Marquess Jay rides through the countryside, stopping to rest in villages and towns along the way. Days turn to weeks until he finally reaches the frontier town of Cantabury.
He stops in the town for the night with his escort of mage knights, before they take off toward one of three border forts only three days away from Cantabury.
...............….
Approaching a massive fortress city surrounded by a small clearing, followed by dense forest. They arrive at Fort Violet and are immediately let through the gates. Approaching toward the center to his Head Mage Knight Brynmor Rivera's keep.
After passing through the walled layers of the city from farmland, to residential areas filled with markets, then finally Military and government, they reach Head Knight Rivera's Keep in the center of the fortress city.
After dismount and heading inside a caucasian older male human with white hair and a scar over his permanently closed left eye, walks up to greet them.
His black heavy plate mail armor with a crest of a white crescent moon on a shield, walks up to Jay his arms open, coming in for a bear hug.
"Haha, Jay my friend, it's good to see you, come to greet an old friend?"
Jay and the older man hug then part cheerful smiles on their faces, like seeing a family member for the first time in years.
Marquess Jay Night, "Haha, Brynmor you never change, it's good to see you."
Head Mage Knight Brynmor Rivera, "Haha, I should say the same to you, my friend.
You can't even cultivate mana yet you look not a day older than when we first met outside the capital.
I would think the stress of running a fief would have given you gray hair by now."
Marquess Jay Night, "Nah you know of my condition, ten years is nothing."
Head Mage Knight Brynmor Rivera, "Hauhh… That I do, that I do.
To this day I still question myself for believing you, but that belief is confirmed whenever I see how magic doesn't affect you in the slightest.
So what brings you here, I know you didn't take time off from governing the Night Region just to travel weeks on end so you could see me?
Was it the reports of crazed monsters."
Marquess Jay, "Yes. I need you to send messengers to forts Nova and Luna, they are to organize 2/3rds of their men for a culling expedition into the miasma, same goes for here, we leave in a week.
That should be enough time for the messenger to send word and for them to organize my forces."
Head Knight Brynmor, "Very well."
Brynmor waved over a page then wrote down on a scroll and told him to take it to Captain Denvor Reyes. He old the page to tell Captain Denvor Reyes to send three mage knights each to Fort Luna and Fort Nova with the message.
...............….
Jay, Brynmor and thousands of mage knights with hundreds of mages from all three northern border forts of the Night Region, marched forward like a wave moving up a beach. The Entire Northern Border of the Night Region blockaded by the mage knights and mages of the northern border forts, as they marched into the miasma field.
Marching through the miasma field they all wear anti miasma amulet's that helped disperse miasma that touches them so it doesn't infect them. Marching together as a collective force they easily killed most monsters, crazed or not.
Suddenly a roar is heard and a giant purple ogre with miasma crystals jutting out of its eye and over its face, comes barreling at them its one good eye gone black with black veins all over its deformed body, and its lopsided mouth spilling over with foam.
The Crazed Ogre roared as it rushed at the mage knights and mages, then Jay holding his double-edged war ax from the Overseers, he named Breaker of Storms, steps in between his troops and the crazed ogre.
Jay rushes forward and meets the crazed ogre head on bringing Breaker of Storms down into the crazed ogre's skull right between the eyes, a crater forming on the ground from the impact.
Mage Knights and mages coughing from the dust cloud opened their eyes to see Marquess Jay with his left foot on the head of the dead Ogre pulling his ax from its head brains and other strange fluids pouring forth from the new opening created in the Ogres head.
A few men wretched and vomited but most had seen bloodshed before.
Marquess Jay walks back to the front of the line wiping his ax with a cloth then putting it back on his belt before shouting, "Keep marching!!"
Meanwhile, a horned shadow of a woman watches from the distant treetops, before spreading her wings and flying off into the distance.