Irine spent the whole night examining the corpse of the monster she had encountered in the Sky Mountains. She had called some scholars and doctors for an autopsy and consultation, but no conclusion was reached.
An elderly scholar, reputed to be the most distinguished in Nadium, had been poring over books all night and finally shook his head, saying,
“Among the creatures living in the Sky Mountains, it’s hard to assert that we know of all of them, but at least this creature seems to be a new species we’ve never encountered before. Maybe the library in Lutia might know, but we don’t have any similar creature in our records.”
Exhausted, Irine slumped into a chair, leaning her head against the wall.
“But I encountered these creatures not deep in the Sky Mountains, but rather close by. If such a ferocious animal existed, it would have attacked the mountain villages hundreds of times by now, don’t you think?”
“It’s possible. Animals living near the Sky Mountains do occasionally come down to hunt livestock. But none of them are large predators that would attack humans.”
“So, doesn’t that strike you as odd?”
Irine grumbled, and the scholar just shook his head.
After washing her hands and stepping outside, she saw the dawn light. It was still before sunrise when a diligent maid hurried over with a plate of sandwiches.
“Good morning, Irine. Have you had breakfast?”
“Not yet. Thank you.”
Irine bit into a sandwich immediately upon receiving it.
“No need to thank me, it’s my duty. But Master Quain is looking for you.”
“So early? What does he want?”
“What else? The emergency from yesterday has erupted today.”
Irine looked at the maid with a dazed expression.
“How can you speak so casually of such a huge incident?”
“Do I seem casual? I’m terrified right now. Anyway, go see Master Quain. He’s already heading towards the gate. It’s not dangerous, is it?”
“Keep your ears open for the sound of trumpets. You might need to evacuate.”
Irine waved her hand and hurried out of the castle.
‘He went to the gate? What about Her Majesty’s security?’
Despite the dangerous situation, the atmosphere in Nadium was calm. But Irine hurried down the stairs as if she was in a war. The Vena Esarck at her waist was particularly cumbersome today.
From its elevated position, Nadium overlooked the plains beyond the White Gate. The sun was rising in the east, and a line of Black Knights was arrayed, facing this way. They could reach here in just ten minutes if they wanted.
Descending the long staircase that ran through Nadium, Quain was walking down. Irine caught up with him.
“Were you looking for me?”
Irine asked breathlessly.
In a calm voice, Quain asked,
“So, how did the research go last night?”
“No results.”
Thinking she might soon have to move vigorously, Irine had no choice but to throw away her sandwich.
‘I feel sorry for that girl.’
“So, they’ve attacked after all. What’s the current response?”
Irine asked.
“The entire Wolf Knights are on battle ready status.”
“Who’s in command? Sheyden? You?”
“Franz.”
“The guy Jaymer was about to fight the day before yesterday?”
“They say it was a draw.”
“Jaymer? That’s unexpected. I thought he would lose.”
“Weren’t you planning the fight thinking he would win?”
“I didn’t think he would win right away. I thought after losing about ten times, he would gain some insight. Teaching and development come after that. For someone like him, who’s a hunter by nature and for whom even a single defeat could lead to death, experiencing loss isn’t a bad thing. Especially if the opponent is someone like Franz.”
Instead of heading towards the White Gate, Quain climbed up to the watchtower of the wall that wrapped around Nadium. The plains in front were fully visible. As they were almost arriving, the Black Knights charged towards their position with a speed impossible for living horses.
Despite being aware of it, Irine checked if her sword was properly strapped. Then, she was startled to realize she was still dressed in her nightgown.
“This is bad. I should have at least worn armor.”
“Calm down. If the Wolf Knights fall, us joining the fray won’t change the outcome.”
“Why are you and the maids so calm?”
“You speak as if you’ve never lived here.”
Quain looked on with his hands clasped behind his back. The Black Knights were charging with a momentum that seemed capable of obliterating the White Gate in an instant. Even from a glance, it was apparent that their force was significantly more formidable than the Excelon Knights who had led the Gold Gate battle.
“Can our Wolves hold them off?”
Irine asked with a slightly elevated voice.
“At least they’re no less skilled than in our time. They’re well-trained. But…”
Quain chuckled. Irine was irritated by his composure.
