Duke Pendragon

Dawn slowly crept out from behind the far mountains, slowly driving out the encompassing darkness. A new day was beginning. As the Sun’s fingertips gently laid upon Slain Castle, a horrific event was taking place within.

Rather than beginning, many lives were ending.

“Argh!”

“Keugh!”

Screams and songs of metal continued to resound as the soldiers collided endlessly without knowledge of a new day dawning.

“Die!”

A soldier of the United Southern Army shouted while piercing his sword into the heart of an enemy climbing a ladder. His entire figure was already soaked with blood.

The moat, which had been flooded with water due to the recent heavy rain, had already lost its function. The water had been long dyed red with the blood of the dying soldiers, and a small mound had formed from the corpses. Using the bodies of their colleagues to reach the wall, the soldiers continued to climb the walls and launch an attack.

But most of them failed to climb even half of the ladder, struck down by dozens of arrows coming from the walls. Nevertheless, a large number of soldiers had already crossed the moat and arrived under the walls. Some were successful in climbing the walls and engaged in fierce battles.

Shiiing! Boom!

“Keuagh!”

The soldiers of the United Southern Army fought valiantly. They were not deterred by the enemy arrows, leaning out of the wall to stab their spears into the climbing enemies.

“Keugh!”

When someone fell after being struck by an arrow or a sword, another immediately filled the void and continued to battle.

“Long live the Emperor!”

“Honor to the 7th Regiment!”

In particular, the soldiers of the 7th regiment fought exceptionally. They were dressed differently from the southerners, wearing dark grey, round plated armor, and they were considered one of the finest in the empire, and they fought bravely without fearing death.

They were experienced and brave.

Under the command of their commander Viscount Moraine, they moved in unison like a well-oiled machine, defending the first wall of Slain Castle. However, the situation was different on the second wall. The defending soldiers were composed of the southerners and the Pendragon Duchy’s forces, and they were slowly being pushed back.

The troops of the Pendragon Duchy fought as well as the troops of the 7th regiment, but the southern soldiers were lacking. Unfortunately, they were unfamiliar with sieges.

“Get back! Group one, step back!”

Killian continued to shout at the top of his lungs, but the southern soldiers were deafened by the situation. They floundered with fear in their eyes as the enemies finally reached the walls.

“Uggh! You idiots!”

Killian could not bear to watch the situation any longer. He pushed and pulled the soldiers roughly, and the soldiers of the Pendragon Duchy quickly filled the spot. However, dozens of enemy soldiers had already climbed up the ramparts in the meantime.

“Dammit!”

Killian took the lead and charged towards the enemy while cursing. An enemy soldier fell while spouting blood from each stroke of his sword.

“Uwaaahh!”

The soldiers of the United Southern Army cheered at his performance, but Killian vented his anger as he fought.

“What the hell are you morons doing!? Get in position and fight!”

There was a valid reason why Killian was furious. Due to the nature of a siege, there was a tendency for defending troops to concentrate on areas where enemy soldiers successfully climbed. In that short moment, other areas would become devoid of any defending soldiers.

As such, there were always reserve soldiers on standby, and they quickly filled the vacancy. However, the transition could not take place smoothly because the southerners hadn’t received ample, proper training.

“Lutton! Pollack! Take care of these guys!”

“Yeaaap!”

“Keuahh!”

Pollack, who had a long beard, stepped in front of Killian and slashed with his longsword. Following right behind him, the bald Lutton swung his two axes while running across the wall.

“I’ll kill you all! Kuhahahaha!”

The two men had first arrived at the Pendragon Duchy along with Isla. After suffering a major defeat from Killian, the two of them joined the heavy cavalry and became squires of the Pendragon Duchy. They displayed their true worth in such a difficult war.

Naturally, their ability as a member of the heavy cavalry was excellent, but they had worked as free knights and mercenaries in the past. In a chaotic battle, they were like fish in water.

“Hmm? Chet!”

After a moment of relief, Killian clicked his tongue. He thought a moment of peace had ensued after the two men dealt with the dozens of enemy soldiers, but once a hole had been breached, the enemies kept pouring in.

“Get up there! We’re almost finished!”

The enemy soldiers continued to climb up the dozens of ladders, and the second wall quickly became a shamble as hundreds of enemies became entangled with allied forces.

But Killian retained his calm.

There was someone who had already expected such a situation and made preparations.

“Kuaaahh!”

Five or six warriors, including Karuta, jumped toward the second wall with a mighty roar. They had been observing the situation and providing help where needed.

Boom! Boom!

Orc warriors weighed two or three times as much as regular humans. When they smashed down on top of the walls, cracks appeared in the stone with a loud explosion. The enemy soldiers became startled and turned around.

“Krrrrrrrr…!”

“Hiek!”

The Ancona Orc warriors growled while emitting Orc Fear from their bodies. The enemy soldiers let out shrieks of fear at the terrifying sight. Someone else jumped down to the walls, following behind the beastly reinforcements.

“What are you waiting for? Wipe them out!”

Even though he was much smaller than the orcs, the warriors pounced like predators at his command.

“Kuaaaghh!”

The orcs ran across the wall on all four with steel maces in their mouths, their sharp fangs jutting out above it. The sight was horrifying to say the least, and the soldiers screamed and shouted in fear and panic.

“Huaaahk!”

Frightened Berna soldiers swung their weapons, but the orc warriors had bulging muscles, and were equipped with thick, iron armor. It was of no use.

Tututung!

“Keuagh!”

In one charge, more than fifty soldiers were thrown outside the walls. After arriving in the middle of the enemy’s camp, the orc warriors stood up and transferred the steel maces to their hands. They started swinging without hesitation.

Thud! Pupuput!

