Chapter 232 : Possible
Lavinia Arkan, after meeting the Iasince fugitives, immediately raced straight toward the royal capital.
The Empire’s pursuers departed from the royal capital to chase the Iasince fugitives.
It was inevitable that she and the pursuit force would meet.
Something fell before the Empire’s pursuit force.
Marquis Tryan raised his hand and halted the troops.
It was a monster.
“A Titan?”
No, it could not be called a mere Titan—something grotesque, with bizarre things stuck all over it, a literal monster.
And the woman sitting atop that monster’s shoulder was extremely out of place.
“...Lavinia Arkan.”
Yet Marquis Tryan recognized her identity at a glance.
It could not be otherwise. There was only one woman on this continent who traveled with such a chimera.
“Has Arkan already come this far...!”
Marquis Tryan frowned and issued orders to the knights.
“Search the vicinity for Arkan’s army, and if there is none, guard the approaches until I arrive.”
“Yes.”
Several knights led a small number of soldiers and detoured around Lavinia Arkan. She showed no particular reaction.
“You.”
She extended a finger and pointed at Marquis Tryan.
“Empire?”
“That’s right.”
“Empire, bad.”
“I heard your way of speaking was strange—so it really is. That chimera must be something you made, yes?”
While continuing the conversation, the marquis glanced sideways at the knights who had disappeared on the detour. Despite being on a hill, they sent no signal.
‘No additional forces?’
Then had this mad princess appeared alone?
‘They said she was crazy—looks like she really wants to die.’
If it were another foreign kingdom, there might have been room to muddle through with talk. But this was Arkan. An enemy the Empire had clearly identified and formally declared war upon.
“Prepare to charge.”
At the marquis’s command, the knights quietly made ready.
“Charge.”
The marquis gripped his lance and lightly tapped his horse’s flank with his legs. Receiving the signal, the warhorse began to gallop swiftly. The Black Blade Knight Order he had painstakingly cultivated moved with him.
“Crush them like this and capture the princess!”
Arkan’s princess would be quite useful in a battle against Arkan.
“You stupid bitch, curse your own foolishness!”
Brilliant blue aura wrapped around the lance. The knights flaunted their auras, scattering killing intent.
The knights’ auras resonated with one another, merging into a single form. Dozens of knights became one weapon, charging toward a single point.
“Kill that monster in one go!”
Speed built. The aura bound itself even tighter. Feeling power fill his entire body, Marquis Tryan was confident of victory.
“...Annoying.”
The princess’s grumbling brushed faintly past.
The monster opened its maw. Massive mana condensed.
───!
“Ghk...!”
Black flames engulfed the knight order.
“A mere chimera...!”
The strong recoil and heat impeded their charge, but the marquis squeezed out even more aura.
Jjeojeojeok-
The lance tip pierced through the flames. The following knight order widened the opening. They completely passed through.
But.
‘Huh...?’
What greeted the knight order was a small fist.
“You, annoying.”
It was a woman with an irritable expression.
“You’re completely insane!”
No matter how much their speed had dropped from the monster’s flames, a charge by a knight order whose auras were fully woven into one could never be easily stopped.
Moreover, the charge of the Black Blade Knight Order he had painstakingly trained could only be stopped by a great archmage’s magic or an equivalent knight order.
Thus he was confident.
That insolent woman would soon pay the price.
And thus he felt regret.
That he would be unable to use a princess of a nation as a hostage.
──────!
And that thought—
‘Huh...?’
—was shattered in a single collision.
Lance and fist collided. An impact far beyond that of the flames swept over him. The lance broke. The knight order wavered. Horses screamed.
“Uh...?”
Before he could even properly grasp the situation, another of the princess’s fists reached right before his nose.
Every hair on his body stood on end.
“S-spare me...!”
The ever-growing fist, lightly covered with unknown scales.
That was his last memory.
His head burst.
---
“....”
“....”
A quiet silence settled.
The surroundings were stained with blood and corpses.
The knight order failed to overcome not the monster, but the princess. The charge was grounded, and Marquis Tryan died with his head blown apart.
The leading knights could not withstand the impact and had their entrails destroyed, while the rear knights groaned and rolled across the ground.
Overwhelming power.
Before it, the soldiers who had lost their commander could not readily raise their weapons.
Even though it was 2 versus 5000, it was so.
“Wow.”
The princess rolled up her sleeves.
“Empire, bad.”
She took one step forward.
The soldiers instinctively stepped back by the same amount.
Two steps forward.
Two steps back.
“Me?”
Though her speech was still short, every soldier understood the words hidden behind it. They had no choice but to understand.
