LIGHTNOVELONLINE
Side Story Chapter 303
The Martial Knights were the strongest in Hubalt while Selim’s Black Knights were the best in Avalon. The finest knights of the two warring nations were now being tested against each other.
“Don’t retreat! Fight back!”
“Prince Selim is watching us!”
“Fight for Lord Bel!”
The fight was gruesome. The Martial Knights fought with no regard for their lives. When they lost an arm, they swung their swords with their other arm; if both of their arms were cut off, they held their swords in their teeth to continue fighting. The Martial Knights that had lost their legs dragged themselves toward the enemy and kept fighting. Their fanatical dedication to the fight unsettled even the valiant Black Knights.
“Crazy freaks, why in the world are they going this far...?” one of the Black Knights mumbled with a pale face. He still thought that he was just as determined as them, but whether or not they used their true mana made a big difference between the two knight orders.
Although the enemy was prepared to die today, Avalon’s army was not. They dreamed of their happy future—after reclaiming their country, they would live happily ever after in Avalon under Selim’s benevolent rule. However, that dream was possible only if they survived.
“Shit! We should use true mana as well—!”
“No! Don’t let them get into your heads!” Selim yelled.
The Black Knights froze at Selim’s command, but the momentary hesitation proved to be a lethal mistake.
“Ah, fuck! Rufel!”
“I’ll kill you, you Hubalt sons of bitches! I’ll kill you all!”
“...Are they going to be okay?” Kireua asked.
Selim bit his lip for a moment, but didn’t change his orders.
“... No commander has the right to tell their people to fight to their death. I don’t want to lose any more of the people I love,” he said.
Duke Tremblin had been Selim’s anchor, but he had already lost Tremblin. Selim never wanted to experience that bitterness again.
“You seem to be misunderstanding something here. Your dear knights, your family, your home... They’ll all be gone if we lose here.”
“...That’s why I’ll risk my own life and slaughter the enemy with my spear,” Selim muttered to himself. His eyes were filled with a fighting spirit that was stronger than ever and his murderous energy overwhelmed the area.
Instead of making empty promises, Selim took action. He charged into battle moving so fast that even the two Martial Knight captains couldn’t track him. In the span of a heartbeat, Selim had penetrated into the center of the Martial Knights. While the enemy was still processing, Selim began to dance with his spear, demonstrating a series of the techniques that had made Joshua Sanders the Martial God.
Like a wolf in a herd of sheep, Selim cut off three Martial Knights’ heads in no time and then moved on to the rest of them.
Of course, the two captains weren’t sitting on their hands.
“You have to go through us first!”
Right before Selim was about to claim his fourth kill, the captains delivered a joint attack against him. Kireua quickly tried to assist Selim, but Hawke, the Martial Knights’ commander, stood in his way.
Kireua let out a sigh.
“You’re my opponent, huh?” he asked with a furrowed brow.
“You told me and my knights earlier that the biggest difference between us and you is how much we rely on our supernatural abilities.”
“So?”
“Do you still think the same?” Hawke pointed at the Martial Knights.
Kireua chuckled. “You’ve become quite confident.”
“I’ll admit that our authorities helped us a lot, but unlike you, we never let our authorities take control of us.”
Kireua’s face twisted, drawing a sneer from Hawke.
“Besides, there is no way that the great Martial Knights will lose to a daddy’s boy,” Hawke guffawed.
“...You’ve crossed the line.”
Hawke fixed his grip on his sword, silently provoking Kireua.
Despite what he said, the situation wasn’t in Kireua’s favor because even at this moment, the Black Knights’ casualties were increasing drastically.
‘...Selim’s knights being weakened is good news for me if I want the throne...’
Kireua immediately shook his head to break away from that line of thought. It must be the desire coming from the power of Greed—but Kireua was never going to let it take control of him. “...Congratulations, commander. You successfully pissed me off.”
Hawke smirked as if to tell Kireua that his anger didn’t mean anything to Hawke.
“To prove you wrong, I just need to show you that my Evil Sins haven’t taken control of me, right?”
“It sounds like you think you can.”
“You don’t need to taunt me. In fact, I was too short-sighted. I don’t have to give up my advantage just because you people aren’t using your authorities.” An evil smile spread on Kireua’s face. “This was my stage to begin with.”
“Your stage?”
“Even though Selim is out there fighting hard, he has his Black Knights, and your knights are ready to die. And I have loyal subordinates of my own. In fact, they’re an immortal legion that can’t die.” Kireua’s smile grew increasingly crooked.
Hawke’s eyes slowly widened.
“So why don’t you try your best to survive?”
“You...” Hawke glared at Kireua.
“I shouldn’t bring these undead aboveground, but that’s not a problem if we keep fighting down here.”
