Knight: from Apprentice to the Almighty

Chapter 344: Chapter 331: "Dear" Old Classmate

Duke’s army stood in disciplined formation before Anno’s main camp. The two influential Dukes were finally reunited under their war banners.

Anno stepped forward first, his posture elegant, yet with a hint of familiarity reserved for an old acquaintance.

"Duke, it’s been a long time. I never thought that after so many years, we would meet again under circumstances like these."

Duke laughed heartily, dismounted cleanly, and strode forward.

"Anno, you haven’t changed a bit. Always so particular with your words."

He reached out and clapped Anno heavily on the shoulder pauldron. The overly casual gesture broke the customary etiquette and distance between nobles.

"The last time we saw each other in the Royal Capital... it must have been five or six years ago, right?"

Anno accepted the overly enthusiastic greeting without flinching, a perfectly measured smile on his lips.

"Seven years and four months, to be exact, Duke. It seems the affairs of the Western Domain these past years haven’t managed to make you any more mature."

He took a slight step back, restoring the perfect social distance.

"However, your timely arrival is indeed a great help."

Duke surveyed the surrounding army, which stood ready for battle. His gaze was sharp, yet still carried his characteristic forthright air.

"I heard you ran into a bit of trouble over here. How could I just sit by and do nothing? Don’t you remember our time at the Knight Academy? We fought side-by-side back then."

His tone shifted, and he cut straight to the point.

"So, what’s the situation on the battlefield? Tell me everything."

A nearly imperceptible flicker passed through Anno’s eyes, as if certain memories had been stirred.

"Everything is going more smoothly than expected."

His tone was steady, tinged with a reserved confidence.

"The armies of the River Domain are pitifully weak. They’re barely holding on now by using the terrain to their advantage. With you and your Western Domain elites joining the fray, their defeat is a foregone conclusion."

He elegantly raised a hand, pointing toward the most spacious tent in the center of the camp.

"A banquet has been prepared for you. Let us drink and talk, just like old times."

On the surface, the atmosphere at the banquet was lively.

Silverware and crystal goblets glittered in the candlelight, wine flowed freely, and the two Dukes intermittently spoke of bygone days, as if they were truly old friends reunited after a long separation.

Duke was the life of the party, drinking deeply and speaking freely. However, the sharp glances he occasionally cast at Anno’s face revealed a meticulous observer beneath his boisterous exterior.

Anno, for his part, maintained his impeccable aristocratic bearing, his words proper and his replies effortless. But the smile rarely reached his eyes.

After the banquet ended, Anno returned to his own heavily guarded command tent.

In the flickering candlelight, Erwin was already waiting inside, his face etched with unconcealed worry.

"Your Grace..."

Seeing Anno return, Erwin immediately took a step forward, his voice lowered to a whisper.

"Duke’s visit... don’t you find it too sudden? The Western Domain is a great distance from here, yet he responded so quickly and brought such a formidable force... I fear there’s an ulterior motive behind all this."

The perfect smile Anno wore at the banquet vanished in an instant, replaced by an icy stillness.

He slowly walked to the long table covered with a military map. His fingertip silently traced the long distance between the Western Domain and the Eastern Front, and an elusive shadow passed through the depths of his eyes.

"Your concerns are valid, Erwin..."

Anno finally spoke, his voice low and steady.

"When I first sent the request for aid to Duke, I never actually intended to use his troops. It was more of a... necessary notice, a hint that this was my affair and that he should have the sense to stay away."

He paused, and the sound of his knuckles tapping on the table was especially clear inside the tent.

"I truly didn’t expect him to actually come in person, leading an army."

The corner of Anno’s mouth curved into an inscrutable arc, one that was part mockery and part acknowledgment of an old rival.

"Duke may seem crude on the surface, but he’s extremely meticulous underneath. He’s always been that way. The Western Domain has been suffering from a drought recently. His trip... he most likely saw an opportunity to come to the East and acquire some desperately needed supplies and provisions. As for..."

When the thought ’Duke might launch an attack’ drifted through his mind like a phantom, Anno almost immediately let out a soft, contemptuous laugh and dismissed it.

"No, he wouldn’t dare."

He muttered to himself, his tone full of conviction.

"Openly attacking a Duke of the Kingdom? That’s a challenge to the laws of the entire Kingdom. No matter how audacious he is, he would never dare to make such a mad move when Prince Lucius is clearly on our side."

However, at the mention of Prince Lucius, Anno’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.

’Though he had a low opinion of the Prince’s abilities, the caution that had long been ingrained in his very bones ultimately took over.’

He looked up, his gaze once again calm and sharp, and gave Erwin his orders.

"Send word to slow the offensive on the front lines for now. There’s no need to rush for a quick victory."

"Take your most reliable men and keep a close watch on Duke and his legions. I want to know the deployment of his every camp and the purpose of his every troop movement."

"As you command, Your Grace."

Erwin bowed deeply to accept the order, then withdrew silently from the tent.

