The Tragedy That Befell Puran Village
Upon seeing the imperial knights' crest, the village guards were startled. Yet they refused to step aside.
"W-we're sorry. We received orders from the Grand Duke not to let anyone through."
"How dare you! Do you wish to die?!"
Bakers, the man with a bear-like back and tiger-like features, known as the Empire's Second Sword, gripped his sword hilt.
Just as violence was about to erupt—
"Leave them! We'll just ride through. Hya!"
The bold knight who had spoken informally to Duke Bakers earlier ignored the soldiers' attempts to block him and yanked on his reins again. He had no desire to kill anyone. Yet the soldiers in front brazenly raised their spears to stop him.
"Y-you bastards... How dare you?!"
The knight in shabby attire tried to hold back the soldiers raising their swords.
"I've come to rescue my younger sister. Get out of the way!"
But the soldiers insolently pointed their blades at him instead.
"Words won't work here, heh heh heh... Tell us what kind of girl she is. We'll treat her real special and have our fun with her."
"Hey, we've already had every young woman in this village anyway. Heh heh heh."
"You bastards—!"
In that instant, the knight swung his sword from atop his horse. A crescent-shaped beam of light, roughly four feet long, erupted from the blade. It was unmistakably Weapon Qi—his Weapon Qi was none other than Sword Aura.
"Graaaagh!"
The tremendous pressure—whether wind pressure or the blunt force of a hammer—struck with devastating impact. One of the infantry knights blocking his path had his armor caved in at the abdomen and chest, ribs shattering with a sickening crack.
"H-how is this possible?! Adamantium armor?!"
Adamantium...? Common soldiers guarding the entrance to a rural village were wearing adamantium armor? Bakers and his companions realized something was terribly wrong.
It wasn't only the imperial knights who sensed the anomaly. To shatter adamantium—the second-hardest metal in this world—with a single strike, and to kill an infantry knight wearing such formidable armor, his bones crushed as blood poured from his mouth...
In that moment, the pale blue aura Bakers unleashed sent a tremendous shockwave that knocked every soldier holding a spear to the ground.
"A-a Sword Master?!"
"Everyone, take up arms!"
"Your Highness the Crown Prince, we'll clear the way. Please stand back."
The village checkpoint had descended into chaos in an instant. Yet even as the situation spiraled, the Crown Prince seized his reins once more.
"Hyaah!"
He seized the opening and rode straight toward the village chief's house the locals had pointed out.
But what in the world had happened?!
The house was engulfed in flames.
The knight soon spotted what looked like the spoils of plunder—piles of goods wrapped in countless cloth bundles—stacked in front of the burning house. Then he saw a middle-aged woman, stripped naked and surrounded by dozens of soldiers, being whipped.
"That woman... Could it be Puyor...? You bastards! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
* * *
When the young man shouted, one of the soldiers clad in black plate armor turned to look at him and smirked. It was Leif Beard, the Marshal of the fearsome Black Star Knights, said to handle even tigers as if they were kittens.
"Can't you tell? We're just giving her a little education."
"Sob... sob... Please, save my daughter! Please save my daughter!"
The naked middle-aged woman, covered in brutal wounds, wept bitterly. Yet she paid no heed to her own pain, begging the knight to save her daughter first.
"D-don't tell me... Are you Puyor?! Where is Seira?! Where is your daughter?!"
The young knight's face was twisted with rage as he bellowed.
"Ah, so you've come looking for Seira too? She's already gone. Lost her mind. Even if you wanted a taste now, there's nothing left—no flavor, no nutrition, nothing at all. We already sent her off to a very nice place. Heh heh heh."
A knight in black-plated armor standing nearby chimed in with a sneer.
"Yes, yes. We sent her to a truly wonderful, heavenly place. Heh heh heh."
"That's right. That girl had such a pretty face, like an angel. Or should I say a goddess? Just looking at her face made it impossible to control one's lust."
"It wasn't just one or two who felt that way. That's why it wasn't just one or two who sent her off. Thousands of us rushed her and sent her off together to a very nice place. Heh heh."
"I don't care about myself... Please, just save my daughter. She's in the barn over there..."
