Duke Pendragon

Chapter Side Story 53

Mark Killian.

He was a descendant of a prestigious family serving the Pendragon Kingdom for four generations ever since they were a duchy of the Aragon Empire. During the reign of the previous dukes, Killian's family had been one of the vassal families of the Pendragon Duchy with the family name Rodwin.

However, Jeremy Rodwin saved the young lady of the Pendragon Duchy after being knighted, and he was given a new name and bestowed the title of baronet by the duke at the time. Since then, descendants of the Kilian family served the Pendragon Duchy as faithful knights in the castle, and now, the Killian family was a viscounty lord serving the royal family of Pendragon.

Since he was a lord, he had no obligations to always reside in the castle.

There wouldn't be any issues for Killian to reside in his own territory during normal times as long as he responded to the king's summons. He could lead his troops and knights to the castle when he was needed. However, Killian left the management of his territory to his nephew and stayed in the Pendragon Castle as the Captain of the White Dragon Knights for most of the year.

Naturally, he never stopped training his subordinates as well as himself.

It was because he could not bring himself to lead a peaceful, quiet life while his lord, King Alan Pendragon, was missing. Moreover, Killian was relatively less renowned compared to Alan Pendragon and Elkin Isla. This was in part due to the fact that the two men were incomparably strong and famous.

However, anyone who had ever seen Killian in the battlefield scoffed after hearing such an evaluation of the knight.

He was strong, and he was tenacious.

Although he always pretended to run away with fear every time, he never skipped out on his forced confrontations with Karuta, who was possibly stronger than the Knight King of Valvas. Moreover, he would have bouts with Isla when he came to visit the castle.

Although Killian was slightly inferior, Isla was always forced to utilize all of his strength against him in their matches.

That was the kind of knight that Mark Killian was.

For the first time in a long time, he was exuding the full force of his spirit.

As if to prove the bravery of his lion-killing ancestor, Killian swung his blade with his full power. The sword transformed into a blue flame of spirit as it cut down toward the assassin feigning to be the eldest son of Lloyd Barony.

Rumbleeee!

The incredible strike of flame split the man's body in half. However, Killian did not stop, but rather changed the trajectory of his sword mis strike. He drew his blade to the left.

It was because the body of the assassin had blurred at the moment of contact, and Killian had been left feeling only empty air with his hands.

Shiiing!

The fierce attack glided past the first assassin and aimed at the side of the one impersonating a servant. And just as the blade was about to strike, the assassin's body became blurred, and Killian felt nothing but empty air.

"Hmm!"

Killian frowned and used the momentum of the strike to rotate with his sword in an attempt to correct his stance.

"Over here."

A voice whispered in his ear.

No, to be exact, voices whispered in both of his ears.

However, Killian remained calm. Rather, he reacted as if he had been expecting the move, swinging his blade while turning his body.

Shuuack!

"Wow!"

The two immediately fell back while letting out exclamations.

Fwooosh!

"Keugh!"

However, the spirit contained in Killian's attack managed to reach one of the two figures, and the hem of the figure's clothes fell like snowflakes after being affected by the blue energy.

"Go easy…"

"Not too shabby!"

The assassins started to speak, but Killian rushed forward without giving them the chance. The rest of the royal knights also charged towards the remaining assassin.

Kwaaaa!

The swordsmanship of the Pendragon family's royal knights was fierce. It was only natural, since they were trained by Killian and Isla. In addition, a few of them had followed their lord seven years ago to the South and participated in the expedition.

They were well superior to other knights in terms of both experience and skills.

"Huh?"

"Ha!"

The siblings appeared to be quite surprised as well.

Regular knights couldn't be considered their opponents. As such, they had been disinterested in other figures besides Mark Killian as they headed to the Pendragon Kingdom. They had no reason to spare any attention to weaklings who weren't worth their time.

However, the triplets immediately and simultaneously came to realize a simple, unexpected truth. The royal knights of Pendragon were stronger than they expected.

"Hoho!"

However, in the end, the knights could only be considered stronger 'than they expected'. They utilized strange techniques and avoided the attacks of the knights with ease.

"Keugh!"

Right before their attacks met their mark, the assassins disappeared like scattering smoke and reappeared in other places. The royal knights were flustered by their strange movements.

Moreover, the assassins only avoided the attacks and never attacked back. It was as if the knights were being ridiculed.

However, their actions weren't simple mockery.

"Everyone, be careful! Their path is…!"

Killian raised his voice after realizing something, but one of the siblings escaped the encirclement of three knights and arrived in front of the carriage.

"You bastard!"

Fwoosh!

Killian's longsword shot forward towards the assassin while emitting a light of brilliant blue.

"Haha!"

The body of the assassin scattered like smoke along with a mocking laughter.

"Keugh!"

Killian couldn't stop the momentum of his own attack. Although he attempted to draw it back, the longsword continued on and struck the door to the carriage.

