Chapter 205
Chapter 205
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 205
Chapter Title: The Elves' Mockery
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Regardless, they're an envoy. We should just let them go."
"Ha! Give me a break."
"Sir Zenas. Yan Eugene is the Duke of Brantia. If it's an envoy he sent, there's a very high chance it's an elf noble from Brantia. If we're not careful, Brantia might..."
"Fuck! I don't give a shit about Brantia or whatever. I need some fun right now, then I'll chop that bitch's head off."
Zenas cut Jevin off irritably and shouted to his men.
"Hey! Drag that pointy-eared bitch off her horse!"
"Yes? B-but..."
But his men hesitated.
They were men who had committed all sorts of dirty, cruel acts since their mercenary days. There was no way their consciences would suddenly kick in now.
Yet both then and now, they were all weak to mysteries and superstitions.
Touching this elf knight lady—the first they'd ever seen—who was still gazing down at them with haughty eyes felt deeply ominous.
Elves were the kin of spirits, after all, weren't they?
There were countless tales of people incurring the wrath of furious spirits, getting cursed, and meeting ruin after meddling with them needlessly.
"What the hell? You bastards! What are you dawdling for? Drag that bitch off her horse and strip her armor right now!"
"Y-yes, sir!"
In the end, a few of them drew their weapons and approached Princess Lilisein and her escort knights.
Shing.
Princess Lilisein, her helmet pressed down firmly, drew the longsword of the Elan royal family.
Zenas let out a hollow laugh at the sight.
"Ha!"
She was armored, taller and more solidly built than the other women, but she was still just a woman.
Besides, an elf that pretty—swordsmanship? What kind of nonsense was that?
Zenas figured it was a cheap ploy to send an attractive elf noble as an envoy to rattle them.
"Unbelievable. Any mutt or mongrel outfits themselves in fancy gear and thinks they're a knight..."
Woooong!
A heavy vibrational hum cut Zenas off before he could finish.
"Wh-what is...?"
His eyes, which had been staring at Princess Lilisein dismissively, went wide.
The same went for the soldiers approaching to pull her from her horse.
They could only stare in disbelief at Princess Lilisein—and the ancient longsword in her hand.
In that moment, the longsword, enveloped in a deep blue aura, radiated brilliant light.
Swoooosh!
With a sharp whoosh through the air, the aura swirling around the longsword erupted like crashing waves, sweeping three subordinates away screaming.
"Aaagh!"
"It's hot! So hot! Gaaah!"
"My eyes! My eyes!"
Thanks to their chainmail vests, their torsos were mercifully intact.
But their faces peeking through helmet gaps and the leather under their chainmail were a total mess.
Their faces especially looked like they'd been ground with gravel, skin shredded and blood pouring down.
"It's magic!"
At someone's shout, the soldiers trying to surround Princess Lilisein's group scattered back in a panic.
Fear filled their eyes as they stared at the blue glow enveloping her entire longsword.
"Wh-what the hell!? You bitch! What sorcery is this!?"
"Ah, this is what they call 'aura.' The secret art of the Elan elves."
"What...?"
"Of course, it's not something only this knight can use."
"...!?"
The instant Zenas's eyes bulged, the three knights who had come with her threw back their green cloaks and drew their swords.
Woooong!
A somewhat fainter bluish light began to form on them, paler than Princess Lilisein's.
"Gasp! Y-you bastards, don't tell me...?"
Princess Lilisein grinned at the stunned Zenas.
"That's right. We are knights of the Elan Royal Family. Elan Royal Knights! All activate aura!"
An unfamiliar but vigorous, passionate roar echoed thunderously.
Roooaaar!!!
The elf knights responded with a battle cry and charged in unison, swinging their aura-infused longswords in one direction.
And with every azure sword strike from the elf knights, soldiers collapsed spurting blood.
Zenas was horrified at the sight of chainmail—resistant to all but the strongest thrusts—being pierced and sliced like cheese.
But that wasn't all.
The elf knights' swordsmanship was so swift and precise that even the knights of the Ashen Order couldn't hold up against it.
Princess Lilisein and the elf knights targeted the joints and armor gaps of the plate-mail-clad Ashen knights with pinpoint accuracy, severing limbs with rapid, powerful aura-charged strikes.
"Gaaahk!"
"Aaack!"
Screams echoed endlessly in the wake of Princess Lilisein and the elf knights charging like the wind.
"You idiots! Crossbows! Shoot arrows! Surround them with pikes!"
At Zenas's bellowing, the pikemen and archers sprang into action—but it was already too late.
Knights were generally skilled riders.
Among them, elf knights possessed horsemanship on another level, worthy of being called one with their mounts.
Rather than charging blindly, the elf knights confused the enemy lines with clever direction changes while fighting, effortlessly breaking through the encirclement.
Shing! Shwish shing!
Dozens of belated arrows flew, but they couldn't reach the elf knights who had already galloped far away.
Having secured sufficient distance, Princess Lilisein instead wheeled her horse back toward the royalist army.
Hiiihiin!
She even performed a flashy victory ceremony, rearing her warhorse on its hind legs.
— Ah, this is what they call 'mockery.' Anyone can do it.
As if casting some spell, her words carried faintly even from afar. Princess Lilisein then leisurely vanished down the hill.
"That fucking bitch!!!"
Zenas's enraged roar shook the air, fury boiling over.
"Pursue them now! Catch and kill that bitch and every pointy-eared bastard!"
"Let's go!"
Having watched their commander suffer utter humiliation and many comrades cut down effortlessly, the Ashen knights' minds erased the princess's beauty.
