Chapter 232 - Possible

After meeting the fugitives from Iasin, Lavinia Akan raced straight toward the royal capital. The imperial pursuit force had set out from that same capital to hunt them down.

Her encounter with the pursuers was inevitable.

BOOM!

Something landed before the imperial pursuit force. Marquis Tryan raised a hand to halt his troops.

It was a monster.

“A titan?”

No, it could hardly be called an ordinary titan. Strange things were grafted all over it—a monster in every sense of the word. The woman sitting on its shoulder looked utterly out of place.

“... Lavinia Akan.”

But Marquis Tryan recognized her at once. He could hardly fail to. There was only one woman on the continent who traveled with a chimera like that.

“Akan has already come this far...!”

Frowning, Marquis Tryan ordered his knights, “Search the area for Akan’s army. If there are no troops nearby, guard the road until I arrive.”

“Yes, sir.”

Several knights led a small group of soldiers around Lavinia Akan. She showed no particular reaction.

“You.”

She pointed a finger at Marquis Tryan.

“Empire?”

“That is correct.”

“Empire. Bad.”

“I heard you had an odd way of speaking. So it was true. I assume you made that chimera?”

As he kept the conversation going, the marquis glanced at the knights who had circled around her. Though they were on the hill, they sent no signal.

‘No additional troops?’

Then this mad princess had appeared alone?

‘They called her a crazy bitch. She really must be desperate to die.’

Had she belonged to another kingdom, there might have been room to talk his way through this. But she was from Akan—a nation the Empire had explicitly declared its enemy and declared war on.

“Prepare to charge.”

At the marquis’s command, the knights quietly made ready.

“Charge.”

He gripped his lance and lightly tapped his horse’s belly with his legs. At the signal, his warhorse broke into a swift gallop. The Black Blade Knights, whom he had painstakingly trained, rode with him.

“Crush it and capture the princess!”

Akan’s princess would prove quite useful in the war against Akan.

“Stupid bitch! Blame your own foolishness!”

Brilliant blue aura enveloped his lance. The knights unleashed their own auras, radiating murderous intent.

Their auras resonated with one another and merged into a single shape. Dozens of knights became one weapon, racing toward a single point.

“Kill that monster in one blow!”

They gained speed. Their auras bound together even more tightly. Feeling power fill his entire body, Marquis Tryan was certain of victory.

“... Annoying.”

The princess’s mutter drifted faintly past him.

The monster opened its maw. An enormous amount of mana gathered within.

ROOOAR!

“Ghh...!”

Black flames engulfed the knights.

“A mere chimera dares...!”

The powerful resistance and heat impeded their charge, but the marquis squeezed out still more aura.

CRAAACK!

The tip of his lance pierced the flames. The knights following him widened the opening, and they passed all the way through.

But...

‘Huh...?’

What greeted the knights was a tiny fist.

“You. Annoying.”

A woman with an irritable expression stood before them.

“You truly are completely mad!”

Even if the monster’s flames had slowed them a little, a charge by knights whose auras were fully woven into one was by no means easy to stop. And the Black Blade Knights, whom he had trained with such care, could only be stopped by an archmage’s magic at the very least, or a knightly order of equal strength.

That was why he was certain the insolent bitch would soon pay the price.

And why he regretted that he would no longer be able to use a kingdom’s princess as a hostage.

BOOOOM!

And that thought...

‘Huh...?’

...was shattered by a single collision.

Lance met fist. An impact incomparably greater than the flames struck him. His lance snapped. The knights reeled. The horses screamed.

“Huh...?”

Before he could even comprehend what was happening, the princess’s other fist was right before his face. Every hair on his body stood on end.

“S-spare me...!”

A fist growing ever larger, lightly covered with unfamiliar scales.

That was his final memory.

His head burst.

* * *

“...”

A hushed silence settled over the scene. Blood and corpses littered the surroundings.

It was not the monster but the princess whom the knights had failed to overcome. Their charge had broken, and Marquis Tryan had died with his head burst apart.

The knights at the front had succumbed to the impact, their internal organs crushed, while even those at the rear rolled on the ground, groaning.

Overwhelming strength.

Faced with it, the soldiers who had lost their commander could not bring themselves to raise their weapons.

Even though they outnumbered their opponents five thousand to two.

“Come.”

The princess rolled up her sleeves.

“Empire. Bad.”

She advanced one step. The soldiers instinctively retreated the same distance.

She advanced two steps. They retreated two steps.

