The Legendary Spearman Returns

‘He’s a great talker, just like his dad,’ Lilith exclaimed.

Despite the danger, Lilith couldn’t just leave her dear friend’s son alone, so she had been watching from nearby. However, things went impressively well for Kireua, especially when he acted as boldly as if he were Joshua himself.

‘I thought he wasn’t good with the spear. People might realize who he really is!’

Because Hubalt was her homeland, Lilith was intimately familiar with its military capabilities. Those second-generation paladins were some of the strongest people in the Great Temple, which was why Kurz had been trying hard to make them join his side after he’d become the emperor.

With her thoughts on the paladins, Lilith couldn’t help but wonder, ‘Could... the first-generation paladins still be alive?’

In contrast to the second-generation paladins, who had caved once their families had been taken hostage, Christian the White Lion and the other first-generation paladins remained defiant until the end and had been locked up in the dungeon for over a decade.

“Father...” Lilith muttered, turning away.

It looked like she didn’t need to worry about Kireua too much. Even from her perspective, Kireua’s plan was great. Using the “Martial God” as bait, he would lure away the remaining forces in the capital so he could attack somewhere else!

Kurz would be bewildered. Based on what he had heard about the Martial God, Kurz must have thought that the Martial God was going to crush everyone in his way and then take down the capital instead of resorting to tactics.

‘This is the difference between him and Joshua.’

It wasn’t a bad thing. In fact, Kireua’s current strategy was more Lilith’s style than what Joshua would do. With the Martial God on their side, any kind of plan was possible, but a plan was necessary if no such individual was present—and most countries didn’t have a Joshua Sanders of their own.

But Lilith was gravely mistaken on one point.

“Stop right there, Joshua Sanders!”

Kireua ignored the shouts as he leaped across the rooftops. Although he was heading to the outskirts of the capital, Kireua couldn’t stop from looking back at the palace.

‘Once this plan is complete, the war will instantly turn in our favor.’

Kireua broke through the encirclement with his eyes gleaming.

The first stage of the plan had been completed; now it was time to move on to the second stage.

*

It had already been over a month since the battle began between Hubalt and Avalon in northern Avalon. Avalon’s forces were holding out quite well against the incredible quantity and quality of Hubalt’s army.

The main reason behind this resistance was Selim and his Black Knights. Most of Avalon’s nobles were already deeply moved by Selim Sanders. His martial prowess, his ability to lead his people... everything about him was perfect. What Selim did after the end of every battle was the most impressive. Humans couldn’t fight around the clock, so a war was a series of battles that paused and resumed over and over again. During the short breaks between the grueling hours of battle, Selim would walk around the camp to cheer up the soldiers even though he was surely the most tired of them all.

“Let’s hold on a little longer.”

“The Black Knights and I will fight with you on the front lines.”

“Thank you for staying with me through this war. Avalon will never forget about your noble sacrifices.”

“Now, let’s go out and fight for our families. I know it’s hard, but pick up your weapons. We’re the only ones standing between our dear families and those invaders.”

If a commander who only delivered orders from the safety of the rear were to say such words, the troops wouldn’t have been nearly so moved by them. However, Selim had fought the enemies on the front lines; he was a man of his word.

And for that the Black Knights had suffered the most damage among Avalon’s knights. Half. Half of them had lost their lives or been injured seriously enough that they were unable to fight anymore. That was because the Hubalt forces also sent the Martial Knights to the thick of the battle. The Martial Knights truly lived up to the reputation of the strongest knights in Igrant.

“Selim,” Iruca said.

They were on a break right now, so Selim had been tending to his knights. Selim looked up when he heard his sister’s voice. His accumulated fatigue was plain for her to see.

“I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?” Iruca asked.

Selim glanced behind him. Although they were pretending not to hear anything, the remaining Black Knights were paying close attention to their conversation.

“...Let’s start with the good one.”

Iruca also noticed the knights’ low spirits, so she nodded. “The allied countries’ reserved forces will execute a synchronized attack on Hubalt in a week's time.”

“Which means...”

“We’ve let Hubalt bully us long enough. It’s time to retaliate.”.

The Black Knights burst into cheers.

“It’s all thanks to His Majesty taking matters into his own hands.”

“...Have you heard any news from him?” Selim asked.

“No, I haven’t. We’re on our own.”