The undead’s demonic power was directed at Hawke.
***
Behind the palace, the Blood Flower Knight Order surrounded Joshua and the others.
Valmont stepped forward. “I’ll take three of them.”
“I’ll take three of them as well,” Cazes said, looking at the rear ranks of the Blood Flower Knights.
“I’ll do the same.” Viper turned to the left, leaving Joshua to deal with the Blood Flower Knights on the right.
“If all three of you are taking on three knights each, I’m supposed to deal with nine of them?” Joshua grumbled.
“The glorious Martial God ought to be capable of eat least that much,” Valmont mischievously answered.
Joshua shook his head. “I’m still your emperor, right? What is with this treatment...?”
Isaac was dumbfounded by the quartet’s unshakable confidence.
“...You heard them. Numbers ten and lower will deal with the minions. The rest of you will focus on the Martial God.”
Nine Blood Flower Knights took action in an orderly manner, but Joshua tilted his head in confusion when they started getting into a formation that resembled a magic circle.
“Is that a sword formation?” Joshua muttered to himself.
That wasn’t it. The Blood Flower Knight leader pulled out a stick and began reciting something incomprehensible.
“Oh, no! We need to stop them!” Isaac shrieked.
However, it was too late. The Blood Flower Knights’ formation was enveloped in light, and Joshua suddenly couldn’t move like he usually did. Even his hands were trembling.
“What in the world...?”
-...Something is wrong.
‘What?’
-My heart is getting out of control.
Creshua’s statement made Joshua 's eyes widen.
“I knew as soon as I saw you, Joshua Sanders. Your body must still be in the ice boulder, and you’re using a dragon’s body, aren’t you,” the Blood Flower Knights’ leader said.
Joshua simply looked at the leader.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“I don’t have a name, but I’ve been called the First Flower all my life.”
“...Then you’re their commander?”
“Commander? No, all Blood Flower Knights are equal. We’re just cogs in the machine that was built to kill you.” The Blood Flower Knight leader pointed at Isaac. “Although I’m sure you heard that from that traitor, Bel and the Blood Flower Knights have been trained to kill you our entire lives, Joshua Sanders.”
“It’s an honor, I suppose?”
“It began decades ago with five thousand people. But now there are only nineteen of us left, including Bel,” the leader said, his voice bitter. “We survived in the end, and we’re skilled enough that we’re confident no one can beat us. But we needed to go through a final test before we went up against you.”
“A test? I’m curious.”
“You deserve to be that confident.” The Blood Flower Knight leader readily admitted Joshua’s strength; otherwise, he would be denying the meaning of the Blood Flower Knights’ entire existence. “However, there was a problem: no human on the continent is comparable to the Martial God, so we came up with an alternative. Our final test would be to eradicate an entire race.
“Yes, I’m sure you’ve realized. We set out to eradicate the dragons. Only those supreme creatures of the Human Realm were comparable to the Martial God.”
The reason why Hubalt had wiped out the dragons was revealed.
“...I thought Bel had killed innocent dragons for entertainment, but I guess I was wrong.”
“It’s true that Bel killed most of the ancient dragons, including the dragon lord. We started the mission together, but Bel wiped out most of the dragons before we’d killed three of them.”
The Blood Flower Knight leader smiled wryly. “I guess it was inevitable because we’re just ordinary humans, compared to him. To be honest, we could barely kill one dragon without using special measures like we’re doing right now...”
Joshua began to tremble harder; he was able to feel Creshua’s pain now.
“...The final test led to the abolishment of the Blood Flower Knight Order, but we already spent our entire lives training to kill you. We don’t know anything else, so we’ve been wasting away until we heard the news about you. ”
Joshua’s legs gave out.
“Y-Your Majesty!”
“Your Majesty!”
Valmont and the others tried to help Joshua, but no one could because the moment they reached out for Joshua, the other Blood Flower knights immediately threw themselves in their path.
“If I and my fellow knights are challenging Joshua Sanders in a dragon’s body... I’m sure we have a chance too.” the leader quietly said.
“Heartbreak!” Isaac realized.
Although he was in the middle of a fight, Valmont couldn’t couldn’t stay focused.
“Hey!” he demanded. “What is that supposed to be? How the hell does it do that to His Majesty?”
“It’s the masterpiece of ancient human mages who were close to becoming ninth circle mages...!”
“What?
Isaac trembled. Yes, Hubalt wasn’t the first country of humans to challenge the dragons. Unlike today, the age of knights, there was a time when magic had flourished. The mages of that era had been the first to challenge dragons, but they and their entire nation had met a tragic end.
“...Joshua Sanders, we’re your worst possible enemy right now.”