“Should I?”

Her words were as brief as ever, but every soldier understood what she had left unsaid. They had no choice but to understand.

Lavinia Akan’s eyes resembled those of a predator with its prey before it.

“... M-monster...!”

One soldier turned and fled.

That was the beginning.

Their commander was gone, and everyone who should have restored order in his place was lying on the ground alongside him. Nothing remained to hold their fear and terror in check.

“Heroes are supposed to deal with things like that!”

“Nobody told us we’d have to fight a monster!”

One by one, the soldiers followed him.

“... Why?”

Lavinia tilted her head at their behavior.

“Not. Enemies?”

By her understanding, enemies fleeing without fighting was incomprehensible.

“Chase. Enemies.”

She climbed back onto Cher’s shoulder. Cher folded its wing, preparing to spread it.

That was when...

RUMBLE-RUMBLE!

“Sisteeeer! Please stop!”

... Cain and the search party arrived.

* * *

“Bad.”

“You absolutely cannot go alone!”

“I’ll win.”

“All Five Dragon Orders have been deployed! What do you mean, you’ll win?”

The dragon was the symbol of the Empire and the Jespine imperial family. Its greatest fighting forces were the Five Dragon Orders, who bore that dragon emblem.

The White Dragon Knights.

The Black Dragon Knights.

The Blue Dragon Knights.

The Red Dragon Knights.

And finally, the Gold Dragon Knights, known as the Empire’s guardians.

“There are even rumors that the commander of the Gold Dragon Knights unofficially fought Balaf Dislord to a draw!”

It had happened quite a long time ago, but with none other than Balaf Dislord as his opponent, it could hardly be dismissed. Even without their commanders, the Five Dragon Orders were contenders for the strongest in the Empire, and the strongest on the continent.

“If that pursuit force had been one of the Five Dragon Orders...”

Cain shook his head at the dreadful possibility.

“I’ll win.”

“No, what I’m saying is...”

“I’ll win.”

“... Of course I’m not saying you would lose, Sister. But the capital has already fallen to the Empire. You can’t take on so many by yourself.”

“Not. Alone.”

“Yes, yes. With Cher, there are two of you.”

Cain bit his lip at her firm resolve. If he left her to her own devices, she would surely charge in alone on what amounted to a suicide mission.

Lavinia was strong, certainly, but the imperial army was far from weak.

In the end, he resorted to his last option.

“... If something happened to you, Sister, how sad do you think Lord Pale would be?”

“Pale?”

Lavinia blinked as she wondered who that was. It was Berge’s alias.

“Yes. Lord Pale, whom you’re so fond of.”

“Me?”

Fond of him? Of Berge?

THUMP!

“Urgh...!”

A light punch sent Cain flying into the air.

“Nonsense.”

“W-why do you hit so hard? You nearly killed me!”

His armor was half caved in.

“Punishment.”

“Fine. Let’s say you aren’t. You still have to go back.”

“Why? Enemies. Fight.”

“We will fight. We must retake the capital and punish the Empire. But you won’t do it alone, Sister.”

“Possible.”

“No, I’m telling you it isn’t possible!”

Damn it, what was he supposed to do?

Unable to get through to Lavinia, Cain pressed a hand to his throbbing forehead.

The Lavinia he knew was never this stubborn. When told she could not do something, she would reach her own conclusion and accept it. He could not understand why she was being so unreasonable in such an urgent situation.

“We must escape quickly! If we stay here, imperial reinforcements will...!”

“Your Highness! A group is riding toward us from the capital!”

Speak of the dragon, and it appears, was it? Realizing he had wasted too much time, Cain bit his lip.

“Th-their banner bears a white dragon! All their armor is white!”

“The White Dragon Knights!”

His worst fear had come true, making Cain even more desperate. The knights he had hastily brought with him could never defeat the White Dragon Knights.

“Sister! We have to flee, now! Please!”

“No.”

Lavinia pushed Cain aside.

“Your Highness, please!”

“Move.”

She did the same to the knights blocking her way.

Cher stood behind her.

“Cher.”

GROOOAR!

Cher opened its mouth. Its chest swelled. A vast amount of mana began to gather.

It was a dragon’s innate power.

The power of a certain red dragon who had been betrayed by a Demon King while wounded.

Breath.

ROOOAR!

A crimson breath tore through space.

Cain shuddered at the immense, irresistible power.

But the White Dragon Knights were already prepared. Their cavalry lances thrust toward the breath. Their aura, condensed into one, resisted it like a wave.