Selim stood up. He wasn’t planning on relying on the Emperor of Avalon at all in the first place. It was just that Selim wanted to ask for the emperor’s advice—he had to know if there was a way to win and minimize his people’s casualties.

Iruca noticed.

“It’s meaningless,” she told him. “I know that if His Majesty were here, he would have won the war on his own without any tactics, and that’s why people call Avalon’s strategists useless—but this is how a war is supposed to be. ”

“What’s the bad news?”

“Don’t be alarmed.”

Selim grew tense because Iruca was rarely this serious.

“The capital of Thran has fallen.”

“What?” Selim’s jaw dropped to the ground, which was highly unusual for him. The Black Knights turned to Selim and Iruca with their eyes wide open.

“Wh-what does that mean? Did the Flame Emperor lose?”

“Yes, Ulabis, the Flame Emperor, lost. The entire Thran Kingdom will become part of the Swallow Empire.”

“The Swallow Empire... still has such power?” Selim whispered.

Problems were piling up. Hubalt was already troubling enough, but now Swallow? They couldn’t really Swallow an ally—no, they knew that Swallow was going to reveal its ambition sooner or later now that the entire continent was at war.

“Who in the Swallow Empire could have done it?”

“I don’t know yet, but I heard that someone we know showed up at the battle between Thran and Swallow,” Iruca said with a sigh.

“Someone we know?” Selim felt an uneasy premonition.

“It was the Battle God.”

“Bel!” Selim shut his eyes. “I was wondering why he never showed up. I guess it was because he was over there.”

“Although Dad threw Bel into the middle of the ocean using magic, it was just a temporary measure. It was about time he came back.”

“Then did the Flame Emperor lose to the Battle God...?”

Selim could understand how the Thran Kingdom had fallen. From his experience fighting Bel, Selim was certain that Bel was capable of defeating the Flame Emperor—and could fight the Emperor of Avalon on equal terms.

“I don’t know either. It’s unclear if the Battle God joined the battle himself or if there’s someone from Swallow strong enough to defeat Sir Ulabis... I’m collecting intel on my end, but I hope it’s the former. I don’t want to imagine what I should do if it’s the latter.” Iruca shook her head.

Information played a vital role in a war because the lack of information created unexpected variables, which were a strategist’s worst nightmare.

“...I wish Kireua would bring us good news at a time like this...” Iruca mumbled, almost inaudibly.

Selim was right in front of her, so he heard Iruca, of course. However, he didn’t say anything. The chances of success for Kireua’s mission were already low; asking for more information and receiving a negative analysis would only decrease morale further. Even if Kireua had successfully infiltrated Hubalt, he wouldn’t contact them through a crystal ball due to the risk of the enemy tapping into their communications.

“Your Highness! Hubalt is coming again!” a Black Knight shouted.

It was time to go fight again.

Selim slowly stood up. “When you hear any more news about Thran or Kiruea, can you tell me too?”

“I will,” Iruca answered.

Selim nodded and strode toward the battlefield. He hoped that there would be good news that would lift his spirits waiting for him when he got back.

*

A sudden sound from the bushes made Anna tense, but she relaxed when she saw who emerged from them. It was exactly who she had been waiting for: Kireua. He'd just escaped the capital.

“Did you give them a good kick in the butt?” Anna asked.

“I did my best... Do you think they’ll fall for it?”

While Kiurea had been away, Anna was searching for secret routes in Hubalt.

“Did you find it?”

“I found several likely spots.”

The rulers of all countries created emergency escape routes. Most of them took the form of underground tunnels because that was the best way to avoid attention of their people during normal times and their enemies during war.

These kinds of secret routes usually lead from the palace to the outskirts of the capital. When the enemy breached the city and the palace fell, it was important to run away as far as possible without being detected by the invaders.

“Sylphy, have you found any other spots?”

-Grr. Grrr.

Anna’s wind elemental spirit in the form of a white tiger flared its nostrils wide and stopped, meaning that there were none.

“The airflow from these kinds of secret underground tunnels is supposed to be higher, compared to normal underground spaces,” Anna explained.

“We must find it. Even if we successfully stir them up, it’s meaningless if we can’t find any of the routes.”

“We’ll find them,” Anna assured him. “I, Anna bel Grace, would never miss the chance to to have a good time like this.”

Although she liked that she and Kireua were working on this mission together, she loved the idea of assassinating Hubalt’s emperor even more than the mission itself.

“Killing the continent’s worst tyrant... Reminds me of the good old days. Hahaha!”

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