The Legendary Spearman Returns

“It’s the Black Knights!”

“Wooooooo!”

The fortress’s defenders cheered wildly as all one hundred Black Knights rode their horses through the gates and onto the vast plains that stretched out in front of the fortress. Those majestic, black-armored figures were the best knights in Avalon and took orders only from the First Prince and the Emperor of Avalon.

“Who dares to threaten our master!?”

“Those shameless scum! They call themselves the strongest in Hubalt and yet they have the audacity to use His Majesty’s name to justify ganging up on His Highness!”

“Shame on you, you sons of bitches!”

Iruca stared blankly at the knights for a moment.

“It looks like... Selim’s been walking down a path of his own; a different path than His Majesty’s,” she mused.

Tremblin turned to Iruca anxiously. “Your Highness, it’s different from His Majesty’s, but...”

“It’s not bad.”

“...Pardon?” Tremblin tilted his head in confusion.

Iruca gave him a subtle smile. “A mighty warlord who can crush everything on his own is good, but a sage ruler who is trusted by his subordinates isn’t so bad either. That kind of ruler is considerate of his people. Above all, it takes an extreme amount of courage for people to risk their lives fighting against an army thousands of times their size.”

“Of course.” A gentle smile came to Tremblin’s lips as he nodded.

“The nobles will no doubt wonder why the First Prince’s knights throw themselves into danger like eggs against a boulder. What do they see in the First Prince?”

“Avalon’s eggs are known for their size and taste. I’m sure the enemy is more confused than our nobles right now.”

Ircua nodded. “His Majesty is certainly impressive, but he isn’t good at teamwork. He did everything on his own...”

“Yes—a war isn’t something you do on your own, and not many young knights want to live like Sir Cain.”

“Haha! Indeed, no master or head of a family worries the people around him as much as His Majesty does.”

Iruca quietly looked down the walls. The Black Knights were getting close to Selim, but the enemy forces watched the knights and did not take action.

“It suddenly turned into a battle of knights,” Tremblin commented.

“This battle will turn the tides of this war.”

While Iruca and Tremblin spoke, the Black Knights were reunited with their master.

“My lord! We are here to serve!”

“...Why are you guys here?” Selim grumbled. He didn’t even turn to look at them, but all of the Black Knights laughed quietly nonetheless.

“It’s not like the Black Knights to just watch from behind.”

Selim frowned. “You guys know that you disobeyed my orders, don’t you? Brace yourselves for punishment when this is over.”

“Yes, Your Highness. We’ll gladly accept any punishment.”

“I’m serious,” Selim said, but his faint smile betrayed his true emotions.

“You heard what His Highness said! Hope you’re ready for a paddling! When we get back, he’s going to beat our asses black and blue!” the Black Knights’ captain shouted.

“But only once we get back, right? I’ll just have to make sure Hubalt suffers just as bad before we’re done, just to be fair!”

“Oh, you think you can do that?” the captain asked with a grin.

The Black Knights erupted into raucous jeers.

“You don’t need to ask me twice!”

“Let’s sweep them off of this plain. We’ll show them who the Black Knights are!”

“Those fuckers picked the wrong house to mess with!”

Their enthusiasm made the captain’s grin widen.

“Yeah, don’t leave behind any regrets. Who are we?”

“The Black Knights!”

“We are the Black Knights of the First Prince of Avalon! Prepare for battle!”

When all the one hundred Black Knights drew their swords, the Martial Knights stopped snickering. The Black Knights turned out to be stronger than they had expected.

“Draw up your aura!”

The Black Knights were enveloped in a pool of light, their swords shrouded with aura that audibly hummed with power. It was only natural for the forces of both countries to stare in awe.

“E-Every one of those knights are at least B-Class?”

“Impossible! Aren’t they comparable to the Imperial Knights then?”

“N-No, I think they’re even stronger than the Imperial Knights.”

The light grew so bright that people were forced to squint.

Despite Joshua's neglect of the Imperial Knights, the tradition of Berche’s Bloody Battle had been maintained for decades. Most of the current Imperial Knights were at least B-Class—however, even they weren’t as formidable as the Black Knights.

“The weakest Black Knight is an advanced B-Class knight...?” someone whispered.

The nobles gasped. Those who had only gathered there because of Selim were even more shocked than most. The Black knights were geniuses among geniuses who most countries would consider themselves lucky to have, but no less than one hundred of them were gathered under the same banner.