“What’s so funny?”
Instead of answering, Quain showed his faintly trembling hand.
“Do I look calm to you? I’m always like this. Terrified. I can control my facial expressions well, but somehow, my hands just don’t follow.”
Lowering his hand, Quain continued,
“When you guys went to Lontamon to kill the Lord of the Undying, a sorcerer, I was left behind guarding the queen, following Master Grandol. Did you know someone tried to assassinate her then?”
“I know…”
“You can’t imagine how scared I was, left alone. That assassin was the most skilled person I’ve ever met. It wouldn’t have been surprising if all four of us were killed by that one person. That I could protect Her Majesty alone was perhaps just luck. Even now, as then, I’m still a coward. Keeping up this façade of calm is the least I can do to not burden those guys.”
Quain waved at Franz, who was mounted in front of the White Gate. Franz responded by clenching his fist in recognition.
“All we can do is hope Aranthia’s blessing protects those kids.”
Quain smiled wryly, dropping his clenched fist to his side.
Just then, a white light burst through the ranks of the Black Knights, rushing towards the Wolf Knights. It was Tanya, transformed into a silver wolf, with Kassel mounted on her.
“Where did that guy come from?”
Irine asked, but Quain had no answer.
Kassel swiftly reached the White Gate. He energetically explained something to Franz and the rest of the Wolf Knights. With the Black Knights charging, Kassel seemed to be holding back his own forces.
‘What is he talking about? Now’s not the time for discussions.’
Irine wanted to rush down, grab him by the scruff, and drag him back. Soon after, Kassel mounted the wolf again and charged towards the Black Knights.
In the brief moment, both Quain and Irine were speechless at the incomprehensible scene unfolding before them. The wolf and Kassel stopped about two hundred meters in front of the gate, raising his sword. Irine squinted her eyes.
“Is that…, a magic sword?”
“It seems so to me too. What is he planning to do with it?”
“Is that foolish guy thinking the magic sword holds immense power and is trying something like this?”
“He’s not that stupid or reckless. But this action, I can’t understand it.”
Irine chewed her lip.
“Is he obsessed with the old tales? Hearing rumors about you defeating the Excelon Knights with the light of the magic sword, and now he’s hoping for a similar miracle? Does he not know that the ‘miracle of light’ was ‘the blood shed by the Wolf Knights fighting the enemy’ and is doing this?”
“Maybe.”
It was a hard moment to watch. The Black Knights continued their charge towards Kassel, who didn’t back down. Irine unconsciously clenched her fangs. At that moment, a bright light, reaching all the way to the White Gate, unfolded.
Irine let out a startled yell. Quain too was shocked, his eyes wide open.
As the light faded, the miracle created by Kassel’s reckless act was revealed.
The Black Knights had stopped.
Irine dumbly stared at the scene before turning to Quain, who also had a stupid expression on his face, something a royal guard should never show.
“Why… Why did they stop?”
Irine asked what she thought was a foolish question.
‘It’s not because of the light. They had already started slowing down before reaching Kassel.’
Quain, too, was at a loss for words. He then suddenly looked down at the Wolf Knights at the gate. The Wolf Knights also seemed to have halted just as they were about to charge.
For a brief moment, everything was still.
Then, one of the Wolf Knights started charging towards the Black Knights. Upon closer inspection, it was someone not in white armor. Quain asked,
“Isn’t that your disciple?”
“Jaymer?”
Irine leaned over the railing to confirm it was Jaymer and then grabbed her head.
“Damn it, why are they all doing incomprehensible things?”
“Don’t think too hard.”
This time, unexpectedly, the Queen’s voice was heard from the side. Irine turned to see Sanadiel climbing the stairs, barefoot. Her hair was no longer blonde but brown, and she wore a shabby shirt with one top button missing, revealing half of her chest.
Irine was shocked again.
“Is that what you’re wearing, Your Majesty?”
“And you’re talking as if you’re dressed any better?”
Irine almost felt like crying at Sanadiel’s innocent gaze.
‘It must be how a father feels when his well-raised daughter wanders around in revealing clothes.’