Because Lavinia Arkan’s eyes were like those of a ferocious beast with prey right before it.
“...M-monster...!”
One soldier turned his back and fled.
That was the beginning.
They had lost their commander, and those who should have managed the situation in his stead were all rolling on the ground together.
There was no means to restrain their fear and terror.
“That’s something heroes are supposed to deal with!”
“I didn’t hear we had to fight a monster!”
One by one, the soldiers followed.
“...Why?”
Lavinia tilted her head at their behavior.
“Enemy. No?”
By her common sense, it was incomprehensible for enemies to flee without fighting.
“Enemy, chase.”
She mounted Cher’s shoulder again. Cher gathered his wings and prepared to spread them.
That was when—
Thududududu-
“Noonaaa! Please stop!”
Cain and the search party arrived.
---
“Bad.”
“You absolutely can’t do this alone!”
“Win.”
“The Five Dragon Knight Orders are all mobilized—what do you mean win?!”
The symbol of the Empire, of the Zespine imperial family, was the dragon. And the greatest military force was the Five Dragon Knight Orders that bore the dragon’s image.
The White Dragon Knight Order.
The Black Dragon Knight Order.
The Blue Dragon Knight Order.
The Red Dragon Knight Order.
And even the Yellow Dragon Knight Order, said to be the Empire’s guardian deity.
“Even rumors say the Yellow Dragon Knight Order Commander unofficially matched Balraf Dislode!”
It was quite a long time ago, but since the opponent was that Balraf Dislode, it could not be ignored.
Moreover, even excluding the commanders, the Five Dragon Knight Orders competed for first place in the Empire and on the continent.
“If the pursuit force were one of the Five Dragon Knight Orders....”
At the dreadful assumption, Cain shook his head.
“Win.”
“No, I mean....”
“Win.”
“...Of course I’m not saying you’d lose, Noona. But the royal capital has already fallen to the Empire. Alone, you can’t handle the many.”
“Alone, no.”
“Yes, yes. With Cher, that makes two.”
At her rather resolute demeanor, Cain bit his lip. If he left her like this, she would clearly launch a suicidal charge alone.
It was true that Lavinia was strong, but the Imperial army was by no means weak.
In the end, he used his last resort.
“...If something happened to you, how sad do you think Pale would be?”
“Pale?”
Lavinia blinked as she pondered who that was. It was Berje’s alias.
“Yes. Pale, whom you like, Noona.”
“Me?”
Like? Berje?
Pu-eok-
“Kuhk...!”
At the light punch, Cain’s body lifted into the air.
“Nonsense.”
“W-why is your hand so vicious! I almost died!”
His armor was half-crumpled.
“Punishment.”
“Fine. Let’s say it’s not. Still, we have to go back.”
“Why? Enemy. Fight.”
“We will fight. We have to reclaim the royal capital and punish the Empire. But not with you alone.”
“Possible.”
“No, I’m saying that’s not possible?”
Damn it, what should I do?
At Lavinia’s uncommunicative state, Cain pressed his throbbing forehead.
The Lavinia he knew was not this stubborn. When told no, she would make her own decision and accept it. He couldn’t understand why she was being so unreasonable in such an urgent situation.
“We need to flee quickly! If we stay here, Imperial reinforcements will—!”
“Your Highness! A group is approaching from the direction of the royal capital!”
As if speaking of the dragon summoned it, Cain bit his lip, realizing they had wasted too much time.
“T-the flag bears the emblem of a white dragon! All their armor is white!”
“The White Dragon Knight Order!”
With the feared event having occurred, Cain grew more desperate. With the knights he had hastily gathered, they could never defeat the White Dragon Knight Order.
“Noona! Please run away! Please!”
“No.”
Lavinia pushed Cain aside.
“Your Highness, please!”
The knights blocking her fared no better.
Cher stood behind her.
“Cher.”
Gwoeooor—
Cher opened his mouth. His chest swelled. Enormous mana began to condense.
That was the authority of a dragon.
The authority of a red dragon wounded and betrayed by the Demon King.
Breath.
A crimson breath cut through space and surged forth.
Before that irresistible power, Cain trembled.
But the White Dragon Knight Order was already prepared. Mounted dragon lances thrust toward the breath. Aura condensed into one surged like a wave in resistance.
────!
The wind blew.
The earth shook.
But that was all.
The dragon’s authority split into several streams against the united lances of the knight order, slashing at the hapless land and space.
The speed was significantly reduced, yet still fast, and though the aura was greatly damaged, it remained sharp.
“Ah....”
Cain let out a gasp.
“N-no! Noona!”
