“Oh… Ooooooh!!”
“His Grace, Duke Schweiker is taking the field!”
“The best on the continent!!”
“The strongest knight!!”
When Duke Schweiker headed toward the battlefield, there was a loud roar from the Imperial Army.
The mere existence of a Master was both powerful and valuable, but the value of Duke Schweiker was different from the other Masters. He was the sword of the Empire. He was the epitome of a knight for the other knights of the Empire. He was the symbol of Imperial power. And just because he stepped forward, the Imperial soldiers let out a cheer as if they had won the war.
But for Milton, Duke Schweiker’s arrival was nothing short of a disaster.
“Damn…”
He had already known that it would be impossible to avoid Duke Christin Schweiker if they fought against the heads of the Empire’s military. That was why he had prepared a rough response for when Duke Schweiker would step forward.
‘Calm down. Let’s not panic.’
Thinking that, Milton shouted at the army behind Duke Schweiker.
“I will show you the might of the Lester Kingdom! I want everyone to watch carefully!”
As if in response to Milton’s shout, three knights stepped out from the cavalry in the back of the Lester Kingdom’s army. One of them was a redhead with a large bow, he was Trike. The other was a slender female with her pitch-black hair streaming behind her, she was Violet.
These two were known even within the Strabus Kingdom.[1] Of course, many aspects of their skills were unknown, but their existence wasn’t hidden.
However, it was a different matter with the third person. He was a knight who held both a shield and a longsword, but because his face was hidden behind a helmet, his identity wasn’t known. But…
“Oh! It’s a Master!”
“There was another Master in our country?”
The Lester Kingdom’s soldiers were surprised when an Aura Blade appeared on the sword of the helmeted knight. And before their surprise wore off, an Aura Blade also appeared on Violet’s sword.
“Ooh! The Grand Duchess Violet also reached the level of a Master!”
“Long live the Lester Kingdom!”
The soldiers of the Lester army cheered when the Aura Blade appeared on both swords of the two knights charging forward. No matter how powerful Duke Schweiker, the strongest man in the Empire, was, there were now five Masters on the Lester Kingdom’s side. The Lester Kingdom’s side began to think that they had the numerical advantage in the fight.
CLANG!
Milton entered a power struggle with Duke Dominic Florian, who had been in front of him. The two men gritted their teeth as they pushed and tugged their Aura Blades.
“You duplicitous bastard. You’ve been hiding the existence of Masters?”
“I don’t see how that’s being duplicitous.”
“You don’t feel any shame in bringing in more people?”
“Who was the one who first butted into a one-on-one duel? If you’re upset, why don’t you send in more Masters then?”
“You!”
Duke Florian pushed his Aura out explosively as he bore down on Milton. It wasn’t that the Empire didn’t have any more Masters. There was still Duke Florian’s son, Lucas Florian. However, his son wasn’t here right now. He was on another battlefield playing as the bait.
In other words, there were no other Masters available in the Empire right now. At that moment, Milton deliberately took a step back instead of responding to Duke Florian’s pressure. Once there was a distance between them, Milton smiled as he said, “You’ll either die or be injured.”
“What are you… Kuh!”
CLANG!
Duke Florian was about to say, ‘What bullshit are you spouting,’ when he received a tremendous shock.
‘What’s that?’
He might not have known what it was, but his intuition knew. And the moment it told him something dangerous was approaching, he raised his shield. If he had loaded any less Aura into his shield, he would have been dead. That was how powerful the attack was.
‘What on earth…’
“Let me introduce you. He’s not a Master, but he’s my ace.”
Milton pointed behind him with a proud expression. There, Trike was placing an arrow on his bow.
***
“Finally, it’s my debut.”
Trike mumbled as he licked his lips.
Trike wasn’t a Master. In terms of level, he might be considered an Expert, but he wasn’t a Master. And in a close combat fight, he was so vulnerable that he wouldn’t even be able to fight against other Experts. But, before starting the single combat, this is what Milton had told Trike.
[If you think I’m in danger, then intervene right away. I’ll handle all the criticism and the dishonor it’ll bring.]
