“The undead armada had appeared in front of the Ashton Harbor,” said Mage Beaumont.
The moment I heard those words, the same horror as hers appeared on my face.
“Fuck!”
Cursed Count Darrow loudly and I felt his emotions loud and clear. There is anger but also fear. He is scared and he should. An undead armada is no small thing; it is a genuine terror.
What is even more terrorizing is that it had appeared in front of the Ashton Harbor so suddenly.
Even the smallest armada is huge. Even for the undead, it is not easy to bring it to the shore of the empire without getting discovered, but they did.
It is clear that they had been preparing for it, for months at the least, and the imperial navy hadn’t discovered them at all.
“How big it is?” asked Count Darrow, after calming himself forcefully.
“Big enough, that Ashton Harbor might not be able to defend against it,” she replied, and a moment later, her staff lit up and projected the images in front of us.
Seeing them, my whole body shook.
The mage pictures are dark due to the night, but I could clearly make out the enormous ships and the skeletons, that seemed to be standing on every surface of them.
The white emblem of Vris’alud could be clearly seen on the masts of those massive ships.
They have a huge number of undead, and I am not talking about it, seeing those skeletons. It is an undead armada, and they always have far more numbers than what is visible on the outside.
It hadn’t been even six hours since the emperor was dead, and the first enemy had already made its move. The others may have started to make their moves too, we just didn’t know.
“Send a message to Dane, ask him to send ten thousand men to the city. I want them here by the night,” Count Darrow said after a minute of silence, before turning to me.
“The message to the public will need to be modified.” He said, and I nodded.
A few hours passed, and it was morning. I am now looking at the city gates, where there is a large crowd.
They want to get out and I couldn’t blame them.
Though, I am still surprised, seeing the numbers. They are not as much as I thought they would be. I thought that the whole city would want to escape, hearing the emperor is dead and the undead is attacking.
I shouldn’t have been. People aren’t idiots.
They understood, that with things not being under the control of the Crown Prince, there would be chaos in the empire.
It had already begun. Edruin and Yressor had already attacked and soon the others will follow.
The empire wasn’t stable anymore, Crown Prince’s and Princess Orlen’s forces had clashed at dawn. It is a small battle, between the Viscounts of their camps, both calling others liege, the usurper.
Prince Grelt and Princess Orlene had declared themselves emperor. There is also a Prince Samris, but nobody is taking him series. He will either die or join the camp of one of three.
“Any news from Port Ashton?” I asked Zela, to which she shook her head.
The armada had attacked Ashton Harbor and sealed the communication so that no message could get out of there. They have even started hunting the surrounding mages, who are sending the messages.
So, we are pretty blind to what is happening there.
The count is offering a large amount of money for any news, but for the last two and a half hours, we aren’t getting any. We might soon as we aren’t the only ones, who are desperate for it, other cities too.
The cities which are close to the Ashton Harbor had sent people. Mostly adventurers, as only they would dare to take such risks.
Then the carriage stopped a few minutes later, and I got out into the compound of the fortified building. It wasn’t used to be this fortified, but now it needs to be, seeing how many people we were keeping inside.
Click!
“Lord Silver,” greeted the man as I got out of the carriage. “Jailor Finnigan,” I said to the middle-aged man with sandy brown hair.
“How are things?” I asked as he led me inside a building. “Bad, my lord. The cells are overcrowded and despite rationing our supply, we don’t have enough to feed them for even a week,” he replied.
Soon, I saw the cells and my expressions couldn’t help, but change seeing the conditions of the cells.
People, or rather the orcs filled cells to the brim. Each cell is holding three times more people than its capacity. To make matters worse, we have added even more prisoners.
From what I know, there are three and half thousand prisoners, with three thousand being orcs.
“We really need to execute these bastards. Keeping them alive is a waste of space and food,” he said, looking at the Orcs angrily.
I didn’t say anything.
These people are going to die, sooner rather than later. With undead knocking on the region, the Count wouldn’t want another problem on his hands.