Irine was annoyed by Sanadiel flaunting her figure, which could make any man a slave for life with just one glance, and also by her casual attitude towards her attractive appearance and physique.
Sanadiel leaned her elbows on the railing next to Irine. The soft curve of her back moved like a wave along her slender waistline. Resting her chin on her hand, she leaned forward and watched Jaymer running, saying,
“You two have grown old and rigid in your thinking. Imagine you were back in your prime, young and vigorous. Then you’d understand why they’re acting this way.”
“I don’t know. I don’t know, so please explain? Why did the Black Knights stop?”
Irine asked bluntly.
“From a military standpoint, it might not make sense, but from a human one, it does. Just now, Kassel was basically saying ‘Let’s talk,’ and they stopped because they were like, ‘Okay, let’s talk.'”
“A knight order can’t just stop for something like that.”
Irine’s complaint was met with a sudden change in Sanadiel’s tone.
“Don’t be so hasty with your words, Irine! Imagine if you were thought dead and then came back to life. And there, Captain Welch stands before you, challenging you to a rematch of a duel from ten years ago! Could you just ignore him and walk away? Even if you command tens of thousands of soldiers, you would stop for a moment to talk. You really don’t understand their hearts.”
Irine was left speechless.
“Listen. Understand how desperate Kassel is, how earnest Black’s heart is.”
Sanadiel spread her fingers one by one, stretching out her arms. When all her fingers were spread, Kassel’s voice echoed from a distance that would normally take a long ride to reach.
“…I said I would give you the strongest of the White Wolves, not Master Irine or Master Quain.”
At the next sound of Black’s voice, Irine unconsciously gripped her sword tightly.
‘Welch wants me!’
Quain remarked,
“Sometimes I wonder if Her Majesty isn’t a sorceress.”
“This is magic? All I can do is hear all sounds near Nadium and relay them indirectly.”
Sanadiel’s demeanor and speech varied with her attire. Now, she acted and spoke like a farmhand, the result of living for over a thousand years with numerous personalities growing within her.
“To ordinary people, that’s magic… But, well, it’s nothing.”
Quain simply passed it off with a laugh.
Irine, however, was more concerned about Jaymer than their conversation. Jaymer had suddenly challenged someone named Billy to a fight. Irine watched anxiously, clenching her fists.
“Did you say you found that boy by chance? On the way here?”
Quain asked.
“Yes, suddenly. I’d like to call it fate, but it’s just coincidence! Nothing more.”
Irine replied.
“By chance, you and Jaymer met, and by chance, Jaymer and a knight named Billy met, and by chance, Billy meets Welch, who was dead and came back to life…”
The Queen pointed out each person, distinguishable only by color at such a distance, as if they were right in front of her.
“We’re all coincidences, Irine. What if Lofin hadn’t gone to find you back then? Would you have come to me? And if your parents hadn’t met each other and you weren’t born…? It’s only because it happened that we can call it a coincidence. If it hadn’t happened, we couldn’t even name it a coincidence, because it wouldn’t have happened. We can only evaluate the past.”
As the sounds of swords clashing and shouts seemed to be right next to her, Irine felt a pang in her heart.
“That knight Billy… he’s incredibly fast.”
Quain was also observing the distant battle. Irine couldn’t see well, but she could sense Billy’s strength.
Sanadiel commented,
“Billy has a power no human should possess. He could have refused it but ultimately didn’t. What drove that boy to such extremes? After this fight, I must ask him.”
Irine crossed her arms and replied,
“Are you saying Jaymer is going to lose?”
Quain answered in her stead.
“Knight Billy, if he fully exerts his strength, no one among the Wolf Knights can match him.”
Irine spoke confidently.
“In that case, Jaymer too, if he exerts his full strength, no one can match him. Jaymer isn’t someone who ‘fights a match’.”
The two had only exchanged sword strikes less than five times. Billy’s fifth and final attack, aimed at Jaymer’s chest, was so fast and powerful it seemed impossible to block. Jaymer deflected it with the sword he held in one hand while twisting his body. Despite being a sword carefully crafted by Lergo, it shattered under Billy’s powerful thrust. However, this slowed Billy’s sword just enough to graze rather than pierce Jaymer’s chest.