Every time a mace drew a line like a black whip, three or four limbs were torn apart.

“Kukakakakak!”

Karuta and the Ancona Orcs rampaged and killed countless enemy soldiers, emitting a beastly, red ray of light from their eyes. On the other side, Killian and the soldiers reorganized their ranks and started pushing back the enemy soldiers.

“Groups four through eight will stop them from climbing up the walls. The rest of us will crush these guys!”

“Uwaah!”

The soldiers’ morale shot through the sky with the appearance of the Ancona Orcs. They shouted with renewed vigor and jumped towards the enemy.

Clang! Chaeng!

“Kuaagh!”

Once again, the sound of iron and ghastly screams filled the area.

“Die!”

“No, you will be the one dying!”

The soldiers pushed, stabbed, and slashed at their opponents in a vicious manner. The battlefield was overflowing with blood, and more people began to fall down the walls while screaming.

“Ugh!”

A commanding officer of Berna had finally climbed up the castle wall. However, he became flustered at how the situation was playing out. It seemed like an impossible challenge to face the rampaging orc warriors. In addition, enemy troops, including seasoned knights, were also applying pressure from a distance.

“T, then!”

The knight turned his head in the direction where the orc warriors had come from. It was the way to the castle gate.

Tap. Tap.

A knight clad in silver-white armor was approaching in a relaxed manner. It was as if he was completely oblivious to the life-and-death battles, blood, and screams that were present all around him. A dozen, hooded figures in green were following behind him while wielding strange swords.

“Over there! We just have to get through there!”

Berna’s knight screamed with desperation. He could only see a little over ten figures at best. At his command, Berna’s troops quickly rushed toward the small group at once. They had been suffering a crushing defeat against the Ancona Orc warriors.

When the knight in silver saw the approaching enemies, he slowly unsheathed a longsword and a crescent-shaped scimitar from his waist. The scimitar was considered a weak weapon used only by southern savages.

“Kuhahaha! What a crazy bastard! You’re begging for death!”

Berna’s knight burst into ridiculing laughter at the sight. Even facing more than a hundred troops, the knight in silver was walking leisurely while holding his two swords.

The knight in silver-white began to walk a little faster.

“Hmm?”

The eyes of Berna’s knight glimmered with light. The opponent and the figures in green were picking up speed.

“I’ll kill you!”

“Kuaahhh!”

Berna’s knight and soldiers swung swords and stabbed their spears with a loud shout. A brilliant stream of white light filled their vision for a moment. But there had been more than one.

Shishing!

As soon as the knight’s ears were stimulated by a sharp resonance, he suddenly felt a burning sensation on his right elbow. Nevertheless, he swung down as hard as he could.

“Huh?”

His eyes widened with shock.

He had definitely swung his sword at the opponent, but he could not feel anything. He didn’t even feel the sword cutting through the air.

But his mouth became agape as soon as he grasped the situation.

“Kuaaaaaghh!”

Blood sprayed like a fountain as the knight let out a tearful scream.

“Heeeuk!”

He burst into tears and searched for his missing hand on the floor. Meanwhile, the knight in silver-white moved past after slicing off the knight’s arm.

“Heugh! Heu!”

When the knight finally located his severed arm and picked it up, his teary face became curiously distorted.

Whooosh!

The hoods of the green-robed figures peeled off as the wind brought along the smell of blood. The faces inside the hoods were the scariest, most horrifying things the knight had ever seen. As soon as he saw the dozen faces, the Knight of Berna instinctively sensed death. Their heads were decorated with ancient, devilish patterns, something he might have seen in a childhood picture book.

Slice!

With an eerie noise, the knight’s teary face was split into two.

“Kyarararararak!”

After spilling enemy blood, the warriors of Red Moon Valley cried out and charged forward, splitting into two groups and passing Alan Pendragon on both sides. Their movements were inhumanly quick and nimble.

“Huh!?”

The eyes of the Berna soldiers grew larger with shock as the elven warriors ran toward them with quick movements as if they were performing acrobatics. Soon, swords made of buffalo horns began to dance, and the heads of the enemy soldiers were decapitated. Blood soared and screams resounded.

Puaaah!

Blood soared on both sides of the wall’s edge, forming a red curtain of blood.

“Kyarararah!”

“Kyaha!”

After bathing in human blood, the elven warriors jumped toward their enemies like demons.

“Huaah!”

The horrified soldiers attempted to fight back, but their weapons could not reach the elves. After all, the elves had fought against all kinds of monsters in the Great Forest.

“Uahhh!”

In the end, soldiers instinctively ran to avoid the elven warriors’ brutal attacks. It was the direction of where the knight in silver was standing, the one who had sliced off an arm of Berna’s knight.

“T, there’s only one! Everyone, attack!”

Soldiers with glistening eyes wielded their weapons towards him. Their gazes were full of desperation and an instinctive willingness to live.

A cold light flashed from the knight’s silver-white helmet.

Shishing!

His movements were extremely simple. He swung and stabbed with his two swords. However, he managed to avoid every single attack of the Berna soldiers and inflicted fatal injuries.

“Kuegh!”

“Ahk!”

Although crude, their armors were made from toughened leather. However, they were sliced apart and pierced like radish. In a few short breaths, more than ten Berna soldiers were spilling blood on the ground.

“Uh…”

The rest faltered.

None of them had been able to pass the path towards the gate because of a single person. As the silver-white knight shook the blood off his weapons, one of the soldiers noticed something and became shocked.

The symbol embedded in the middle of the knight’s armor – was a symbol depicting a dragon, which could be quite common. But there was only one person in this place who would be adorned in armor engraved with the symbol of a dragon.

“D, d, Duke Pendragon…!”