Anno remained alone in the flickering candlelight, his fingertips once again tapping a rhythm on the tabletop. A complex light, a mixture of calculation and vigilance, glinted in his eyes, as if he were mapping out countless possibilities in his mind.

The subsequent battles progressed just as Anno had anticipated.

Under the ferocious assault of the combined Eastern and Western Domain armies, the forces of the River Domain retreated step by step, unable to resist.

Duke and the Warriors under his command displayed astonishing combat strength in this war. They always charged at the forefront, holding nothing back.

In just half a month, the allied army advanced like an unstoppable force, the front line pushing ever forward. They could even see the distant silhouettes of the River Domain Kings’ Capitals.

Duke’s proactive performance, with no signs of any unusual activity, gradually eased Anno’s tense nerves. His wariness toward the Duke of the West lessened considerably.

On another evening after a victory, the camp of the Golden Valley Kingdom’s army was brightly lit with bonfires, filled with an air of celebration.

Fine wine flowed freely, and the sounds of songs and laughter mingled, celebrating the successive victories.

At this grand feast, Duke and Anno sat side-by-side, raising their cups to drink with the many nobles participating in the war.

During the feast, Anno, in high spirits, turned to Duke and said.

"Once we conquer the River Domain Kings’ Capitals, the Western Domain can take half of the wealth and spoils of war within."

Hearing this, Duke let out a booming laugh and clinked his cup forcefully against Anno’s.

"Then it’s a deal! To victory!"

He drained his cup in one gulp, the picture of magnanimity.

But beneath his hearty smile, a cold killing intent was silently gathering.

Anno, however, was completely unaware of the impending crisis. The string of victories had bolstered his confidence immensely.

His gaze swept past the boisterous banquet, settling on the distant silhouette of a royal capital, barely visible in the twilight outside the tent. A burning, impatient heat flashed in his eyes.

After the banquet, Anno returned to his silent tent.

Under the flickering, dim candlelight, he slowly extended a hand from within his wide sleeve.

On the back of his pale hand, a strange, dark Holy Mark slowly emerged. It looked as if it were composed of flowing shadows and sinister runes, and it squirmed faintly beneath his skin like a living thing.

He gazed at this mark of Power, a cold smile appearing on his lips.

"’As soon as that Royal Capital is conquered, pure Abyssal Power will be within my grasp. The ’Demon Well’? Hmph. A Fisherman is still just a Fisherman. How utterly foolish!’"

Carrying this burning desire, Anno drifted off to sleep, lost in his fantasies of the future.

An unknown amount of time passed before the dead silence of the night was shattered by a dazzling flash of light that tore through the Darkness.

Immediately after, a piercing alarm shrieked across the sky.

The instant that piercing shriek tore through the night, Anno’s eyes snapped open. There was none of the grogginess of someone just waking up, only cold clarity.

In an instant, the sounds of Chaos, the distant shouts of battle, and the rampaging, undisguised killing intent aimed directly at him pieced together the whole truth in his mind.

"Duke! You backstabbing, savage mutt!"

A low growl, suppressing a towering rage, escaped from between his clenched teeth.

However, before the words had even left his mouth, his magnificent tent was torn apart from the middle by an irresistible force, as if it were brittle paper.

A hurricane-like slash, so condensed it was almost solid and wreathed in an aura of Destruction, was already upon him.

The Power was so ferocious that it forced the hair on his forehead to fly back, and his skin stung as if being cut by a sharp blade.

Outside the tent, the entire military camp had descended into terrifying Chaos.

Flames shot up everywhere, illuminating the figures of panicked soldiers fleeing for their lives. The silhouettes of loyal Guards clashed violently with those of the attackers.

The clang of weapons, furious roars, and agonizing screams echoed to the heavens.

In that life-or-death moment, Anno displayed a decisiveness and calm that completely contradicted his aristocratic appearance.

He didn’t make a futile attempt to block the blow, which was clearly beyond what any human could withstand. Instead, he instinctively threw himself backward, simultaneously planting his feet on the heavy desk behind him and kicking off forcefully.

The wooden desk instantly exploded, and using the recoil, he narrowly retreated backward, hugging the edge of that devastating slash.

Even so, the sharp edge of the attack still tore through his magnificent sleeping robe, leaving a shallow, bloody gash across his chest.

The slash crashed into the ground, utterly destroying the bed he had just been lying on along with a large section of the floor, sending dust and debris flying everywhere.

Amidst the spreading dust, Anno knelt on one knee, panting heavily, looking slightly disheveled.

But the eyes he raised were burning with a cold fury, fixed on the massive figure standing tall in the breach of the tent, holding a Giant Sword.

As the dust swirled, Duke looked down on the somewhat disheveled Anno. His lips split into a wild, openly mocking grin, and his booming voice cut through the clamor of the battlefield.

"Looks like all these years, that noble blood of yours hasn’t taught you how to handle a real fight."

"Oh! Anno, my dear old classmate! You’re still the same as you were back at the Academy, always hiding behind decorum and rules. Too bad for you, there’s no referee here to kick me out just because a ’poor kid from the frontier’ decided to beat you up!"