Chapter 207
“The enemy is approaching!”
Marquis Crombell’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. “Enemy? What do you mean, enemy?”
“Yes, my lord! Joshua Sanders is leading about a hundred knights toward us.”
“What the fuck…?” Marquis Crombell cursed before asking, “What happened to the vanguard?”
“We haven’t received any messages from them for quite a while now.”
“What?!” Marquis Crombell exclaimed with furrowed brows.
“Didn’t I tell you?” said the Mercenary King from the side. “Your proud knights will die.”
“There’s no way…” Marquis Crombell couldn’t believe it at all. “He has to be running some kind of scheme here. How could he decimate the vanguard in less than ten minutes?! The Pontier Family is falling apart; we’re about to claim victory, so how…”
“How could this happen…?” Marquis Crombell muttered blankly.
“Heh. Don’t think about it too hard. There are no tricks.” The Mercenary King eyed the front and shrugged. “Joshua Sanders’s power isn’t something we can take lightly. Don’t worry. We’ll pay them back in their own coin, but tenfold.”
“If…”
“It will be as usual—routine. I’ll smash straight through them, and they’ll be dead before you blink. They’re going to be sorry that they came out here on their own and gave up their trump card,” said the Mercenary King with a smile.
Lady Luck was on his side today: the battlefield was a flat plain with no obstacles, so there was nowhere for the Pontier Family to hide. Once again, history would be written by the victors.
However, the Mercenary King had no idea that his chalice was poisoned.
“Even though there aren't many of them, their skills can't be ignored because of what they've been through.”
“There aren’t that many of them, but we cannot ignore their skills and experience. Pull the ordinary soldiers back. Replace them with five hundred knights,” said the Mercenary King.
“That’s more troops, but I doubt that numbers will change things,” said Marquis Crombell with a worried look.
“No, things will change this time because I will be there, am I right? Your knights will be supported by my mercenaries as well as by a few mages in the rear.” The Mercenary King grinned. He looked as if everything was going according to his plan as he said, “Today, Joshua Sanders will disappear.”
***
“AHHHH!” Cain made a beeline for the enemy troops while screaming.
“HYAAAA!” Leo de Grans was right behind him and was also screaming.
The two looked like they were competing against each other as they ran as fast as they could. In just a few moments, they were already several hundred meters away from the soldiers of the Pontier Family.
Leo de Grans finally came to a halt and revealed a worried look while staring at the Pontier Family troops behind him.
“I don’t think we should be this far away…”
“I don’t care. I’m going to do it as well.”
“What?”
“Like how Master became a spearhead that pierced through the enemy lines—I will also become a sword that will slash through the battlefield,” explained Cain.
“...” Leo de Grand didn’t say anything as he stared at Cain and listened to the latter’s nonsensical words.
“Are you scared?” asked Cain.
“Huh?”?Leo de Grans seemed puzzled at the question.
“It’s fine if you’re scared,” said Cain.
Leo de Grans’ expression darkened. “The proud Wilhelm Knights are fearless.”
“Great, then. How old are you, by the way?”
Leo de Grans hesitated for a moment. He seemed confused by the non-sequitur as he answered, “I will be thirty-three this year.”
“Ah, you’re a monster as well.” Cain shook his head and stomped.
“It’s not like you’re just an ordinary guy.” Leo de Grans pointed out.
“Me?” Cain scowled. “Oh, his father saw my potential.”
“By His Majesty’s father, are you talking about the Titan of Avalon?” asked Leo de Grans with wide eyes.
Rather than answering, Cain changed the subject and asked, “Are you married?”
“Not yet…” Leo de Grans replied.
Cain revealed a strange look. “You’re still single despite your age?”
“I’m not sure if you know, but I handle Reinhardt’s internal and foreign affairs. I have to train my swordsmanship as well, so I basically have no time to think about marriage,” said Leo de Grans.
He was quick to provide excuses rather than reasons for his lack of love life. He couldn’t really be blamed for making excuses because he was obviously too old for marriage. Most people usually got married in their early twenties.
Cain revealed a complicated look before saying, “I will be thirty this year.”
“And I’m still single…”
Leo de Grans’ eyes widened. “You mean…”
“I have never held a woman’s hand. I have only been holding nothing but the sword since I started learning the way of the sword.”
“Sir Cain…” For the first time, Leo de Gran’s eyes gleamed with sympathy. He looked at Cain as if he understood the latter’s feelings very well.
“I don’t care about the bet,” Cain resolved. “When this fight is over, I will treat you as my older brother—No, you are my older brother from now on.”
The determination in Cain’s voice made Leo de Grans stand straight as he revealed a look of determination as well before saying, “Don’t worry! I will use everything at my disposal to protect my younger brother.”
“Brother…!”
Men were simple creatures. In the proverbial blink of an eye, they immediately became brothers from rivals after finding a common ground between each other.
The rattle of horseshoes drew Cain’s attention ahead. At last, the enemies on horseback were coming into view—and en masse.
“I've got a plan.”
“A plan?”
“I want to protect the master like the Seven Knights of Avalon, the best on the continent, did so long ago. Seeing you only strengthened my resolve,” said Cain.
Leo de Grans seemed confused by the statement.
Fortunately, Cain quickly followed up and said, “The worse your love life is, the better of a knight you’ll become.”
Leo de Grans stared wide-eyed at him. “How is dating related to that…”
“Sanders Seven Knights should not get married until me and you—the First and the Second—respectively got married. It is only after we’re married can the other knights get married as well.”
“I agree…”
The two proud knights seemed to have reached an agreement.
“I have already thought of a name.”
“Say it.”
