The Undying Knight

Rian's gaze turned to them.

'Were these the ones Mongclay prepared for a reversal?'

If it was Sion, he was one of the Pentastar Knights who defended the Kingdom of Azrion.

Unlike other knights who formed knight orders to guard the border, he was known to operate independently for the sake of inland security and well-being.

It was said that he sometimes supported the knight orders in the border regions, and it seemed that Knight Sion was participating in the Twin Canyon battle.

More than that, it seemed he had a disciple.

He was so free-spirited that he was given the epithets Wandering Light and Knight of Freedom, and it was rumored that he did not have a knight order.

"Hey! You with the black hair. Didn't you hear me? I asked where Lord Mongclay is."

The person who had shouted a little while ago approached Rian and got off his horse.

Whether he was Sion's disciple or not, Rian didn't like the tone that sounded like he was scolding a child.

'Hmm. A poorly trained stray dog?'

Dull blond hair, strong features, piercing eyes, and red pupils that made him look hot-tempered.

Apart from that, armor made by adding iron plates to Chainmail covered his sturdy physique.

He wore a blue cloak that reached his waist, making him look like he represented a knight order.

The cloak had an emblem symbolizing light embroidered in gold thread, which seemed to prove that he was a disciple of Knight Sion.

Thud-.

Even his approaching footsteps were intimidating.

But would Rian be intimidated and back down?

"I am Rian Keide, 1st Platoon Leader of the 3rd Company. I think it would be best to state your affiliation first?"

"Haa-?"

At Rian's words, the man frowned. He placed his hand on the pommel of the sword attached to his side, as if he was about to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠draw it.

Rian did the same.

In an instant, the surrounding air turned cold, and a murderous intent settled between them.

The tension swelled as if it would explode if touched.

No one seemed to be mediating it.

The stableman had already taken the horse he was about to hand over to Rian and fled far away.

Pabat!

In the end, the man's foot, which had been closing the distance, moved first.

Rian captured the man's straight-line movement in his eyes.

'Fast.'

The blade he drew the moment he kicked off the ground was already falling from above.

It was an unavoidable speed.

Comparable to Gerard's, which had pierced his heart before.

No, perhaps even faster.

In the past, his head would have been cut off without any response, but not now.

Cheoeok-.

Rian's hand already held a drawn sword, its tip aimed at the man's heart.

If he stretched out his hand, it was clear that the man's heart would be pierced even if his head was cut off.

Kaang-! Kang!!

But that didn't happen.

'Hmm?!'

Someone's blade deflected the blades that were aiming for each other's lives.

"Dominic. Enough."

Until just now, she hadn't shown any signs of intervening, but now.

More than that, where did this power and speed come from?

The man called Dominic wore the same armor and a cloak that reached his waist.

However, the power that blocked the attack felt abnormally strong for her small frame, and the cold beauty beneath her dark blue bob clearly revealed that she was a woman.

"Tch."

Dominic withdrew her sword without complaint at her restraint. From that alone, it could be inferred that the dark blue bob-haired woman was leading them.

The woman's gaze turned to Rian.

He felt an unspoken pressure to sheathe his sword.

He was going to return his sword home anyway.

Seureung-.

Only then did the woman also return the swords in both hands to the scabbards attached to her sword belt.

"Please forgive Dominic's rudeness. We are disciples of Knight Sion and are not bound by the military, so we have committed this discourtesy due to a lack of affiliation."

"……."

Seeing her say this much, he had no choice but to admit that they were Sion's disciples, who were not well known to the world.

"My name is Leah, and I lead them under Sion's command."

Leah, the dark blue bob-haired woman, showed a brief military salute by raising her right fist to her heart and bowing her head to Rian.

Her gaze turned to Dominic, who was standing with a sullen expression, and he reluctantly gave a military salute as well.

"Forgive my rudeness. I only reacted to the fighting spirit."

"……."

He didn't seem to be asking for forgiveness. It was the same as asking others to understand that he was originally a stray dog.

Rather, others were about to ask for forgiveness on Dominic's behalf.

"I am Berkir. Please forgive Dominic's rudeness."

A man with a physique comparable to a bear and silver hair fluttering in the wind asked for forgiveness while wearing gauntlets with blunt lumps of iron attached to his hands.

"Dominic is a wild stray dog we take with us. He's a guy who needs forgiveness. I'm Pine."

A woman named Pine with green hair dangling down greeted him with an introduction that seemed to tease Dominic instead of asking for forgiveness.

Matching her slender figure, she seemed to use a Rapier with a thin blade as her weapon.

She looked like a fairy at first glance, but the sparse ears visible through her hair seemed to prove that she was human.

"Um. Well… I'm Tarin. In my opinion, Dominic is at fault, so I think it would be right to do as Keide-nim wishes. Well, that's it."

A freckled woman with bright brown bob hair seemed to tease Dominic with an even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠more aggressive remark than Pine.

Dominic glared and growled at Pine and Tarin, who were teasing him, but that was all.

He even turned his head and showed an attitude of ignoring them.

'They seem quite close.'

That's how it looked to Rian. Was that why? Somehow, Dominic's swordsmanship seemed to have been expected by all of them.

Rian also felt a desire to compete from the moment he faced these disciples of Sion.

