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Chapter 61:

At Kyle’s shout, the soldiers stirred and gripped their weapons. However, they hesitated and stepped back in the face of the daunting presence of Bexter and his knights.

Surrounded without a chance to escape, Kyle glared at Bexter, grinding his teeth.

“You ingrate, to forget the kindness my father showed you…”

“Kindness? I am a knight of the Empire. Did you think I would serve another lord just because I retired?”

Bexter murmured, as if incredulous. The Empire’s knighthood owes loyalty only to the Empire, a fact that does not change even upon retirement. It was only because the previous Lord Hendrake wanted to nurture knights that he promised Bexter a secure retirement and brought him over.

In essence, it was merely an employment relationship.

Nevertheless, Bexter felt uncomfortable with the fact that he was pointing his sword at Kyle.

“Surrender quietly. This is the only way you can save yourself.”

For the sake of the previous Lord Hendrake, it was better to restrain Kyle now. If a siege were to break out, causing the land to become desolate and blood to flow, there would be no chance to save lives.

Bexter, as a knight, thought it better to die fighting for something, but this fight was different. It was a dishonorable struggle to endure.

“This fight is not about honor; it’s about being manipulated by a disrespectful being. I will do my best to ensure you receive mercy. It might be hard to keep the lands, though…”

Kyle, seemingly resigned to his fate, weakly dropped his hands.

“Put aside everything else, but what about mental incompetence?”

Kyle’s words made Bexter’s usually impassive face waver for the first time. A ripple of confusion spread among the knights until one whispered to Bexter.

“Really, you didn’t know?”

“The fact that you didn’t know speaks volumes of your incompetence, Kyle Hendrake.”

Kyle felt unjustly accused. Embezzlement, betrayal, incitement to discord – all these accusations were unjust, but the charge of mental incompetence was the most grievous of all. However, he had neither the time nor the opportunity to express his grievances.

One of the knights approached and bound Kyle’s hands.

Bexter gave another knight an order.

“Go to the village and inform Count Reinhardt and the Holy Grail Knights that Lord Hendrake surrenders. Our real enemy is not Lord Hendrakeee, but within…”

“Bexter, sir.”

Just then, a familiar voice approached, unusually loud.

Bexter, instinctively placing his hand on his sword, turned his head. His face contorted.

Raella was approaching, her red hair fluttering.

“What insolence is this towards the lord?”

“Raella.”

Bexter uttered coldly and commanded the knights.

“She’s a witch of the Red Chalice. Subdue her immediately and imprison her in the dungeon.”

Bexter had been aware of all the facts. The investigation had been ongoing since the death of the previous lord.

He had mobilized all available resources and, with their help, discovered that Raela was a member of the Red Chalice Club.

However, to deal with Raella, it was necessary to dethrone the manipulated lord first. Hence, he had first persuaded the Hendrake knights he had been training. Since the lord’s incompetence had already led to delayed wages, recruitment was not difficult.

In the meantime, someone claiming to be a Holy Grail Knight had come to the village, accompanied by a maid from the same Red Chalice Club. Therefore, Bexter had urgently inquired about the situation with Isaac and only then proceeded with the action.

“How rude to call me a witch.”

Raella looked at the approaching knights with a smile. Then, Bexter noticed the Black Knight standing behind Raela. The other knights, thinking he was just another member of the Hendrake knights, paid him no mind and approached.

But in the next moment, the Black Knight drew his sword.

Bang, crack!

Before the other knights could react, the Black Knight moved. Almost simultaneously, one knight’s body was cut in half, armor and all, and fell, while another’s upper body was sliced off and fell below the ramparts.

Bexter was shocked by the sudden turn of events and raised his sword.

“Owen? Why are you here!”

Only then did Bexter recognize that the Black Knight was Owen, who should have been lying in bed sick.

Owen was the knight Bexter had trained most diligently, but as far as he knew, Owen didn’t possess such skill.

Without a word, Owen approached.

Bexter gritted his teeth and aimed his sword. Regardless of how, considering what happened to the previous knights, it appeared Owen possessed a high level of swordsmanship.

Of course, Bexter also possessed advanced swordsmanship skills…

Clash, snap, slash!

The blades collided in an instant. Three attacks came flying; Bexter managed to block the first two, but the last one mercilessly slashed his thigh. Bexter fell to the ground.

He looked up at Owen.

“You bastard…”

Without a word, Owen decapitated Bexter. The sight of his head rolling gruesomely was witnessed by the knights and soldiers on the walls, and by Kyle. Kyle, who couldn’t have imagined Bexter losing, stared blankly at the rolling head.

Owen looked at the knights without saying a word.

The knights immediately threw down their weapons and surrendered. And, for some reason, the soldiers did the same.

Raela approached Kyle, who was still standing dumbfounded.

“I’ve saved you, my lord. You’re welcome, aren’t you?”

It was only after her sweet whisper that Kyle belatedly realized the true meaning behind Bexter’s words.

That surrendering now was the only way to live.

But it was already too late.

***

“As expected, no response from Sir Bexter.”

Reinhardt murmured regretfully, looking up at the walls. The knights, discussing how to proceed with the upcoming siege, looked at Reinhardt with puzzled faces.

“Did you think it would be resolved so easily?”

“I thought Sir Bexter would beat Kyle into submission or, failing that, tie him up and bring him out… especially since I had explicitly said we were trying to resolve this situation peacefully.”

