Chapter 242

Tentena drove the wyvern all night long toward the medium-sized city of Instrumentum and returned after sending a message to Jeilliris.

“I entrusted it to a keen-eyed bird that can soar with the winds for a week. It will surely arrive at the Imperial Palace safely.”

Valenciaunos searched through the mountains, holding Yulia as a hostage while looking for the entrance to the abandoned mine.

The mine had dozens of entrances, but most of them had long since collapsed and disappeared.

“It seems Your Highness truly lives up to the title of ‘bandit,’ showing no regard for honor. How can you treat the kingdom’s swordsman and the Crown Prince this way?”

“There’s no point in blaming someone who knows nothing of honor for being dishonorable. Now that your mouth is starting to move again, how about stepping down from that mechanical knight’s arm?”

“…My legs still don’t move well. You didn’t cut my tendons, did you?”

“If that were the case, the crazed Crown Prince would have charged in. I’m not about to take such risks. That’s why I took you hostage. As long as you behave, I won’t kill you. Just go back and apply some potions, and you’ll recover quickly. So please, just stay still.”

Tentena, Sererassie, the two mechanical knights, and Marcus wandered the mountains all day.

“Did you find anything?”

“Nothing again today.”

“Then we should find the place where they come out at night.”

“That would be dangerous, but they don’t come out from the mine; they’re buried underground, crawling out like buried vegetables.”

“What kind of metaphor is that?”

“Oh, I caught a mountain goat monster today. It was sleeping in a cave, and it tried to charge at me when I entered.”

“Are you okay?”

“I gave it a good whack on the forehead, and it died.”

Only innocent monsters fell in droves, and Philius aged about twenty years in just a few days, while Marcus grumbled every night as he implanted crystal shards into Tentena’s mechanical armor.

“I lost three fingernails!”

On the fifth day, Tentena shouted so loudly that the mountains shook.

“Lord Valenccius!”

“Where?”

Her voice came not from the valley where the abandoned mine was but from mid-mountain.

Valenciaunos pushed through the thornbushes and helped Sererassie, who had collapsed, to ascend to the mountainside.

Behind the excited Tentena stood a still-intact entrance that had not yet collapsed.

Rust-free iron pillars supported the tunnels, and blue crystals sprouted everywhere.

He approached the massive monument near Marcus’s entrance and spoke.

“It seems this is the only place that survived the landslide, Your Highness. Here’s the map. Mines always have these kinds of things made. The core you seek is probably at the deepest point.”

He wiped the dust off the monument and revealed a map etched into the rock, resembling an ant nest.

After estimating the depth of the mine, Valenciaunos let out a sigh of relief.

‘As expected, it seems I’ve found the body of the meteorite. It’s not buried too deep, and instead of a deep pit, there are many branches. If there’s no combat, I should be able to reach the bottom in a few hours.’

He immediately decided to advance.

“Sister, take care. Right now—”

Booouu—!

At that moment, a violent horn sound shook the entire valley.

Valenciaunos recognized from experience that it was the marching horn of the Doroysen Kingdom.

“Damn it! Why now of all times!”

He clenched his fist and looked down at the valley.

Chik, chik, chik, chik.

At least three thousand soldiers lined up and marched into the basin.

Since the distance wasn’t particularly long in a straight line, Valenciaunos was able to see their emblem.

‘Those are all knights’ emblems… So they’ve finally arrived.’

Flags crossed behind shields, flapping in the wind.

That meant the arrival of Ensis, the Sword King of Doroysen.

Valenciaunos took a deep breath.

‘It might not be the same as my condition, but can I hold out?’

A deep tremor rose from his heart.

Contrary to his plans, he had neither gathered enough crystal decisions nor found the body yet.

However, he issued a firm command.

“Marcus, Sister Sererassie. Go down and destroy the body of the meteorite. It must not fall into Ensis’s hands.”

And starting his words, he continued.

He couldn’t hold out without Tentena, but Tentena was someone who couldn’t afford to die here.

“You must… get the wyvern ready. Be prepared to leave at any moment—.”

Tentena shook her head resolutely, and Valenciaunos sighed deeply, knowing she would do just that.

“You….”

That sigh contained a myriad of conflicting emotions.

Tentena fastened her helmet firmly and said.

“Leave this to me, and you go first.”

“You can’t win.”

Valenciaunos tried to stop her till the end, but Tentena smiled triumphantly.

“If you come out before I die, we’ve won. Are you not confident?”

* * *

With silky, lustrous hair cascading down like a raven’s, her lake-blue eyes scanned the surroundings to grasp the topography, and her slim, toned body was that of someone in their twenties.

He had become a Sword Master, gaining eternal youth and a perfect physique, and the world called him the Sword King.

The king of the powerful Doroysen Kingdom, Ensis, was wrapped tightly in full plate armor.

Considering that many swordsmen sought to conclude battles without armor, it was a rather thoughtful action for someone called the Sword King.

Chik, chik, chik, chik.

He stepped into Crown Prince Philius’s encampment alongside knights and swordsmen.

“…….”

He frowned at the scorched remains of the encampment that Valenciaunos had burned down, recollecting the content of the missive, and immediately summoned the Crown Prince’s knights to chastise them.

“It seems you’ve allowed the Crown Prince to act unroyally. The one who should inherit my throne has been neglecting duties for pleasures.”

“We apologize, Your Highness.”

“It is our fault, Your Highness.”