Would they be any different?

It was more reasonable to think that they had deliberately left Dominic alone.

So, he didn't particularly mind them joking around in front of him under the guise of asking for forgiveness.

He just wanted to fight them all and gauge their skills.

But this wasn't the time to ask for a sparring match.

"I heard you were looking for the battalion commander. I was about to move there as well. Let's go together."

Rian also showed a military salute and accepted their greetings.

Treating Sion's disciples with rudeness for rudeness and courtesy for courtesy, Rian spurred his horse towards Dandelion Plain.

'But, did Mongclay think that he could stop the Imperial army, which had even hired a Mage, with just these people?'

One could never know.

Hwareuk-.

Under the dark sky.

The torches flickering intermittently from the Green Wave Forest swayed and moved towards Dandelion Plain.

If viewed from above, it was presumed that the lights forming a belt would be two lines.

The small line of lights had just entered Dandelion Plain.

The long line of lights was crossing the middle of the forest.

Each force had fought fiercely, chasing, fighting, and chasing again.

Now, the footsteps of the Imperial army, who were running away with the single-minded desire to survive, were a little faster.

"If you want to die, rest here!! Those who want to live must quickly cross the plains and cross the border!!"

At the commander's screams, the soldiers moved forward, forcing their feet, which were half-crazed, to move.

Of course, Williams, who had been in charge of them, had already left the forest under the pretext of requesting reinforcements.

"Damn it!! Crap!!"

"Everyone protects their own lives, crap!! If you want to die, tell me! I'll kill you!!"

"Damn it! They said it was a winning battle, but what is this!!"

"The land is gone! Let's go back alive! Damn it!!"

The Imperial army spat out curses of blame with missing subjects.

"……."

Gerard silently followed behind them. He could have gone ahead, but he couldn't because he thought the remaining soldiers would give up their retreat and surrender to the Kingdom army.

Soldiers were directly related to national power.

Even if they lost thousands and only hundreds remained, they were Imperial soldiers, so Gerard thought they should remain Imperial soldiers until the day they died.

So, if they continued like this, there was no need to worry about being caught up.

The enemies were no longer narrowing the distance in pursuit, so there would be no difference in how exhausted they were.

But should he return like this?

It was a battle they had almost won.

There was no hesitation in pushing the Kingdom army, whose combat power was significantly lower and morale was at rock bottom compared to the soldiers they had annihilated on the plains.

But how could this happen?

'I can't accept it.'

Gerard was in a state of mind where he wanted to cut his own throat with the guilt of defeat right away.

Even if that wasn't the case, he wouldn't be able to avoid the responsibility of the unit that failed to protect the Mage being the cause of the defeat.

No matter how there was a traitor in the unit that caused this to happen, the responsibility lay with him, who was in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠charge of the command.

'Will I be subjected to the death penalty of dismemberment? I'd rather be ordered to take responsibility and commit suicide.'

Gerard foresaw his own death. No matter how much he was favored by the commander-in-chief, he was just a commoner without any backing to cover up his responsibility.

Even if he reported that there was a traitor among the noble families, would it go as he wished?

'Those lowly nobles will collectively place all the blame on me.'

That's why he couldn't return like this. At least he had to cut off the enemy commander's head and bring it back to make it worthwhile.

Having organized his thoughts, Gerard decided to fill the hole in his own mistake with the enemy commander's head.

Even if he died, he thought it would be a way to repay the favor to Marquis Bueno Argen, who had raised him to this position.

"I will select twenty unit members who are prepared to fight with the determination to give up their lives, no more and no less. I will not force anyone."

At Gerard's sudden proposal, the hundred or so remaining unit members stopped in their tracks.

"What are you planning to do?"

At the unit member's question, Gerard replied with a blazing gaze.

"I must offer the head of the Azrion commander to the Marquis. That way, you can at least preserve your ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lives."

Some of the unit members thought that even if they had such an idea during the retreat, it was just an ideal.

Killing the commander was like jumping into the fire yourself.

So, the unit member who heard Gerard's answer carefully expressed his opinion.

"If we raid the families of the traitors and confiscate their assets…."

But Gerard had already closed his ears.

"That's that, and this is this."

"……."

The unit member who understood Gerard's intentions didn't ask any further. However, not everyone was ready to follow Gerard.

"Safely returning the remaining forces is also our job. As you said, let's do that separately, and the rest will focus on retreating. Let's go."

The Shadow Unit raised by the Marquis equated skill with power.

The unit members couldn't ignore the words of the most skilled member in the unit.

Above all, even if they cut off the commander's head, would they be able to return to their territory?

Gerard might be able to because he was the most skilled in the unit.

Others judged that it was impossible.

In any case, the responsibility for this situation would be a mistake caused by a traitor, and Gerard, who was in charge of the unit, would have to bear all the responsibility.

Most of the unit members judged that they would not be harmed.

Sasasak-!!

Therefore, most of them followed the retreating allies.

The number of people who followed Gerard was only ten, including himself.

They were all commoners or orphans with top-tier swordsmanship skills.

"I promise on my honor. I will ensure that only you can return to your homeland and preserve your lives."

Gerard vowed, bypassing the Green Wave Forest quickly to preempt the Azrion soldiers who were pursuing them.