When news spread that a confrontation with the Allen Knight Order was being prepared, the members of the First Knight Order felt that the time had come, yet they also harbored fear in their hearts.
All the knights in the kingdom today had grown up hearing tales of Benedict Allen’s heroism or had seen his deeds firsthand.
Because of this, most of them had dreamed of becoming knights in the Allen Order. They had imagined writing their own hero’s tales alongside the hero who protected the kingdom.
However, these dreams never became reality.
It wasn’t because the Allen family imposed restrictions.
Benedict Allen was someone who would allow anyone who believed in their strength to take the test.
However, he didn’t capture those who wanted to run away during the trial. Instead, he allowed them to escape with their pride shattered.
Therefore, the knights who had taken the test in Allen’s territory could never forget the scene from that day.
The test that stretched on for several nights.
The hellish trial that convinced them they would lose their lives if they didn’t endure.
The feeling of defeat they lived with every day after escaping from that hell.
How much better would it have been if they had never been allowed to take the test?
How happy would they have been if they hadn’t realized they were just ordinary people, not the geniuses they thought they were?
Could they have avoided the crushing feeling of defeat if they had simply taken the test to become knights in the kingdom from the start and pledged their loyalty?
Though they were knights in the most coveted position, deep down, their hearts were always filled with the sting of defeat.
And that feeling of defeat, after many long years, didn’t fade but grew stronger, transforming into inferiority.
“The legend of the Allen Knight Order ended decades ago!”
The kingdom’s knight commander raised his voice, filled with deep hatred toward Benedict Allen, his fist tightening with rage.
“Those who will fight against us now are nothing more than useless fools who haven’t faced a real battle in years!”
The commander was right. After his wife’s death, Benedict Allen had retreated into seclusion with the knights of the Allen family, trapped in his territory.
In contrast, what about the First Knight Order of the kingdom? The knights who claimed to be the sword that protected the kingdom had lived every day in real combat.
“This battle isn’t about individual strength! It’s about the completeness of the knight order! No matter how monstrous Benedict Allen is, in the end, he is just one man! He cannot complete an entire knight order by himself!”
As the commander shouted, the knights listening were filled with a flicker of hope.
Though they had been defeated in the past, perhaps this time, after relentlessly swinging their weapons to overcome that defeat, things would be different.
Perhaps, unlike them, who had been living in peace while their bodies had been carved with the scent of blood, they could defeat the knights of Allen’s order.
“Bet the honor of the royal palace on it! You are the kingdom’s elite!”
The kingdom’s knight commander, Tavol, smiled with excitement as he saw the knights raise their voices in unison.
The events at the Partlan family’s party last year had caused him great humiliation.
He had been called a fool for being manipulated by a little girl, mocked by his family members, and subtly disregarded by several knights.
But that was all over now. If the knight order he had cultivated managed to defeat Benedict Allen’s knights, it would prove his own capability!
Benedict Allen, I may not be able to defeat you with brute strength. But strength is not the only form of power in this world.
Let’s see. I’m curious how the knight group that’s been in peace for decades will fare in this battle.
With his sharp gaze on the knights, he shifted his focus toward the palace’s space mage.
The space mage, who had failed to properly perform spatial magic during the recent event at Soul Academy, was sweating nervously while preparing magic with his subordinates.
“Do you think it will work this time?” “Y-Yes, of course, Commander of the First Knight Order.” “I hope you don’t fail again. If you expose your incompetence once more, many heads will roll.”
With a menacing laugh, Tavol stepped into the space teleportation circle and clicked his tongue as the scenery of the lush green meadow unfolded before him. He had hoped for another failure.
“They arrived earlier than us.”
The knights of the Allen family had already taken their positions and were loosening up.
They too seemed to be tense about the upcoming battle, no doubt?
It was only natural given that it had been a long time since their last real fight.
Hmm?
Tavol froze when he saw the Allen knights moving frantically.
Why was the sword of a mere knight so heavy?
They didn’t seem that old, so how could they possess such skill?
No, it wasn’t just one. All the weapons they wielded were similarly heavy.
There was nothing that could be easily countered.
...Calm down. These are monsters who have gone through the hellish training of Allen’s territory.
The strength of their bodies was something he had expected.
They were certainly strong, but that didn’t mean the gap between them and his own knights was insurmountable.
Just as they had endured their hellish training, we too have survived in our own hell.
A gap of this size could certainly be closed with experience.
While Tavol swallowed hard, the kingdom’s knights who had followed behind him assessed their opponents, tightening their grips on their weapons.
“Lu. Lucy! Wait a moment! Are you sure you’re wearing that armor!? At least wear something on top of it!” “That’s right, young lady! No matter how legendary the blacksmith is, that thing!”
Just then, Lucy Allen and her family appeared behind the knights who were training.
Normally, all the knights’ gazes would have been fixed on Benedict, the symbol of heroism, but this time, it was different.
Instead of looking at the large knight, their gazes were fixed on the girl bouncing in front of him.