It was an unexpected moment. Jaymer drew a sword from his back with his left hand and stabbed Billy in the chest. In terms of skill, strength, and speed, Billy surpassed Jaymer in every aspect. Yet, Jaymer knew better than anyone here how to kill an opponent. It was as natural to him as breathing.
Irine said,
“Your Majesty is right. He was just a chance encounter, but if he had been insignificant, I would have discarded him long ago. In that sense, he had been wandering all this time to be chosen by someone like me, and I had been shaking off other candidates to choose him. Your Majesty said Jaymer doesn’t belong to Aranthia, right? You’re correct. Jaymer belongs to me. He’s my disciple.”
Sanadiel nodded with a smile.
“Yes, that makes sense.”
Quain pointed at Billy and asked,
“Strange. It looks like he was stabbed in the heart, but how is he still alive?”
☆ ☆ ☆
Billy stood swaying, a sword still lodged in his chest. Jaymer looked at his hand in disbelief and said,
“Hey… are, are you alive?”
“The heart was missed.”
Billy pulled the sword out himself. Of course, no living person could say ‘The heart was missed’ with a sword plunged into their chest. He threw the drawn sword to the ground and spoke in a sound voice,
“Defeated in the same way again. I thought I was faster, but there seems to be an insurmountable wall between you and me.”
Billy spoke sadly and retreated, then shivered as he looked towards the eastern sky.
“Hey, Kassel. Is the sun up?”
Kassel, looking at the sun a hand’s breadth above the horizon in the east, replied matter-of-factly,
“As you can see.”
“I asked if it was up.”
He insisted on a further response.
“It’s up.”
“Okay.”
Billy dropped his head and clutched his chest, where no blood flowed. Then, he held out the magic sword of Lontamon, which had narrowly missed Jaymer’s chest, to Kassel.
“Did you say Suvel is still alive?”
Kassel didn’t take the sword, uncertain of what Billy wanted him to do with it, and replied,
“He’s alive.”
“Then tell him this. Just deliver the message, and he’ll know what it means.”
Kassel shook his head.
“You’re the captain of this knight order. A captain shouldn’t carelessly entrust a magic sword to an enemy. I’ll deliver your message if you have one.”
“That’s true.”
Billy re-sheathed the magic sword.
“Just tell him to send the magic sword of Lontamon back to Lontamon. That’s all you need to convey.”
“Alright.”
Kassel glanced at Billy, then turned to Jaymer,
“Jaymer, go back and tell Suvel what Billy said.”
“Hey, you think I’m your errand boy or what…”
“And tell Franz too. If things go south, do as they originally planned.”
Kassel, ignoring Jaymer’s displeased expression, spoke in a commanding tone.
“Your fight is over, Jaymer. From here on, it’s my fight.”
Black slowly urged his horse forward. Kassel merely lifted his head and glared at Black. The situation seemed more perilous than a child standing unarmed before a wild beast. Yet, Kassel showed no sign of backing down.
Jaymer mounted his horse and returned to the White Gate.
‘I’m following orders, but I wonder if this is really okay.’
Jaymer couldn’t fathom Kassel’s intentions.
☆ ☆ ☆
Irine, with her hand on her sword Vena Esarck, clenched her mouth tightly and tensed her abdomen.
‘I have no choice. I want to throw away the title of ‘Master’ and jump into action right now.’
Her ability to restrain herself was perhaps a sign of her age.
“Do you think you stand a chance of winning if you go now?”
Quain seemed to read her mind and asked.
“Can’t know without trying. How much stronger Welch has become after coming back from the dead will determine a lot.”
“You’re not saying you can’t do it.”
“And what about you?”
“Well, it’s not our role to intervene now.”
“Leaving it to the active knights while we chase the shadows of the past?”
Quain responded with a faint smile.
Sanadiel, like a child, rested her chin on the railing, swinging her long legs and staring into the distance. Even though the point where Kassel stood was critical, where Nadium might fall if broken, she showed no sign of worry.
Sounds of commotion came from the White Gate. Jaymer was returning, and another knight was leaving the gate, charging towards the Black Knights. Jaymer and the knight exchanged glances but didn’t speak.
Kassel’s voice, relayed through Sanadiel, reached them.