Around three hundred cavalry charged like a pack of enraged beasts in the direction Princess Lilisein and the elf knights had disappeared.
"Sir Zenas! We can't split our forces!"
"Bullshit! You lot follow slowly with the rest!"
Jevin's advice fell on deaf ears with Zenas's eyes rolled back in rage.
Thud thud thud thud!!!
"I-I can't believe this..."
Jevin's face turned ashen, like the dark clouds creeping from the west to devour the sky, as he watched the Ashen knights kick up massive dust clouds and vanish.
* * *
Around fifty cavalry moved along gently rolling hills.
Then, a figure who seemed the leader among the Maren knights approached Eugene at the front.
It was Madrica, the talkative knight who had once fought orc warriors alongside Eugene and received his aid.
"Duke Eugene Valtara, Your Grace."
Madrica, who held great favor toward Eugene, was exceedingly polite.
"Just call me like before, Sir Madrica."
"Oh! Your Grace remains as humble as your shining fame and noble knighthood! This Madrica, mirror of chivalry..."
"Enough. What's this about?"
Eugene cut him off coldly. One chatty prince was plenty.
"Ah, well."
Madrica looked sheepish and glanced back at the Maren knights following before continuing.
"The other sirs are just too curious, so I wanted to ask a few things."
"Hmm. Alright. What?"
"First off, Sir Galpredic—your top vassal and incarnation of valor—is nowhere to be seen."
Galpredic wasn't as famous as Eugene, but he was still well-known in the Kailer Kingdom.
Moreover, knights based in Maren like Madrica knew full well how strong he was.
It was only natural they'd question his absence, as he was always at Eugene's side.
"Galpredic has to stay by the Brantia king's side for a while."
"Hmm. May I ask why?"
"Brantia's still unstable internally. Needs someone reliable by the king's side."
Eugene had originally planned to bring Galpredic along. But Pitamoras, who remained as the king's advisor, opposed it.
The Brantia king Luke's authority relied heavily—almost entirely—on Eugene's personal prowess.
Indeed, Brantia's nobles and knights cowered flat before Duke Valtara's martial renown.
Without Eugene there, some would surely get ideas.
But he couldn't stay in Brantia forever, so he left Galpredic and Lanslo in his place.
Both were needless-to-say skilled knights, but Eugene didn't leave them just for muscle.
Galpredic could keep Brantia vampires and Kailer knights who crossed the sea in check, while Lanslo hailed from the respected Durak family, admired by Brantia knights.
In other words, even without Eugene, their skills and fame would make everyone—regardless of nationality or race—mind the royals.
Of course, it wasn't permanent; they'd stay until the Kailer knights who became lords settled in.
"Soonest half a year? At latest, a year, and they'll cross back here. That what you were wondering?"
"Ah, I see. Then your mage stayed in Brantia too?"
"Wore her out too much. She insisted on making chimeras, so she stayed. Why Romari?"
Galpredic was famous and a fellow knight, fine. But Eugene was puzzled why they'd ask about his mage Romari.
"Isn't it obvious? The glorious Black Flame Sorceress! Known for toppling countless evil monsters at your side, even conquering Brantia’s mage circles."
Black Flame what?
Wait, had she even done that?
She helped with magic now and then, sure, but it felt like she spent all day crafting mana crystals...
"Kieee!? What'd you say? Black Flame Sorceress? That raccoon bitch a black flame? I hate that nickname! 'Zombie Raccoon' fits! Or 'Mana Crystal Factory Chief'!"
Eugene, aligning with the spirit for once in ages, replied.
"Not sure if my mage is the same as that fancy-titled one, but yeah, she stayed in Brantia."
He couldn't refuse Romari—no, the raccoon bitch—tears streaming as she begged to finish her chimera project.
She had a deadline, though—at least a year later, she'd have to cross with Galpredic whether she liked it or not.
"Ah, got it. Then how will we handle the battle with the royalists..."
As Madrica veered toward the main topic, Princess Lilisein and the elf knights appeared charging like a gale from a distant hill.
"Lilisein! I have returned after fulfilling His Grace Duke Valtara's glorious mission!"
The knights—especially Prince Rocroffe's—felt unconscious relief seeing the princess return unscathed, despite slight worries.
"What glory in an envoy mission? Anyway, good work. Enemy force size?"
"Cavalry around three hundred, infantry a bit more numerous. Well-equipped and high morale, but their skill is inferior to Your Grace's knights! No, comparing them is an insult."
"I see."
He'd thought her stunning beauty and odd personality would cause trouble, but she'd handled the envoy role well enough. Just his imagination.
Well, no matter her quirks, she was an elf princess; she'd hardly botch such a mission...
"Did you deliver my message to their commander for sure?"
"...M-my negligence!"
Princess Lilisein's eyes widened as she bowed her head in haste.
"The enemy commander's troll-mongrel ugliness and vulgar speech... Ugh! Slay this foolish, inept knight! Off with my head!"
She'd screwed up after all!
The knights eyed her with "called it" looks.
"..."
Eugene was speechless before Princess Lilisein, wailing as if she'd committed an unforgivable sin.
Sure, delivering his words to the commander mattered, but this wasn't decapitation-worthy.
Thud thud thud thud...
Then, heavy sounds began from the direction she'd returned.
"Hm?"
Eugene spurred Silion quickly up the hill and soon looked baffled.
"You didn't deliver my message, right? So why are they all charging like that? Princess, what did you tell their commander?"
"Yes! Ah, this is what they call 'mockery.' Anyone can do it."
"...Impressive."
She'd caused trouble, but the result was far better than intended, so Eugene was pleased.
(To be continued)