Chapter 205

Three of them managed to ride the wyvern, but five could not.

“Knight.”

“Yeah.”

Thus, after wasting precious time trying to get Rudi, Tenitia, and the boy onto the wyvern with Valenciaunos and Marcus, they quickly concluded that it would be better for them to dismount and protect Valenciaunos.

Bang!

A platinum knight clad in a red cloak fell like a meteor, while a maid in a black maid uniform descended gracefully, holding a magic gun as lightly as a cat.

Tenitia assessed the situation with the judgment of a true knight.

‘It’s worse than I thought.’

Helena’s forces were indeed pressing the noble alliance, but they were blocked by them.

Thanks to Valenciaunos’s flame magic, the path to the bridge was clear, but it required quite a distance to be covered.

And behind them, machine knights, having driven away the elite troops and eastern knights, were rushing to reclaim their lord.

‘Blood is boiling.’

Like iron that grows harder the more it is struck.

Tenitia felt her heart thumping with a sharp tension and a hot excitement as she let her gloved hand down to the grip of the holy sword Hwanhan.

At that moment, Rudi shook his head firmly.

“Knight. Please support Marcus in place of Valencia. I will handle the rear.”

To pass the honor of retreating to someone who was not a knight was something Tenitia, who was a knight to her core, could never accept.

“Even if you have become a sword user, you are not a knight. The enemies are numerous, and their quality is good.”

Rudi did not deny Tenitia’s words.

He simply fixed his green eyes coldly on the approaching enemies.

“Capture them!”

“Shoot them down!”

“Fire at will!”

“What we need right now is your shield and my spear. When blocking the pursuers, a spear is needed more than an iron wall.”

“Where are you going to get a spear?”

Rudi smiled slightly and replied.

“The magic gun is a 500-meter spear, Knight. We don’t have time. Valencia must rest quickly.”

The phrase that there was no time was a spell more powerful than any magic.

Tenitia whispered softly as she shouldered Marcus and the boy with one arm and rushed toward the bridge crossing the river while supporting Valenciaunos.

Rudi lightly cracked his neck, checked the condition of his shoes and the number of bullets remaining in his belt, adjusted his glasses, and smiled.

‘Valencia.’

Tatata-tat!

Marcus’s magic gun battalion poured out a barrage of fire.

Dozens of iron balls split the air faster than sound.

Rudi lowered his body to the ground, seeking cover, and the iron balls struck Tenitia’s back.

Kakakakang!

However, the armor of the royal knights was material that could not be pierced even by Rudi’s magic gun.

No matter how much Marcus made, the mass-produced magic gun could not deal effective damage.

“Surround that knight and directly attack Valenciaunos!”

Marcus’s adjutant shouted from behind the shield wall.

The lords from the southwest continued to be Marcus’s allies even after the Red Stone Prince vanished.

“Ararararar!”

The terror-bird light cavalry charged toward Tenitia, letting out a terrifying roar.

They looked like they would catch up in seconds.

Rudi supported all his weight with his left elbow and tips of his toes, lowered his body, and shouldered the magic gun.

‘Do you know? There’s nothing quite as joyful as being helpful to someone.’

There is a saying about not sharing what you learn, but many people have professions that involve sharing what they learn.

Tutors, academy professors, and personal maids are mostly those who do such work.

‘It truly means something to be able to help someone greater than me.’

Rudi’s green eyes narrowed as her gaze locked onto the foremost terror-bird light cavalry.

Peraaaang!

The second shotgun blast from the stacked magic gun erupted, and several cavalrymen in the lead tumbled to the ground.

“There she is!”

“That’s the magic gun maid that Your Excellency mentioned! Capture her!”

At the same time, Marcus’s adjutant and the magic gun battalion identified her location.

Rudi knew that this would happen, so after firing one shot, she immediately stood up and sprinted away.

In a flatland like this, the stealthy shots could only be made with the first shot.

“Fire!”

With a distant voice, gunfire echoed.

Tatata-tat!