"I'll kill you all, you filthy bastards! But first—Seira!"
"Kill me? Heh heh heh. You think you can kill me? No, I'll be the one killing you. Actually, this brat's amusing. Let's keep him alive for now. Look at him running toward the barn like that. Heh heh heh."
Leif Beard, a knight ranked within the top four of the Black Star Knights and one of the Grand Duke's personal guards, laughed heartily as he watched the young knight charge bravely into the inferno. Then his gaze shifted to the hundred or so knights following behind the young man.
"By the way, what's that behind him?"
"They appear to be his companions, sir."
At the sight of the banner bearing a golden dragon on red fabric, followed by knights in brilliantly polished white plate armor charging forward like a flock of geese, Leif Beard's face went blank with shock.
"The I-imperial Knights?! What do we do, Lieutenant?"
The lieutenant, Myler, had already ignored his superior completely. He dropped his weapon with a clang, raised both arms straight up, and shouted toward the approaching knights.
"I surrender~"
"In that case... I'm running."
Leif Beard, a knight of northern barbarian descent with a black beard, was one of the ten most notorious swordsmen in the Empire—feared by all northern knights. Yet he knew the truth: against Bakers, the Empire's Second Sword, even surviving this encounter was far from guaranteed.
Indeed, Emperor Obern had deployed the Empire's greatest military force for Operation Rescue Seira.
* * *
The young knight who had rushed into the barn—a mere squire with no name or family crest—burst into tears the moment he opened the door and witnessed the horrific scene inside.
"My... my little sister! How dare you—!"
His name was Crown Prince Dakus. Even Bakers, commander of the Imperial Knights, bowed respectfully to him alone—because he was the second most powerful figure in the Empire.
Yet most of the Empire's second-in-command rarely exposed themselves to the front lines. Dakus, however, had already reached the rank of Sword Master capable of emitting Sword Aura despite his youth, earning him immense respect from both the people and the knights of the Empire.
When Dakus finally threw open the barn door, he found a beautiful woman with skin as white as jade—rarely seen in a rural village. Her figure was truly exquisite. Yet beneath her legs, the floor was drenched in bright red blood, now beginning to darken and congeal. It seemed she had lost something precious only moments ago.
Thirty or so soldiers crowded around the woman like a mob, groping her slender calves, thighs, sides, and neck without restraint, spouting vulgar remarks.
"Heh heh, feels good getting taken by three at once, doesn't it?"
"We're pleasuring you nonstop, so you must be enjoying it!"
Thirty skilled knights, their faces twisted with madness and cruelty, tore at both her body and mind.
"Kyaa! Haa... haa... Please stop..."
The woman, who had been a perfect virgin, glared at the thirty men who had suddenly invaded her body with resentful eyes, letting out pained moans she could no longer hold back. In truth, she had been mercilessly violated by over a hundred soldiers who had occupied the village for three days—every single one of them, without exception—forced to endure endless torment.
"Aah... No more... please... haa... ugh..."
The more she begged, the more the soldiers swarmed her. They ignored her pleas like stubborn children and ravished her like feral dogs in heat. They had been taking turns violating her body and mind for hours without rest. Though only thirty were currently assaulting her, the sheer number of men—hundreds—who had already had their way with her was beyond imagination.
Her eyes were ringed with dark circles from days without sleep. Her lips were bruised and swollen purple from being used so roughly. As the soldiers began to drool like a river—
Dakus burst in.
"You... you bastards!!"
"Haa... ugh... No... no... please... let me rest..."
The soldiers began to snicker.
"Hey! Can't you hear the villagers crying because of you? Scream louder! Run, you bitch, run!"
"Hic... hic... haa... I can't take any more... please..."
"If you don't work harder, we'll bring the other villagers and have our fun with them too. Want a little sibling to keep you company?"
"Haa... ah... No... absolutely not... cough, cough."
In the midst of this horrific scene, Crown Prince Dakus finally lost his grip on reason.
"How dare you—!!"
But Dakus didn't know. The beautiful girl being violated before his eyes wasn't silver-haired. She was blonde. The girl he cherished, Seira, had silver hair.