Boom!

The door was split in half with a loud explosion after receiving a blow capable of obliterating boulders.

"Kiyaah!"

Screams resounded from the debris of the carriage.

"Your majesty! Princess!"

Even Killian couldn't help but panic. He quickly took his place in front of the broken door and confirmed their safety.

"I'm fine… Behind you!"

Elena shouted urgently while tightly embracing Elsia.

However, Killian detected a sharp, tingling sensation shooting towards his back before Elena's shout resounded. He swung his blade to his back without even looking.

"Oh!"

A shout of admiration was accompanied by the curving of the sharp energy. It immediately switched trajectory, and a scream followed suit.

"Argh!"

"Martin!"

A knight's shoulder was pierced and pinned against the carriage. The knight had jumped in front of the carriage as soon as he sensed danger after seeing Killian run to defend the carriage.

"Keugh!"

Killian was surprised even in the desperate situation. The weapon responsible for piercing the knight's shoulder was a strange type of dagger connected to a thin, near-invisible thread.

Craccck!

"Kuaaghh!"

A large chunk of flesh and armor was torn off from the knight's shoulder when the dagger retracted. However, the knight never let go of his sword. Even while experiencing excruciating pain, he shouted towards Killian.

"Captain!"

"Kyaahhk!"

A scream erupted from inside the carriage almost simultaneously. One of the triplets could be seen trying to separate Elsia from Elena.

"You bastard!"

Killian's eyes burned with the furious flames of hell. However, he had no methods of specifically targeting the assailant from a distance. If he recklessly launched waves of spirit from his sword, he could hurt others who were inside the carriage.

On the contrary, the assassins weren't bound by such worries. The one holding the two ladies threw the same, strange dagger as his brother towards Killian.

Fwoosh!

"Ah!"

The dagger brushed past Elena's arm and flew towards Killian's forehead. Killian instinctively raised his sword upside down.

Clang!

The dagger was deflected by the weapon's cross-shaped guard. However, the projectile did not strike the floor. Instead, it drew a strange curve and wound around Killian's longsword.

"Kyaahh!"

"Haha!"

Elsia screamed, and the assassin jumped back from the carriage while pulling her apart with one hand and pulling back his stringed dagger with the other.

Fwoosh!

Killian's longsword left its master's hand and was retrieved by the assassin. However, at that moment,

Boom!

The carriage shook loudly with a roar, and the assassin's vision suddenly darkened.

"Hmm?"

Panic filled his eyes for the first time as he raised his head.

Whoosh!

Among the knights of the Pendragon Kingdom, Killian was famous for his burly physique. He stomped down on the roof of the carriage and fell straight towards the assassin.

"Kuaahhh!"

In his hand was a sharp dagger embedded with the symbol of Pendragon on the handle

"Keugh!"

The assassin was taken aback. The movement technique used by the siblings could affect their clothes and inanimate objects, but it couldn't transport other life. He had to either let go of the princess he worked so hard to catch, or he could use her small body as a shield and…

Clang!

Killian had to swing his dagger to deflect another attack, which caused his body to tilt to the side as he fell. A clear metallic sound resonated in the air. However, Killian immediately switched his plan and stretched out his foot with all his might. A heavy kick struck the assassin's chin.

Thud!

"Keugh!"

"Agh!"

"Kuagh!"

Although only one person was struck, three screams resounded. Killian immediately realized after hearing their moans.

'Shared emotions!'

When it came to battle, Mark Killian was a natural warrior who was more quick-witted than any other.

"Just one! Focus your attacks on only one, and all of them will suffer damage!"

The knights immediately responded to his shouts.

However, it was a little late.

"You run!"

One of the triplets shouted as soon as one of his brothers was hit, and the one holding Elsia escaped with somersaults while ignoring the crack in his jawbone. He didn't look back as he bolted towards the bridge located on the right.

"Youuu!"

Killian erupted in incredible anger and started to chase after the assassin. However, he clenched his teeth as he was forced to stop. If he left, even Queen Elena would be placed in danger.

"You…"

Killian fell into a dilemma as he watched the escaping assassin cross dozens of meters in the blink of an eye. Suddenly, shock filled his eyes.

A figure was walking towards the scene from across the bridge.

"Huh?"

The figure was enormous, and he continued to throw and receive a large, steel rod into the air as if it were just a child's toy. The escaping assassin had no choice but to stop in front of the enormous figure while flinching.

It was…

"Karuta!"

"Kehnng! What's going on? What is this weird, freaky scarecrow? That's baby scarecrow that he's holding by his side, right? You little scarecrow bastard, you're even worse than a goblin's shit. Did you lose your mind because you wanted to get clobbered so much?"

The eyes of the strongest orc warrior became fixated on one of the siblings. Karuta was the conqueror of all southern orcs, and he had a steel rod the size of a human slung over his shoulder.