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A sudden burst of green smoke.
Seeing it, the crown prince urgently raised his voice.
“Hold your breath, everyone! Never breathe that air!”
His orders frightened the soldiers, and they dodged back. The green smoke coming out of the man thrown by Fiosen. It was a familiar smoke no matter how they looked at it.
“Be careful! It’s poison!”
“No, I think it’s a little different than that. This can’t be…”
The soldiers quickly backed away.
But it was too late. The gas enclosed the soldiers at an incredible speed.
At the same time, the knights that noticed the identity of the smoke stiffened.
“No way!”
That was obviously the same plague the crown prince was trying to use on Lavaltor.
Therefore, they couldn’t approach hastily.
Of course, it didn’t affect senior knights, but no one was willing to touch the plague that actually worked.
At that moment, Fiosen smiled.
‘This is exactly as His Highness said.’
Ian was not frightened by the sudden rockfall. As if it were natural, he drew out the royal sword and slashed the rocks.
And, as if that was not enough, he even placed himself at the entrance to block the assassin.
Of course, his body got dirty because of the explosion. It couldn’t break through his Iron Wall.
Then Ian smiled as he always did and said.
“When you throw this thing at the beginning, smoke will rise.”
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
Because the crown prince tried to use the plague on them, he would return the same.
And Ian said this after that.
“Throw this to him when the smoke goes up.”
Recalling those words, Fiosen put his hand in his pocket.
At the sight, the soldiers drew their swords and attempted to attack Fiosen.
But he was faster.
“One more!”
“!!”
Whiik!
Fiosen threw something at the crown prince.
As a result, the knight next to the crown prince swung his sword in reflex.
“Where!”
But it was a mistake he should never make.
The thing Fiosen threw was not that simple. It was a small flask containing a green liquid.
The knight’s sword sliced the flask, and the liquid poured out.
Straight toward the crown prince.
“Argh!”
The crown prince suddenly screamed at the piercing pain in his eyes. The knights and soldiers were so startled that they forgot to go after Fiosen.
At the scene, Fiosen quickly spurred his horse.
“You have a soldier who can handle swords very well, Crown Prince.”
It was only a second that the knights were stunned by the blatant mockery.
Fiosen, Lavaltor’s successor, shouted somewhere.
“This way, soldiers of Lavaltor! Attack these people!”
“!!!”
The direction he shouted was the cavalrymen of Lavaltor running toward Cantum!
They must have obtained Cantum’s letter.
At Fiosen’s order, Lavaltor’s cavalrymen increased their speed.
No, it didn’t stop at that.
“All draw your swords! Save Young Master and bring down the enemy!”
They were literally rushing with the determination to annihilate.
The crown prince’s knights gritted their teeth at the sight.
“What are the soldiers doing! Get Fiosen now!”
“Never let the jerk who deceived the crown prince get away!”
However, the soldiers could not move despite the knights’ command. They plopped down because of the numbness.
“Ugh… Because of that smoke!”
Couldn’t stand watching the situation any longer, the knights eventually left a guard and tried to pursue Fiosen. The plan was to stop the Lavaltor soldiers by holding Fiosen hostage.
But it was then.
The crown prince stopped them.
“Stop! Everybody stop!”
“B-but, Your Highness—”
“Cough. It’s not Fiosen that matters right now. We must strike Lavaltor’s forces first.”
The crown prince vomited blood from his lips. The plague was beginning to circulate in his body. What he suffered from was a little special. Unlike other soldiers, his condition didn’t look good.
Regardless, the crown prince glared while wiping the blood.
“Raise the flag! I’ll fight them!”
“Ho…however, Your Highness, your physical condition…”
“Didn’t you hear my order!”
The knights hastily followed his order and got into position. But the knights couldn’t hide their anxiousness.
“This is a flatland. Lavaltor’s cavalryman will have an overwhelming advantage. Can we fight like this?”
“That’s right. We better plan for the future.”
Most of Cantum’s current soldiers were infantry. There were only a few knights on horseback, including the crown prince.
It was unknown if the enemy had knights in their ranks, but their side would clearly be at a disadvantage. At the same time, the soldiers couldn’t properly land their attacks on them.
However, the crown prince smiled as he wiped his face.
“Don’t worry. The troops I brought are the best in Cantum. Even if we’re in a flatland, we won’t be defeated easily.”
Fortunately, there were far more troops that had not yet been knocked out.