“Black, if you win as promised, I will die by your sword here without a word. But if you lose, you must also return to death.”
Then Black’s voice followed.
“My task is not to return to death, but to meet Queen Sanadiel. But that’s not a loser’s thing to say.”
At first, the voice was unclear, but it gradually began to resemble Welch’s from ten years ago. It no longer sounded like the voice of a dead man.
☆ ☆ ☆
“If I win this fight, you know what I’ll do next, right, Kassel?”
Black asked.
“I suppose you’ll enter the White Gate with your men.”
“Did you know from the beginning?”
“No, I wasn’t sure until yesterday.”
Kassel spoke slowly, trying to buy time, but it seemed unnecessary. Black was patient enough.
“Only upon arriving here did I become certain. Black, the meaning you ascribed to this knight order’s advance. It’s about reenacting Excelon’s command from a decade ago. Probably the role of Excelon’s Knights is to lead over a hundred thousand main forces of Lontamon to the White Gate. And with that, the sinners who became Excelon’s Knights will have their crimes absolved.”
Black laughed loudly.
“I knew it the moment I recalled my memories at the Gold Gate. Perhaps I knew it from the first time I saw you. That the final enemy blocking the White Gate would not be the Wolf Knights, but you.”
Black raised his halberd, watching a knight moving from the White Gate towards Kassel. Kassel looked back at him and said,
“That’s all I have to say. As promised, I will send forth the strongest knight among the White Wolves. Sheyden Wolf.”
Sheyden slowly halted his horse. It was the same horse that he had borrowed from the Red Gate and had not rested since helping Kassel.
“I’m late, Kassel. The spear Lergo was to make for me was only completed this morning.”
Sheyden said, setting his spear, while Black lifted his heavy halberd as if raising the heavens and earth.
“I didn’t think he would be my opponent. Or did you have no choice but to be send him in someone’s place? I can wait if you want. Send out Irine. Quain would be fine too.”
Black raised his halberd with both hands without even holding the reins. Sheyden also controlled his horse with his legs, holding the spear in both hands.
“Captain Welch.”
“Speak, Sheyden Wolf,” Black said.
“Being resurrected doesn’t make you an exception.”
“What do you mean?”
Black’s helmet slightly shook.
“Did you promise to fight a White Wolf? Betting each other’s lives? Then let me say what Kassel would have said. Only a White Wolf can survive after seeing the fangs of a White Wolf.”
Sheyden stood up slowly with a stoic face.
“And I am now Kassel’s fangs.”
Sheyden’s spear shot out like a flash of lightning, and Black deflected it with his halberd. At that moment, Black’s armored and heavy body staggered and was pushed back. If the horse hadn’t automatically backed away, the battle could have ended with that next attack.
Sparks flew where Sheyden’s spear and Black’s halberd collided, scattering faintly shining light particles.
“I’m telling you this because this battle is so splendidly set up, and you might be off-guard: this spear is a bit special. Even you won’t recover if you get stabbed by it.”
Sheyden swung his spear again, and Black countered fiercely. The two heavy weapons locked in the air, immovable. Sheyden pushed with all his might, and during the struggle, Black burst into laughter.
“Thank you.”
His words were directed not at Sheyden but at Kassel.
“To think I criticized you for carelessly passing your burdens to your subordinates!”
Black swung his halberd in a large circle above his head and attacked Sheyden’s shoulders almost simultaneously. Sheyden barely blocked it. The vibration of the iron felt like it was shaking his bones.
“Will you show me a fight worth rising from death for, Sheyden? If you don’t show me skills greater than Irine or Quain, you will die here.”
“Being a ghost of the past, you only know how to talk about the past.”
Sheyden thrust his spear powerfully. The halberd was deflected, and his spear narrowly grazed Black’s helmet, leaving a scratch.
Sheyden raised his spear high and declared,
“Didn’t Kassel already say it? I am the strongest of the White Wolves.”
“Hey, Quain. It feels weird to ask this now…”
Irine started speaking. She was addressing Quain but didn’t turn to him, too focused on the battle. Unexpectedly, Sanadiel turned around with a curious, girlish expression. Irine continued,
“I was the last to do it, right? All the others had already taken disciples.”
