Asleroc froze, his mind scrambling to get to terms with what he just heard.
"Heilmaster must be furious since the Hero has escaped. I've never seen so many demon spawns, Astensia. And they were coordinated, heading straight for the Fort." Thor shook her head. "We must move immediately."
"What about your mana cores?" Asleroc asked. "And the shield would protect us, wouldn't it? I'm worried that leaving unprepared especially without your mana fully replenished could be detrimental."
Thor nodded. "I understand that, my Lord, but staying means letting them surround us and lock us in. The barrier holds, but if they keep us in, we will never be able to leave. Even at full strength, we can not cut through that many demon spawns."
Asleroc clenched his jaw. Thor was right. The math of it pressed cold fingers into his ribs. He just hadn't expected to be leaving this soon!
"Let us head inside!" Astensia said. "We need to form a plan. Quickly."
They ran, hurrying into the dark walls of the Fort of Favia.
Meanwhile, beyond the grand, monumental building, the burnt villages and the Favian Forests, a horde of demon spawns, hundreds, maybe thousands, marched ahead.
Their shapes were malignant and eerie, their movements unnatural as they withered everything they passed, bringing death along with them.
—
Inside the hall, the obsidian map slap lay waiting. Astensia planted her palm on top of it and the lines lit up with the flaring blue colors.
"Did you see what formation they were approaching with?" she asked Thor without looking up.
"It was a semicircle," Thor answered. "They've surrounded all the paths we cleared and are closing in on us in a distorted arc."
Astensia narrowed her eyes, peering into the map. Its magic began to work.
Asleroc saw the map imitate the army of demon spawns crawling, flying and limping their way towards the Fort.
Just like Thor had said, they completely covered the routes that led to the gate of the building, desolating the cleared paths once again.
Asleroc couldn't believe the numbers. He knew Heilmaster was terrified of the Heavenly Hero, but to send this many demon spawns was unheard of.
Astensia traced a path with two fingers, then stabbed them toward the west. "Then we go through the back. Which means we'll have to clear a new path, then circle our way behind the spawns and head on to Brakenkal."
"There are still beasts and demon spawns on those roads," Asleroc pointed out.
Astensia gave a level look. "Better them than the horde coming our way, my Worship."
Asleroc hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Agreed."
"We must gear up immediately," Thor said. "Now."
They hurried up an ornamentally built staircase, taking Asleroc to the gallery; the famed vault where all the great weapons and armor provided to the Hero and his Heroines were stored.
Of course as of now, since the Heavenly Hero hadn't awakened, many of the weapons and armor Asleroc was familiar with in the novel was not present, but there was still enough to intrigue his fanatic mind.
Racks and mannequins waited by the walls, filled and dressed with blades, plates, leathers and helms. Astensia and Thor navigated through them with no mind at all, already knowing what they wanted.
Asleroc watched as they slipped off their casual battlewear, now dressed in merely light leather linens wrapped around their bosoms and lower waist.
Even though the situation merely called for it, his face reddened admiring the bodies of his disciples.
His admiration only lasted seconds. The women were quick to dress.
Astensia buckled the scale of her gear to leather, fastened her pauldrons, tested her hand locomotion before fastening it the more. She cinched her war-belt at her hips, put on her high metallic armor boots, before crowning herself with her winged helm.
Thor put on her breastplate gracefully, gliding her shoulder mantle which bolted the red cape behind her. She placed her golden pauldrons tight to her war garment, and donned her celestial crown.
Finally, they picked up their signature weapons which waited for them by the wall.
Astensia retrieved the Blessed Blade and Thor claimed Mjolnir-Seraph.
Together, they turned to Asleroc.
"This way, my Worship," Astensia said.
They led him into a smaller chamber off the main hall of the gallery.
On a stand waited a suit of simple armor: brown leather reinforced with matte gold plates at the chest and shoulders, bracers stitched for grip, greaves light enough to run in.
It had no ornaments beyond what was necessary. One could call an armor like this a hero's apprentice kit.
Asleroc quickly put it on, aware of the situation. His hand shook once he started to strap it. It wasn't because he was afraid—then again, anticipation was a kind of terror, too.
Astensia came to check the fit, tightening a chest trap. Even Thor helped too, both knowing their presence would soothe the Hero's fear.
When they were done, Asleroc stood as gallantly as he could manage, even though he felt like he was in a ComicCon convention.
"Thank you," he said to them.
Astensia smiled briefly before handing him the same sword he used for training.
He placed it on his palm for a moment; a swordsman's ritual that he had randomly picked up on. Then he slid it into his sheath. "Where do we exit?" he asked.
Astensia looked to Thor. The Heroine of Thunder nodded once.
"Below," Astensia said. "A maintained tunnel from the Fort's foundations. It emerges behind an old watch copse. We can leave from there."
Asleroc tilted his head slightly. "Then let's go."
They descended into the Fort's underbelly, their footsteps hollow in the long throat of passage. The deeper they went, the colder the air became.
Once they arrived at the copse, they hurried ahead, finding a door of banded iron and prayer-scripts.
"Thor?" Astensia prompted.
Thor pressed her hammerhead to the seal, causing the runes on her weapon to glow, same for the seal. The blue light dimmed after and the door groaned awake, raising up as sunlight poured into the dark copse.
Together, they stepped out, their armored boots crunching pebbles on the cracked stone floor.
Asleroc sighed inwardly. 'I guess this is it. I've barely even grown that much in my stats.'
「STR 7 | AGI 5 | SPD 8 | DEX 10 | END 6 | INT 8 | WIS 92 | CHA 57 | MAN 0」
He only hoped that these stats could be the difference maker when it came to saving himself when the Heroines were occupied.
He looked at Thor and Astensia. At least the health bars over their heads were full, but the mana bar right under still showed 60% corruption.
With demon spawns and their corruptive essence in their future, the only way to cleanse their mana was with Blessed Flames.
His second hope was that they would be strong enough to hold on until loot drops offered them.
"Are you ready, my Worship?" Astensia asked, turning to face him. Her gauntleted hand cupped his for a moment.
"Remember my oath. I will be with you no matter what," she said. "And so will Thor."
Asleroc moved his eyes to meet Thor's, who didn't look away but rather peered back at him. Her form of assurance.
"Let's go," Asleroc said. "We can't let Heilmaster capture us."
Together, they stepped through the mana shield. As soon as the brief sensation of tight magic left Asleroc, he saw before him the wild, wounded world of Cinriten. The genesis of their historic journey.