Seeing Tempest's state, the bear lord unleashed a loud roar and leaped, swiping its claws downward.

Tempest flew back, evading the slash. He saw Mountain fighting several bears and protecting his prince with a shield dome.

Lightning crackled within his eyes as he instinctively dodged the bear lord's attack, taking two steps as he went below its arm before swinging his Greatsword at it.

The sword opened a cut that made the bear lord rage. It barreled into him, slamming him into a tree, only to see Tempest's wings spread out like a flower as they folded inward, wrapping around each of the bear lord's limbs and lifting it up.

The bear lord struggled. Each pull could move a stationary Tipper truck several meters, yet Tempest's wings held on as the Chief Knight, grunting heavily, lifted up his Double-Bladed Greatsword, aiming the tip at the bear lord.

Previously, it was able to resist his sword's rune ability, but now that it was focused on freeing itself, an action that made him feel like his shoulder blades were about to be ripped off, Tempest activated the Pull rune.

The bear lord lurched forward, and the sword, crackling fiercely with golden lightning, went all through its chest and came out its back.

As the bear lord's eyes widened and its struggle weakened, Tempest pulled out the blade and sliced off its head.

He stabbed his sword into the ground, releasing the limbs of the headless corpse, and held his dangling arm.

Tindra couldn't believe her eyes as she watched the big one make sure the remaining bears that survived his hammer were crushed once more, while the other with the wings picked up the head of the bear lord and approached Godfrey.

He dropped it and went on one knee.

Godfrey smiled. "You did good, Tempest."

The moment he placed his palm on Tempest's shoulder to commend him, one of Tempest's pauldrons transformed into the head of the bear lord.

Godfrey raised an eyebrow, but golden lightning fell from the sky, forming the bear lord in his lightning form. Other lightning struck the corpses Mountain killed, forming lightning bears.

Over two dozen of them stood behind Tempest, with the bear lord as their captain and Tempest, still on his knee, as their chief.

Isolde's eyes narrowed. Tindra was astounded, while Godfrey's irises shrank as they reflected this bright army of light and lightning behind Tempest.

He knew what this was. A powerful Ascendant skill. It was Tempest adapting beyond the normal. Advanced skills had to do with adapting a step beyond the basics, but Ascendant most times changed what was once known. It was like stepping into a new territory.

Like Mountain had long adapted from what he used to be, now Tempest had taken that step. He had seen the advantage of a unit, wanted it, and drove himself into harnessing it through trapping souls through lightning and metal.

The newfound strength coursing through him right now meant Tempest was now a King Tier. An 11.9 King Tier!

Tempest rose to his feet, and his bear lightning unit dispersed, with the bear lord being absorbed into the golden bear pauldron.

"I guess we're done here," Godfrey said with a smile. It was exciting to see his knights get stronger.

Too bad he couldn't bring Ballista here.

"It will take us days to get there on foot, and it will also be quite exhausting," Tindra said after recovering from her shock. Inwardly, she wished her town had such a knight. They looked like the kind of warriors that could fend off their enemy.

"I don't think there's a need to worry about that," Godfrey said, and at his command, Tempest summoned two bears and made their terrifying golden lightning bodies turn white.

It was still lightning, but this lightning was harmless.

"Wow…" Isolde couldn't hold back as she touched one of the bears' bodies. It reacted like a real bear, turning to look at her. She caressed its neck before mounting it.

She gasped softly while Tindra clutched her bear tight. How could these things that looked so intimidating in their golden lightning forms be so loving in their white lightning form?

She could almost wish this bear would be her mount forever.

Godfrey used Echo to manifest Lament's warhorse, which he mounted and held the reins. "That settles our foot problem. Let's go."

As they rode through the forest, Godfrey went to his soul space. Tempest's tablet read:

Summon: Knight Commander of the Golden Order.

Type: Hybrid

Tier: 11.9

Potential: 13.0

Description: [A Golden Order Knight Commander, master of golden lightning through his fusion with the Chimeric Lightning Phoenix. Can manifest a unit of lightning creatures, provided the medium remains on his pauldron. In Black-Out State, the Chief Knight gains the wings of the chimeric Phoenix and a boost in his strength.]

'With this skill, Tempest also has his own troop. They might not be much, but they're not to be taken lightly.'

Just then, he heard his name and exited the soul space. He heard Isolde and Tindra speaking, but they were currently looking at him.

"What?"

"Tindra called you a baby," Isolde said.

"What?!" Godfrey became more confused.

"Your age mates are babies that still suck," Tindra said, and Godfrey blinked multiple times before realizing the difference in age between both races.

