Side Story Chapter 248

“Fuck!” Viscount Czmah cussed. He couldn’t believe what was happening to him.

Marquess Veder had been the commander of this reserve force, leading tens of thousands of people, and also an experienced Master. However, he had died along with Count Micah, Veder’s second in command and Czmah’s older brother. The morale of the remaining forces plummeted, naturally.

Worse still, the massacre was still ongoing. A unit of over one thousand people was getting crushed despite their confident declaration to obliterate their enemy. Only half of them remained now, and they were still helpless before the one man opposing.

Of course, that wasn’t surprising considering the man’s identity.

“Joshua Sanders...!”

The Celestial of Celestials, hero of heroes, the Martial God... The man had numerous titles. He was actually Kireua, the Martial God’s son, but Czmah had no way of knowing that right now. All he could do was rage.

“M-My lord, your orders!” one of Czmah’s knights shouted, his tightly clenched hand shaking around his bow.

The enemy knights were only one hundred meters away. Since they were on horseback, it was only a matter of time before they met. On top of that, the enemies were led by Cain de Harry the Combat Emperor, another formidable individual from Avalon.

“You have got to be kidding me! There are only five hundred of them—we outnumber them more than ten times over! Aren’t you ashamed of yourselves!” Czmah yelled. His mana ensured that all of his people could hear him, yet not one answered. Their reaction might have been different before the battle, but it was difficult to hold any confidence after seeing their comrades slaughtered before their very eyes.

“Raise your swords! Stop him before he—!”

Czmah's eyes widened as Cain de Harry jumped off of his horse and then flew toward Czmah like a bird, trailing his golden aura behind him.

-From the looks of it, your people will give up once I kill you.

“Agh...!” Czmah bit his lip and drew as much mana from his mana hall as possible. “You’re just the Martial God’s dog!”

Fortunately for Czmah, the bulk of Hubalt’s forces were out of range when Coju used its ability, so Czmah could fight at full power. His sword was clad with aura.

“Oh?” Cain’s eyes gleamed as their swords clashed. “I can tell that it hasn’t been long, but you’re also a Master.”

Czmah clenched his teeth. “Don’t underestimate me!” he roared.

His opponent was called the Combat Emperor by the entire continent, but Czmah was confident that he had a chance to win this fight if he could block Cain’s first attack—which he had.

“See? Even I can fend off the Combat Emperor’s attack. Knights, gather your aura!” Czmah shouted to his knights.

“Yes, sir!”

The aura of three hundred knights resonated in the air.

“You’re nothing without Joshua Sanders... All of your fame comes from riding your master’s coattails! How dare you, you half wit!” Czmah growled.

“...What's your name again? Czmah? You just crossed the line.”

“Hehehe. What, the truth hurts too much for you?”

“Yeah, you bastard. Hurts me right in the bones.[1]”

Cain hadn’t had a chance to shine on a big battlefield such as this one because his master had always taken care of everything before he could do something.

“..Since my master is stranded, this is my chance to increase my fame.”

“What?

While Czmah was still processing Cain’s statement, his knights rushed in and thrust their swords at Cain while his sword was still locked with Czmah’s.

“Die!”

Czmah pressed closer to Cain, holding him in place while the knights’ swords sliced through the air. Czmah was certain that Cain wouldn’t be able to move an inch as; his sword was as good as glued to Czmah’s.

“Hah,” Cain scoffed.

‘...He’s laughing?’

Dozens of swords noisily crashed against each other. Cain’s response caught Czmah completely off-guard—Cain had already retreated.

‘What the hell? He abandoned his sword?’

Cain’s sword was still stuck to the layer of aura of Czmah’s sword. Regardless, Czmah was grinning because he was confident that he could defeat any unarmed opponent, even if they were several levels higher than him. That was what he

thought

.

“Wha—!”

“M-My lord!”

Czmah blankly looked up and saw a familiar arm holding onto a sword flying through the air. It was his arm.

“...An invisible sword?” Czmah munbled.

Otherwise known as the Mind Sword, the invisible sword was a technique that only a very experienced Master could use. It took even longer to actually master the technique.

Cain brandished his invisible sword. “Your arrogance is your downfall.”

Czmah was a novice Master, so he couldn’t even follow Cain’s movement. In fact, Czmah didn’t realize he was dying even after he’d lost his other arm and his head.

“My lorddddddd!”