Milton's most trusted and powerful subordinate was Jerome, but Milton had given the order to Trike. The reason for that was because of Trike’s ability: Aura Arrow. It was an attack that only Trike Low could use in this world.
Even if the opponent was a Master, this Aura Arrow posed a sufficient threat as it had been proved with Siegfried before. Of course, if Trike was fighting in a one-on-one fight, then the opponent might be able to respond, but if the attack was unexpected, then the story was different. And so, before he had started fighting, Milton had chosen Trike as an insurance policy in case there was any danger.
And now, Trike was full of confidence. This was a method of fighting where he would shoot an arrow from the back at the enemy if his ally was in danger. This was something he had done in the past when he had been a mercenary. Even if the opponent was a Master from the Empire, in a situation like this, there was no way Trike would be pressured.
“This is a stage meant for me.”
Trike aimed another arrow at the next opponent.
***
Boom!
“Guh…”
Each time Trike’s arrow exploded, the Empire’s Masters staggered. Perhaps it would have been different if they didn’t know, but they weren’t greenhorns who were defenseless in a situation they knew about. However, the situation wasn’t very favorable to them. In front of them were formidable enemies and behind them were arrows that were difficult to deal with. This was a definite crisis.
“How cowardly, Grand Duke Forrest!”
Duke Florian shouted at him with bloodshot eyes, but Milton replied without batting an eye.
“So what?”
At that moment, Duke Florian felt something hot rising from his chest.
Is this what they meant by couples resembling each other? After spending a long time with Leila, Milton had developed the ability to piss people off.
Trike’s involvement quickly led the battle to lean towards the Lester Kingdom, but that dominance only lasted a short while. Trike was shooting arrows from the back and just as the number of arrows was becoming four, Duke Schweiker arrived on the battlefield.
And for the first time, he brandished a sword.
“Take this.”
CLANG!
The situation turned.
“Guh…”
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Duke Schweiker’s first attack was aimed at Duke Sean Palan. Duke Palan had been dealing with Marquis Gotham when he had to block the sudden attack from Duke Schweiker.
And while Duke Palan managed to block it, he subconsciously remembered something. A very old memory… In the past when he was just a boy, he had sparred with skilled knights… What he was feeling now was the same feeling he had then.
‘Is there really that much difference between this man and me? Like the difference between a child and an adult?’
Duke Palan clenched his teeth. As long as he had pride, there was no way he would accept this ridiculous citation, there was no way he would acknowledge it.
“Schweiker!”
Harshly shouting his name, Duke Palan attacked Duke Schweiker. But...
“How clumsy.”
Unconcerned, Duke Schweiker waved his sword. And then...
BANG!
“Guh…”
Duke Palan flew backward. With blood leaking from the corner of his mouth, he fell off his horse. He hadn’t been able to withstand the shock. But more surprisingly…
“His sword?”
“How is that possible?”
The other Masters were appalled when they saw Duke Palan’s sword had broken. It was a Master’s sword. How could a Master’s sword, an Aura Blade known to be the symbol of destruction, break? It was something that none of them had ever imagined.
Milton quickly checked on Duke Schweiker’s stats. They were…
[Christian Schweiker]
Unreadable
Strength - 112 Command - 90
Intellect - 55 Politics - 42
Loyalty - 00
Special Traits - Unreadable
‘What the hell is this?’
For a second, Milton was stunned.
This was the first time that his status window had shown him information like this since he had gotten his ability. What did ‘Unreadable’ mean? What on earth happened to make it impossible to read? Milton was only able to see Duke Schweiker’s stats. His title and characters were impossible to read.
In other words, Milton’s ability couldn’t tell him who or what Duke Schweiker was. This had never happened before. But that wasn’t important right now.
“All of you, retreat! We’re retreating back to our main camp!”
Milton shouted loudly. He might not know anything else, but there was one thing he had learned.
‘Strength stat of 112? What the hell kind of monster is this?’
He never thought a number like this was possible. When Jerome’s Strength stat had reached 99, Milton had thought that Jerome would never lose to anyone in terms of force. But a day, no, not even half a day passed before a monster like Duke Schweiker had appeared. Milton had never thought this would happen.
