“Charge!”
Riding on Blue Emperor, Ian went down the mountain at an astonishing speed. After that, knights and soldiers followed along on the Blue King.
The First Princess watched the whole scene with her own eyes.
“Everyone, follow the prince!”
“Charge forward!”
The cavalry in charging formation escorted Ian at great speed. A blue cavalry made up of Blue Kings. The monsters had no choice but to stop attacking the castle at their display of overwhelming momentum.
Seeing that, the princess clenched her fists so tightly that blood trickled down her palms.
‘That should have been me. Why…’
Just looking at him made her feel like she was losing.
His camp was too much to compare. It wasn’t solely because of Ian and his knights alone.
“Let’s crush the monsters!”
“Victory to Ian Kaistein!”
Even the soldiers were different.
Their eyes shone bright as if they never doubted they would win. Their battle roar sounded so confident that it made the monsters shrink.
Their confidence was only natural.
The Seventh Prince, Ian Kaistein, had led them so far.
‘The one who has never been defeated.’
‘The one who doesn’t know defeat.’
‘The lord we serve!’
Conquering the impregnable Molar Castle after defeating the castle lord, Yamanta, was just the beginning.
They had not lost any battles on their way here. It was impossible to even think of him losing.
It was worlds apart from the First Princess’s camp.
However, Ian did not let his guard down.
His eyes glared at the monsters sharply.
‘I have identified their weaknesses.’
The First Princess did not know it, but in fact, Ian had shown up at the battlefield quite early. He arrived early and had been observing the monsters until now.
Everything was for the sake of victory.
‘It was painful to just watch our allies get attacked.’
There were even complaints among the soldiers. But Ian had no better choice. He couldn’t push the soldiers into a situation where he wasn’t sure whether what the prisoner of war said was true.
Due to this doubt on the prisoner’s words, he scrutinized them in more detail.
And this gave him a clear idea of the enemies’ weaknesses.
‘Fire or attack using Oath.’
He had observed them long enough to tell they were vulnerable to those two things.
There was no need to hesitate any longer when he was sure he could kill the monsters.
Of course, it was not that there were no worries among the knights.
“Your Highness, wouldn’t it be better to strike Balrog first than to save the First Princess?”
“In a way, she’s your competitor…”
“Why don’t we head to Balrog now? Isn’t it enough if they can hold out? Also, aren’t the other successors coming soon?”
Everyone was against saving the First Princess.
But Ian knew.
‘It’s a bit premature to attack Balrog now.’
The change of the king of Bahara never happened in Ian’s previous life. Surely, the future was changing. Besides, if what the prisoners said before they died was true.
‘They said that there were a lot of traps being laid to the point they needed to evacuate the people.’
If they attacked Balrog now, countless blood would be shed.
Those people there must have made Balrog dangerous enough to make a lion’s den look ridiculous. If so, the best way was to gather the First Princess’s troops and strike Balrog.
‘We’re going to blast everything with the siege weapons from afar and enter slowly. Those traps will be useless.’
With this in mind, Ian, now fully prepared, shouted at the soldiers following him.
“Don’t forget! Never fight head-on and drive the enemies with fire! The knights and I will drive our swords through their hearts!”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
The charging soldiers’ weapons were covered with oil and wool.
It was to intimidate and corner the enemies.
Of course, that wasn’t the only preparation.
Ian thrust his sword forward as he ran.
“Fire!”
Boom!
A huge explosion boomed from the mountain at his signal. It was the sound of giant catapults moving. Barrels full of oil flew up in the sky.
The barrels soon fell near the monsters.
Bang!
Then oil splashed all around. But not a single barrel hit the monster.
The monsters snickered at Ian and the catapults.
Kekekekek…
It was quite a comical sight, especially after they made such a grand entrance.
No, it wasn’t just the monsters.
‘What a fool! You should have aimed at the monsters!’
Even Marquis Adelas and other soldiers of the First Princess visibly paled up in despair.
But it was then.
“Shoot!”
“!”
Ian once again sent another signal.
Ping!
A fire arrow flew up into the sky.
Its purpose was nothing but one.
Blaaarrr!
