’s people . They would use it to imply Warner’s innocence . There are too many things we don’t know yet . Warner, you have to be careful . "

Warner nodded . He sat on the ground quietly, then suddenly covered his face with his hands and wept . He was a dedicated priest and this order from the Church of Light made him feel like he was betrayed by the very thing he had dedicated his life to .