It was insanity to fight directly against a monster like him. It was better for him to give up fighting one against one and fight army to army instead.
Having come to that decision, Milton quickly ordered a retreat and his troops promptly withdrew. Not only Jerome, who had already been a part of the fight, but Violet and the unidentified knight who had been poised to join quickly followed Milton’s command and retreated. Since Milton had absolute command of the Lester Kingdom’s army, no one dared to question him. The helmeted knight quickly helped Duke Palan up and turned his horse around. This was most likely the only aspect in which Milton had an advantage over Antras.
But, Duke Schweiker had no intention of letting Milton go. He had finally gotten motivated and taken a step forward, so how could he let them go so easily?
‘In times like this…’
Duke Schweiker quicked charged toward Milton. Based on his experience, if he wanted to stop the enemy, then it was best to catch the highest-ranking person. That was the only way the rest of them would stop.
Jerome, as Milton’s most faithful knight, quickly read Duke Schweiker’s intent and responded.
“I won’t let you go!”
Jerome shouted as he bravely attacked Duke Schweiker.
CLANG!
As Jerome’s sword clashed with Duke Schweiker’s, the Aura Blades sent out a massive shockwave. Although Jerome wasn’t thrown back like Duke Palan had been, he still felt the overwhelming pressure. However...
“Unless you step over my dead body, I won’t let you get to my Lord.”
Jerome raised his fighting spirit and charged towards Duke Schweiker again. While his opponent was the strongest in the entire continent, Jerome had once spent his childhood swinging a wooden sword idolizing him… But no matter who it was, Jerome couldn’t forgive them for threatening his Lord. He would only see them as an enemy and give it his all in the fight.
Jerome attacked Duke Schweiker with all his might.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Every time a blow landed, the air around them vibrated. That’s how strong each attack was. Nevertheless, Duke Schweiker faced Jerome, not shying away from the attack.
Taking in the sight of Jerome fighting against Duke Schweiker, the Lester Kingdom’s soldiers were surprised.
“How could Marquis Taker push down Duke Schweiker?
“Was he always that good?”
To the ordinary soldiers, it seemed like Jerome was unilaterally attacking the strongest man on the continent, however...
‘Impressive.’
The reality was quite different. It may look different to the others, but currently, Duke Schweiker was savoring every one of Jerome’s attacks. He smiled subconsciously as he watched Jerome attacking with the intent to kill him.
‘How long has it been?’
He was genuinely delighted to see an enemy attacking him with the intent to kill him that he felt like crying with joy.
This had happened often in the past. Some people were unhappy with the fact that he, a fallen noble, was the favored disciple of Duke Sebastian and sought to kill him under the pretense of a duel. At that time, he had still been young but he had tried his best even as his skills weren’t up to par and he was overwhelmed by those who wanted his life.
‘Those were the good times.’
Unlike what regular people would think, Duke Schweiker truly missed those days. It was unknown how much effect all those duels had on his development, but after a while, all that stopped. As his reputation grew and his abilities were proven, his opponents’ hostilities turned into fear, and those who dared to confront him gradually disappeared. In the end, even Duke Dominic Florian, who had consistently challenged him, eventually gave up. There was no one else who was willing to fight against him with all their might.
For Duke Schweiker, this wasn’t just a pang of sadness; it was a tragedy. For him, his sword was everything in life. Even if he was given the most aromatic alcohol or if he was smiled at by the most gorgeous beauty in the world, nothing could replace his thirst for the way of the sword.
But now, he had finally come across an enemy after a long time. Although his enemy was still immature compared to himself, the enemy was facing him with the intent to kill with truly remarkable swordsmanship.
All thoughts of chasing after Milton Forrest was gone from his head. Hadn’t he joined the battlefield because he had been attracted by Jerome Taker, a man who was currently in front of him?
‘I’ll concentrate just on you now.’
Duke Schweiker gave up defending and went on the offensive.
1. I think this should be the Empire since the Strabus Kingdom is long gone, but left it as it was in the raw.