“That’s right,” Quain replied nonchalantly.
“Disciples? What are you talking about?” Sanadiel asked.
Irine brought up a story she had never told anyone.
“Before we parted ways, we made a simple bet with each other. Let’s each create the best disciple. The one who raises the strongest and most impressive person wins… It was a bet made in jest, but now it has become serious.”
As Irine explained, Sanadiel nodded in understanding.
“So the last one was the one Irine brought. This Jaymer kid.”
“That’s right. I just asked Quain where the other friends’ disciples are.”
“I’m curious too. Who is Quain’s disciple? The five White Wolves?”
Sanadiel asked.
Quain smiled wryly and shook his head.
“If I put forward several, it wouldn’t really be a bet, would it? Among the five, only one is my disciple.”
Sanadiel, recalling memories, asked,
“The first one under you was Dunmel, right? His real name was Themar at the time?”
“That’s correct. He was the disciple of Karsten, who came to assassinate Your Majesty. Karsten entrusted Themar to me with his dying breath, and to this day, Themar still regards Karsten as his master in his heart. Dunmel is not my disciple.”
Even without Sanadiel’s magic, the sound of clashing weapons between the two fighters could be heard from this far. The dust raised by the two horses glinted in the morning sunlight like golden powder.
“Do you remember, Irine? Lofin was still gathering Wolves right before the war broke out. One was too young to be brought along then. Lofin liked to visit Carnelock occasionally, claiming he wanted to continue raising that kid. Actually, our bet started because of his constant bragging about his disciple.”
“I remember it well.”
“Because of Lofin’s doting-like bragging, his disciple, who indirectly received our disdain, came here by himself five years ago, during the test for the Wolves. At first, I didn’t realize it, but towards the end of the second test, I knew that she was Lofin’s disciple. Talent must be innate, but occasionally I could see Lofin’s teachings in him.”
Quain kept his eyes on the battle as he spoke.
“One flaw was that, having learned from a one-armed man, all her attacks were focused on one hand, often disrupting her balance. So, I had her hold a shield in the other hand to break that habit, and now she can use the shield almost like a sword. Her name is Azwin. Lofin’s disciple and the one who admires you the most among the White Wolves.”
Irine barely suppressed a smile at the memory of the letter she received at the Blue Gate. She couldn’t laugh during a battle that decided not only the lives of Welch and Sheyden but possibly the fate of Nadium and perhaps even the Queen. But Sanadiel laughed outright.
“Meeting Azwin will be interesting for you. You’ll feel like you’re standing in front of a mirror showing your image from 10 years ago, and for Azwin, you’ll be a mirror showing what lies beyond 10 years.”
“In that case, I’d rather not meet. So, Lumil’s disciple is also among the White Wolves?”
“Yes. That kid didn’t need a test. He just showed up one day with a letter from Lumil. Lumil didn’t teach him, and neither did I need to. He’s a genius who doesn’t need any teaching, just a vessel to accept his talent nonchalantly. That’s why Loyal can’t help but regard Lumil as his master. He was the first to accept him.”
“The Wolves have been buzzing about him.”
“The one who relentlessly pushed Loyal from the start was a mercenary named Gerald. He had no master. Born on the battlefield, he was nurtured in blood and learned everything in real combat. He had many rough habits, but as I corrected them one by one, I ran out of things to teach him. Was it lacking in teaching satisfaction? Both Loyal and Gerald…”
Irine faintly smiled, recalling the rumors about the two that had spread among the Wolves.
Sheyden continued his hard-fought battle against Black. It was a fight where neither side had a clear advantage.
Quain followed the flow of the battle with a gentle smile.
“Yes. Truly, the real disciple I’d put forward in our bet is Sheyden. I taught him personally, he uses the same swordsmanship and spearmanship as me. Occasionally, when I call him for a light spar, it feels like fighting a mirror. He is my unique disciple to present before you all.”
Irine, mimicking Sanadiel’s pose, watched the fight and muttered,
“Surely, he’s very skilled in combat on horseback. Welch is not good with horses. The horse moves on its own. But Sheyden seems to know how to steer the horse where he wants.”