“Even if the infantry is inferior to the cavalry, there are shields we brought. Forming a square with them would not only ward off cavalry attacks. Rather, it can even counterattack.”
Of course, the knights objected.
“Then please escape from here, Your Highness. We will manage it somehow…”
But the crown prince shouted.
“Don’t look down on me! Do you think I will retreat over something like this?! Form a square! Stop the enemy’s charge!”
With that cry, a square instantly formed around him in the shape of a triangular tip. It was the best square formation to face a running cavalry.
The crown prince encouraged the low-spirited soldiers.
“Don’t worry. Even if our opponent is Lavaltor, you all are the best soldiers in Cantum. We will never lose as long as we form a square properly!”
“Ha!”
In an instant, the spirit of the soldiers of the Cantum Empire rose. The crown prince’s speech succeeded in raising the morale of his troops.
But then.
The very moment Lavaltor’s troops approached.
The soldiers’ faces suddenly turned deathly pale.
It was for no other reason.
“W, wait! That flag!”
“It’s blue!”
“What?!”
It was a flag with a blue wolf embroidered on it.
And that’s Lavaltor’s famous Blue Wolf.
A cavalry squad called Blue Wolf was rushing their way.
At the same time, their name was notorious enough to once make Cantum tremble.
Blue Wolf was such a strong squad that it was said not a single grass was left in the place they swept through.
It was only natural for even the seasoned soldiers to be terrified.
The crown prince was also surprised, but he did not let it out.
Instead, he calmed the soldiers down.
“It’s just one cavalry squad. Do not be intimidated and form a square! Rear ranks, raise your bow! Get off your horse before the enemies come!”
But the soldiers were struck with dread.
It wasn’t simply because of their notoriety.
“Your Highness, Blue Wolf is the direct squad under Duke Lavaltor!”
“They’re moving with Duke Lavaltor. We have to get out of here. We’re all going to die at this rate!”
The soldiers fell into a panic. The knights also shuffled nervously.
They showed no signs of calming down at any moment.
In fact, the morale of the troop had already hit rock bottom. That’s how great the reputation of Duke Lavaltor, as well as Blue Wolf, was.
But the crown prince shouted with a strong voice.
“Duke Lavaltor is not here!”
“Bu, but the Blue…”
“This is solid information. He is still at Kaistein’s royal castle.”
“!”
“And Blue Wolf without the duke is nothing. So, raise your shield, soldiers!”
It wasn’t a lie.
It was only a few days ago he heard the news of Duke Lavaltor from him.
In the meantime, Duke Lavaltor could not have returned to his territory.
But the soldiers didn’t seem to believe it.
The crown prince clenched his teeth.
‘It’s dangerous. At this rate, we’ll lose before we even fight.’
He had to figure something out.
Then, the crown prince’s eyes flashed.
“Sir Kalun!”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“You should step up. Charge them right now.”
“Pardon? I didn’t hear you well.”
Knight Kalun’s mouth gaped upon hearing the very absurd order. No, to charge at Lavaltor’s cavalry, Blue Wolf, multiple times as many as themselves.
He was wondering if the crown prince was in his right mind now.
But the crown prince shook his head.
“There is no need to fight for your life. All you have to do is break the brunt of the enemies. Just raise the morale of the soldiers and get out.”
“But, Your Highness, I’m sure they have knights, too.”
“At least they are knights of a kingdom. You are knights escorting me, the crown prince of Cantum! Even if they are Duke Lavaltor’s direct squad, you can handle a single cavalry squad without him!”
“…”
Well, it wasn’t wrong.
The imperial knights were highly respected even back in the empire. Their pride was not something a single kingdom’s cavalrymen could break.
And most importantly, it was the order of the crown prince.
No matter how dangerous the order was, they had no way to refuse it. This was a mission that must be accomplished even if they died.
So, the knights lowered their helmets.
“Then we shall take care of it.”
As many as five knights.
They each raised their weapons. Then they began to charge toward Lavaltor’s cavalry. Fiosen had already joined them, but it didn’t matter.
“Break everything and pass through! All invoke your Oaths!”
Whoo! Whoosh!
Light rose from the knights’ bodies running to thousands of cavalrymen. It’s the sacred Oath of knights. They were shining brighter than ever for the sake of protecting their crown prince.
“Let’s go, brothers!”
“Ho!”
It was the moment the crown prince’s knights began to unleash their violent aura.
Along with Fiosen’s puzzled expression, a rough voice of a middle-aged man resounded.
