Rise of the 13th Zodiac

Two years later…

At an army encampment near the borders of Leo Empire and Taurus Empire, a large group of soldiers clad in armor were lined up for an assembly.

Not long after, a large man in a military attire walked onto the wide podium. Following closely behind him was a boy who looked no older than fifteen.

The sight of this boy with golden hair attracted the attention of the eighty or so soldiers. They wondered why their commander had brought such a young man onto the stage.

"Good morning, soldiers. I hope you're all doing well," the commander opened his speech.

"In regards to the vacancy of your centuria1's leadership due to the unfortunate passing of the late Centurio2 Byron, the capital has decided to send one of their young elites to fill the vacancy. Meet your new leader, Centurio Lev Awlin."

Following this, Lev stepped forward and greeted his new subordinates.

"I am Centurio Lev Awlin. Nice to meet you. I hope we get along."

Usually, the introduction of a new centurio would be greeted with a huge cheer. Yet at this moment, not a single sound could be heard as the soldiers were too stunned to respond properly. Most of them were asking to themselves how a kid who hadn't even passed puberty yet could be given this position.

Seeing this peculiar response, the commander inwardly sighed. He too had a similar reaction last night when he first met the lad. Only after the young man revealed his background did the commander accept his assignment.

Realizing that the camp would be in chaos if he just let things be, the commander continued, "Seeing the lack of enthusiasm from you all, let me be frank and say that Centurio Awlin is definitely qualified to lead in spite of his young age. Perhaps he lacks the experience, but I daresay that his individual prowess more than makes up for it."

Yet, even after hearing the commander's statement, the soldiers remained dubious. If not for the harsh disciplinary actions they would incur, the soldiers would have rioted by now.

Seeing as his words were ineffective, the commander sighed once more and turned to Lev.

"I'm sorry, Centurio, but if you may…"

"It's fine, Commander. A picture's worth a thousand words after all."

Lev then came a few steps forward and released his golden aura. He then raised his right hand and summoned the ever-imposing Holy Axe.

All the soldiers' eyes bulged as they witnessed this spectacle. They had finally realized that the young man was a holy knight, and holy knights were superhumans who mostly fought with their own cohors1 or carry out the Lord's commandments across the empire. Even the occasional strays wouldn't be assigned to a lowly centuria. How could they be so foolish to refuse such an advantage?

"I am Lev Awlin, the harbinger of golden light! By Our Lord's will, I have come to the frontlines to fulfill my sacred oath! Object this and I will cut you down mercilessly! Aid me and you will witness how I carve out a bloody path to glory!"

Lev fiercely gazed at the countless soldiers who were looking at him in daze.

"What say you!?"

Silence ensued. Then all of a sudden a thunderous cheer erupted, shaking the entire camp. The soldiers shouted in joy as they welcomed their new centurio.

If one looked closely, they would notice that many soldiers were in tears. Most of them had resigned themselves to an early death upon their deployment to the frontlines, but now their hopes of surviving this war were reignited due to Lev's arrival.

Lowering his axe, Lev quietly watched the troops' euphoria. He had expected to walk this long and arduous road alone, but due to his sudden assignment, he was now forced to lead this happy bunch.

Sighing inwardly, Lev thought to himself that perhaps a bit of camaraderie would make the whole ordeal easier.

"So be it."

***

Four years later…

A group of injured soldiers were limping through the trees. They all looked battered and bruised, and some were still bleeding.

One guy looked like he had broken a leg and was being held by two others.

"Just leave me here…" the guy with the broken leg said.

"Didn't I tell you to shut up, Tim?" said the man who was propping Tim's left side.

"But Garreth, they'll catch up—"

"Think about little Jimmy! Don't you wanna see him grow up!?"

Garreth's words silenced Tim. He had a small child back home, which was the main reason he had given his all to survive up until now. But he just couldn't risk his comrades' lives only for him to have a miniscule chance of returning home safely. Yet, his friends kept insisting on bringing him along, which led to his current predicament.

"Ssshhh! Cows 1incoming," the man leading the group said.

The group quickly huddled down by the nearby shrubbery.

Soon after, sounds of incoming footsteps were heard.

The injured soldiers closed their mouths tightly. As the sounds of footsteps grew louder, the soldier's expression became even more fearful.

The wait felt like hours for the hiding soldiers. Eventually, the footsteps grew quieter until the soldiers could barely hear them anymore.

"Should I check?" asked a soldier to the man who had ordered them to hide.

The man, who was their leader, nodded. The soldier then slowly stood up, peeking his head out of the shrub.

However, a crushing sound was suddenly heard, and the peeking soldier's body fell backward onto the ground with a thud. A mace was buried in his face.

"I told you the pussies 1were hiding nearby!" a voice shouted.

"Run!" the leading man ordered upon realizing their precarious situation.

The injured soldiers immediately scattered, leaving behind Tim who couldn't stand up by himself.

Dozens of soldiers wearing bronze colored armor suddenly appeared from the sides, chasing after the fleeing soldiers.

Tim sat there in resignation as he watched his comrades flee. His face was drained of color, for he knew that this was the end for him.

"A straggler?" a voice said, following which a man walked toward Tim. His armor looked a bit more dashing than the others, and he sported a horned helmet that was shaped like a bull. On his waist was a row of small maces hooked onto a leather belt.

"You're the one who killed Ken?" Tim asked. He didn't know why he was even striking a conversation with the enemy. Perhaps the thoughts of his death was making him lose his mind.

"Hm? Oh, that guy?" the man asked as he gestured toward the nearby body of the man whose faced was impaled by a mace.