No matter how initial the model was, it was still a magic gun.

Even though she wore liquid metal armor and a spell-enchanted leather armor called “Dolpibu,” if even a single shot hit her leg or hand, she would be incapacitated.

Thus, Rudi swirled the magic gun around, disengaged it, and reloaded while using the thick barrier ring given to her by Valenciaunos.

Blink!

A translucent blue shield enveloped her as she leapt like a hunting dog, and the iron ball that soared like a shooting star ricocheted off.

Kang!

They say that if you see a shooting star and make a wish, it will come true.

Since that shooting star contained someone else’s wish, Rudi prepared a shooting star that would grant her own wish.

Zing!

The ring inscribed with the magic “Synthesis Revitalization,” which artificially contracts and relaxes muscles through electrical currents to enhance physical abilities, sparkled.

Whoosh!

The wind blessed ring, which wrapped her body in wind as she moved.

Zat!

The premier maid, using two body enhancement rings simultaneously, sprinted fast enough that the terror-bird light cavalry appeared to move slowly.

Rudi leapt into the air and pulled the trigger toward the magic gun battalion.

Peraaaang!

Hundreds of pellets from the shotgun scattered like a meteor shower.

* * *

“……All court nobles, representatives of the great lords, and even the commoner representatives allied with the imperial faction have cast their votes in favor of the bill. It is presumed to be under the instruction of Duke Valencius.”

Nosage concluded his report before the saint.

He was also a high-ranking clergy with considerable influence, but in that room were the black saint Matheos and the law uniformed Pope Argos, so Nosage’s demeanor was extremely courteous.

The meticulous-looking Pope Argos gestured for Nosage to leave.

Clank, as soon as the door closed, Saint Matheos sighed.

His face, with defined lines suggesting masculinity, clouded with deep concern.

“What is going on here? This is completely bewildering.”

“First, calm down, Saint.”

Pope Argos, who said that, was also shaking his legs.

‘How did things turn out like this?’

Matheos wiped his face with his large hand.

“Marcus forged an alliance of nobles and received votes from the representatives of the high nobility and the commoner representatives, shifting them toward us.”

“But the unanimous vote of the court nobles has rendered their votes meaningless.”

“We no longer have a reason to side with Marcus. At the same time, we have lost the grounds to pressure the imperial family that the court nobles serve.”

Of course, the citizens of the capital would unanimously sing for the burning of Valenciaunos, but the approval votes from their representatives, which represented them, had also dimmed.

If the court nobles come out saying, ‘Did we approve this only to see such a sight?’ there would be nothing the church could say.

Pushing the imperial family, who supported the bill, into that very bill was a picture they wouldn’t want to paint.

“Originally, we planned to negotiate with the Jayrilis Emperor over the life of Duke Valencius.”

“But now that the situation has become this way, the punishments we can propose will only be donations or penitence or a few years of confinement in a cloister.”

“Duke Valencius might gladly accept that. Rather, it would be as if we were granting him absolution. Sending him to a cloister would have the same outcome. He might use his sinful body to entice all the young monks and nuns within!”

“Saint.”

“Besides, he would have certainly moved through the Emperor’s tacit consent or instructions! It means that Jayrilis knows that we attempted to pressure her. Then—”

Matheos couldn’t finish the sentence, and Argos looked startled, as if he hadn’t thought that far.

‘Ah-hahaha!’

‘I will drop a meteor!’

The Emperor’s mocking laughter echoed like a hallucination in the lavish room.

“…….”

Argos broke the heavy silence.

“As a legal scholar, I find it embarrassing to say, but what is more important than the legal text itself is the actual power and the precedents established as a result.”

Matheos nodded weakly.

“I don’t want to acknowledge this, but I will acknowledge it. We must recognize the reality to change it.”

“Jayrilis has offloaded all the villainy onto Valencius.”

Although the truth was of Valencius’s own accord, that was how it appeared to the church.