He screamed. Naturally, the lance tips were aimed at Lavinia.
It was too late to help. Cain squeezed his eyes shut.
────!
The expected collision followed.
Kwa-jik-
Hihihihihing-
Kkeuaaaak!
But the sounds were slightly—no, greatly—different from what he expected.
He cautiously opened his closed eyes.
And was aghast.
Standing there was not the White Dragon Knight Order the Empire boasted.
“...Noona?”
Lavinia Arkan. Her violet hair fluttered in the wind.
Her bright red eyes looked down at the fallen White Dragon knights.
‘Scales?’
Black and red scales covered Lavinia’s body. But as if it had been an illusion, they soon vanished.
“Ow.”
Lavinia rubbed her reddened, swollen fist.
That was all.
The price for stopping the charge of the White Dragon Knight Order the Empire boasted was merely a slightly swollen fist.
Only then did Cain realize.
Lavinia was not being stubborn or unreasonable.
‘...Really?’
Because her words that she would win—
Were not unreasonable at all.
“...Insane.”
The Lavinia who had appeared after several months had become a monster.
“W-what on earth did you do to Noona, Pale?”
A shiver that pierced his entire body made Cain tremble.
---
“Your Grace!”
A messenger rushed into the grand hall of the royal castle. Gasping for breath, he prostrated himself before Duke Osrian, seated upon the throne.
“Oho, then this time you’ve finally captured that insolent princess and the Iasince prince, haven’t you?”
“T-that is....”
At the messenger’s hesitation, the duke felt an odd sense of foreboding.
“That? Can’t you speak at once!”
“...T-the White Dragon Knight Order.”
“The White Dragon Knight Order?”
“The White Dragon Knight Order has been annihilated!”
“What, what did you say...?”
The duke’s face twisted violently.
Had he heard that correctly?
He picked at his ear.
“Say it again.”
“The White Dragon Knight Order—!”
Pu-eok-
Bright red blood splashed everywhere. A headless corpse collapsed onto the crimson carpet.
“You should have spoken ‘properly’ again.”
Of course.
“That can’t be.”
How could it be?
“To dare lie to this duke. Even that paltry life of yours is far from enough to atone for the crime.”
“Pheuheuheu.”
At that moment, laughter interjected.
“So this is the Empire’s best, the continent’s best knight order? Looks like nothing special. Not a white dragon, but a white earthworm, no?”
“...Shut up.”
Duke Osrian lifted his eyes savagely and strode forward, grabbing the king by the collar.
“The White Dragon Knight Order does not lose.”
“Then are you saying the soldier lied?”
“Must be an Arkan spy. Cowardly bastards—daring to bring in spies to sow chaos in the homeland.”
“Well, it seems your head is more chaotic than the Empire’s.”
“Shut up. Even treating you as a king has its limits.”
“Don’t pretend to be a gentleman, you filthy Imperial dogs. Since when did you lot ever have manners?”
“You insolent old—!”
The king was slammed to the floor. He screamed.
“Your Grace! The White Dragon Knight Order has returned—!”
The knight who rushed in afterward faltered at the heavy scent of blood and the fallen corpse.
“...The White Dragon Knight Order has returned?”
Khehehe. Duke Osrian burst into laughter.
“Of course. There’s no way the White Dragon Knight Order would be annihilated. Looks like this one was indeed Arkan’s lackey.”
He ordered the flustered knight.
“Report the rest at once. The White Dragon Knight Order must have returned safely with the princess and prince captured, yes?”
“...No.”
“No?”
“Thirty-two knights, including the White Dragon Knight Order Commander, are dead. Eight survivors remain, all injured.”
“Kahahaha, right, they weren’t totally annihilated then. Not annihilated—!”
Kwa-jik-
The king’s head was smashed.
It was a pitiful end for the apex ruler of the Kingdom of Iasince.
“...Didn’t I tell you to choose your words carefully.”
Duke Osrian panted roughly, his eyes bloodshot.
“...Y-Your Grace.”
The knight swallowed at the sudden tragedy.
The Empire, having occupied the royal capital of Iasince, was thrown into an uproar.
---
Meanwhile, newspapers dealing with rather sensitive topics began to be published, centered on Hilderan and the Trafarta Union.
【The Empire raises an army the moment the Union fails the hero’s march—mere coincidence...?】
【The century-long collusive relationship between the Empire and Falsehood.】
【The Empire attended the subjugation of Dark Flame but abstained from the subjugation of Falsehood. Does the Empire fight for Falsehood...?】
【Why did the Empire stab the Union in the back?】
It was the beginning of agitation.