It was to separate the monsters with huge flames. The monsters started shrieking and thrashing at the sudden fire.
Graaahhh!
It was a tactic that took advantage of the monsters’ fear of fire.
Thanks to this, those watching had no choice but to keep their mouths shut.
‘They’re dangerous when they stick together.’
Ian had already made a plan.
‘You have to be confident that you will win before you fight. Otherwise, it’s mere bravado.’
In fact, it was someone’s advice to Ian a long time ago.
Ian came forward as he recalled the memories of his past life.
“Take one of each! The soldiers will support you!”
They were Galon the Indomitable, Fiosen the Iron Wall, and Nathan the Swift.
He called his own people who wouldn’t be inferior to anyone anywhere.
Of course, he also jumped into the fray.
“I’ll take care of that one.”
It was the greatest among the enemies.
Strangely enough, Ian felt unbearable disgust that he thought he needed to get rid of it immediately.
Krrrrrrr!
And the monster was afraid of Ian. No, it was not exactly him himself.
‘Is it seeing something in me?’
Not only that, it was afraid of the sword he was holding, his fluttering cloak, and even the light radiating from his shoes.
So, Ian chose this one.
If the most powerful of the monsters was afraid of him.
‘By defeating that one, I can remind the soldiers of victory.’
In other words, to uplift morale. It was also necessary to show that there was no need to fear such a monster.
But they were short in numbers.
The number of the monsters was five.
Their side had four people.
Sure enough, Nathan asked with a smirk.
“What about the last one?”
He pointed to the smallest of the monsters, the one who chased the First Princess. But none of Ian’s knights thought of defeating it.
Was it because they were scared?
No, it wasn’t for that reason.
“We have pride, too. I can’t give up the other guy.”
“I will do better than Nathan, Your Highness.”
“Say what? Fiosen, are you asking for a fight?!”
Because they wanted to fight a stronger monster.
Ian smiled at those knights.
“My sister will take care of one. They still have quite a few surviving knights.”
“Will those cowards come forward?”
Ian shook his head.
They seemed scared, unlike his knights, but they couldn’t have missed this advantage. Well, it didn’t matter if they didn’t step in.
“If it can’t be helped, I will take over and get rid of it.”
“What are you talking about? We’ll get it done first.”
Ian drove his horse with a grin at the fuming knights.
“Then, who takes care of it first is the winner.”
Thus the knights dispersed, and Ian soon came face-to-face with the roaring, gigantic monster.
The First Princess, who was near Ian, involuntarily screamed.
“Avoid it, Youngest! That monster is not one to be trifled with!”
Ian could do as he wished, including taking command of the operation.
But it was unthinkable for a member of the noble family of Kaistein to personally rush to that monster.
The First Princess, who had witnessed the death of her knights with her own eyes, couldn’t help screaming.
It was inevitable.
‘You will be killed for coming to help me. Don’t you know this will leave a disgrace to my name!’
In fact, it was disgraceful enough just now that the youngest came to save her.
But if the youngest lost his life here, she would be subjected to all the abuse and insults.
Yet Ian and Blue Emperor didn’t stop.
Groooaar!
No matter how much the monster roared.
Even if that roar created waves that destroyed everything.
Woong!
Faith’s light emanating from Ian’s body enveloped Blue Emperor. The two kept charging through the monster’s waves.
And.
“Come on!”
Ian leaped over the fire.
With his sword pointed precisely at the monster.
***
Across from where Ian was.
A group of people was standing on the hill overlooking the castle the First Princess was in.
It was Louis the Third Prince and his knights.
“We’re a step late.”
Louis was staring at the battlefield with a hardened face.
He came in a hurry, yet he arrived at the battlefield one step later than Ian.
The knight next to him whispered.
“Your Highness, shouldn’t we go too?”
The situation seemed to be in their favor here.
Ian and his knights were undeniably doing well at dealing with the monsters, but the soldiers cleverly driving the enemies also played a big part in this. The First Princess and her knights were also coming out through the gate.
If they joined them now, they would naturally be able to share the merit.
That was why the knight proposed to join as soon as possible so they could get merit.
But Louis smiled and turned around.
“It’s too late.”