"Yep. I did it. Why? Care to experience it yourself?" the man teased as he unhooked a mace from his belt. He then twirled it around threateningly, seemingly enjoying the look on Tim's face.

"Just kill me, cow bastard!" Tim shouted in rage, refusing to indulge in the man's cruel teasing. If he had to die, he at least wanted an honorable end instead of being degraded as a cow's plaything.

"Huh? Didn't think you'd be this lively. What a shame," the man remarked with a sigh. He then nonchalantly flung his mace toward Tim's head.

Looking at the flying mace, Tim's whole life flashed before him. When his son's smiling chubby face appeared in his mind, Tim couldn't help but feel regretful.

'I hope you grow healthy, little Jimmy…'

However, as the mace was inches away from bashing Tim's face in, a golden streak suddenly struck it down.

"Who is it!?" the mace man shouted as he released a bronze aura and brandished his maces, one on each hand.

A young man on a big white horse emerged from the trees. The man wore a set of golden armor and a lion helmet complete with a mane. His frame was imposing, and a quiver full of arrows was hanging from his left hip.

"Another pussy, eh? You wanna go at it—"

Before the mace man finished his words, another golden streak flew at him. He quickly parried it with his mace, diverting the golden streak into the ground. The golden streak quickly vanished, revealing an arrow that had pierced the ground.

The lion man then pulled out several more arrows before launching them in succession toward the mace man.

The mace man successfully parried the hail of arrows, albeit with difficulty. Panting, he turned to the lion man with a conceited look.

"That's all you got!? Heh! Just a pussy with a bag of tricks…"

The lion man looked silently at the mace man. He then raised his hand. Out of nowhere, a golden greataxe appeared in his hand.

Lev smirked a little as he looked at the baffled face of the mace man. Then he flung the Holy Axe, which spun rapidly in a golden aura, speeding toward the mace man.

"What in the name—"

With a grinding sound, the Holy Axe shred the mace man's torso into pieces. His upper body dropped to the ground; the look of bafflement was etched on his lifeless face.

Tim watched in daze as the gigantic axe which was currently stuck on the ground disappear. He then turned toward Lev who was approaching him on his gallant horse.

"Sorry for being late. The first cohors of Legio 1Fortis2 had just arrived this morning, so we had to deal with the lack of rest and readiness first."

"Legio Fortis?! Finally, reinforcement!" Tim shouted as he burst out crying. His legio had barely been able to hold the front and was now in tatters.

"Rest, soldier. My men will pick you up later," Lev said as his horse turned around. It soon galloped away, leaving the weeping Tim alone by the shrub.

Not long after, Tim's comrades returned, accompanied by a group of soldiers clad in Leo Empire's armor.

"Tim! You're alive!"

"Garreth!"

Tearing up, Garreth rushed over and hugged his friend tightly.

"I'm sorry for leaving you behind!" Garreth wailed. During his escape, he was filled with guilt for abandoning his close friend.

"It's not your fault. You guys didn't have time to think, and I would've made you killed anyway."

"But how did you survive, Tim? I thought the cows had gotten to you first?" Garreth asked as he looked at Tim from head to feet.

"I was saved by a soldier. I don't know what rank he had, but he was a very powerful holy knight! Even a holy cow didn't stand a chance at all! The knight summoned a huge greataxe and shredded the holy cow to bits!" Tim excitedly explained as he gestured toward the mace man's corpse nearby.

"A holy cow ended like this?" Garreth exclaimed as he looked at the dismembered body.

"You must've met our leader," a soldier suddenly chimed in.

"Your leader?" Tim asked.

"Yeah. Centurio Primus Pilus1 Lev Awlin. He's the only holy knight with a greataxe in our cohors."

"He's a primus pilus?!" Tim yelped in shock. He didn't expect such a young man to be the highest centurio of the first cohors.

"I've heard of him," the injured soldiers' leader said from the side. "He became the youngest centurio at the age of fourteen. And just in three years, he had become the youngest primus pilus in the empire's history."

"What a guy!" Garreth remarked as he shook his head in disbelief.

"Now that he's here, the battle at Balkum Front will be settled in no time," the leader added.

"How do you know that?" Tim asked curiously. Their legio had been struggling to expand their borders for years, and recently the resistance from Taurus Empire's side was getting stronger, costing them a lot of soldiers.

"During his meteoric rise, Centurio Awlin was so pivotal and brutal in all of the battles he participated in. At the Nocheria Front where he was first assigned to, just the mention of his moniker could often lead to a whole army's desertion. That's how potent Centurio Awlin was. I imagine it will be the same here."

Hearing their leader's words, Tim and Garreth gulped nervously. They wondered what the guy had done to make his opponents cower in fear even before fighting.

Meanwhile, the nearby eavesdropping soldiers from the first cohors were puffing their chests proudly.

"And what was his moniker that was so feared?" Garreth asked their leader.

"Well, they say that he introduced himself as Harbinger of Golden Light during his first appointment as centurio. I don't know if this was true, but the moniker that terrorized the cow armies was a bit different, for he was known as…"

The leader then paused briefly, picturing the sight of the wretched cow army fleeing in horror as he announced the man's moniker to the whole battlefront.

"…the Harbinger of Blood."

Upon hearing the this, Tim and Garreth couldn't help but glance at the mace man's mangled body, imagining the same sight on the battlefield but multiplied by thousands.

They then looked at each other and nodded, silently acknowledging the fitting moniker, for they too would rather desert the army than confront this monster.

***