“He receives oaths of loyalty as a flawless emperor, and once he begins to exert influence over the entire empire, our laws and intentions will become irrelevant. As you already mentioned, with the agreement of the noble representatives, we can hardly pressure them.”

Matheos sighed deeply.

As always, a subtle heat emanated from the stigma on his forehead.

With a body that rivaled a Sword Master and divine power capable of incinerating thousands, he had an abundance of battle priests and holy knights willing to throw themselves into battle at his command.

Yet, the nameless duke, who had no land to speak of, had toyed with him.

He recalled Valenciaunos’s face.

Too ominous to be called good, too passionate to be called evil, a countenance whose true nature he could not discern.

“Let’s secure him for now.”

He had already discerned that the Emperor was entrusting everything to Valenciaunos.

The Emperor had not reacted even when Cariosa stormed the imperial palace.

So, he could drag him in by force.

“They should have entered through the east by now, send the holy knights.”

Matheos gave the order with a strange sense of guilt and defeat.

* * *

Thanks to Rudi’s struggle and Tenitia’s devotion, Valenciaunos safely entered within the walls of Silentalouon.

Completely exhausted, he stumbled like an undead freshly risen from a grave.

“I’m dying.”

After living in a state of wild tension for several days, that tension had just begun to dissipate, and all the strength was leaving his body.

The scales he had raised fell off him, and as they touched the ground, they crumbled to dust with a crunch.

Tenitia was still lowering her face veil.

Yet, Valenciaunos could feel her intense gaze.

“Your Highness, truly—”

“Truly?”

Valenciaunos braced himself for a tremendous outburst.

Having dealt a significant blow to the church, it was enough to shock a faithful knight like Tenitia.

However, Tenitia praised Valenciaunos’s heroics with an overflowing emotional voice.

“Truly, you were knightly.”

“?!”

Valenciaunos doubted his ears, while Tenitia smiled contentedly beneath her helm.

“To bear the disgrace of a charade to save the city, to brave the heart of the enemy and face their chairperson, and your ultimate victory in the end. None of it can be criticized.”

He could sense how much she admired him just from her voice.

“I mean it, Your Highness.”

Tenitia continued, feeling overwhelmed with emotion.

“As someone who serves, you set a worthy example.”

The flames ignited by Valenciaunos, and the thick cloud resembling a mushroom was vivid in his mind.

To delve alone into enemy territory for the sake of his lord, displaying unmatched prowess, capturing the enemy’s chairperson, and escaping successfully.

It was a tale that a knight among knights like Tenitia could hardly contain her excitement over.

Clink, clink, clink, clink.

Before them, divine power shimmered brightly, and the sound of plate armor clashing was heard.

Rudi bit her lip as she tried to reload the magic gun, but Tenitia raised a hand to stop her and handed the two captives over to Rudi.

“Now you take care of them.”

“Knight, these things—”

Rudi’s green eyes flickered like a candle in the wind.

She also knew how faithful Tenitia was.

“Lady Trentia! Hand over Duke Valencius. It is the command of the Saint!”

Dozens of fully armored holy knights clad in silver plate armor marched down the street.

On their shoulders, divine power blazed brightly like torches.

Holy knights require more time to extract their strength than regular knights.

However, once the prayers were completed and the real blessings began, they displayed feats that could easily surpass knights of similar experience with their unflagging stamina and insane recovery.

The foremost holy knight was Angeros.

About a year ago, he was the comrade who had kidnapped Bishop Paolavan alongside Tenitia and Valenciaunos.

As he raised his visor, he cast a look filled with regret toward Tenitia.

Another holy knight shouted.

“Lady Trentia, what are you hesitating for!”

Tenitia gently shook her head and gave a serene smile that no one could see on her face.

“I swore an oath when I was appointed. To serve my lord with loyalty, serve the divine with love, and uphold only justice with my sword.”

There was not a hint of regret in her voice.

“I will fulfill at least one of those.”

The holy sword Hwanhan was drawn, and a thick red mana blade glowed like blood.

In the middle of the street, the knight and the holy knight clashed.