“Pardon? Why? The monsters have not fallen yet…”
“If I go now, I’ll be nothing more than the youngest’s second fiddle.”
“!?”
The knight shut his mouth.
His intuition was telling him that Louis was not in a good mood now.
However, the knight was surprised by his following words.
“So we attack Balrog one step ahead of him.”
It was because Louis’ words were so shocking.
They were now here at the request to help the supreme commander, not simply the First Princess.
“But ignoring the emergency call may be brought to court later.”
“The youngest will save her anyway. Isn’t that enough?”
“However…”
Louis raised a hand to stop him from speaking further.
He had already made up his mind. He seemed to not want to hear the knight stop him anymore.
“If I take over Balrog, I will be recognized instead. I’m not going to play second fiddle.”
“…”
It was then.
Krrrrrrrr!
Louis struck down the sword in his hand at the sudden growl.
Now it turned out that he had been talking to the body of a giant monster.
The monster that had been lurking to completely block the First Princess’s retreat—Louis was the one who knocked it down.
If he didn’t waste his time dealing with this bastard…
‘I might have arrived first.’
But it took him too long to grasp its weakness.
Unlike Ian, he was shocked by the sight of a monster he had never seen before. Besides, he lost some knights and hundreds of soldiers in the process.
He might lose to the youngest if he didn’t hurry up and set up merit.
Therefore, Louis turned his heels.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
A flock of birds took off toward Louis, who was heading to Balrog.
Caw caw—
It’s crows.
And their ominous caw seemed to foreshadow the future path awaiting the Third Prince.
***
“Your Highness! We live! We’re alive!”
Despite her soldiers’ cheering, the First Princess’s face was gloomy.
The reason was one.
‘In the end, my life was saved by the youngest.’
Of course, Ian and the knights were still fighting.
However, the soldiers set fire to restrict the movement of the monsters, and it was not strange for the knights to quickly wipe them out. She could tell from how the monsters were falling one by one.
‘How can they subdue such monsters like that?’
It was way easier than she thought.
Cast aside their fear of the monsters, and they could do the same feat.
The First Princess hung her head, overcome with a sense of defeat.
‘It’s impossible with my knights now.’
It was because of the futile deaths of the knights at the beginning. They might have been confident with their skills, but that overconfidence was precisely what led all the knights of the First Princess to be this frightened.
On the other hand, the spirit Ian’s knights and soldiers showed soared high as if to pierce the sky.
They seemed to have complete faith in Ian.
However, she couldn’t simply stand by and watch just like this.
‘I shouldn’t just receive help one-sidedly.’
It was the least of her pride as the supreme commander of the Northern Expedition and the First Princess.
So, she shouted at the knights.
“What are you guys looking at! Open the gate right now and go out and fight!”
“H-however, the safety of Your Highness…”
“I can protect my own body. Go out and fight!”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The knights glanced at each other for a moment and then rushed out. Perhaps ashamed to have saved themselves from an opponent who could only be attacked by them, they jumped over the castle wall to avoid the soldiers.
But they stepped out way too late.
Graaaahh!
Slash!
It was because Ian, who had knocked down his share’s monster, blew the last monster’s neck.
“Whoaahh!”
“All hail the Seventh Prince!”
“The Crimson Star of Kaistein has defeated the monster!”
Amid the soldiers’ cheers, Ian sheathed the royal sword back into its scabbard.
It was a quick blow using Nathan’s “Swift.”
Little by little, he got used to Faith’s new power.
Of course, that wasn’t all.
Thud! Thud!
Other knights also succeeded in finishing off the monsters.
With this, all the monsters were defeated.
“Whoaaa!”
“We’re alive! We’re alive!”
“Those damn monsters are finally dead!”
At the sight, the soldiers of the First Princess cheered.
It was a cheer for the hero who saved them from the brink of death. Having knocked down the monsters, Ian leisurely climbed up the castle wall.
The First Princess felt her stomach churn at the sight of her soldiers praising him.
It was because she had a gut feeling that she would not simply be deprived of the cause and merit but also more than that.
Sure enough.
“Now then, Sister. It’s time to pay.”
Ian was smiling brightly.