Reinhardt had been building a siege and preparing for an attack while hoping for a dramatic turnaround. A full-on battle would be the worst outcome for both sides, so he hoped for some compromise.

“I was hoping for practical reasons, too. Currently, we have only 100 soldiers and 15 knights. A siege is out of the question until reinforcements arrive.”

Nonetheless, the reason Hendrake’s side hadn’t pressed forward was the significant difference in the level of knights. The Hendrake knighthood had been established less than 10 years ago and, except for Bexter, did not have high-level knights.

However, Reinhardt had been consistently training knights to protect his vast farmlands, and there were also knights of lower nobility who had received fiefs.

Thus, a strange stalemate ensued.

Reinhardt had concluded that Bexter was the only one who could resolve this situation.

“Still, if the situation inside the castle worsens, Kyle will be forced to make a ‘wise choice’…”

It was while Reinhardt was expressing his optimism.

“Listen, invaders!”

Looking up at the walls, they saw Owen, who had fled after a surprise attack the day before, standing there.

“The traitor Bexter Ohar, who dared to drive out the lord and insult Hendrake’s lands, is dead! You’re next!”

“What’s going on?”

“That is…”

Reinhardt’s face turned pale.

Despite his doubts, Reinhardt had not anticipated the situation would unfold to this extent.

“My lord!”

A knight quickly grabbed and shook Reinhardt. Only then did he see the gates of Hendrake’s castle opening. Knights poured out from inside Hendrake’s castle, swiftly breaking through the slopes and charging.

The unfinished barricades could not stop the knights.

A fierce collision occurred immediately.

Reinhardt, along with his soldiers at the front, was swept up in the collision and rolled on the ground.

The knights of Hendrake swiftly overran Reinhardt’s soldiers, breaking through. The surprise attack was devastating. Dozens of soldiers were slaughtered in an instant. Screams and chaos erupted everywhere.

Reinhardt’s fantasy of possibly returning after delivering a sermon without spilling a drop of blood shattered into pieces.

“My lord!”

“Killl the invaders!”

One of the Hendrake knights shouted with a voice that seemed to tear through the air.

The knights clashed with each other.

Reinhardt had confidently believed that one of his knights could easily take on two of Hendrake’s.

However, Reinhardt witnessed his knights being brutally defeated before his eyes.

When swords clashed, either the blade or the wrist would break, and they would be hopelessly knocked down in collisions. It was hard to attribute this to a mere difference in training.

One of the Hendrake knights, his eyes bloodshot, scanned the surroundings and spotted Reinhardt. Reinhardt saw that his eyes were filled with madness.

It reminded him of the soldiers filled with frenzy he had seen long ago during the dawn of his military days.

“Die!”

The Hendrake knight charged rapidly.

Just as his spear seemed about to pierce through Reinhardt’s neck, a shadow collided with furious momentum.

Boom! Isaac appeared on a giant black horse and knocked the Hendrake knight to the ground. The knight struggled to rise, but Isaac skillfully maneuvered his horse to stomp the knight’s head with its hooves. The knight, whose head was smashed into the ground, twitched and then lay motionless.

***

“My lord! Get up!”

Isaac ordered sharply. But Reinhardt was still dazed.

Then, Isaac leapt from his horse and slapped Reinhardt’s cheek.

“Hey! Snap out of it!”

Finally, Reinhardt began to regain his senses a bit. Isaac, seeing Reinhardt staggering, helped him back onto the horse and looked around to find a way to escape.

The Hendrake knights, having swept through the soldiers, turned their horses to deal with the remaining forces and Reinhardt.

Isaac spotted a knight charging towards him. It was not difficult to take down a horse, but the speed and weight of a horse made it a deadly weapon. He didn’t want to collide head-on.

“Hesabel!”

At Isaac’s mental call, an arrow pierced through a horse’s eye. The force brought down a couple of other horses charging alongside it.

Since it was still daylight, Hesabel was sniping from under the rooftops of the village. In the chaos of battle, the knights couldn’t identify who was targeting them.

However, the Hendrake knights rose from the ground as if the impact was nothing and charged madly towards Isaac and Reinhardt again. If they had a weapon, they gripped it; if not, they seemed ready to tear their foes apart with their bare hands.

‘If they fought trolls with this zeal, just two or three of them could have taken down a troll.’

This was not normal fervor. They were clearly being controlled by something.

Not a loose control like a shepherd’s staff but a strong mental binding. Or perhaps drugs were involved.

Given their bloodthirsty appearance, the latter seemed more likely.

Hesabel targeted the charging knights with arrows, but unlike the horses, the armor was not easily penetrated. Those who were hit seemed numb to pain and kept charging.

Finally, Isaac collided with the leading knight. The knight swung his mace wildly, trying desperately to smash Isaac’s head.

Starting with the first knight, Isaac was quickly surrounded. Fortunately, the knights’ skill level hadn’t improved; they were just inexplicably filled with madness and strength.

‘This should do it.’

As soon as he was surrounded, Isaac moved as if he had been waiting for this moment.

The technique born for melee combat, the Avalanche Swordsmanship: the preparatory motion unfolded.

A booming explosion resonated as if shaking a mountain. Simultaneously, the knights surrounding Isaac were thrown backwards.

None of the knights remained unharmed in their limbs. The armor was crushed or torn apart.

‘The power… has increased quite a bit?’

It was a force unlike any he had experienced while hunting wolves.