Fenrir cleaved the orc in two with his greatsword while he snapped the neck of another with a single hand. The Undead Knights took care of the rest, running the fleeing Orcs into the ground with their Undead Steeds.

The giant figure had not even needed to use his secondary form. Running into a war part of Orcs would have stressed even a couple of Experts, but Undead did not panic. They simply went about their duties, eradicating the threat without feeling.

Fenrir glanced at the giant white wolves the Orcs had been riding. Most had fled, with or without their riders, but a few had been caught by the Undead. Fenrir himself had strangled one. It would have been easier to crush it, or cut it apart, but he wanted its fur.

He tried to rationalize it as wanting efficient camouflage in the snowy land the world had become as winter arrived. But in truth, he just thought it would look cool. Black armor and draped with white fur. It was even slightly poetic as his name was Wolf in an ancient tongue.

In an hour, the giant resumed its journey, with a new accessory. He also took with him the bones of the wolves, leaving the meat behind for whatever carnivore was lucky enough to get to it first.

Though he unsummoned the Undead Knights, as he had recently passed back into Lissura lands. He had circumvented Vrens, as it was right on the border, and he did not want even the idea of him coming from the Independent Lands to enter anyone’s minds.

Instead, he would make his debut closer to the Capital. He would attempt to avoid detection by anyone until then. Only once He neared Calaren would he travel normally, allowing anyone to see him. But as he had already entered the Nation of Lissura, he dismissed his Undead Knights. It was easier to avoid detection when it was just a lone figure.

Without his escort, he would likely encounter more Monsters, but he doubted he would encounter anything too dangerous, at least for him. So far, however, the trip had been mostly uneventful.

Traveling through the ancient woods in the Independent lands, Fenrir had been forced to carve his way through Monster after Monster, who did not take kindly to someone invading their territory, however temporary. But once he reached Onigas, it had begun to calm down.

Fenrir had skirted around Onigas as he had other tasks, though he had traveled close enough for the Shadow Assassins stationed there to relay a bit of information.

Both Fenrir and Alaster had been surprised to learn that Astrid had actually become engaged to Arthur Lewale. When Alaster had first met him, the man had not left a positive impression. But clearly, Astrid felt differently, at least he hoped. Fenrir had spent a few hours around Onigas for the Shadows to convey everything.

Alaster had felt that Arthur saw him only as a tool the young Noble could use. Yet his Shadows had apparently learned that the man simply did not know how else to treat someone. He had been raised from birth to see and treat everything as something he could use to his own advantage.

His father, Sebastion Lewale, ever pushing for his son to marry into the City Lord’s family, forced Arthur to spend plenty of time around Iris, and in extension, Astrid. While Iris continued to be uninterested, Arthur and Astrid had gotten to know each other over time.

Three months ago, a week after his father’s natural death, Arthur had proposed to Astrid. He explained it as a strengthening relationships between the Tarian refugees, most of whom were the very same soldiers that had been taken prisoner, and their families. They had expressed genuine anger over the Tarian treatment of them and once the war was over and they were released from duty, they snuck away from their Tarian homes and traveled to Onigas, who had treated them well.

Of course, as the Tarian Soldiers were the ones that had attacked Onigas, there was hostility, even for the refugees who had never even had a chance to fight and had instead been peacefully taken prisoner by Alaster. The City Lord had vocally denounced any hostile treatment, but it did not stop everything.

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Arthur, ever the opportunist, decided to use this hostility as an excuse to the other Onigarian Nobles for marrying a commoner. Fenrir chuckled when a Shadow provided images of Astrid teaching Arthur how to be more genuine in his interactions with people instead of always looking for an angle.

It reminded Alaster of how he trained her back in Sicon.

The Siphas family was still powerful and influential, only having grown in power after the war, especially with their close relationship with Alaster, whom the citizens of Onigas almost treated as a folklore hero. Isabella had a following of her own as she was constantly seen in the hospitals and infirmaries, healing what she could.

Due to her efforts, her healing abilities had only grown. She had two Healing Spells advance to Adepthood before she did, and now had an Expert Level Healing spell.

Iris was now an Expert, though she had only advanced the month prior. She was now in charge of training an Order of Guardsmen who specialized in defensibility. The City Lord had instructed her to create an Order that could be trusted, only loyal to her, and could be relied on to stand their ground, wherever they were stationed.

She had taken her orders to heart and created an Order that was known even in Lissura, Taria, and Kemore. The name of the Pheonix Order was known wide. Every one of its members could heal themselves in the midst of battle. They specialized in close quarters combat, and as such, most members wore heavy armor that covered them from head to toe.

Instead of pursuing relation or political gain, Iris had created a powerful Order numbering just over two hundred, capable of holding off hundreds more, possibly even thousands. She had trained her personal soldiers by clearing the Monsters habitants leading to Galmore.

While Galmore was responsible for building the road between the two Independent Cities, Iris saw no reason not to help them a little, especially if it ultimately helped her more.

Alaster couldn’t be prouder.

Despite not actually pursuing it, Alaster noticed that Iris had taken a fancy to one of her younger and stronger Soldiers. Though he did not know if it was because she was interested in his potential as a Soldier, or his potential as a partner.

Despite their lives taking two different paths, Iris and Astrid continued to be great friends. They were found together more often than not. Astrid even regularly helped train and manage the Phoenixes.

Overall, Onigas was in good hands. As they had claimed, they had repaired all damages they had sustained during the siege within the year, and were even strengthening the outer wall with even stronger materials and more siege equipment.

Fenrir was content with this information and continued on his journey, reaching Lissurian lands before the sun set. Unfortunately, while Fenrir did not need to sleep, so long as Alaster did occasionally, the horse he rode was still quite alive, and did need to rest. So he was forced to spend each night stationary.

Fenrir, and in extension Alaster, both grew increasingly irritated at the weakness of a living creature. It was bad enough that Fenrir had to carry all of the horse’s feed in his Ring of Holding, which Alaster had bought in Galmore. It was a small Ring of Holding, perhaps only two by two feet large, meaning that with the Horse Feed, there was barely any space available for anything else.

Had Fenrir been using a Skeletal Mount, or even running on foot, he could have already been in Zolis, capital city of Lissura. But doing either would have attracted too much attention. At least on the horse, passersby might be interested in the giant black knight, but not enough to spread word, at least past their own small communities.

It did not help Fenrir’s mood that horses also did not smell very great, and his enhanced senses were just making it worse.

Even with the annoying delays, Fenrir still believed he would reach Zolis within four days. And once he did, the first step to Alaster’s revenge would finally begin. Observation. Fenrir, despite his intimidating presence and nearly overwhelming power, was tasked with learning everything he could about the city before Alaster arrived.

Alaster felt as if a splintered stake was being driven into his heart with each delay, but the City Lord of Galmore had done him a large favor for allowing a stranger so close to his inner circle. A city as isolated as Galmore was naturally quite wary of the outsiders. The City Lord had certainly faced severe opposition, but he had allowed Alaster to be there.

Not that anyone could have stopped him, but still. Being allowed entry allowed Alaster to live in Galmore without constantly being on guard.

In return, the City Lord had asked him to clear the bulk of the Monsters from Galmore towards Onigas. The builders would still have to clear out plenty of Monsters, but if they were quick enough, the density would be much less. Unfortunately, while Alaster had the power, especially with Lezrem’s aid, it would still take a while.

But once Alaster cleared the way for the road builders, he would go to Zolis, and nothing would stand in his way.