These knights had sworn their loyalty to Philius, not to Ensis, and even though they were not technically his men under feudalism, the king who ruled the kingdom for 260 years held a god-like authority.

‘Inheriting the throne?’

‘Is he someone who will still be sitting there even a hundred years from now?’

Among the knights of Philius, some expressed such grumblings inwardly.

But even those knights could not muster the courage to rebel.

Ensis had been the king of Doroysen before they were born—even before their fathers were born.

Betraying a king who had served for four or five generations was something unimaginable for a knight.

“Philius wishes to see Father.”

A rough-looking man, with a short beard, short hair, and black eyes, appeared as though he had aged twenty years over the past few days.

He showed no response upon seeing his knights kneel before his father.

Whether Philius was ten years old or eighty years old, Ensis had always looked the same.

The unchanging Sword King.

Ensis looked down at Philius from atop his horse.

“Philius. What did I tell you? A heir must put aside personal feelings and dedicate themselves to the country and the subjects.”

“I’m sorry, Father.”

Seeing a man in his twenties chastising another in his forties was quite a bizarre sight.

“Your age is now nearing eighty, isn’t it? I became a Sword Master at your age and fought against the Empire.”

“I am lacking in merit.”

However, the content was a perfect argument based on experience, and no one dared to refute it.

Just as Ensis was about to speak again, someone walked out from the opposite side of the basin all alone.

“The King of Doroysen, Ensis, has received the message from Lord Valenccius, the plenipotentiary envoy sent by the Holy Emperor of the Solletarass Empire!”

She was wearing special heavy armor, seemingly equipped with platinum plate gloves over Marcus’s mechanical armor.

The graceful white background caught the sunlight and shattered it, while the geometric red patterns had an overpowering quality, and the red silk string flowing behind the helmet naturally drew attention.

“This place historically and administratively belongs to the Empire, and the Empire has defined your actions as an invasion. If you do not withdraw immediately, we must warn you that we may take military action.”

Her voice was firm, and her proud stride betrayed no hesitation or fear.

Ensis and Philius both let out groans for different reasons.

“There’s a knight like that in Solletarass.”

Ensis’s groan revealed satisfaction with her knightly demeanor, while simultaneously expressing disappointment in his son, who appeared to be less than a mere knight of Solletarass.

‘Is she really hoping to stop my father alone? Didn’t I fail in doing so? Is she trying to die?’

Philius’s groan stemmed from the surprise of knowing what kind of abilities Tentena possessed.

An awkward silence lingered for a moment, when a famous knight known as the ‘Spearhead of the King’ in Doroysen shouted.

“Then make your military move!”

Laughter began to ripple among the Doroysen soldiers.

“Hahaha.”

“Yeah. Surely, you can’t be serious?”

“We’ll spare you, so go back and tell your lord! Challenges are always welcome!”

They didn’t plan on pursuing Tentena seriously, even if she said she would wait and fled.

Being alone before an army of three thousand, a hundred swordsmen, and over a hundred knights was already a courageous act, and Doroysen always praised the courageous.

However, what they did not know was.

“I am a knight of Lord Valenccius! I am Tentena!”

Tentena was a knight deeply immersed in chivalry, even more so than any of them.

Tap, tap!

Her steps were light despite the heavy special armor, and she moved swiftly as if the ground was bending beneath her.

With the red silk ribbons trailing down from her helmet fluttering in the wind, Ensis recalled the name mentioned in the reports by his spies.

‘The bandit Elder Brother, and his opposing knight.’

Raising one hand, he dismissed the archers aiming at their crossbows, gathered his black hair together, and wore a dark blue helmet.

“I am Ensis, the King of Doroysen!”

He leaped down from his horse, replacing his lance with a broadsword.

‘How long has it been since someone dared to challenge me?’

Swhhh—

From the Sword King’s sword, a blue aura blade flickered, while a red mana blade ignited from the opposing knight’s weapon.

As they closed in, they both raised their swords.

Saak—

One clash.

Bam!

In the next moment, a red shockwave surged through the basin.

* * *

It was a single strike.

With just that one blow, the special heavy armor swayed as if about to collapse at any moment, and the swirling red mana blade shattered into fragments.

Tentena staggered for a moment but managed to regain her balance and drew her mana blade once more.

Swhhh—

The momentum was still fierce, but since it was drawn immediately after a forced separation, it bore slight cracks and tremors.

The Sword King turned his back nonchalantly and spoke.

“As a knight and a king, I do not wish to kill a knight like you. If you withdraw now, I would like to spare your life.”

“Thank you for the offer, but no knight would accept such a deal.”

“Impressive. Would you not pledge loyalty to me?”

His tone held a genuine harshness.

However, Tentena smiled grimly and rejected him.

“Do you need a knight who would betray his lord out of fear of death?”

“Hmph.”

Ensis let out a sound of admiration, and Tentena continued.

“Furthermore, I have heard the truth of you from my lord. My lord may be called a bandit by the whole world, but at least he does not feign virtue to deceive the people. I will never serve someone like you, even at the cost of my life.”

“…Deceit?”

For the first time, his voice was laced with anger.

Tentena laughed cheerfully and shouted, her voice echoing throughout the basin.

“If my words are wrong, then immediately take off that armor and reveal yourself under the sunlight of the God of Radiance. You will never be able to do so!”

Underneath the helmet, Ensis’s blue eyes grew cold.

“If you refuse my mercy, I will give you no rest.”

In the next moment, the aura blade danced sharply.