“Charge!”
Riding on Blue Emperor, Ian went down the mountain at an astonishing speed. After that, knights and soldiers followed along on the Blue King.
The First Princess watched the whole scene with her own eyes.
“Everyone, follow the prince!”
“Charge forward!”
The cavalry in charging formation escorted Ian at great speed. A blue cavalry made up of Blue Kings. The monsters had no choice but to stop attacking the castle at their display of overwhelming momentum.
Seeing that, the princess clenched her fists so tightly that blood trickled down her palms.
‘That should have been me. Why…’
Just looking at him made her feel like she was losing.
His camp was too much to compare. It wasn’t solely because of Ian and his knights alone.
“Let’s crush the monsters!”
“Victory to Ian Kaistein!”
Even the soldiers were different.
Their eyes shone bright as if they never doubted they would win. Their battle roar sounded so confident that it made the monsters shrink.
Their confidence was only natural.
The Seventh Prince, Ian Kaistein, had led them so far.
‘The one who has never been defeated.’
‘The one who doesn’t know defeat.’
‘The lord we serve!’
Conquering the impregnable Molar Castle after defeating the castle lord, Yamanta, was just the beginning.
They had not lost any battles on their way here. It was impossible to even think of him losing.
It was worlds apart from the First Princess’s camp.
However, Ian did not let his guard down.
His eyes glared at the monsters sharply.
‘I have identified their weaknesses.’
The First Princess did not know it, but in fact, Ian had shown up at the battlefield quite early. He arrived early and had been observing the monsters until now.
Everything was for the sake of victory.
‘It was painful to just watch our allies get attacked.’
There were even complaints among the soldiers. But Ian had no better choice. He couldn’t push the soldiers into a situation where he wasn’t sure whether what the prisoner of war said was true.
Due to this doubt on the prisoner’s words, he scrutinized them in more detail.
And this gave him a clear idea of the enemies’ weaknesses.
‘Fire or attack using Oath.’
He had observed them long enough to tell they were vulnerable to those two things.
There was no need to hesitate any longer when he was sure he could kill the monsters.
Of course, it was not that there were no worries among the knights.
“Your Highness, wouldn’t it be better to strike Balrog first than to save the First Princess?”
“In a way, she’s your competitor…”
“Why don’t we head to Balrog now? Isn’t it enough if they can hold out? Also, aren’t the other successors coming soon?”
Everyone was against saving the First Princess.
But Ian knew.
‘It’s a bit premature to attack Balrog now.’
The change of the king of Bahara never happened in Ian’s previous life. Surely, the future was changing. Besides, if what the prisoners said before they died was true.
‘They said that there were a lot of traps being laid to the point they needed to evacuate the people.’
If they attacked Balrog now, countless blood would be shed.
Those people there must have made Balrog dangerous enough to make a lion’s den look ridiculous. If so, the best way was to gather the First Princess’s troops and strike Balrog.
‘We’re going to blast everything with the siege weapons from afar and enter slowly. Those traps will be useless.’
With this in mind, Ian, now fully prepared, shouted at the soldiers following him.
“Don’t forget! Never fight head-on and drive the enemies with fire! The knights and I will drive our swords through their hearts!”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
The charging soldiers’ weapons were covered with oil and wool.
It was to intimidate and corner the enemies.
Of course, that wasn’t the only preparation.
Ian thrust his sword forward as he ran.
“Fire!”
Boom!
A huge explosion boomed from the mountain at his signal. It was the sound of giant catapults moving. Barrels full of oil flew up in the sky.
The barrels soon fell near the monsters.
Bang!
Then oil splashed all around. But not a single barrel hit the monster.
The monsters snickered at Ian and the catapults.
Kekekekek…
It was quite a comical sight, especially after they made such a grand entrance.
No, it wasn’t just the monsters.
‘What a fool! You should have aimed at the monsters!’
Even Marquis Adelas and other soldiers of the First Princess visibly paled up in despair.
But it was then.
“Shoot!”
“!”
Ian once again sent another signal.
Ping!
A fire arrow flew up into the sky.
Its purpose was nothing but one.
Blaaarrr!
