Chapter 38
There were two things one must never say in front of Hadem.
The first was to insult a lion, and the second was to call him ‘bald.’
There had even been an incident in the past where a bandit the Imperial Prince had ordered captured said he was bald and was beheaded on the spot.
For Hadem, being called a ‘bald lion’ was an insult enough to make his blood pressure explode, and he lost all reason.
“You filthy bastard!!!!”
Hadem was genuinely about to ignore Calix's nearby escort knights and swing his axe.
Fortunately, before he could swing his axe, Lagos clung to the hand gripping it and prevented a massacre.
“My lord! Calm down. You can't cross the line!”
“You!…You bastard!!!”
Lagos's words briefly brought Hadem back to his senses, but he was still furious.
As rage surged through Hadem, making him feel he could not endure it unless he at least cut off Calix's limbs immediately, Calix snorted and said,
“Hmph! At least you have some fine subordinates. Out of consideration for your men, I will withdraw for today.”
With those words, Calix turned his horse around and left with his escort knights.
Hadem continued to seethe as he watched him leave.
Lagos spoke to calm him down.
“My lord, let this go for today. You can take revenge anytime.”
“How can I let this go?! A lion always repays an insult!!!”
As enraged Hadem continued venting his fury, a knight of the Ryan Knights spoke to him.
“My lord! Please look at this!”
“I'm irritated enough to die! What is it now!?”
Hadem was so irritated that he was ready to behead even an ally if they said anything strange.
But Hadem's expression hardened at what the knight showed him.
It was a compass capable of detecting magical power.
“This…”
“It is a magic compass we purchased because of that mage. But the needle…is pointing toward the Kron domain.”
After seeing Sharen's magic, Hadem had purchased a special compass capable of detecting that mage's mana.
But no matter how much the compass was shaken, its needle pointed not toward where Calix was, but far away toward the Kron domain.
“In other words…that mage isn't here?”
“Yes, definitely.”
“Hmm…”
One reason Hadem had not swung his axe was the mage's presence.
If he killed Calix and the mage named Sharen began attacking him to avenge their lord, it would be a tremendous headache even for Hadem.
But apparently that mage was not here.
Hadem began running the numbers as he looked at the number of Kron Knights visible before him.
Perhaps because they had marched out in haste, there were only around 700 Kron Knights—not that many.
He could not sense any presence from the mage or the warrior Zarha.
And that green-glowing female knight who had blocked the arrows beside Calix—
Judging by the mana he sensed, she seemed strong, but not as strong as he was.
Hadem felt that this situation was an opportunity.
”Lagos…what do you think?“
”If those are all the troops they have, and the mage and warrior aren't here…I think we can win.“
Lagos immediately understood what Hadem meant and gave him the answer he wanted.
If Hadem and the Ryan Knights attacked Calix right now, it would constitute a grave violation of Imperial law.
‘Illegal trespass across a domain border,’ ‘a surprise attack without a declaration of war,’ and, if they killed Calix, even ‘the illegal murder of a noble’—it would be beyond what even the Imperial Prince could shield him from.
But the world also favored the victor.
If they annihilated the Kron Knights here, kidnapped Calix, and began negotiations using Calix's life as a hostage, many things could change.
House Kron, unable to abandon Calix's life, would make many concessions.
If things went well, he might even gain the right to rule Dreihart.
The surrounding domains might condemn him.
But he had already endured that for a long time, and a few bribes could always resolve the matter.
On the contrary, if he let Calix escape here, he might never get another chance to capture him for the rest of his life.
Hadem, who had lost his ability to judge calmly because House Kron's reputation had grown so much in such a short time and because of Calix's insults, finally made his decision.
Hadem went over to the Ryan Knights waiting for him and shouted.
“Listen, all of you!!! My son has been deceived by that salt peddler and betrayed our family!! How can I, as his father, stand by and watch this!!!”
Hadem pointed at the fugitives and Calix, who was heading back with them.
Then he raised his axe and shouted.
“Therefore! I have no choice but to strike at them to save my son from that treacherous salt peddler! Follow me, all of you!!!“
[ “Yes!!!!!!” ]
Thus, Hadem and the Ryan Knights began charging toward Calix and the Kron Knights.
* * *
As the thousand knights and Hadem crossed the domain border on horseback and began accelerating, the earth and sky began to tremble.
Naturally, Calix's side noticed their attack as well.
Normally, anyone who saw a charge of a thousand knights led by someone as skilled as Hadem while unprepared would be frightened and panic.
Yes…normally.
“Rikain!!”
“Yes! Raise the signal!!”
Fwoooosh-!
Calix and the Kron Knights did not panic, and a signal flare was fired at Rikain's command.
Red smoke rose into the sky, and the Ryan Knights, already at full speed, could do nothing even after seeing it.
