Chapter 821 Oppression (6)
Nahir and Gidan's expressions turned grim as they saw a multitude of armored knights charging toward the battlefield from the west.
A handsome young man with shoulder-length blonde hair and green eyes led the charge. Like the rest of the knights, his armor was silver. The only difference was the golden half cape that hand on his right shoulder.
HOOOONG!
Nahir did not know the man, but Gidan did because they had clashed with his team a few times in their first few weeks at the border.
"That is Hohen, Captain of the first platoon under Gaham's leadership," Gidan said through grounded teeth. "I had wondered why I did not see him among the knights. Looks like he went to gather more knights."
Just when he thought they could finally turn the battle's tide in their favor, such a troublesome guy appeared and brought a whole company of knights along. It seemed this battle was far from over.
When Nahir heard Gidan's introduction about the newcomer, his complexion paled slightly. Unlike Gidan, Nahir knew that Hohen was part of the group Kyran was supposed to intercept.
Looking at the knights with Hohen, Nahir finally realizes that Kyran returned early because he failed to intercept Achim's group. He scanned the group of knights with Hohen and frowned after failing to find Achim.
If Kyran failed, why was Achim not there? Could Kyran's information be wrong, and Achim was not there?
No. That was impossible.
If Achim was not present, where did Hohen gather those knights? He couldn't lead all those knights by himself.
This claim was not baseless. Hohen was a captain, but his strength was about the same as the knights with him. Nahir had no trouble confirming that. For this reason, he did not see why those knights would let him take the lead. Besides, as far as Nahir was concerned, only a Royal Family member could mobilize that many knights. Even if Hohen was tasked to escort those knights, he must be accompanied by a Royal Family member. He should not be the one leading them.
On the other hand, Gidan felt a growing sense of trepidation seeing those knights. Getting attacked by a horde of beasts was tolerable as long as they had Kyran. But facing a horde of knights— or, more accurately— Armakean Knights was a completely different story.
Kesiah smiled after hearing the sound of the horn. A second ago, her expression was that of a woman accepting her fate that she could not evade the incoming strike that might take her life. But the sound of the horn changed everything.
No.
That was not entirely correct.
Rather than the sound of the horn changing everything, it was more with what that sound meant.
And just as Kesiah mulled over that thought, a silver light intercepted the mysterious helper's strike.
PANG!
Kyran narrowed his eyes at the silver object that hit his wrist, forcing it to change the trajectory of his strike ever so slightly. But that small change resulted in Kesiah evading his sword by a hair's breadth.
"Protect the Princess!" Hohen shouted as he lowered his arm that held a silver and gold crossbow. It was he who shot at the mysterious helper, allowing Kesiah to escape death.
Frankly, Hohen aimed to hit the mysterious helper's arm and immobilize it. Alas, he underestimated the mysterious helper's reaction speed and only hit his wrist.
After Hohen's shout, all knights with a ranged weapon as their Divine Armament raised their arms. They summoned their Divine Armament and shot an array of multi-colored arrows toward the mysterious helper.
At that exact moment, the two scimitars returned to Kesiah's hands. The long strips of her dress retracted, and soon, they glowed with a blinding red light. The scimitars blended with the light, wrapping her body. After that, the dress and scimitars disappeared and were replaced by her earlier red crystal armor.
Right after Kesiah donned her armor, a volley of arrows rained down, causing the land around them to turn into ruins.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A mixture of earth, rubble, and dust spread around them, hiding them from the viewpoint of the others.
Nahir clenched his fists. Kyran had told them he would pave a path for them. But with how the situation had unfolded, he knew it was already impossible. He had to make a choice now.
The horde and the two magical beasts were still engaged with the other Armakeans and held the advantage. However, once Hohen arrives with the rest of the knights, it would only be a matter of time before they take complete control of the situation.
Nahir looked at the rest of the Eidums standing atop the steel wall. With the enhanced defensive array of their border, he was confident they could withstand any attack the Armakean launched after they regrouped.
But what about Kyran? Could he escape from them? Or would he end up as a prisoner of war? If that happened, would they use him as a bargaining chip for them to surrender?
Nahir was overthinking.
After all, with Kyran's strength, not to mention moral code, would he allow himself to become a prisoner of war? He would still opt for mutual destruction if he fought an enemy he could not defeat.
But that was the question. Would the combined strengths of the Armakean Knights be something Kyran could not win against?
Of course not.
That was not to say that Kyran was invincible. He had a list of people— primarily Sovereigns— he did not wish to fight because he knew he could not win. At least, not yet. And the Armakean knights were not one of them—? combined or not.
"Kill all enemies on sight!"
Gaham's voice reverberated on the battlefield as Hohen and the knights joined the fray.
Nahir and the other Eidums braced themselves after seeing the rest of the knights with Hohen summon their Divine Armaments and aim at the enemies on the battlefield.
"Nar! Please come back!"
Someone from the Eidum's side shouted.
Hearing this, more Eidums followed and shouted for Kyran to return.
Unfortunately, because of the thick cloud of smoke that covered the area where Kyran and Kesiah were confronting each other, they could not see or know his condition.
Most of them were confident he survived those volleys of arrows. But what about afterward? They saw Kesiah don her red crystal armor and might have taken advantage of the commotion of the arrows to launch a counter. Could Kyran still manage to defend himself if that were to happen?
Of course.
BOOM!
A colossal explosion suddenly occurred right where Kyran and Kesiah were. It was then followed by several shockwaves, which testified to how great that explosion had been.
That area was still covered with thick smoke. Thus, when the explosion occurred, no one knew what happened that might have caused it.
Nevertheless, all the knights were shocked, and their hearts sank, thinking something might have happened to the princess.
Gidan, in particular, paled after that explosion. He rammed his huge morning star at the Comodo to force it back before rushing toward the explosion.
Hohen was the same. He initially planned to assist the knights battling the Dryad, but he changed his course and went to the explosion. He ignored the after-shockwaves that swept past him, seemingly preventing his advance.
A few other knights also run toward the explosion.
RAWRGH!
The Comodo and the Dryad roared after those fighting them decided to abandon them so they could all go to where their princess was.
The Comodo stomped his front claws on the ground, creating web-like crevices to prevent the nearby Armekean officers' retreat. At the same time, the Dryad's roots wriggled underneath and shot off the ground, piercing every officer or knight on its way.
Cries of agony and even death filled the air, along with the repercussions of the explosion's aftermath.
Nahir and the rest of the Eidums were speechless at the scene before them. Because they were standing from a higher vantage point, they could see how colossal the explosion just now had been. They also felt the after-shockwaves from that and knew raw power caused it, not a powerful collision of magic attacks.
There was only one person they knew who could cause such raw power destruction, and just imagining how he could have done it gave them goosebumps.
Gaham was the first one to reach the site of the explosion. By then, the aftershocks had died down, and the thick cloud of smoke had alleviated a little.
At the center of the explosion, he saw a silhouette of someone in armor.
Because of the smoke, it was hard to discern whether the person wearing the armor was a woman or a man. Nevertheless, judging by the silhouette's height, it did not belong to the mysterious helper.
A smile of relief appeared on Gaham's face as he ran toward the silhouette.
"Princess Kesiah!"
The silhouette reacted upon hearing Gaham's call.
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