BOOOOM!

Wind blew.

The ground shook.

But that was all.

The dragon’s power split into several streams against the united knights’ lance, clawing at the innocent earth and space around them.

Their speed had fallen considerably, but they were still fast. Their aura had been badly damaged, but it was still sharp.

“Ah...”

Cain let out a lament.

“N-no! Sister!”

He screamed. As was only natural, the lance tip was aimed at Lavinia.

It was too late to help. Cain squeezed his eyes shut.

BOOOOM!

The inevitable collision came.

CRUNCH!

NEEEEIGH!

AAAAARGH!

But the sounds were a little—no, very different from what he had expected.

He cautiously opened his eyes.

And stared in horror.

It was not the Empire’s vaunted White Dragon Knights who remained standing on two feet.

“... Sister?”

Lavinia Akan. Her purple hair fluttered in the wind.

Her scarlet eyes looked down at the fallen White Dragon Knights.

‘Scales?’

Black and red scales covered Lavinia’s body. But they soon vanished, as though Cain had only imagined them.

“Hurts.”

Lavinia rubbed her red, swollen fist.

That was all.

The price of stopping a charge by the Empire’s vaunted White Dragon Knights was nothing more than a slightly swollen fist.

Only then did Cain realize.

Lavinia had not been stubborn or unreasonable.

‘... Really?’

Because her claim that she could defeat them all had not been unreasonable at all.

“... Insane.”

After only a few months away, Lavinia had returned a monster.

“L-Lord Pale, what in the world have you done to my sister?”

Cain trembled as a shudder ran through his entire body.

* * *

“Your Grace!”

A messenger rushed into the palace’s great hall. Panting, he prostrated himself before Duke Osrian, who sat on the throne.

“Oh, good. Surely this time you’ve captured that insolent princess and Iasin’s prince?”

“W-well...”

The messenger’s hesitation gave the duke a strange sense of foreboding.

“Well what? Speak at once!”

“... Th-the White Dragon Knights...”

“The White Dragon Knights?”

“The White Dragon Knights have been annihilated!”

“W-what...?”

The duke’s face abruptly twisted.

Had he heard that correctly?

He dug at his ear.

“Say that again.”

“The White Dragon Knights...!”

CRUNCH!

Scarlet blood sprayed in every direction. A headless corpse fell onto the red carpet.

“You should have said it ‘properly’ this time.”

Of course.

“Impossible.”

Surely that could not have happened.

“To dare lie to me, a duke. Your paltry life is nowhere near enough to pay for that crime.”

“Pfhahaha.”

Just then, laughter interrupted him.

“The finest knights in the Empire, the finest on the continent, they said. Not much to look at, are they? White dragons? More like white worms.”

“... Shut up.”

Duke Osrian glared fiercely. He strode over and seized the king by the collar.

“The White Dragon Knights do not lose.”

“Then are you saying the soldier lied?”

“He must have been an Akan spy. Cowards, sending a spy to sow confusion in our nation!”

“I wonder. Your head seems far more confused than the Empire.”

“Shut up. There are limits to the consideration I’ll show you for being a king in name, at least.”

“Don’t pretend to be a gentleman, you filthy imperial dogs. Since when did you observe courtesy?”

“You insolent old fool...!”

THUD!

The king was hurled to the floor. He screamed.

“Your Grace! The White Dragon Knights have returned—!”

The knight entering behind them faltered at the heavy stench of blood and the fallen corpse.

“... The White Dragon Knights have returned?”

Duke Osrian burst into a low laugh.

“Just as I thought. The White Dragon Knights could never be annihilated. That man must indeed have been Akan’s lackey.”

He ordered the bewildered knight, “Hurry and give the rest of your report. The White Dragon Knights have returned safely with the princess and prince in custody, I presume?”

“... No, Your Grace.”

“No?”

“Thirty-two knights are dead, including the commander of the White Dragon Knights. There are eight survivors, all wounded.”

“Ahahaha! Yes, so they weren’t annihilated. Annihilated—!”

CRUNCH!

The king’s head was smashed apart.

It was an utterly hollow end for the man who had stood at the pinnacle of the kingdom of Iasin.

“... Didn’t I tell you to watch your tongue?”

Duke Osrian panted harshly, his eyes bloodshot.

“... Y-Your Grace.”

The knight gasped at the sudden atrocity.

The imperial forces occupying Iasin’s capital were thrown into an uproar.