The Legendary Spearman Returns

‘...No, it’s not Joshua,’ Lilith quickly realized as she regained her composure. She knew because of the time they had spent together as one—no, even if it weren’t for the time, there was no way she wouldn’t recognize Joshua. The man in front of her may resemble Joshua, but wasn’t actually him. If so...

‘A doppelganger?’ Lilith wondered.

It was quite a plausible speculation. It wouldn’t be the first time Joshua’s doppelganger showed up, but Joshua had eliminated that monster when the doppelganger had become one with the Demon Spirit and thereby endanger the entire continent.

-It’s me, Kireua.

Lilith's eyes widened. ‘Oh my goodness. It’s Prince Kireua?’

She had once believed that Selim, the First Prince, was a perfect replica of Joshua, but now she saw that the same went for Kireua. Kireua’s disguise fooled even her for a moment.

-Get inside and leave the rest to me. You have a job to do, don’t you?

Although Lilith had a lot of questions, she didn’t have time to ask them. Knights across the city had sensed that something was wrong and more of them were arriving on site by the minute—but could she really leave Kireua like this?

Kireua unleashed an immense amount of mana, signaling Lilith to go.

-...I’ll trust you with this. Let’s talk more afterward. It’s a promise, okay?

-Okay.

Kireua fixed his grip on his spear with a smile on his face. Even though he usually favored using a sword, today Kireua had turned to the weapon that Joshua had made famous.

He then turned to Hubalt’s knights and narrowed his eyes.

“I’ll give you a chance to surrender.”

Already reeling from the shock of “Joshua’s” sudden appearance, Kireua’s warning hit the knights like a punch in the gut. Even Lilith flinched as she was turning around.

“My goal is to slit the throats of Hubalt’s new tyrant and the Battle God,” Kireua went on.

The paladins exchanged glances. Ericaz, their leader, was dead, so they needed someone else to lead them.

A man who seemed to be the most senior paladin stepped forward.

“Martial God, I’ve heard a lot about you. How can you be so disrespectful as to come all the way to our country and speak of how you’ll slit the throat of our emperor?”

“I think you’re the disrespectful ones here.” Kireua released stronger murderous energy.

The paladins’ hands clenched around the hilts of their swords. Kireua was disappointed that he’d only managed to put them on edge—the Emperor of Avalon would have begun by overpowering them with his energy and bringing them to their knees.

“Bel is just a war criminal who is responsible for starting the Second Continental War. I should not have to detail the crimes of Cardinal Kurz, who violated his priestly oaths and stole the imperial throne.”

“You’re just an outsider, so it’s none of your concern. Don’t you realize that you’re interfering with the internal affairs of another country?”

“Interfering with internal affairs...” Kireua chuckled. These people were truly shameless. How could they say such things without even blinking when they instigated a war against the entire continent? Even if they had only been protecting their homeland, they were no different from any other invaders.

‘If His Majesty were me right now, he would have begun by turning everything upside down,’ Kireua thought.

Based on a lifetime of idolization, Kiruea knew exactly what the Emperor of Avalon would have done, and he immediately put it into action.

Kireua's spear snapped down to point at the paladins. They let out a gasp of surprise and unwittingly staggered backward, overwhelmed by the presence of the Martial God.

“...what’s wrong with that?” Kireua tilted his head.

“Wh-What?”

“I’m just doing what your oh-so-honorable Battle God would have done,” Kireua scoffed.

The Battle God always talked about how the strong should take everything. Since these paladins were from Hubalt, there was no way they didn’t understand what Kireua was talking about.

“I heard enough of your whining. Your only two choices right now are to stand down or die by my spear.”

“D-Do you think you can defeat all of us on your own?”

While Kireua had been talking, more soldiers and knights had arrived at the site; by now there were over a thousand of them.

“Have you forgotten who I am?” Kireua smirked. “If you’ve forgotten because it’s been too long... let me tell you again.”

The man who had fought an army a million strong, the savior of the continent, the first god-slayer, the Martial God...

At this moment, Kireua was his father.

“I am Joshua Sanders.”

Some of the knights felt a chill run down their spine, and the soldiers’ legs were visibly trembling.

“S-Sir Merang.” Several paladins quickly came forward and whispered to their ad-hoc leader.

“I really don’t think it’s a good idea to go up against the Martial God right now,” one hissed.