Cain started a massacre of his own by gathering his golden aura around his foot and slamming it into the ground, staggering the nearby knights. Then he stomped once again, stronger this time. Some of the knights lost their balance and fell pathetically down onto the ground.

“H-How much mana does he have? This is ridiculous...!”

The few knights who had managed to maintain their balance were too overwhelmed by the sheer amount of mana Cain was wielding to think about attacking him.

“Now! Cut off their heads!”

“Ohaaaaaaa!”

Avalon knights arrived with perfect timing, scything through the ranks of Hubalt’s knights while they were off balance or still on the ground.

“Gah!”

“Arghhhh! My arm! My armmmmm!”

It was mayhem. Avalon’s knights smashed Hubalt’s troops into a pulp under the hooves of their horses and their swords mercilessly cut down anyone left standing. It only took a moment for the five hundred knights under Cain’s command to obliterate Czmah’s three hundred.

“The soldiers...” Cain turned to look at the remains of Hubalt’s army, but the soldiers were in a panic. Cain scoffed. “I guess I don’t need to worry about them. We’re going into the forest!”

“S-Sir Cain!” one of the knights shouted as he hastened after Cain. “His Highness isn’t here yet...”

Cain glanced in Kireua’s direction and smiled. What he saw made certain that he had made the right choice. It was essential to grant one’s enemies no mercy lest they become trouble later down the line—and Hubalt’s vanguard had been very nearly wiped out to the last man.

‘I thought His Highness Selim would be more cold and rational than His Highness Kireua...’

“Look at that man over there,” Cain yelled. “He is our emperor and master! Who dares to stand before the Martial God?”

* * *

“We’ve gone far enough. Slow down!” Cain commanded after riding for who knew how long.

The knights around him relayed his order down the column.

“What are our casualties?” Cain asked.

“We only have two, lightly wounded!” an aide immediately shouted back, knowing Cain would ask. It was an overwhelming victory; their flight from Hubalt had been a complete success, and Cain was all smiles.

“But His Highness is yet to appear...”

“Don’t worry about him. I believe someone reliable stayed behind to back him up.” Cain immediately looked around and, as expected, Anna bel Grace was nowhere to be seen. “...I hope she sees this through with him.”

Kireua was left with one more important mission, and Anna was the perfect person to help him.

“Life is truly full of wonders,” Cain remarked with a quiet chuckle.

Not so long ago, Cain hadn’t trusted Anna. She had been Joshua’s enemy for a long time and people rarely changed their mind overnight.

“Halt! We’ll take a break to wait for His Highness!” Cain shouted, concluding that they’d put enough distance between themselves and the enemies.

“...I agree.”

“Huh?” Cain tilted his head.

Not even Cain could have expected a dagger was going to pierce through his back without making a sound or someone exuding their murderous energy.

“What... in the world...?”

“Si-Sir Cain!”

Cain was even more surprised than the knights, who were slack-jawed in their own right. Even if he was caught off guard, it was odd that a person like him couldn’t even sense a dagger flying toward him.

“Ugh...” Cain managed to turn his head and saw the black-clothed woman that had accompanied Kireua whom he had been worried about. She was holding another dagger already. “I knew it... You were plotting something when you approached His Highness, weren’t you.”

“I have no grudge against Kireua Sanders, you’re a different story, Cain de Harry.”

“...What is your name?”

“I’m Isaac,” the woman quietly answered, her eyes radiating murder. “Zactor, the Martial Emperor, who Joshua Sanders killed, was my father.”

“Zactor the Martial Emperor...”

Blood dripped out from Cain’s mouth. He had managed to turn his torso right before the dagger struck him, but it seemed that the dagger was laced with poison.

Before the knights could act, Isaac climbed up a tree and arrogantly looked down on them. “I didn’t want to resort to such cowardly measures, but judging from your skill... Although I would have no problem fighting you one-on-one, I’d be quite troubled if you decide to attack me along with Joshua Sanders.”

“...You overcame the same wall I did, didn’t you?”

Isaac nodded with a cold smile. “And Avalon’s almighty Joshua Sanders can’t defeat me. Never.”

Cain spat out a dark clod of blood, but his eyes gleamed sharply.

“...I’m really curious about where your confidence is coming from. I guess I’ll have to find out, daughter of the Martial Emperor.”

1. The raw is ??? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?? ????. It’s a Korean meme about how truth hurts. ☜