Chapter 199
On the walls of Castle Peril…
“God…!” Cain exclaimed. “What is happening?”
Their master finally arrived with men they were unfamiliar with. He was both relieved and excited to see his master after a long time of parting, but when he saw how many men his master brought with him as reinforcements, he couldn’t help but think that the numbers were insufficient.
When he saw how Marquis Crombell’s troops were about to make contact with his master, Cain wanted to jump off the wall and assist his master right away.
In the end, he didn’t do it. It was all because he met his master’s gaze, and Joshua smiled at him with a small shake of his head. The gesture was enough to relieve the worry in Cain’s heart.
Excitement soon took over him, and he started trembling at the sight of Joshua’s hundred-strong men. Cain unknowingly clenched his fists when Viscount Wright stood in the way of his Master.
However, he was stupefied to see his master’s move.
Space itself opened to reveal a shining red spear. It flew for Viscount Wright’s heart with pinpoint accuracy as if it had been custom-made for this moment, and the encounter ended in the proverbial blink of an eye.
Cain felt a shiver down his spine. Joshua had indeed crossed the final great wall. He had become akin to a god who could shake both heaven and earth.
The Lord of Peril Castle, Count Keiros, was also a B-Class Knight. He witnessed what happened, and he couldn’t help but mutter in disbelief, “It has been three years since Viscount Wright became an A-Class Knight, but he actually died so quickly…”
Icarus arrived next to Cain and Count Keiros while muttering, “W-What happened? Who are those knights behind Master? Are they on our side?”
Cain’s usual joviality was nowhere to be found as he said, “It’s definitely safe for us to assume that they are on our side.”
“Ah…!” Icarus exclaimed in joy.
“Oh, and I think that he has gathered quite a few women around him. You know, women who are real jaw-droppers,” said Cain.
Flinch!
Charles’ flinched, and her gaze turned lethal along with her demeanor.
“What did… you just say?”
Cain was definitely in mortal danger, but thanks to the shouts and footsteps of Marquis Crombell’s army, his life was temporarily saved.
“Aaaahhh!”
Count Keiros was quick to react as he shouted, “Prepare to fire!”
The enemy troops would soon be in the range of their arrows.
Cain saw the soldiers pulling their bowstrings, and he quickly looked elsewhere. Cain’s eyesight was great, and he could pick up details most people wouldn’t be able to see at great distances.
He saw that about three hundred meters away from the rest of Marquis Crombell’s army was Joshua and his knights clad in black.
Having put down an enemy commander, Joshua’s spear was now aimed at the rest of Marquis Crombell’s knights. The knights clad in black following him were no less eager for blood, and, unbelievably, they had the skills to match even a knight of Duke Agnus.
Joshua’s presence here would undoubtedly turn the tides of this siege, and the turn of events was so fast that it was hard for Cain to describe it accurately. There wasn’t really anything Cain disliked about all this aside from one thing…
“That dog dares to steal my place next to Master…?!” Cain drew his sword. He abruptly jumped down the walls. Cain thought that he had matured, but he certainly hadn’t matured just yet. After all, he wanted to monopolize his master’s side.
Aside from him, no one else should stand by his master’s side.
“I am Cain, the right hand of Baron Joshua Sanders! Aaaahhh!”
“...!”
“Sir Cain!” Icarus was stupefied to see Cain jumping down the walls while screaming.
On his own, he ran across the plains against an army of five thousand.
“That madman…!” Count Keiros, a famously mild-mannered man, accidentally cursed. It couldn’t be helped because the scene was just that shocking—no, Cain’s actions were the hallmarks of a madman!
Marquis Crombell's troops quickly noticed Cain running on his own.
“Who is that madman?” one of Gehog’s lieutenants asked.
“Don’t worry about him,” a lieutenant who took over Viscount Wright’s place replied to the other lieutenant, ”I’m sure someone’s going to knock him down soon enough.”
“Right,” replied the other lieutenant.
Gehog momentarily frowned and took a step back to look at the bigger picture.
“Someone there definitely wanted to get rid of him,” said Gehog with a chuckle. He waved his hand dismissively before staring at the castle walls of Peril Castle. “Charles… Charles di Pontier. Hahaha!”
He imagined what he was going to do with her, and he couldn’t help but laugh like a madman. However, he was forced to stop laughing when the ‘madman’ from earlier finally made contact with his troops.
Boom!
Everyone’s ears were assaulted by an ear-splitting explosion.
“Wait, I know that guy! Is he really…” the lieutenant next to Gehog trailed off.
There was only one person with that kind of presence helping the Pontier Family. The trademark ink-black gigantic sword that he was wielding told them everything they needed to know about him.