I feel pity for them; they wouldn’t be judged for their crimes properly, before getting executed.
We stopped at the fourth floor and walked toward the thick iron door, guarded by the six guards. They saluted the middle-aged man and bowed to me.
Click!
Finnegan took out the keys from his pockets without saying anything and opened the door.
“They are inside, Lord Silver,” said Finnegan. “Thank you, Finnegan,” I said and walked inside.
It was a small apartment in spartan style, with thick warded grey walls. It is one of three fortified jail suits this prison has.
I turned left and saw the people; I had come to see.
Valentina is sitting on the couch with her girlfriend. She didn’t seem surprised to see me; there was even a small smile on her face.
“It seemed like the news had forced you to cut your trip short,” she said. I didn’t say anything, just sat in front of them, with a guilty sigh.
“I am sorry. You have to suffer this because of me,” I apologized. Of course, it was because of me she was here. If not for her close relationship with me, the priest wouldn’t have targeted her and Lena.
“It was not your fault,” she said, and I smiled mirthlessly at her conciliary words.
“It was really not your fault, Remus. It was a Nielson Guild that informed the church,” said Valentina, surprising me, but also confusing me at the same time.
Valentina is their best employee. She is one, that helped the guild to get the legacy job, which they had not got before.
“Why would they do that?” I asked, and she smiled, without any mirth in it. “Because I had resigned from it,” she replied, surprising me.
I knew she was going to resign to start her own company, but I thought she would wait for a few months before doing that.
For a minute, we didn’t speak, before I opened my mouth.
“I should be able to get both of you out of here in a few days,” I said, and it was their turn to be surprised.
“Church wouldn’t let it happen,” said Valentina somberly, and I smiled.
It would have been difficult before and I would have needed to give something good to the Count for their release, but now, I do not need to do that.
“Emperor is dead,” I informed, and shock appeared on their face, “And there is an undead armada attacking the Ashton Harbor,” I added, shocking them further.
If the death of the emperor had made, the Count feel the need for more powerhouses, the attack of undead on Ashton Harbor had forced him to do that.
It is the reason why, he had asked for the ten-thousand men from Mirador Hold. In the minutes, he heard about the armada.
By tomorrow, he will release both of them and even the church wouldn’t do anything. They have been silent since the morning and, aside from organizing the service to pray for the emperor's soul, they haven’t done anything.
They haven’t even dared to declare the Crown Prince as the rightful emperor.
The church may be powerful and actively supporting the Crown Prince, but they wouldn’t dare to proclaim him as emperor, in the territory of Prince Grelt, who also proclaimed himself as the emperor.
I didn’t stay at the jail for long and walked out.
From there, I directly went to the control room I had set up took the input, and then walked toward the Count’s office.
Click!
I stepped into the office and moved to bow, when I suddenly stopped for a moment, seeing the expressions on the faces of everyone.
They are somber, and some seem visibly scared.
Lancel isn’t even guarding his emotions, I could clearly sense the fear he is feeling. It gave me a terrible feeling.
“My lords,” I greeted after a pause.
“Ashton Harbor had fallen. The undead had conquered it in less than six hours of attacking it,” said Count Darrow, despondently.
I shuddered, hearing that.
Ashton Harbor is no Greltheaven. It is a city of half a million people, with a powerful army. The armada was big, but it shouldn’t have conquered the city so quickly.
“Are we sure about this news?” I asked, and Atticus turned to me with a glare.
“Yes, we are sure. Those damn undead had let the adventurers get close and even blasted the message spells all over the region, declaring their victory,”
“They have not only conquered the city, but also captured its lord and other important people, who were escaping,” he said and shuddered.
He is not the only one, even Count Darrow shuddered visibly.
I am not surprised. It is their signature; they need powerful people. Not to run the territories they conquer, but to turn them into the powerful undead.
Every territory they conquer, they will turn all the powerful people into undead. They will start with the army and then turn to everyone with sufficiently high attributes.
They rarely spare anyone.
An.