“Seven Knights is such a boring name. You don’t have to worry. The name I have in mind will be incomparably better than Seven Knights.” Cain gripped his sword tighter as the enemy troops closed in on them.”
“The knights who will protect Lord Sanders shall be named…”
Boom!
Cain stomped as hard as he could as an Aura Blade covered his sword in the blink of an eye.
“Gold Spirit Knights!”
“Gold Spirit…!”
“The people of the continent love gold more than anything else. The common folks are often unaware of orichalcum, but they definitely know gold. Therefore, we shall be called Gold Spirit Knights from now on,” Cain said before taking off running.
“What a great idea…” said Leo de Grans before taking off running after Cain with a smile.
The two men quickly collided with the enemy troops.
“Ah!”
Loud screams filled the air as the troops on horseback were knocked off their horses. Leo de Grans and Cain’s swords quickly swept through the battlefield.
***
“Is it really okay to leave them alone?” Marquis Crombell was worried. It was understandable because his knights were dying every second. “Please make a decision! Time is of the essence!”
More and more knights fell. Unbelievably, only two men were taking on Crombell’s knights, and they were even laughing while doing so. A single slash of their swords would send three or more knights flying. Marquis Crombell’s knights were C-Class or B-Class, which meant that their opponents were…
“A-Class…” The Mercenary King stopped forward with a chuckle. He was now holding an axe that was twice the size of an average person. If it weren’t for the energy it was emitting, the axe would have looked fake and comical.
“They will be nice appetizers,” said the Mercenary King as he infused his mana into his axe, making the axe quiver as if it were having a seizure.
“Taorin,” said the Mercenary King to the axe before asking, “When was the last time you’ve eaten?”
He crouched. The Mercenary King’s legs bulged until they looked like they were about to explode, and with a loud boom, he disappeared.
“Ha!” Cain knocked down another knight, and then his eyes widened. He could feel something strange coming. By pure instinct, he whipped his sword behind him just in time to deflect an enormous axe headed for his neck.
“Argh!”
“Sir Cain!” Leo de Grans yelled in disbelief. How could he not be astonished when Cain was literally sent flying?
“You sure know how to move…”
“...!” Leo de Grans turned to the speaker, and his eyes widened like saucers. “The Mercenary King Barbarian…!”
“A-Class, and an A-Class who had just become an A-Class…” muttered the Mercenary King.
Leo de Grans nervously raised his sword. The Mercenary King had just accurately deduced their skill levels, so he was understandably apprehensive.
“Sir Cain! Are you alright?!”
“This is nothing…!” Cain got up and dusted his clothes.
‘Just how strong is he…?’ Cain acted like it was nothing, but he was actually worried.
The Mercenary King struck only once, but he managed to send Cain flying a few dozen meters away. Of course, Cain knew that his role was to buy time. He had to buy time for the protagonist of this stage.
‘Master will come here soon, and the stage has to be ready by then.’
Cain’s eyes lit up. He poured as much mana as he could into his gigantic sword, and a gigantic dazzling blade of light superimposed over his gigantic sword. The blade of light was so huge and bright that it was such a sight to behold.
“Brother, cover me!”
“That’s a given…” Leo de Grans also activated his Aura Blade.
The Mercenary King took in their tense expressions and smiled. He gestured with his finger and said, “Come…”
“Ha!” Cain was relatively short-tempered compared to Leo de Grans, and he was the first one to take a step forward. He swung his gigantic sword at the Mercenary King’s legs.
Of course, Leo de Grans was right behind him. Leo de Grans targeted the Mercenary King’s right shoulder. The attacks of the two were quick, and they came from an angle that would render either attack invisible if the Mercenary King decided to deal with one of the attacks.
It was an incredible feat of coordination from Leo de Grans and Cain, even though this was the first time they fought together on the battlefield.
However, the Mercenary King simply swung his axe to send them flying away.
“Really, just how strong is he…?” muttered Cain as he stood up.
“I expected it but not to this extent…” remarked Leo de Grans.
The two stood up and started coughing as they struggled to control the backlash from failing in their attacks as well as the force behind the Mercenary King’s attack.
It felt like their Aura Blades had snapped off after colliding with the Mercenary King’s axe. Naturally, such a phenomenon was possible, but it meant that the Mercenary King’s Aura Blade was at least as good as theirs.
At their level, the only way to improve Aura Blade was to improve one’s swordsmanship.
The Mercenary King seemed to have noticed their confusion, and he decided to kindly explain to them.
“It’s an Aura Overlay.”
“Aura Overlay?”
“Aura is what composes the Aura Blade. In a sense, Aura is water, and Aura Blade is ice,” the Mercenary King informed them. He examined their stiff expressions and grinned. “However, newly formed ice isn’t going to put a scratch on ice that is a few decades old.”
“...!”
Leo de Grans and Cain stared wide-eyed at the Mercenary King’s Aura Blade.
“Now I’ll show you a once-in-a-lifetime performance—the reason why there are Nine Stars and Twelve Superhumans!”
“Don’t act like you’re the only one who knows that technique, Mercenary King. Don’t be too arrogant.”
“...!” The Mercenary King sharply inhaled as his eyes widened.
A crimson spear streaked through the air. It was too fast for the Mercenary King to dodge, so he resorted to defending himself with his beloved axe, Taorin.
There was a loud explosion as both weapons collided.
The sheer impact made the Mercenary King’s wrists tingle, but it wasn’t as powerful as the emotional damage that the Mercenary King received upon seeing the overlapping aura on the crimson spear.
The Mercenary King muttered in complete astonishment.
“Aura… Overlay?”
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