Duke Pendragon

As the four people returned to Tylen’s camp, Ramelda grabbed his reins and turned his horse as well.

“…..”

Ramelda glanced at Raven without a word. Until last night, he had found it hard to determine whether Raven was a fortune or curse, but now it was clear. The man named Raven Valt was bad luck. No, he was a calamity. But ultimately, Ramelda had chosen this for himself. He couldn’t blame Raven for how the situation had turned out. It had been his choice.

“……”

Neither Derek Ramelda nor his son Leo spoke a word as they headed back to their soldiers. The mercenaries and the vigilantes of Toro greeted them with a solemn face.

A sound from a long horn trumpet echoed from Tylen’s camp. It was a sign that signaled the start of an official battle, in accordance with the custom between noble families. Leo bit his lips and blew his own trumpet as well.

“Let’s go.”

Derek Ramelda slowly raised his sword. Then, Ramelda’s shoddy group of men advanced slowly.

On the opposite side, Tylen had placed the serfs in the front with their wooden spears, and mercenaries and soldiers followed behind in a fan-like formation.

Ramelda’s eyes trembled even more.

The serfs alone were a huge threat to his forces. Even though they weren’t trained or properly armed, they outnumbered his soldiers. At least 10 people would be killed or seriously injured in the first clash.

Then, the mercenaries would dig through the cracks in the formation and cause chaos among his men. The enemy soldiers would surround his own and….

‘It’ll be over in the time it takes to have a meal. No, in the time it takes to have a cup of tea…’

Nevertheless, Ramelda gripped his sword tighter. The distance remaining was about 50 yards. Ramelda prepared to raise his sword high into the air to order his forces to charge.

But then…

“As promised, we’ll take care of the serfs and the soldiers.” A cold voice spoke up.

And before Ramelda could respond, two horses charged forward.

“Heuk…!”

Shock crossed everyone’s faces.

The two knights each held two swords, and shot forward like thunder at the great expanse of the enemy soldiers. The mercenaries and the vigilantes from Ramelda’s side looked on at the two people. The only sound that could be heard was the cold wind and the hooves hitting the ground.

But one person did not stop in their tracks and continued to walk towards the enemy.

“That’s…”

Derek Ramelda raised his eyebrows at the person’s identity. It was the tall, female mercenary who was deaf and mute. Her robe was unbuttoned, and a common iron sword was held in her hand. It was the sort of common weapon that could be bought with a single gold coin.

Yellow autumn leaves were swept by the wind and brushed past the edge of the blade that poked out of the robe. Simultaneously, the hood that was covering her head came off.

Whoosh!

A dazzling array of long silver-white hair fluttered in the wind.

The men looked at her while standing in their place absentmindedly. Facing the winds of the vain fields, the woman continued to walk towards the enemy camp, following behind the two knights that had gone ahead.

“Dammit… We should go too.” Jody murmured to himself before hastily moving his feet. Scylla and Gus came to their senses as well and shrugged before following Jody.

Ramelda swung his sword downwards and shouted, “Charge!”

At Ramelda’s words, loud shouts resonated throughout the battlefield.

“Huh?” Ruv Tylen and Jess Tylen let out a sneer. They were curious about the identity of the two lunatics who were charging towards them, but it turned out that one of them was the arrogant loser who called himself a member of the Valt family.

“Keuk! Crazy bastard. He thinks he’s become a hero all of a sudden now that he’s wearing some fancy armor and riding a horse.”

“That seems to be the case, father. Serfs! Stand tall! There are only two enemies! Make a skewer out of them with your spears! Forward!”

“GO, you bastards!”

“Don’t back away! I’ll slit your throat!”

Mercenaries stabbed the serfs in the back with their own weapons at Jess’ orders. The serfs accepted their fate and started walking forward with their spears. No momentum nor energy could be felt from the sight of dozens of spears sticking out.

But their opponents were only two horsemen. They couldn’t possibly penetrate the forest of wooden spears that blocked their way.

“Ugh…..”

The distance narrowed in an instant as the two horses galloped straight at them. The serfs closed their eyes and thrust out their spears at their targets.

“Those crazy bastards… Kekuek!”

The mercenaries behind the serfs were thinking that the horsemen would crash into the barrier of serfs. Grotesque smiles of indifference appeared on the faces of the mercenaries. But their expectations were completely off the mark. 

As the two horses arrived in front of the wooden spears, they jumped into the air, carrying their momentum straight forward. The two horses jumped over the herd of spears and landed behind the serfs like magic. This was possible because there were only two rows of serfs in the formation.

“Heuk!”

“Huh…?”

The serfs fell into panic, and all the mercenaries took on expressions of disbelief. Then, the nightmare began.

***

As the four swords flashed in the air, four heads were removed from their bodies. The serfs had no time to react or to scream, and the dark red blood poured over the remaining members like a waterfall.

“Ahhhk! Arghhk!”

Four people. Only four people had died, but all the serfs fell into hysteria.

The sight of a human head being removed from its body and pouring out blood was enough to arouse fear in a group of people that had only cared for crops and livestock throughout their entire lives. Many serfs collapsed onto the group and soiled themselves. More than half of the serfs fled to the nearby fields.

“Those bastards!”

The mercenaries grinded their teeth as they watched the serfs scatter like sheep. But the mercenaries were experienced, and they didn’t chase after the fleeing serfs.

They were different from those cowardly, stupid serfs. Even if they were proficient at horse-riding and swordsmanship, a dozen mercenaries were enough to take care of two knights. Moreover, there were nearly fifty mercenaries present.

