Chapter 355
Chapter 355
A knight approached beside the gatekeepers who silently watched Eldmia retreat on horseback. Then, unlike the other guards who were leaning against the wall and holding their weapons high, the gatekeeper showed a calm attitude and asked him a question.
“Shall we shoot?”
As he watched Eldmia approach, a preloaded crossbow hung on his back in case of an emergency. The knight shook his head as he stopped him from moving his hand to shoot as soon as the order was given.
“No. The Count told me to pay attention to the cause. I won’t do anything unnecessary.”
Less than a day later, he had just been informed that a royal witness would arrive. It was the count’s judgment that it was not good to do useless things while it was unknown whether Eldmia had come for this purpose, and the knight respected the count’s judgment.
“But… it’s amazing. You can only feel a very slight aura, but you beat the ear hunter.”
Even if he was lacking in basic skills, he was a man who made up for his shortcomings with the experience he gained while crossing the crossroads of life and death. She was by no means a formidable opponent, but Eldmia seemed unscathed.
Or pretending to be.
“…Prepare. The Count considered it highly likely that he would spring into action as soon as the witnesses arrived.”
“All right.”
Soon the sun will begin to set.
If he wanted to break through the territory alone, he would of course attempt a night raid, but judging from the expected time of arrival of the observers, it might have been a very meticulous plan. On the one hand, I even suspect that the empire is not related only with words and looks after it from behind.
“Be alert like you’re dealing with an army. Be vigilant like you’re looking for a stray dog. Be vigilant with the maximum number of people.”
The knight, who gave the order based on extremely reasonable judgment, did not stop with words, but climbed the wall and began to keep an eye on Eldmia. When an attack started and the situation seemed to be bad, he had no intention of neglecting his mission as long as he came out to the outer city to immediately stop it.
It was not a bad move in terms of maintaining the discipline of the unit. It was because no one had the courage to be idle in the yard where a knight who had reached the level of an aura expert took the lead and stood guard duty.
Shortly thereafter, an observer arrives with the royal troops escorted at the right moment, and after talking with Eldmia, who is preparing to camp outside, while looking around the entire territory and entering the castle to talk with the Count, the knight is not aware of Eldmia’s sudden attack. I didn’t take my eyes off him for a moment, concerned about his actions.
As time passed, the royal troops from the inner city built a camp in a location where they could see Eldmia and the territory at a glance. It seemed that they confirmed the duel outside, and the witness confirmed it in the inner room.
It didn’t matter anyway since he wouldn’t be able to go to the castle anyway. A long time after that, the sun went down and the night deepened, but the knight faithfully kept his seat.
If it is an army, it is impossible not to know that it is moving, but the story of one enemy is different. It was clear that if a powerful person who had defeated the ear hunter, who was an aura expert, sneaked in under the cover of darkness, confusion would increase and unnecessary damage would occur.
Needless to say, the soldiers following that order were also maintaining the highest level of alert. I don’t know who Eldmia is, but since the knight who writes for the aura is so nervous, I think it must be an unusual person.
It was around the dawn of the next day when an air current that something was strange began to flow between the troops of the McKellen estate, who had spent the night in such tension.
‘They don’t… do night raids?’
Could it be that the purpose is to block Youngji’s movement as it is? Or was there a hidden intention to humiliate one person by creating a situation where Youngji’s troops were dispatched?
In the sight of the knight rolling his head with slightly bloodshot eyes due to light fatigue, Eldmia’s nasty figure, which was slowly getting up and eating breakfast, was captured.
On the contrary, the captive Oswal and the elves looked more anxious than Eldmia herself, who had engaged in a duel. The way he cooked and ate the food in earnest made me question whether he was really the one who had a fight with the city.
Unfortunately or fortunately, that uncomfortable feeling did not last long. It was because Eldmia, who had finished her meal and relaxed herself, approached the manor as if she were taking a walk.
Voices were heard from everywhere to stop the soldiers preparing bows and crossbows in fear. The knight let out a sigh of relief as the captains hurriedly moved, understanding that if the story spread that they had started a fight against only one person, they wouldn’t even become a laughing stock.
wee.
“Ah, ah, ah! Hmmmm. Excuse me. I’m choked up in the morning.”
Stunned eyes poured out as she settled down in a strangely restrained motion and loosened her throat, but Eldmia didn’t care, took a deep breath, and shouted loudly.
“I, Eldmia Ega, the son of Radan Ega and Avisher Ruina! Being threatened with assassination just because I raised my voice to correct the wrongdoing of the city gatekeeper! Pastalia Van, who insulted my own honor and faith by doing so. Challenge Count McKellen to a duel! With an observer authorized by Caldra’s rightful leader, Caldra XVI! In front of the eyes of the gods, fight a fair fight to regain your lost honor! I declare here! ”
“…What is that doing now?”
“…Declaration of war?”
A bewildered reaction spread among those who were watching, but the knight couldn’t even dare to calm the confusion. It’s because it took me a while to understand what the hell I was doing right away.
Whether or not his doubts grew, Eldmia’s declaration continued.
“Those who stand against me to defend the honor of Count Pastalia van McKellen! Raise your sword! And accept death as the price of your faith! But those who do not intend to do so! Lay down your arms! This is the process by which a duel is fought To avoid unnecessary and innocent victims in !”