“He’s right. We’ll be exterminated in no time.”

“It’s only been just over two decades since the Martial God brought down Hubalt. I can’t begin to fathom how much stronger the Martial God has gotten by now,” another paladin said. Joshua’s triumph over Zactor, the Martial Emperor, and the rest of the Hubalt Empire, had not been forgotten.

Merang scowled at the paladin. “Are you suggesting that we give up without a fight?”

“The term ‘strategic retreat’ exists for a good reason. More importantly, Bel isn’t here. If the Martial God can cut off the emperor’s head and take care of the Battle God... so much the better for us.”

The one thing that Kireua hadn’t expected was that although it was still insane to attack Hubalt’s capital with a small group of people, many people in Hubalt didn’t agree with what the empire was doing right now. In the end, Kireua’s declaration was the trigger that set off the people.

However, Merang shook his head without a second of hesitation. “You should be ashamed of yourselves! We already swore our loyalty to the Imperial Family, even if we didn’t mean it, and the Martial God is stronger than the Battle God.”

“But... just like you said, we didn’t mean it.”

“I suppose that makes everything okay for you, but not for me. Instead of pathetically surviving by changing sides, I’ll just die when the time comes,” Merang boldly declared.

His uprightness left the other paladins speechless. His voice was loud enough that Kireua could hear their entire conversation too; even Lilith, who couldn’t bring herself to leave, smiled faintly.

‘Hubalt’s future is not so dark after all,’ Kireua thought—although this was not the result he had been hoping for.

However, fortune saw fit to bless him this day. A horse-mounted messenger came galloping out of the city at full tilt.

“I-I have urgent neeeews!”

Kireua’s eyes sparkled as he realized that the moment he had been waiting for had come. The truth was, his whole act had been to buy time for this moment.

“Five regions near the capital are under attack!” the messenger continued.

“What? What in the world are you talking about?”

“I-It’s Avalon! Avalon’s army is here! We’ve confirmed Cain de Harry is with them!”

The paladins’ jaws dropped to the ground so hard they nearly fell over.

“What the hell have our border guards been doing if Avalon is here!?”

“We’ve checked with the border guards, and they said it’s likely that Avalon’s forces didn’t cross the border,” the messenger quickly explained.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“U-Umm... I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s believed that they traveled through the Black Monster Forest to infiltrate the empire.”

“The Black Monster Forest? Impossible...!” Merang gasped.

Kireua slammed the ground with the end of his spear, a measure of mana lending it additional gravity. The tremor immediately drew the paladins’ attention back to Kireua.

“So the rumors that Hubalt’s new emperor is a coward are true, huh? His first move after hearing the news was to bring all the troops he could get his hands on to protect the capital, wasn’t it?”

Kireua had arrived at Hubalt’s capital a few days before Cain and the others, so he knew everything that was happening inside and outside of the capital. As expected, the paladins couldn’t retort.

“It’s decided then.” Kireua turned away.

“Wh-What is decided?” Merang quickly shouted, bewildered. “ Where do you think you’re going?”

“Isn’t it good for you if I leave right now?”

“G-Good for us?”

Kireua glanced back at them. “Or do you really want to fight me?” he quietly asked.

Merang went silent. Standing where he wouldn’t be able to see them, some of the paladins desperately shook their heads.

“I don’t have a hobby of picking on the weak,” Kireua remarked as he began to walk away.

Merang bit his lip in frustration, but most of the paladins heaved a sigh of relief; they all knew how skilled the Martial God was.

“Most people here right now must have no choice but to follow orders anyway.”

“Stop!” Merang shouted. Even if you’re right and even if I must die here, I can’t let you go!”

“...If you valued your life so little, you could have stood up to Bel and your tyrant from the start.”

Every word struck Merang right where it hurt most. He didn’t think that he would get anywhere with words, so he infused his mana into his sword.

“Fight me right now, Joshua Sanders!”

“I told you that I don’t like picking on the weak. If you’re that eager to fight me...” Kireua trailed off into a wide smile. “...you’re more than welcome to follow me.”

“...Follow you?”

“I’m going to join my people and conquer the nearby regions one by one. Tell your emperor to stay at home like the coward he is. Meanwhile, I’ll save the people of this empire on the behalf of your missing gods.”

Kireua leaped high into the air, brooking no more questions.

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