Chapter 82

Even if the country was invaded, the royal family was still the royal family. A living one would be much more valuable and useful to their king than a useless corpse. Moreover, at this point in time when the victory was decided anyway, there was no reason to make it more emotional.

Although the Brimdel royal family are now on their knees in such humiliating captivity, it is because these are little bastards who do not know the situation well.

The situation would change if a person sitting in a higher position or a person with a more proper mind would come. It was undoubtedly.

“Where, where is His Majesty?”

Philip sniffed and whispered. There was only one person missing in this place, where all those who inherited the blood of the Brimdel royal family were captured, and that was Gillion, the king of Brimdel.

Asked by his younger cousin, Duon inhaled and exhaled slowly. No one has seen the king since the castle fell and the Kustans flooded in through the open gates.

“Maybe…… He had escaped safely through the chaos.”

There were several secret passages in Brimdel’s castle. It was secretly designed in case of any unforeseen circumstances, and it was a top secret that only a few people knew about in Brimdel.

Duon also tried to escape from the castle using the secret passage, but failed. Before he opened the door to the passage, the Kustan soldiers came into his room.

“Will he come back?”

“Yes. He will come back safely when the situation is rectified. So don’t worry.”

Hearing Duon’s words, Philip seemed to have regained his composure to some extent.

‘If only Gillion, the king of Brimdel was alive.’

Duon gritted his teeth and vowed.

‘One day, I will repay them for this humiliating disgrace.’

“!”

The soldiers, who had been standing still like statues, suddenly began to stir. In silence they exchanged glances with each other. Eventually, they turned their heads towards the door in a coordinated move.

No one said a word, but everyone in the audience room could feel it. The atmosphere that had spread in the air changed in an instant.

For what? The Brimdel people naturally followed the Kustan soldiers’ gaze. They were curious. But at the same time, greater tension and fear came.

“These, these guys why, why all of a sudden…… ?”

Philip did not finish the question. Because someone’s footsteps could be heard from behind the tightly closed door.

Thump. Thump.

Perhaps it was a person who was armed like the soldiers, the sound of his footsteps was quite heavy. Philip’s eyes widened at the same time.

‘Is it the commander of these guys?’

Duon stared at the door that had not yet been opened and guessed. Seeing that thousands of soldiers fought and lost their lives in this place, the owner of the leisurely footsteps was obviously not a normal man of any kind.

As expected, the sound of footsteps stopped in front of the audience room door. Duon’s breathing accelerated. It was only a few seconds, but for some, a long silence passed like eternity. All eyes were focused on one place.

Two Kustan soldiers standing close to the door hurriedly opened the door. The door swung open on both sides. Then, a figure standing quietly in front of them appeared.

‘The Black Knight!’

When Duon saw the person standing in front of the door, he was startled and shouted inside.

He had a black helmet, black armor, a black cloak, and even black boots. He was covered in black from head to toe so the name Black Knight came to mind. If he had stood in the dark, it would have been hard to tell.

Duon swallowed a gulp. Everything was black, so it was more like seeing a ghost or a reaper of death rather than a human. Just by looking at it, Duon felt a chill in his spine.

“That must be…….”

“That must be the rumored enemy. No doubt.”

Those who were sitting on their knees next to Duon took short breaths and exhaled one word at a time.

Black Knight. In fact, his presence was quite popular within Brimdel. Unlike other Kustan knights who wear green cloaks over silver armor, the story of a knight cruising around the battlefield with his body armed in black alone attracted many people’s attention.

The battlefield was such a fierce place that life and death are decided by only one thin difference. The less they were noticed by others, the more likely they were to survive. So, when the battle started, there were a lot of people who purposely painted their armor with mud and put on blood.

In such a situation, instead of trying to hide himself, he deliberately wore clothes that would draw people’s attention. Those who heard the story laughed at the Black Knight’s stupidity and sarcastically said that he would last a week at best.

But their expectations were wrong. The Black Knight did not die after a week passed as they had expected. Not only that, but all the battles he participated in ended in Kustan’s victory.

At first, some said it was just a coincidence, but those faded away as time passed. This is because those who managed to come back alive from the battle all spoke together.

‘They say that the Kustan, whose eyes were blinded by victory, summoned the devil.’

He pierced the necks of soldiers who were watching at the Bangola fortress with his ghostly archery skills. He led the Kustan army to victory by using nonsensical tactics in a battle where there was a difference of about twice as many troops.

And more than half of the heads of famous Brimdel masters were cut off.

All of these were achievements known to have been accomplished by this man standing in front of Duon in a short period of time.

“…….”

The Black Knight looked inside the audience hall without saying a word. Even if it was an invaded enemy country, it was an audience with the royal family. As a courtesy, he should show some respect for them by giving them a silent tribute first, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of doing that. The eyes that could be seen through the helmet were very cold.

“You’re here?”

Among the soldiers guarding the audience, one knight, who seemed to have the highest rank, greeted the Black Knight with a brief silence.

“Did the plan go well?”

“…….”

“As you have commanded, we have captured all the royal families of Brimdel and put them here. Also, the person you mentioned earlier was also captured not far from here.”

“…….”

Despite the knight’s report, the Black Knight was silent. His gaze showed no sign of departing from the royal family of Brimdel gathered in the middle of the audience.

“The Crown Prince of Brimdel.”

As the knight continued to explain, the Black Knight raised his hand to interrupt him. It was a gesture telling the knight there was no need to listen to detailed explanations.

The Black Knight slowly began to move. With each step he moved, the connecting parts of the iron armor rubbed against each other, making a clicking, thin metal sound. An eerie and gloomy energy that could not be expressed in words surrounded Duon.

He was reluctant when he first saw the Black Knight. But when he looked closer, the Black Knight really looked more like a dead ghost than a living person. He appeared like a nightmare to drag another scapegoat into the hell he was in.

As the Black Knight approached, the terrified royal families of Brimdel faltered in terror. Some of them turned their heads in nausea. The Black Knight was wearing black equipment, so they didn’t know it until they looked closely.

His whole body was drenched in red blood.

As he appeared to have no problem in moving, it was obviously not his blood. The strong, pungent smell of blood pierced the tip of Duon’s nostrils.

The Black Knight stopped his footsteps in front of Duon. He couldn’t find any hesitation as the Black Knight scanned the captives one by one. From the moment he entered the audience room, the Black Knight seemed to know Duon’s identity.

Duon raised his head and looked up at the Black Knight. Then he swallowed a gulp. He felt a strong sense of intimidation that it was suffocating him, who was exuding a vicious energy while covered in blood.

“Long time no see. Your Highness.”

The Black Knight, who had been silent the whole time, finally opened his mouth. It was a much more polite tone than Duon expected. Besides, his voice is also very young, so Duon was a little surprised.

“Forgive me for not being able to visit you often.”

“You…… know me?”

For update pings, novel discussions and/or to send mistake reports, join our server~