What one of the soldiers said with a laugh was true. That was a declaration of war. While dumbfounded, Eldmia put her hand in her mouth and whistled as loudly as her voice.
-Piik! Pii profit!
What is that again…?
While reflecting on that oddly familiar note, the knight who saw Eldmia starting to get into a running stance exclaimed in a hurry, startled.
“I, the trumpet! That’s the replacement for the start-up trumpet! Prepare for battle! Prepare for battle!”
Normally, only one person would laugh at me for doing crazy things, but did they say that crazy things look like something if they are accompanied by excessive confidence?
As the urgent order of the knight and this unbelievable situation overlapped, the soldiers did not take it lightly and moved quickly and tensely. The problem was that Eldmia, carrying a huge ax on her back, ran faster than those soldiers.
The knight who saw the arrow cut through the air and pierced the ground in a movement that felt like a lie, gnashing his teeth, shouted.
“Damn it! No bows! Crossbowmen! Shoot! Pikemen guard the gates!”
A solid iron gate? In the west, there was already a legend that was not a legend called Ekatrina the Siege Striker.
Remembering the incident in which the entire western world learned what would happen if an individual’s armed force was backed up by weapons, no one guarding the outer wall had vain hopes that Eldmia would come running and see without breaking through the front gate.
The speed at which he was already running toward the gateway far exceeded the normal range. There was even a lingering fear that if he was that guy, he might hit the castle gate with his body and rip it off. Among them, there were those who hoped that they would fall after being hit by a crossbow while running, but unfortunately, that wish did not come true.
In the end, just before Eldmia reached the gate without any problems, all troops except the crossbowman ran down the stairs until their feet were on fire, praying for the iron gate to be safe. It was the result of a firm belief that there must be something because he ran confidently like that.
However, Eldmia cleverly betrayed that trust. The crossbowmen who had been aiming to shoot Eldmia, who clung to the castle gate until the end, started shouting in fright.
“Ahhhh?! I, that bastard grabs the wall and runs!!”
“I’m a knight!! I’m a knight!!”
The fact that he was able to turn his body around even though he doubted his own ears at the desperate cries he heard was thanks to the knight’s personality that he could not understand anything until he confirmed it with his own eyes. Are you running against the wall? What kind of bullshit is that? Is there any magic that makes a stone wall collapse if you touch it?
“I’m running over that bastard, ah!”
Seeing that they aren’t shouting out one or two, it doesn’t seem like what they’re seeing is different, so why can’t I understand the situation? The knight who sped up and put his head on the edge of the castle wall was able to understand their cries only after sticking his head out.
“What…”
Eldmia was really climbing up the wall with one hand on it.
As if running on the ground, even climbing stairs without the slightest deceleration.
‘stairs?’
The naked eye of the aura-enhanced knight caught something Eldmia was standing on.
When two nails that look infinitely thin compared to his size are driven into the wall, Eldmia runs on them, stepping on them like stairs. Shivering at the unknown tool that was pulled out and stuck repeatedly as fast as he ran, the knight snatched the long spear of the soldier next to him.
“Tell my inner self! The enemy is at least an Aura expert! He’s a magic tool user!”
The javelin of the knight who exerted all his strength with a loud cry was aimed at Eldmia, who had already jumped more than half of the wall.
I don’t know what kind of magic it was, but it was only enough to raise a foot. It was clear that there was no way to extend the pedestal beyond that, seeing as he climbed in an unstable position with his torso almost attached to the wall.
If so, it would have been nice to drop it to buy time. A nail that looked a bit thicker than the one Eldmia was stepping on came out of nowhere and suddenly flew towards the spear she threw with that feeling.
It was too big to be called a nail. It was big, thick and delicate.
It was truly a crochet needle.
“What else is that?!”
The moment the tip of the unknown needle and the tip of the spear mesh, the spear blade is shattered and the spear pole explodes and scatters.
The knight, who realized that the needles soared so fast that it was slow to feel the flickering and fluttering of the fragments, was aiming for his eyebrows, and the knight twisted his whole body into the castle wall.
– Wedge juice!
The power of the twisted bamboo needle that passed by just a sheet of paper was like that of a spear wielded by a knight. Relieved that he had avoided the blow, the knight tried to throw his spear at Eldmia again, when he heard the sound of something penetrating the castle wall.
The knight’s face contorted as he understood what it meant because he had seen it himself.
“Shit.”
Eldmia came over, pushing against the wall with a fast and steady sound.
Eldmia laughed as he looked straight at the knight while the soldiers who caused cognitive dissonance at his light movement, as if he were climbing a low wall, couldn’t even react properly.
“Is the reaction good?”
-Piik!
A small whistle echoed from his mouth as he swung the two-handed ax that was slung on his back like a toy. Then, a twisted bamboo needle that seemed to fly endlessly into the sky and nine needles that he must have used to climb up the castle wall flew behind him.
Even though he was just aiming at the cutting edge while floating in the air, the knight drew his sword, feeling as if he had been pointed at by ten spears.
Those who survived will say
That’s how McKellen’s nightmare began.