Only a few seconds after the signal flare was fired, they appeared from both woods.
“What is that!?”
“It's the Kron Knights' mounted archers!!”
They appeared from the woods on both sides and closed in behind the charging Ryan Knights.
Then they began doing what they did best.
“Fire!!! Turn their dicks into skewers!!!”
Thwip-! Whishk-! Thwip-!
At Brok's command, arrows began lodging in the unprotected backs of the Ryan Knights.
The rear of cavalry in a charge was extremely vulnerable.
The Ryan Knights were even more vulnerable because they had already used the prepared bows against the fugitives.
“Gack!!”
“Graaaagh!!”
Crash-clatter-!!
One after another, people began falling from their horses after being hit by arrows, but Hadem could not stop.
If they stopped here, they would be attacked from front and rear and suffer even greater losses.
At this point, the best option was to crash into them as they were, massacre the Kron Knights and fugitives, and drag the battle into a melee.
Naturally, the Kron Knights also prepared, seemingly aware of Hadem's intentions.
Rikain dismounted and formed a formation with the shield bearers.
“Shield formation! Prepare!!”
[ “Yes!!!” ]
They made the fugitives flee toward the rear so they would not be caught up in it, then formed a shield formation centered around Rikain at the front and prepared for the collision.
However, no matter how skilled Rikain was, if he took Hadem and the Ryan Knights' charge head-on, he might be knocked back.
They needed to kill the momentum, and for that, Calix decided to unleash ‘that’ onto the battlefield.
“Go, Azel! It is time to carry out justice!!”
“Yes!!”
Azel answered Calix's command.
Azel was incredibly happy at this very moment.
The time for the execution of justice she had awaited so long had finally arrived.
It would have been strange if she were not happy.
Azel charged alone on horseback toward the Ryan Knights.
Seeing her charge alone, the Ryan knights initially thought a suicidal fool had come their way.
But their minds changed soon afterward.
“I have no grudge against you, but die for my lord and justice!!”
Because green light began to pour from and gather around Azel's body.
Her blessing, < The Moonlight-Shining Sword>, used the moon's mana, so it was not very powerful during the day.
But it was merely not very powerful; it was not weak.
Especially when Azel was drunk on her sense of justice and her hype exploded, it temporarily became as powerful as when used at night.
Seeing her charging toward them with green light streaming from her eyes, the people called her 『Justice Psycho - Hulk Mode』.
“Execution of justice!!“
Tap-!
After shouting her battle cry and cloaking herself in the power of moonlight, Azel leaped over Hadem and landed in the middle of the Ryan Knights.
KABOOM-!
“Graaaagh!!”
A powerful shockwave exploded with green light where Azel landed, and the Ryan Knights were split into front and rear sections.
Hadem could not hide his surprise at the unexpected damage and the sight of the mad green knight he had never seen before.
”What is that now!?“
”It seems to be some secret weapon of House Kron that we did not know about!“
Azel, who had cut into the middle and split the Ryan Knights apart, began rampaging in their midst.
Despite her insane behavior, Azel displayed extremely elegant mounted swordsmanship, proving that she was a former Golden Knight, and single-handedly held back the rear knights.
”Die for justice!!”
Slash-!
Azel's attack in the middle of the rear mounted archers visibly weakened the Ryan Knights' charge, and they ultimately collided with Rikain without being able to bring their strength to bear properly.
“Hold the line!!”
[ “Yes!!!” ]
Ruuuumble-!!
The Ryan Knights crashed into Rikain's shield formation, flying backward or falling from their horses.
At the front, Rikain angled an upward slash to make Hadem avoid a direct collision, dispersing the force.
All of Hadem's plans had gone awry.
”Useless fools! Move aside! I will deal with him! You handle the grunts!!“
When not a single thing had gone according to plan, Hadem decided to use his blessing and slaughter everyone himself.
Just as he took off his helmet and was about to use his blessing, someone pointed upward.
”What is that…“
When Hadem also looked up at the sky, there was a magic circle.
As Hadem racked his memory over the strangely familiar magic circle, other knights said,
”It's a summoning magic circle!!!“
A summoning magic circle! Yes, it was a summoning magic circle!!
Recalling that he had once traveled through a summoning magic circle, a question flashed through Hadem's mind.
Summoning magic circles consumed enormous amounts of mana and could not be used easily.
Who was going to expend that much mana, and whom were they trying to summon?
Hadem did not have to wonder for long.
Light began to pour from the magic circle, and the summoned person fell in front of Hadem.
Thump-!
“You!?”
Hadem was horrified at the sight of the person who landed before him.
It was none other than Zarha, the warrior from Dreihart who had fought him so fiercely.
“Long time no see. Hadem…I have come to crush your neck as promised. ”
The lion hunt was drawing to a close.