“First Knight Cain de Harry…”
“First Knight?”
“That’s the name people gave him when he became Baron Sanders’ only knight. Baron Sanders recently became a Master, and Cain’s status as Baron Sanders’ First Knight has also made him famous throughout Avalon.”
Gehog scowled at the lieutenant’s answer. It didn’t feel good to hear the name of someone who humiliated him before, but he had to take the title ‘First Knight’ seriously.
It was one thing to earn a moniker within one’s family, but for a moniker to be known throughout the empire meant that the owner of the moniker was a true powerhouse. It meant that the owner of the moniker could affect the entire Avalon.
The previous knights to have earned such monikers were the Seven Knights of the His Majesty the Emperor two hundred years ago. Imperial power was at its strongest back then, and all seven knights were on par with a modern A-Class Knight.
“What a shame. I think he’s just a good-for-nothing who got lucky to be sworn in as the very first knight of a powerful master.”
“Nicknames are just a boring hobby for people with no class,” Gehog snorted. He thought about it for a while before saying, “Send one unit in response. The strongest unit will do because I don’t want any nuisances when we’re so close to victory.”
“I hear and obey.”
“You should go with the other knights as well. The rest of the troops will shatter their gates in the interim. As soon as you’re done dealing with him, bring his head with you and join us in the siege,” added Gehog.
“Understood!”
While they were talking, a soldier was cutting through Gehog’s protective cordon from behind. The lieutenant obeyed Gehog’s orders and sent troops to deal with Cain.
Finally, the soldier arrived. He turned out to be a messenger, and he knelt in front of Gehog before shouting, “Master Gehog! Important news!”
“What’s going on?” asked the lieutenant next to Gehog.
“S-Sir…!” the messenger exclaimed. He took a few deep breaths and answered, “Sir Wright is dead!”
“...!”
Gehog and the lieutenant stared wide-eyed at the messenger.
“What nonsense are you talking about?!”
“Tell us the details,” muttered the lieutenant.
“The enemies in the rear attacked and…”
As the messenger explained, Gehog got progressively angrier. The lieutenant saw that, and in an attempt to reduce Gehog’s rage, the lieutenant yelled at the messenger for Gehog, “Are you saying that Commander Wright lost to a hundred people?!”
“Not a hundred… just one.”
“What?”
“Sir Wright challenged someone to a one-on-one fight. He challenged what looked like the enemy’s leader. However, the opponent killed Sir Wright before Sir Wright could make a move.”
“...!” A terrible silence fell over the group at the tragic and unbelievable passing of Sir Wright.
“Who did it?” asked Gehog in a low voice, shattering the silence.
“We still haven’t identified the group, but the person who killed Sir Wright—”
“It's me.” responded a voice from out of the blue.
A figure fell from the sky and landed in front of them.
The knights in the cordon were quick to unsheathe their swords.
“You bastard…! What are you doing here?!”
The knights quickly moved to surround the stranger who appeared in the midst.
Gehog stared at the stranger with wide eyes open and a look of disbelief. Upon confirming that he wasn’t hallucinating or dreaming, he started shaking like a sieve.
“What? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“You—”
“I’ll send you to join your friend, Veron shen Villas. It’s always the same with your clique—why do the children of the Twelve Families all look like they’ve seen a ghost whenever they see me?” Joshua summoned his crimson spear and took a stance, gripping the spear tightly in his hands. “You and your family have gone too far. I won’t let you wreak havoc anymore.”
The crimson spear emitted a dangerous air that unsettled Gehog just by looking at it.
“T-there’s no way…!” the lieutenant next to Gehog was stupefied.
He recalled a rumor from Reinhardt about a certain crimson spear. The wielder of the crimson spear was the youngest master in the entire continent and Avalon.
The spear was a weapon that was often shunned by many people, but it turned out that most people had committed a mistake by ignoring the spark.
The mockery and disdain of many powerful people soon turned into frustration and hopelessness.
The young Master of Avalon had stupefied them with his spear arts.
The lieutenant started trembling. Gehog trembled like he was having a seizure, and he started screaming, “Are you going to kill me? Do you dare?! I’m Marquis Crombell’s son! Are you prepared to face the consequences?!”
Joshua, the King of Reinhardt, smiled bitterly at that.
“Kill? Why would I kill you?”
“...!” Joshua’s words should have sounded reassuring, but Gehog felt a sense of foreboding instead. Soon enough, his worries came true.
“Your family is the most successful merchant family of Avalon, yes?”
“Yes, yes! Well, I mean—”
“I know,” Joshua interrupted and smiled before saying, “So I’m going to steal everything from you aside from your life.”
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