It was to separate the monsters with huge flames. The monsters started shrieking and thrashing at the sudden fire.
Graaahhh!
It was a tactic that took advantage of the monsters’ fear of fire.
Thanks to this, those watching had no choice but to keep their mouths shut.
‘They’re dangerous when they stick together.’
Ian had already made a plan.
‘You have to be confident that you will win before you fight. Otherwise, it’s mere bravado.’
In fact, it was someone’s advice to Ian a long time ago.
Ian came forward as he recalled the memories of his past life.
“Take one of each! The soldiers will support you!”
They were Galon the Indomitable, Fiosen the Iron Wall, and Nathan the Swift.
He called his own people who wouldn’t be inferior to anyone anywhere.
Of course, he also jumped into the fray.
“I’ll take care of that one.”
It was the greatest among the enemies.
Strangely enough, Ian felt unbearable disgust that he thought he needed to get rid of it immediately.
Krrrrrrr!
And the monster was afraid of Ian. No, it was not exactly him himself.
‘Is it seeing something in me?’
Not only that, it was afraid of the sword he was holding, his fluttering cloak, and even the light radiating from his shoes.
So, Ian chose this one.
If the most powerful of the monsters was afraid of him.
‘By defeating that one, I can remind the soldiers of victory.’
In other words, to uplift morale. It was also necessary to show that there was no need to fear such a monster.
But they were short in numbers.
The number of the monsters was five.
Their side had four people.
Sure enough, Nathan asked with a smirk.
“What about the last one?”
He pointed to the smallest of the monsters, the one who chased the First Princess. But none of Ian’s knights thought of defeating it.
Was it because they were scared?
No, it wasn’t for that reason.
“We have pride, too. I can’t give up the other guy.”
“I will do better than Nathan, Your Highness.”
“Say what? Fiosen, are you asking for a fight?!”
Because they wanted to fight a stronger monster.
Ian smiled at those knights.
“My sister will take care of one. They still have quite a few surviving knights.”
“Will those cowards come forward?”
Ian shook his head.
They seemed scared, unlike his knights, but they couldn’t have missed this advantage. Well, it didn’t matter if they didn’t step in.
“If it can’t be helped, I will take over and get rid of it.”
“What are you talking about? We’ll get it done first.”
Ian drove his horse with a grin at the fuming knights.
“Then, who takes care of it first is the winner.”
Thus the knights dispersed, and Ian soon came face-to-face with the roaring, gigantic monster.
The First Princess, who was near Ian, involuntarily screamed.
“Avoid it, Youngest! That monster is not one to be trifled with!”
Ian could do as he wished, including taking command of the operation.
But it was unthinkable for a member of the noble family of Kaistein to personally rush to that monster.
The First Princess, who had witnessed the death of her knights with her own eyes, couldn’t help screaming.
It was inevitable.
‘You will be killed for coming to help me. Don’t you know this will leave a disgrace to my name!’
In fact, it was disgraceful enough just now that the youngest came to save her.
But if the youngest lost his life here, she would be subjected to all the abuse and insults.
Yet Ian and Blue Emperor didn’t stop.
Groooaar!
No matter how much the monster roared.
Even if that roar created waves that destroyed everything.
Woong!
Faith’s light emanating from Ian’s body enveloped Blue Emperor. The two kept charging through the monster’s waves.
And.
“Come on!”
Ian leaped over the fire.
With his sword pointed precisely at the monster.
***
Across from where Ian was.
A group of people was standing on the hill overlooking the castle the First Princess was in.
It was Louis the Third Prince and his knights.
“We’re a step late.”
Louis was staring at the battlefield with a hardened face.
He came in a hurry, yet he arrived at the battlefield one step later than Ian.
The knight next to him whispered.
“Your Highness, shouldn’t we go too?”
The situation seemed to be in their favor here.
Ian and his knights were undeniably doing well at dealing with the monsters, but the soldiers cleverly driving the enemies also played a big part in this. The First Princess and her knights were also coming out through the gate.
If they joined them now, they would naturally be able to share the merit.
That was why the knight proposed to join as soon as possible so they could get merit.
But Louis smiled and turned around.
“It’s too late.”