“Kill them...”

At someone’s words, the mercenaries rushed towards the two horsemen like a swarm of bees.

Raven had a gloomy expression after killing the four serfs with Isla. He saw people who collapsed onto the ground in fear and those that ran for their lives in all directions…

Most of them were residents of the village of Moncha, and he was familiar with them. He knew even the two men that he had killed just now.

But he had to. That was the only way that the serfs could regain their freedom and live as free citizens once again, and this was the only way he could continue his revenge.

“I’m sorry. Resent me in the afterlife.”

Raven sincerely prayed for those he had killed, then turned his head. Beyond the mercenaries that were running towards him like demons, he could see Ruv Tylen and Jess Tylen. Killing intent and animosity that was invisible to ordinary people manifested over Raven.

“Isla!”

“I follow your orders.”

Isla took out a long stick from his saddle’s side and tied two of his daggers to both sides, creating a long spear. Then he followed closely behind Raven.

The two horses clashed into the group of mercenaries like a gust of wind.

“Die!”

“Go to hell!”

Swords, axes, and spears flew in from all sides.

Clang!

Raven used his scimitar and longsword, and Isla used his spear to deflect and block all of the attacks.

“Argh!”

“Keuk!”

Some of the mercenaries collapsed, and the two men stopped attacking. Instead, they rode their horses past the mercenaries.

“Huh?”

As humans couldn’t keep up with a horse in terms of speed, the mercenaries could only watch as the two knights passed by them in a flurry of wind.

“W, wake up! Bastards!”

The mercenaries quickly turned around at someone’s shout. They had forgotten that the two knights weren’t their only opponents.

Derek Ramelda’s forces stormed the mercenaries like a tidal wave.

***

“Fucking hell!”

Ruv Tylen appeared to be extremely agitated. The serfs had been defeated by only two horsemen. Even if they weren’t trained, he had believed that they would be able to deal with dozens of vigilantes. But instead, they had scattered like a herd of deer that ran into a lion.

Then, the two horsemen seemed to engage with the mercenaries, but strode past them and came at him. They had exploited the weakness of the formation and pierced straight through the thin wall of soldiers.

But Tylen kept his calm.

“Soldiers!”

“Yes!”

His private army, which was armed with tough iron chest plates, shields, and swords, got into formation at a rapid pace. It had cost Tylen dozens of gold coins to arm his soldiers with such fine equipment. The soldiers were better equipped, and also had superior skills compared to the mercenaries. Furthermore, unlike the unruly mercenaries who fought individually, these soldiers had been trained and experienced battles as a single unit.

And…

Tylen turned his head around with a pleased smile.

“Fire!”

Baron Nobira’s soldiers pulled the triggers of their crossbows at Tylen’s command. Tylen turned his head back, hoping that the quarrels would pierce through the two men. The bolts rushed towards their targets while splitting the air.

Gasp!

However, Tylen became jolted when he looked towards targets. The two men disappeared from the top of the horses, and only the two creatures were galloping towards them in a frenzy.

Thud!

The quarrels embedded into the bodies of the two horses, proving the skills of the soldiers.

Neiiigh!

After receiving the blows, the horses couldn’t control their speed and collapsed onto the ground, crushing several soldiers as well.

Tylen instinctively raised his head, trusting in the feelings that had served him throughout his life as a knight. Just as he had guessed, the two knights had jumped off their horses the moment the crossbows fired.

After landing on the ground, Raven and Isla rolled on the ground several times to minimize the shock, then stood up. They displayed fluid movements that shouldn’t have been possible with their armor.

The reaper of the army and the Stormbreaker pounced on the soldiers like hungry predators.

“Aghhh!”

“Ahk!”

With every arc that Widow’s Scream and the scimitar drew, the soldiers’ arms and heads flew into the air. Those that had their shields propped up collapsed like puppets as their legs were cut off. The soldiers tried to retaliate and swung their swords for them to be blocked and repelled by their opponents’ two swords.

Furthermore, the two knights didn’t hesitate to avoid attacks by rolling on the floor, unlike other noble knights. Every one of their movements was reminiscent of a ferocious beast, faithful to the purpose of killing the enemy as efficiently as possible. Even when a strike got through, it was of no use.

Clang!

No attacks could pierce the ominous black armor, and only a wailing metallic sound resounded when it collided with the weapons. It didn’t matter whether three or four people attacked together. The black knight, who seemed to have risen from the fiery depth of hell, reaped the lives of Tylen’s soldiers like the death god himself.

“Keuugh!”

The same was true for the accompanying dark-skinned knight. Every time his long spear drew a large arc, the bodies of the soldiers surrounding him were cut through.

It was a circle of blood and death. The blood flowed from the two blades of the long spear, and drew a red circle following the spear’s path. Due to its terrifying speed, red flowers bloomed here and there as the man proceeded through the enemy.

They were monsters. Soon, the death banquet held by the two demons neared its end. Baron Nobira’s soldiers looked at the two men with despair in their eyes, and slowly backed away.

“Keuk..!”

The death banquet ended with the cry of the last soldier. The reaper and the storm slowly turned around.

“Now…”

The reaper, who was covered in blood from head to toe, grinned.

”…..!”

He spoke while walking towards Ruv Tylen and Jess Tylen. The father-and-son duo that were looking at him without being able to speak. Their brows were furrowed, their eyes were trembling, and their mouths were wide open.

“In the name of the Valt family, I’ll finish you off!”