Quain squinted and said,
“Why did Kassel put forward Sheyden? Just because he’s the only White Wolf in Nadium? I don’t have a high opinion of Kassel. Yet, I keep thinking that even if Kassel had to choose one from the seven, including the five White Wolves and us two, he would still choose Sheyden.”
Quain emphasized again, watching the end of the fight,
“Watch my disciple’s fight, Irine. Whether it’s Lofin or Lumil, they will have to acknowledge it. I’ve won our bet.”
☆ ☆ ☆
It was clear that Black had been aiming for this attack from the moment the fight started. Using his horse’s tremendous leg strength, enough to jump over walls, he pulled the halberd down with force, aiming it from above. He had been preparing for this move all along but was entangled in Sheyden’s attacks, unable to create an opportunity. However, when Sheyden hurried his major attack and wobbled slightly on his horse, Black attempted his final move.
No matter how well-made Lergo’s spear was, it would have broken if it took the attack head-on. Knowing this, Sheyden didn’t block it.
In an unstable posture, Sheyden thrust his spear towards Black’s helmet. Black’s halberd struck Sheyden’s shoulder and lodged into the horse’s hindquarters.
The horse bucked violently, and Sheyden fell off. But Black, struck on one side of his helmet, was also pushed back and fell from his horse. Sheyden immediately got up with his spear, and Black, too, rose from his fall without staggering.
There was a brief pause between them. Black prepared for defense. But the fight was already over. Sheyden’s spear had thrust forward in an unseen moment.
It was something nobody saw happening. Black, momentarily adjusting his posture with his halberd raised, and even Kassel, who thought the fight would drag on since they both fell from their horses, hadn’t seen what actually happened. It was during a moment when Black, and everyone else, was off guard.
It wasn’t just a quick thrust of the spear. In the momentary gap created as Sheyden fell, it was a trap that not only Black but everyone watching had fallen into. In that paused moment in time, only Sheyden had moved.
Sheyden’s spear had pierced Black’s abdomen.
Black swung his halberd a beat too late. Sheyden, with his bare hands, caught the halberd’s shaft and pulled out the spear, striking down on Black’s right shoulder. A flash of white light burst from the spear blade.
The iron armor that wrapped Black clanged dully as it fell, and the halberd, aimed at Sheyden’s side, lost its force and dropped to the ground.
Black couldn’t get up. From the severed part of his shoulder, black smoke poured out instead of blood.
“Did you know about my last attack?”
Black asked, head bowed. Sheyden clutched his wounded shoulder.
“I knew. I’m the secretary of the Irophis Knight Order; I knew about that technique, even that it was used to kill the captain of the Irophis Royal Knight Order.”
Sheyden shrugged his shoulder and continued,
“Can’t really bare my killer intent and fight against friends… I hoped for an enemy of your caliber if I had to fight. Isn’t it obvious? In my imagination, I always practiced countering that technique.”
Sheyden slowly turned and walked towards the horse that had fallen after being struck in the hindquarters by Black’s halberd. The horse was in pain, but when Sheyden stroked its head, it stopped writhing for a moment.
“You fought well.”
In that instant, a spear pierced Sheyden’s side.
The spear that went through Sheyden’s side exited through his stomach and stuck into the ground.
Sheyden, startled, grasped the blood-stained shaft of the spear, but it was already too late to do anything. He collapsed, impaled by the spear.
‘What’s happening? Was I careless? Where did that attack come from?’
Sheyden heard Kassel’s scream. Barely lifting his head, he looked around. His vision was already blurry.
The Black Knights were in disarray.
‘Is it because of Black’s defeat? No. They didn’t break formation even when I took down Black. It’s since I was speared. Even the horses are agitated. Something strange has happened.’
The direction the spear came from was the sky.
A magician in a gray robe hovered in the air.
“Your task here is finished.”
It was the same sinister voice that had attacked Sheyden in the barn, waiting for Kassel. Sheyden knew exactly who it was but couldn’t respond. He couldn’t stay conscious any longer.
‘Get away, Kassel.’
Sheyden cried out in his mind, but no sound came out. Only the magician’s voice echoed across the plains.
“Fight and die! Today the White Gate shall fall.”
–TL Notes–
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