Chapter 74: Willowmere Town
Max saw the soldiers and finally decided not to hide his equipment.
He’d definitely hide his Radiant Knights, though.
The soldiers were Warriors and they were formidable... at the standard on their level.
Max believed he could get rid of them easily.
But that was not his intention.
After waving at the soldiers, he moved his body slightly to face the horses.
The horses were taken aback. They were filled with horror, unable to believe what they were seeing.
However, they immediately thought that it was a demon’s trick.
They stomped their hooves and were about to escape, believing that the Walled Town could definitely not survive from the demon’s invasion.
However, Max called them out.
"Stop."
His single word sent a chill running down the horses’ spine. The soldiers felt something was wrong and pulled out their swords, pointing at Max.
They were trembling. Max’s aura was daunting.
Max barely glanced at them before focusing at the horses.
He said, "I died, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be revived. There’s no way I became like them. Look."
Max cast a Radiant Lance and the horses stared at it. The Radiant Lance wasn’t pointing at them. It faced at one of the tree on Max’s left side.
Once Max felt they had enough time to observe the fully manifested Radiant Lance, he bolted it at the tree.
It pierced through the tree trunk, but before it destroyed another, it dissipated.
The horses returned their attention to Max.
He said, "I was just awakened and revived."
He turned towards the soldiers and said in an innocent tone, "A demon can’t possibly have a light affinity, right?"
Humans were sensitive to mana, even when they had no talent to become a mage.
Hence, the soldiers could immediately tell Max was definitely a human. As far as they knew, mages with light affinity were blessed by the God—in other words, they believed Max wouldn’t cause them harm.
What he said also registered into their mind. A demon invasion had indeed occurred.
Max died but was revived by the blessings of the God.
The horses’ reaction were only understandable.
They glanced at the horses and the latter seemed convinced.
They slowly walked towards Max.
When they arrived before him, they sniffed his body.
It was indeed entirely different than earlier, but they could discern his presence was definitely similar.
Max let them sniffed for a while and finally glanced at them when they stopped.
He caressed their neck and kept assuring them.
He said, "It’s really me. I have not died yet."
The horses rejoiced.
They were delighted he survived.
Their loyalty to Max had soared during the battle earlier. When they felt vulnerable and scared, Max had not only controlled them proficiently, his instruction and guidance garnered their trust.
They felt even thrilled fighting against the demons.
Max killing so many demons caused them to form a conviction that they were perhaps born not to be simple horses for wooden carriage, but for war.
This conviction would become their foundation later on to become Max’s war horses.
For now, they were mere ordinary horses with magical runes planted on their body permanently and had experienced fighting demons with a mage.
While Max and the horses were having their reunion, the Scout had finally returned in dismay.
He was shocked when he saw the horses affectionately interacting with a mage with light-affinity.
At one glance, he thought Max was a noble from his appearance, but he immediately discarded such thoughts when he saw his face.
He proceeded to the soldiers and informed them there were no Beast Tamer in the town.
The soldiers assured that it was fine now.
They waited until Max mounted to the horse and arrived to the soldiers.
The soldiers didn’t allow him to enter yet.
They asked, "Can you enlighten us of your situation?"
Max nodded. "I was in the wooden carriage with Archmage Arlen Mireth and Blade Saint Branna Holt when along the way, before the first settlement, the demons had invaded, led by a powerful Greater Demon, seemingly deliberately targeting us.
Archmage Arlen ensured my safety first. He used many defensive magical runes on this two horses.
I left with them, while Archmage Arlen and Blade Saint Branna remained to fight against the Greater Demon and his legion.
I was pursued by Lesser Demon Nobles and two Greater Demons at early rank.
I slain them all. While the last Greater Demon killed me before being revived, blessed by the blessings of the God, and killed him."
The soldiers and Scout were astonished. They didn’t want to believe him, but from his equipment along already proved he wasn’t lying.
A mage with light affinity was already considered a noble, especially the Founding Emperor himself had light affinity.
If it was not because of Max’s face, they would have believed he was a noble.
The soldiers nodded. "Do you have an identification card with you?"
Max shook his head. "I was born in the Greyfen Village. I was supposed to be registered myself in the capital with the guidance of Archmage Arlen, but..."
He lowered his head and showed a saddened expression.
The soldiers were depressed. After all, humanity lost an Archmage.
If only they could trade their life for the Archmage to live, they wouldn’t hesitate to do so.
The soldiers were swallowed with grief for a while, until they finally saw a chance to pat Max’s back.
Max thanked them and forced a smile. He really appeared to be dejected.
The soldiers glanced at each other, until one of them said, "I will lead you to the town’s commander. You best report the full detail to him.
Don’t worry, the town possessed a long-range communication network even to the village, we’ll then know the exact situation."
Max nodded.
He had the soldier mounting on the other horse as the other soldier shouted, causing the gate to be opened...
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