Tindra might look like a beautiful teenage girl in her late teens, but she was at least a hundred years old.

***

Two days later, as Godfrey, Isolde, and Tindra moved through the forest, elf soldiers in green armor and intricate silver swords appeared some distance away. A few of them were on treetops with arrows.

One of them, a handsome elf man with gray hair that fell to his shoulder blades, a lean yet muscular physique, and an arming sword strapped to his waist, stood before this small scouting unit.

Godfrey knew these elves had exposed themselves because they had seen Tindra with him and Isolde, and she wasn't looking like a captive.

"Captain Evander!" Tindra said with excitement. Evander smiled warmly but had a cautious look as he stared at the two humans accompanying her.

He was over seven hundred years old; of course, he knew about humans.

"Tindra. Who are these? Where are your escorts?"

Tindra bit her lower lip. "They're dead. These people saved me. I would like for them to see my father."

"The Snow Elves have claimed another village," Evander sighed grimly before turning. With a whistle, a reindeer came running toward him.

"Once we get to the village, I'm afraid your mounts will not be allowed entrance," he said, facing Godfrey and Isolde.

"We understand," Isolde replied.

"No problem," Godfrey said at the same time.

Whatever they said sounded like gibberish to Evander, who squinted. For some reason, he felt these humans understood him.

The journey was brief, and they arrived at the village. It was a vast landscape with trees and cozy wooden houses. Most of them were round, nothing like the square shape back on Earth, with round windows.

While walking through the village, Godfrey and Isolde were a spectacle to the elves. Seeing these graceful creatures stare at them with curious and slightly dumbfounded faces was something Godfrey would never forget.

They eventually arrived at the town head's home. It was built on a large tree, and they had to climb the spiral staircase and enter the place.

Godfrey and Isolde stood in a small hall with elf soldiers on the left and right sides. The man on the throne was a handsome man in his late thirties.

Tindra hurriedly went to his side and whispered into his ear, then gave him a Multilingual candy.

"You saved my daughter, and you want to know where the Snow Elves are? May I know why?" Lysander asked calmly.

"To kill them," Godfrey replied.

"We just want to clear the dungeon. That's all," Isolde said.

"If that's what you want, I shall do my utmost to get you there, but it's best you rest for today. I'll use this time to search for the map," Lysander said and told Tindra to lead Godfrey and Isolde to a place.

"Do you want to send them to their deaths?" Evander asked Lysander.

"We'll move our forces with them. This would be a good chance to strike at the Snow Elves."

"We have just a hundred soldiers left! Twenty of our best we sent out with Tindra have been slaughtered, and our neighbouring ally has also been burned down. How are we supposed to fight them with just a hundred?" Evander asked with a frown.

"These people are summoners, Evander. The girl can summon a dragon, and the boy two armoured beings. According to them, one of them has a small army," Lysander replied.

"What?!" Evander gasped.

"At our darkest hour, help has finally come," Lysander smiled.

***

Time trickled by, and nightfall came. Evander stood in the woods with his men, watching. Suddenly, he heard sounds, forcing him and the others with him to turn.

It was their archers falling. They had been shot by arrows!

Seeing this, Evander's eyes widened, and he drew his sword.

"Get to the village! Now—!"

A ranger elf with loose braids that rested on her chest appeared from a portal and stabbed a dagger through Evander's throat.

Evander's eyes barely widened.

"Argh!" A wood elf screamed, swinging his sword at her. She ducked, sliced his thighs, and stabbed the dagger into his chest.

She pulled it out and plunged it into his throat. Then she pulled out her bow, nocked three arrows, and fired them at three others who tried to escape.

The arrows pierced through their chests, and ice sprouted, turning them into ice sculptures. Arrows flew, killing the wood elves, and some appeared from dark portals like assassins, killing unsuspecting wood elf soldiers.

The ranger captain turned away from the chaos to the man on a giant eagle in the distance. She could only see his silhouette from afar.

The Elf Commander came down and walked up to her after all the scouting party had been slain.

"Go into the village. I don't want ice, burn this town to the ground. Bring me Lysander and his daughter. Of course, the humans too."

The female ranger captain nodded and moved with the others. Leaning forward, the Snow Elves flew into the town.

A snow elf drew her arrow, aiming at a child and her mother through their open window. They were several hundred feet away, and she was still in the forest.

Her comrades had silently taken care of the guards.

In that moment, she released the arrow.

...

A/N: This is the last chapter for the year 2025. Happy New Year in advance. Or if you're already there, Happy New Year to you.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.