Lucy Allen, hailed as the earthly manifestation of a goddess, was wearing strange armor that even the most lowly adventurers would refuse to wear.
No, should we even call that armor?
It barely covered the necessary parts—how could that be called armor?
The fine cloth draped over the armor only barely covered the skin.
Her body’s curves were exposed, and the outfit looked more like something a dancer would wear than armor.
A noblewoman of the Allen family, a renowned family of counts, wearing that?
Updat𝓮d from freewēbnoveℓ.com.
The knights of the kingdom, trained in the nobility's ways, blinked in disbelief at this display.
Did Lucy Allen even know what they were thinking?
Lucy Allen, upon spotting the First Knight Order, smiled playfully.
“Hmm?♡ Is it wrong to show this off to others?♡” “Why would you ask such a thing?!” “Why?♡ What’s wrong with showing it?♡ Is there something wrong with my cute and stunning appearance?♡ I don’t see the problem?♡”
“Th-That’s...”
“Why?♡ What strange thought made you say it shouldn’t be shown?♡ I’d love to hear it from your filthy mouth.♡”
The knights, including Tavol, knew exactly how to respond to that question.
The simple fact was that a noblewoman was supposed to uphold certain decorum.
However, Benedict Allen and his family, faced with the self-willed words of the girl, couldn’t scold her, helplessly caught up in her defiance.
“Hah. I was worried for nothing. I didn’t expect the Allen knights to be this messed up.”
A comment made by one of the kingdom’s knights led to a sneer. What happened to the so-called strongest knight order in the continent?
They couldn’t even give proper advice to a disrespectful girl—how could they possibly be the feared knights of the continent?
“Hey.” “What’s the matter? Did we say something we shouldn’t have?” The knights of Allen raised their voices, but the kingdom’s knights, having witnessed the earlier display, stood straighter.
“Even though she’s the daughter of a great house, they’re letting her get away with that?!” “Where has the knightly spirit gone?”
Even before the battle began, the air was thick with tension.
It felt like a fight could break out at any moment.
As everyone gripped their weapons, the scene was ready to erupt. At that moment, Lucy Allen leaped forward.
“Hey♡ You virgin loser knight♡” “...Are you calling me?” “You figured it out?♡ There’s a bunch of idiots like you too♡ I guess you’ve never even held a girl’s hand, huh?♡”
The knight at the front trembled, his lips shaking as he heard insults rarely uttered in public.
“What do you want?” “You said you’d tell me?♡ What’s wrong with my cute and stunning armor?♡” “Everything is wrong with it! How could the daughter of the noble Allen family wear something like this?!”
“Oh, are you not getting it?♡ Are you too stupid to understand me?♡ I just asked what’s wrong with it?♡”
The answer to what was wrong was simple.
Exposure.
There were too many exposed areas.
In a noble family, there were places that should be hidden.
However, the knight could not bring himself to say this out loud, for the sharp gaze of Benedict Allen was fixed on him.
“Why can’t you speak?♡ You yelled at my dogs, but now you’re silent?♡” “...”
The knight, praying for a way out of the situation, was stopped by Lucy Allen, who stepped closer with a smile.
“Don’t tell me... you’re lusting after me?♡” “Wh-what are you saying?!” “Pfft♡ Hahaha♡ Look how flustered you are♡ So, the First Knight Order is a bunch of perverts who are secretly eyeing the daughter of a count, huh?♡”
“No! Please don’t insult me!”
“Oh?♡ Why can’t you look me in the eye?♡ Why can’t you look at me properly?♡ Huh?♡ Huh?♡”
The knight swore on his sword that he had never had any interest in a little girl. He was certain he had normal desires.
However.
Yes, however.
The beauty of Lucy Allen in front of him was beyond any standards.
And because she herself had spoken the word “lust,” he couldn’t help but become conscious of it.
That’s why he couldn’t look her in the eye.
“Wow♡ You weren’t even looking properly?♡”
“...What?” “Pfft♡ Sorry♡ I didn’t notice because you’re so small♡”
With an apologetic expression, she covered her mouth with her hand, but she was clearly not trying to stop laughing.
Her mocking gaze drove the knight mad, and he swung his fist at her, but Lucy Allen effortlessly dodged with the lightness of a dancer.
“Your cock is trash♡ Your punch is trash♡ Your personality is trash♡ Trash trash trash knight♡”
“Lady...!”
“How did someone like this even become a knight of the kingdom?♡ Did the commander make all the idiots under him just as dumb?♡”
As Lucy’s taunting spread, the kingdom’s knights’ gazes became sharper. The Allen knights prepared for battle, but Lucy Allen stepped forward to stop them.
“Not done yet?♡ Are you scared you’ll be humiliated by me?♡” “You’ll regret this.” “What’s that?♡ The regret’s yours! You’ll be remembered as the knight who was defeated by a girl for the rest of your life!♡”
As Lucy Allen taunted him, the first clash between the Allen Knight Order and the Kingdom’s First Knight Order began.