“Pardon? Why? The monsters have not fallen yet…”
“If I go now, I’ll be nothing more than the youngest’s second fiddle.”
“!?”
The knight shut his mouth.
His intuition was telling him that Louis was not in a good mood now.
However, the knight was surprised by his following words.
“So we attack Balrog one step ahead of him.”
It was because Louis’ words were so shocking.
They were now here at the request to help the supreme commander, not simply the First Princess.
“But ignoring the emergency call may be brought to court later.”
“The youngest will save her anyway. Isn’t that enough?”
“However…”
Louis raised a hand to stop him from speaking further.
He had already made up his mind. He seemed to not want to hear the knight stop him anymore.
“If I take over Balrog, I will be recognized instead. I’m not going to play second fiddle.”
“…”
It was then.
Krrrrrrrr!
Louis struck down the sword in his hand at the sudden growl.
Now it turned out that he had been talking to the body of a giant monster.
The monster that had been lurking to completely block the First Princess’s retreat—Louis was the one who knocked it down.
If he didn’t waste his time dealing with this bastard…
‘I might have arrived first.’
But it took him too long to grasp its weakness.
Unlike Ian, he was shocked by the sight of a monster he had never seen before. Besides, he lost some knights and hundreds of soldiers in the process.
He might lose to the youngest if he didn’t hurry up and set up merit.
Therefore, Louis turned his heels.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
A flock of birds took off toward Louis, who was heading to Balrog.
Caw caw—
It’s crows.
And their ominous caw seemed to foreshadow the future path awaiting the Third Prince.
***
“Your Highness! We live! We’re alive!”
Despite her soldiers’ cheering, the First Princess’s face was gloomy.
The reason was one.
‘In the end, my life was saved by the youngest.’
Of course, Ian and the knights were still fighting.
However, the soldiers set fire to restrict the movement of the monsters, and it was not strange for the knights to quickly wipe them out. She could tell from how the monsters were falling one by one.
‘How can they subdue such monsters like that?’
It was way easier than she thought.
Cast aside their fear of the monsters, and they could do the same feat.
The First Princess hung her head, overcome with a sense of defeat.
‘It’s impossible with my knights now.’
It was because of the futile deaths of the knights at the beginning. They might have been confident with their skills, but that overconfidence was precisely what led all the knights of the First Princess to be this frightened.
On the other hand, the spirit Ian’s knights and soldiers showed soared high as if to pierce the sky.
They seemed to have complete faith in Ian.
However, she couldn’t simply stand by and watch just like this.
‘I shouldn’t just receive help one-sidedly.’
It was the least of her pride as the supreme commander of the Northern Expedition and the First Princess.
So, she shouted at the knights.
“What are you guys looking at! Open the gate right now and go out and fight!”
“H-however, the safety of Your Highness…”
“I can protect my own body. Go out and fight!”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The knights glanced at each other for a moment and then rushed out. Perhaps ashamed to have saved themselves from an opponent who could only be attacked by them, they jumped over the castle wall to avoid the soldiers.
But they stepped out way too late.
Graaaahh!
Slash!
It was because Ian, who had knocked down his share’s monster, blew the last monster’s neck.
“Whoaahh!”
“All hail the Seventh Prince!”
“The Crimson Star of Kaistein has defeated the monster!”
Amid the soldiers’ cheers, Ian sheathed the royal sword back into its scabbard.
It was a quick blow using Nathan’s “Swift.”
Little by little, he got used to Faith’s new power.
Of course, that wasn’t all.
Thud! Thud!
Other knights also succeeded in finishing off the monsters.
With this, all the monsters were defeated.
“Whoaaa!”
“We’re alive! We’re alive!”
“Those damn monsters are finally dead!”
At the sight, the soldiers of the First Princess cheered.
It was a cheer for the hero who saved them from the brink of death. Having knocked down the monsters, Ian leisurely climbed up the castle wall.
The First Princess felt her stomach churn at the sight of her soldiers praising him.
It was because she had a gut feeling that she would not simply be deprived of the cause and merit but also more than that.
Sure enough.
“Now then, Sister. It’s time to pay.”
Ian was smiling brightly.