“These fleeting greenhorns…”
That was not all.
A powerful bloodlust exploded out from the Blue Wolf squad, enveloping the entire battlefield with more ferociousness than ever. It was natural.
Kalun, the crown prince’s knight, and the other four shouted in astonishment.
“N-no way… It’s Duke Lavaltor…”
“Impossible. His Highness said he is in the royal palace right now…”
But their voices didn’t come out until the end.
WHAM BAM BOOM—!!
It was because a huge typhoon crashed down on them. It was Duke Lavaltor’s Oath.
The knights dissipated in a flash. No, they didn’t even leave a speck of dust.
Hovering above them, Duke Lavaltor, with an arrogant look on his face, declared with cold eyes.
“Drop your weapons if you don’t wish to die.”
With that cold voice.
Gulp.
Both the crown prince and his soldiers swallowed hard.
***
Cantum gave up their will to fight.
The soldiers quickly threw down their weapons.
It’s hard to fight even if they were in normal physical condition. Now they didn’t even have strength in their bodies.
And so was the crown prince.
“Duke Lavaltor. How come you are here… I definitely heard you are in the royal castle.”
Despair was written all over his face.
His plan to get rid of Lavaltor plus pit Kaistein against Bahara and effortlessly take over the two countries had crumbled in vain.
Therefore, as the crown prince, he felt incredibly bitter.
‘He obviously did. He has decided to stay in the palace for a while for a meeting on the Northern Expedition.’
The commander of the Northern Expedition was the First Princess, but the opinion of Lavaltor, the supreme commander of Kaistein, was essential. It was all the more so for a grand agenda like the Northern Expedition, which had to be held at the Supreme Council.
But Duke Lavaltor said as if he wasn’t sure himself.
“It was supposed to be like that.”
“But why…”
“The Seventh Prince asked me a favor. He asked me to return to my territory before the Northern Expedition begins.”
“What?”
It was an utterly absurd thing to hear for the crown prince.
Even if he was the Seventh Prince, how could he ask such a favor to a duke of a kingdom? Even more so, he asked ahead of the Northern Expedition.
Duke Lavaltor was equally dumbfounded.
“That’s why I thought the Seventh Prince was trying to exclude our Lavaltor from the Northern Expedition.”
The Seventh Prince was on the side of Garcia, his enemy.
Of course, he couldn’t help thinking Ian was trying to douse Lavaltor’s momentum. Moreover, Ian demanded it as the reward he had promised. As a chivalrous man, Duke Lavaltor accepted it.
But that was not what Ian was aiming for.
‘It was written in the letter from the prince. As if he expected this to happen.’
And it was true.
Fiosen didn’t seem to have checked the letter yet. The content was as such:
[Cantum is trying to betray us. Watch out for the wells. They seem to be pulling some tricks.]
That was not the only thing.
Ian even warned him to be more careful of Cantum’s movements than Bahara’s.
The moment he was watching the slash-and-burn village with half-doubt.
He noticed the crown prince moving his troops. Thanks to this, he was able to spot the lurking enemies and strike them out.
Not only that, he was able to come running according to Ian’s letter that predicted the crown prince’s movement.
All of this rendered the crown prince speechless.
‘How on earth did the Seventh Prince know and intercept it?’
All of this was known only to the knight who was his aide. He had meticulously devised the plan and executed it to that extent.
And even if Ian knew it beforehand, how could he take action to such a degree!
But soon the crown prince gritted his teeth.
That wasn’t the point.
As long as he was caught this way, it was obvious how the relationship between Kaistein and Cantum would develop in the future. There would probably be no change in his position as the crown prince, but his position in Cantum would clearly be shaken.
So, the crown prince glowered at Duke Lavaltor with bloodshot eyes.
“Are you saying that such a letter will move the mighty Duke Lavaltor? Who the hell is that guy?”
“I just paid for what I owed. I’m sorry, but I have nothing more to say to the person who targeted my territory.”
Duke Lavaltor turned his back.
The crown prince bit his lips as if swallowing pain.
This time it wasn’t because of the plague.
‘Ian Kaistein…’
He felt deep resentment at the seventh prince of Kaistein who stood in his grand plan’s way.
Right then.
Duke Lavaltor suddenly turned around and laughed.
“Oh, come to think of it, I forgot to ask.”
“!”
“I heard you made an interesting bet with the Seventh Prince.”
“I…”
Bet.
Upon realizing the situation, the crown prince’s face hardened.