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“The undead armada had appeared in front of the Ashton Harbor,” said Mage Beaumont.
The moment I heard those words, the same horror as hers appeared on my face.
“Fuck!”
Cursed Count Darrow loudly and I felt his emotions loud and clear. There is anger but also fear. He is scared and he should. An undead armada is no small thing; it is a genuine terror.
What is even more terrorizing is that it had appeared in front of the Ashton Harbor so suddenly.
Even the smallest armada is huge. Even for the undead, it is not easy to bring it to the shore of the empire without getting discovered, but they did.
It is clear that they had been preparing for it, for months at the least, and the imperial navy hadn’t discovered them at all.
“How big it is?” asked Count Darrow, after calming himself forcefully.
“Big enough, that Ashton Harbor might not be able to defend against it,” she replied, and a moment later, her staff lit up and projected the images in front of us.
Seeing them, my whole body shook.
The mage pictures are dark due to the night, but I could clearly make out the enormous ships and the skeletons, that seemed to be standing on every surface of them.
The white emblem of Vris’alud could be clearly seen on the masts of those massive ships.
They have a huge number of undead, and I am not talking about it, seeing those skeletons. It is an undead armada, and they always have far more numbers than what is visible on the outside.
It hadn’t been even six hours since the emperor was dead, and the first enemy had already made its move. The others may have started to make their moves too, we just didn’t know.
“Send a message to Dane, ask him to send ten thousand men to the city. I want them here by the night,” Count Darrow said after a minute of silence, before turning to me.
“The message to the public will need to be modified.” He said, and I nodded.
A few hours passed, and it was morning. I am now looking at the city gates, where there is a large crowd.
They want to get out and I couldn’t blame them.
Though, I am still surprised, seeing the numbers. They are not as much as I thought they would be. I thought that the whole city would want to escape, hearing the emperor is dead and the undead is attacking.
I shouldn’t have been. People aren’t idiots.
They understood, that with things not being under the control of the Crown Prince, there would be chaos in the empire.
It had already begun. Edruin and Yressor had already attacked and soon the others will follow.
The empire wasn’t stable anymore, Crown Prince’s and Princess Orlen’s forces had clashed at dawn. It is a small battle, between the Viscounts of their camps, both calling others liege, the usurper.
Prince Grelt and Princess Orlene had declared themselves emperor. There is also a Prince Samris, but nobody is taking him series. He will either die or join the camp of one of three.
“Any news from Port Ashton?” I asked Zela, to which she shook her head.
The armada had attacked Ashton Harbor and sealed the communication so that no message could get out of there. They have even started hunting the surrounding mages, who are sending the messages.
So, we are pretty blind to what is happening there.
The count is offering a large amount of money for any news, but for the last two and a half hours, we aren’t getting any. We might soon as we aren’t the only ones, who are desperate for it, other cities too.
The cities which are close to the Ashton Harbor had sent people. Mostly adventurers, as only they would dare to take such risks.
Then the carriage stopped a few minutes later, and I got out into the compound of the fortified building. It wasn’t used to be this fortified, but now it needs to be, seeing how many people we were keeping inside.
Click!
“Lord Silver,” greeted the man as I got out of the carriage. “Jailor Finnigan,” I said to the middle-aged man with sandy brown hair.
“How are things?” I asked as he led me inside a building. “Bad, my lord. The cells are overcrowded and despite rationing our supply, we don’t have enough to feed them for even a week,” he replied.
Soon, I saw the cells and my expressions couldn’t help, but change seeing the conditions of the cells.
People, or rather the orcs filled cells to the brim. Each cell is holding three times more people than its capacity. To make matters worse, we have added even more prisoners.
From what I know, there are three and half thousand prisoners, with three thousand being orcs.
“We really need to execute these bastards. Keeping them alive is a waste of space and food,” he said, looking at the Orcs angrily.
I didn’t say anything.
These people are going to die, sooner rather than later. With undead knocking on the region, the Count wouldn’t want another problem on his hands.