Of course, Selim didn’t even glance at his knights. Anyone who knew the knights’ history would not be surprised by their skill in the slightest.

Urector clicked his tongue. “Still, aura is a thing of the past...” He stepped forward once more. ”Many new powers have come to Igrant—aura is nothing now!”

An immense wave of Urector’s energy made the air tremble and the ground crack.

“Let me show you why the Martial Knights are called the strongest in Hubalt!”

Urector darted toward Selim like an arrow, using his ability to absorb and release energy to rocket him toward Selim’s exposed position in front of the Black Knights.

One of the Black Knights intercepted Urector with his sword. Unlike Selim, however, the Black Knight didn’t force Urector backward; Urector stopped right at Selim’s line.

“How dare a no-name knight like you...!”

“Right back at you. Why are you trying to checkmate when there’s a pawn right here? How arrogant.”

The Black Knight’s sword and Urector’s fists clashed again and again. Urector used his ability to add an unnatural force to his already hammer-like fists, but the Black Knight didn’t give a single inch. In fact, the knight released more aura through his sword and matched Urector blow for blow.

“B-Class?”

“I put up quite a fight, don’t I?”

Urector eyed the knight’s glowing sword.

“There’s no way a B-Class knight’s aura is strong enough to be unaffected by my ability...”

“You know how forging works?”

“What, like a blacksmith?”

“Yeah. You can do the same thing with aura. The more you hammer it, the stronger and sturdier it becomes. I know knights outside of Avalon drool over supernatural abilities like authorities, but we, the Black Knights, focused on improving our aura and swordsmanship. As a result...”

Urector jerked in surprise because the Black Knight suddenly crackled with blue lightning so bright that Urector almost looked away.

“...we can apply an attribute to our mana.” The Black Knight grinned.

“...What is your name?”

“My name is Kerook, the heart of the Black Knight Order.”

“Heart, my ass! You’re just a troublemaker!” one of his colleagues immediately shouted.

“Hey, Kerook! Stop pretending to be cool and wrap it up already! We have to warm up too!”

“Can’t you see His Highness is waiting!?”

Urector didn’t pay attention to the other Black Knights at all. He was intent on his opponent.

“Kerook the Black Knight, how strong are you within your order?”

“You said that you’re somewhere in the middle in your order, didn’t you?”

“I did.”

“I think I’m about the same.”

Urector looked behind Kerook without answering. No matter how hard he searched, it looked like there were less than fifty people who were as skilled as him.

“You’re bluffing,” Urector declared with a smirk. He took up a stance, veins bulging on his thick arms like snakes winding around his limbs.

“—Ugh!” A quiet groan slipped out of Kerook’s lips. He staggered backward and ended up standing ten steps away from where he started.

“I play with you a little and you immediately forget your place.” Urector looked at Kerook disapprovingly. In contrast to Kerook, Urector still stood precisely on Selim’s line. “Prince of Avalon, let me tell you an important fact.”

“Oh?”

“It looks like Avalon focused all of its forces in the north because we’re here... That was a mistake,” Urector leisurely explained. He felt that the time was ripe—and his commander didn’t stop him, so his confidence grew with every word. “Hubalt will win this war if it drags on, not Avalon.”

“What nonsense is that?”

Urector smiled crookedly. “Have you forgotten that Hubalt crossed the borders to all of the countries around the empire, not just Avalon?”

“That’s an awfully proud way of saying that you’re an insolent invader!” a Black Knight sarcastically shouted.

Urector paid no attention to the Black Knight, however; his attention was firmly on Selim.

“It won’t take long for all of those countries to raise the white flag. What do you think will happen afterward?”

Urector noticed Selim’s face twitch and his smile grew.

“Do you get it now? All of them will become our thralls. They may have been indecisive about which side they should take, but now they’re all going to attack Avalon. Time is on Hubalt’s side, not Avalon’s.”

Silence descended over the fortress.

But in contrast to Urector’s confidence, Selim was expressionless.

“Well, I disagree,” the prince bluntly announced.

“What?”

“I believe in my brother.”

Urector turned to look at his fellow Martial Knights and shrugged. “What the hell is he on about?”

Selim smiled thinly and leveled his spear at the Martial Knights. “I guarantee you that before the other countries can attack us, my brother’s sword will find Hubalt’s heart.”

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