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.


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