I feel pity for them; they wouldn’t be judged for their crimes properly, before getting executed.
We stopped at the fourth floor and walked toward the thick iron door, guarded by the six guards. They saluted the middle-aged man and bowed to me.
Click!
Finnegan took out the keys from his pockets without saying anything and opened the door.
“They are inside, Lord Silver,” said Finnegan. “Thank you, Finnegan,” I said and walked inside.
It was a small apartment in spartan style, with thick warded grey walls. It is one of three fortified jail suits this prison has.
I turned left and saw the people; I had come to see.
Valentina is sitting on the couch with her girlfriend. She didn’t seem surprised to see me; there was even a small smile on her face.
“It seemed like the news had forced you to cut your trip short,” she said. I didn’t say anything, just sat in front of them, with a guilty sigh.
“I am sorry. You have to suffer this because of me,” I apologized. Of course, it was because of me she was here. If not for her close relationship with me, the priest wouldn’t have targeted her and Lena.
“It was not your fault,” she said, and I smiled mirthlessly at her conciliary words.
“It was really not your fault, Remus. It was a Nielson Guild that informed the church,” said Valentina, surprising me, but also confusing me at the same time.
Valentina is their best employee. She is one, that helped the guild to get the legacy job, which they had not got before.
“Why would they do that?” I asked, and she smiled, without any mirth in it. “Because I had resigned from it,” she replied, surprising me.
I knew she was going to resign to start her own company, but I thought she would wait for a few months before doing that.
For a minute, we didn’t speak, before I opened my mouth.
“I should be able to get both of you out of here in a few days,” I said, and it was their turn to be surprised.
“Church wouldn’t let it happen,” said Valentina somberly, and I smiled.
It would have been difficult before and I would have needed to give something good to the Count for their release, but now, I do not need to do that.
“Emperor is dead,” I informed, and shock appeared on their face, “And there is an undead armada attacking the Ashton Harbor,” I added, shocking them further.
If the death of the emperor had made, the Count feel the need for more powerhouses, the attack of undead on Ashton Harbor had forced him to do that.
It is the reason why, he had asked for the ten-thousand men from Mirador Hold. In the minutes, he heard about the armada.
By tomorrow, he will release both of them and even the church wouldn’t do anything. They have been silent since the morning and, aside from organizing the service to pray for the emperor's soul, they haven’t done anything.
They haven’t even dared to declare the Crown Prince as the rightful emperor.
The church may be powerful and actively supporting the Crown Prince, but they wouldn’t dare to proclaim him as emperor, in the territory of Prince Grelt, who also proclaimed himself as the emperor.
I didn’t stay at the jail for long and walked out.
From there, I directly went to the control room I had set up took the input, and then walked toward the Count’s office.
Click!
I stepped into the office and moved to bow, when I suddenly stopped for a moment, seeing the expressions on the faces of everyone.
They are somber, and some seem visibly scared.
Lancel isn’t even guarding his emotions, I could clearly sense the fear he is feeling. It gave me a terrible feeling.
“My lords,” I greeted after a pause.
“Ashton Harbor had fallen. The undead had conquered it in less than six hours of attacking it,” said Count Darrow, despondently.
I shuddered, hearing that.
Ashton Harbor is no Greltheaven. It is a city of half a million people, with a powerful army. The armada was big, but it shouldn’t have conquered the city so quickly.
“Are we sure about this news?” I asked, and Atticus turned to me with a glare.
“Yes, we are sure. Those damn undead had let the adventurers get close and even blasted the message spells all over the region, declaring their victory,”
“They have not only conquered the city, but also captured its lord and other important people, who were escaping,” he said and shuddered.
He is not the only one, even Count Darrow shuddered visibly.
I am not surprised. It is their signature; they need powerful people. Not to run the territories they conquer, but to turn them into the powerful undead.
Every territory they conquer, they will turn all the powerful people into undead. They will start with the army and then turn to everyone with sufficiently high attributes.
They rarely spare anyone.
An.
For more, Click Patreon.
