BXBX NOVEL Chapter 23 Light The Paper!
The day was sunny and fresh, the soil was still wet due to the rain and the chilly air was getting warmer from the blazing sunlight; birds were chirping as they flew across the sky basking in the warmth of the sun.
"Such a peaceful day." A soldier who was patrolling the city walls with a few of his other pals wearing standard steel armor and spear in hand said.
"No shit! Why do we even gotta be swingin' all over the wall anyways? Not like anything's gonna happen." Another soldier said in an easygoing manner scratching his nose lazily.
"Idiot! Don't be dilly-dallying now. This is how cities fall, you know that right?" A fierce-looking commanding officer spat out as he punched the soldier's head.
"Ouch! Captain... Don't sneak up on us like that! And I was kidding anyways," He said rubbing his head vigorously.
"Good! You better not be serious about that—things ain't as safe as we think around here." The captain said with a concerned look on his face.
"What do you-" The first soldier asked but was interrupted in mid-sentence by a scout who was observing the parameters with large binoculars.
"Hey... Boss! What's that?" He said while looking into the distance from the binocular-like tool with narrowed eyes.
"What is it?" The captain got closer to the scout and asked.
"Fuck! Something's coming! It's fast!" The scout's eyes widened and she exclaimed loudly.
"Gimme that here!" The captain forcefully snatched the tool from the scout and looked in the same direction that the scout was looking as he closed his left eye and narrowed the right one.
"A... Bird? No... Much larger... Ah! It's a beast! Quick, sound the alarm and ready the Vajra-shul!"
Everyone got into action quickly, one sounded the bells alerting everyone on the wall. Others began preparing a mechanism that was similar to a crossbow but a lot larger. It looked to be metallic and quite sturdy.
The thing also had ancient-looking runic inscriptions all over its body, It also had a strange slot at its backside similar to one in a cannon but a lot narrower and without much depth.
The mechanism also had a very large, sharp, and glistening spear-like weapon installed at its nose ready to fire at any airel targets.
The captain looked at the fast-approaching flying beast once again and noticed something peculiar, "What? My God! It's a Three-Tailed Falcon!... And someone is riding it..."
This immediately sparked anxious whispers and discussions—mainly because everyone had initially thought that a roaming winged beast had somehow lost its way.
A Three-Tailed Falcon was a very rare, not to mention expensive beast in the first place. And someone had tamed such a creature and was casually approaching the City of Gilmour.
The captain stepped forward and took a deep long breath. He then yelled at the top of his lungs. His voice strangely became very loud, "HALT! FLYING ABOVE ANY CITY IS PROHIBITED BY LAW! TURN BACK OR DIE!
A silence ensued as no response came from the other side, the Three-Tailed Falcon was now only a few kilometers away from the city walls.
The Captain was stunned as his eyebrows twitched. He did not hesitate any longer and raised his arm and pointed toward West from where the Falcon was approaching.
"Fire!" He commanded.
A medium-sized yellow-colored stone was then placed in the slot of the so-called 'Vajra-Shul'.
Suddenly the stone completely disintegrated in less than a few seconds into nothingness and the strange runic patterns on the mechanism shone yellow along with the sound of vibrations.
Whoever was coming had almost reached the city now and the majestic large Falcon was clearly visible to everyone.
The Vajra-shul which was manually adjusted pointing at the approaching falcon was trembling with energy and force.
The captain pulled Vajra-Shul's string with great force as everyone else watched in a vigilant state with their spears ready. The hundreds of bowmen on the city walls were also prepared to fire at a moment's notice.
The sound of cutting wind from the approaching Falcon and the sound of stretching rubber from the Vajra-Shul Intensified.
The Captain aimed and finally let go of the far-stretched, wide-ass, and rubber-like string.
The spear-like weapon called 'Shul' shot out not any slower than the thunderbolt Albaer had faced off against— but it wasn't as powerful as the thunderbolt either.
Albaer did not even flinch in the face of such terrifying momentum. It wasn't easy to dodge the Shul when Hooch was flying with such speed and not to mention that he wasn't faring any well either. Albaer decided to face off once again.
"Elemental - Ice, Spear of The White Mystic!" Albaer said and all of a sudden—a large spear of Ice came into existence out of nowhere and shot straight into the 'Shul'.
On contact, an impossible phenomenon took place in a mere fraction of a second. The 'Shul' immediately became Ice when it crashed into Albaer's Ice spear; it lost all its momentum and force and then crumbled into pieces.
Albaer's Ice Spear however was unmoved and continued on its trajectory—but before it could crash into the city walls, it completely evaporated.
Albaer quickly made his move not giving any opportunity to realize what had happened.
"Elemental - Ice, Manipulation," Albaer said and stroked Hooch's back. Hooch understood the signal and slowed down.
The soldiers and officers on the wall were stunned by the earlier exhibition of power and before they could properly think; an insignia made of frigid icy wind suddenly manifested in the sky.
"This- This is..." The captain stuttered as he saw the insignia that even the children of Atrana Kingdom were aware of.
At this moment, Albaer finally reached the city wall. Hooch flew at a lower altitude just above everyone's heads. This scene was very thrilling for many soldiers and quite intimidating as well. They would surely tell the story of that particular day for ages to come.
"D-Duke..." The soldiers mumbled.
Some of the hyperactive ones still weren't sure due to all the adrenaline rush and were about to strike, this included the Archers.
"Stop! Halt! Do not shoot!" The captain yelled frantically fearing that the Asura above him would release his wrath.
Albaer looked down without many expressions on his face and said, "Light The Paper! Let your Lord know that I'm coming to visit shortly."
The captain nodded absentmindedly thinking if he was dreaming or not. Albaer did not waste more time and flew across the sky on Hooch's back once again.
Albaer had finally reached his destination and it was just a matter of time now before he met the 'Lord'
The captain of The City Watch woke up from his daze after a few moments passed. He sighed deeply and yelled, "Light The Paper! Light The Paper!"