Duke Pendragon

“Did he know we were coming?”

Eltuan asked while she watched the elven warriors clean up the battlefield under Ellaja’s instructions.

“Maybe.”

Raven answered briefly. However, his true thoughts were a little different.

‘Not we, me.”

The elves of the Red Moon Valley rarely deviated outside of their boundaries. They knew how dangerous it was to venture outside. Within their territory, everything that happened played out in the palm of their hands, but the rest of the Great Forest was full of unexpected elements.

They had only come to this place because of Raven.

Jean Oberon had clearly prepared the monsters in anticipation of Raven heading towards the tower after meeting with the Red Moon Valley elves.

‘However, this is strange…’

The sorcerer should have been well aware that the prepared forces were insufficient to kill Raven. Jean Oberon would have known for sure.

He was a sorcerer.

He knew that Raven held a contract with Soldrake, and he knew the power it provided Raven with. Although the ogres of the Great Forest were strong, one was simply not enough.

More than a hundred lizardmen had been added to the mix, but the end results had been the same, especially with the help of the Red Moon Valley elves.

‘There’s definitely something else…’

Raven’s forehead creased in thought. However, he could not think of any valid reasons.

“Are you not going in?”

Eltuan’s voice shattered Raven’s thoughts, and he looked up.

“Let’s go.”

Raven walked towards the entrance of the tower of the great sorcerer who saved the South, or rather, the tower of an evil sorcerer who was planning something sinister.

“Hmm…!”

Raven narrowed his eyes after entering the tower. Perhaps because it had been left unattended for quite a long time, the room was laden with dust.

The tower was empty.

In addition, there was no separation from the first floor to the very top. It felt very strange, as if one had stepped into a large chimney.

“What is this…?”

Eltuan was also surprised.

She looked around the interior of the tower with bewilderment.

Kiiiing!

The wind descended from the top of the empty tower, causing the whole interior to hum. It felt as if the tower was alive and crying.

Raven looked around with penetrating eyes, then his eyes narrowed before remaining at one place.

“Look at this.”

“Huh? Ah…!”

Eltuan lowered her eyes along with Raven, then became bug-eyed as she looked around the floor. No clues could be found while they were looking up at the empty tower, but now, they seemed to have discovered the most important hint on the floor.

“This, this is…”

“Isn’t it strange?”

“Yes. It looks like a magical array…”

Eltuan hurriedly nodded at Raven’s words.

The entire floor of the huge tower was cluttered with red lines and curves. In addition, there were large pits located on the opposite side of where the two were standing. However, the floor was so wide that they could not make out the overall shape of the drawing.

“Let us go up and take a look.”

There was a high probability that they would not be able to interpret the diagram since they were not wizards. However, they wanted to confirm the overall shape with their own eyes, so the two of them climbed up the round stairs along the inside of the tower.

After climbing up around halfway, they looked down to the floor.

“Hmm…”

However, it was too dark to recognize anything. Then, the sun made its appearance from between the clouds and shone down from on the tower.

“Ah…!”

As the floor was slowly revealed, Eltuan stood with her mouth agape. She saw a complicated combination of lines and shapes filling the entire floor, and the holes were located across the dividing line of the circle…

“Are they… graves…?”

Bodies of the monsters littered more than ten pits. Dozens, no judging from the size of the tower, an even greater number of monsters seemed to be buried beneath the floor.

“No, in this case, it would be more appropriate to call it an altar.”

Eltuan lifted her head at Raven’s cold words.

“Let us go down and take a closer look. The sun might disappear once more.”

Eltuan hurriedly followed Raven down the staircase.

“How strange…”

Raven wondered after peering inside the pits. There must have been at least hundreds of bodies, judging from the size of the tower and the depths of the pits, but there was no malodor at all.

In addition, the bodies of all the monsters were shaded a color of gray as if they had been burned. It was a very peculiar sight.

However, they hadn’t really been burned.

If they had been set ablaze, their bodies would have been disfigured. However, all the bodies were completely intact.

“They died after having their blood drained.”

“That must have been the case. This is an altar.”

“An altar?”

“Yes. Jean Oberon built this place to create the Troll King. The dead monsters were the offerings.”

“…..!”

Eltuan became wide-eyed with shock. It was none other than his tribe, the Red Moon Valley elves, who helped build the tower. In addition, they had captured the monsters as well.

All in all, the Red Moon Valley elves had created the Troll King, the monster that threatened the tribe and took control of the Great Forest.

“Don’t have any useless thoughts. You guys were just fooled.”

Raven spoke in a low voice after recognizing Eltuan’s feelings, but her darkened expression did not loosen.

“What has transpired already is not important. We need to figure out why Jean Obern created the Troll King and used it to slaughter humans. That is the way to save the Red Moon Valley elves and correct the mistakes of the past.”

“…I understand.”

Eltuan answered while biting her lips.

As he said, the past could not be altered by belatedly regretting one’s actions.

“Let Kara know for now, and set up traps near the tower. We will set off afterwards.”

Eltuan gave a firm nod.

She asked with a curious expression.

“But where are we going?”

“Assia Plateau. That is where he is located.”

Raven spoke as he slowly stood up. His eyes glimmered with renewed determination.

***

“Keheul?”

“What?”

Karuta and Killian responded with shock.

However, Isla answered with a blank face as usual.

“I said I would head to Valvas alone.”

“What are you talking about? Then who will command the griffon unit? No, in the first place, what could you do by yourself? Not a chance. We will first meet up with the lord…”

“Then it will be too late. Valvas Cavaliers are short-tempered. A fight for control might have broken out already.”

“All the more the reason we should go together! If the lord accompanies us, then even the Valvas Cavaliers…”

“They are different from me. The lord is my lord, not the lord of other cavaliers. Having the status of an imperial duke will be of no use in Valvas.”

“Hm…”

Killian paused for a moment. He already knew of the Valvas Cavaliers’ stubbornness. The Valvas Cavaliers would even aim their swords towards their brother without hesitation if it was the will of the lord they served.

“But I thought those Valvas scarecrows already agreed to cooperate with Pendragon. Doesn’t that mean we can go all together?”

“Right! Well spoken!”

Killlian agreed with Karuta’s words with a bright expression. But Karuta’s following words caused Killian’s face to crumple.

“I was always better spoken than the one-egged scarecrow. Anyways, I’m right. Right?”

“…..”

After a brief moment of silence, Isla replied bluntly.

“The Valvas Cavaliers agreed to cooperate because of the monsters of the Great Forest. As soon as the Troll King and the monsters are defeated, they will scatter immediately. However, the monsters are not the sole enemies of our lord and us.”

“Duke Arangis…”

Killian spoke with a sigh. Isla nodded slightly before continuing.

“If we do not unite the Valvas Cavaliers, some of them will side with the Arangis Duchy after the monster extermination. That is why we have to bring them together completely. It’s something that only the name of the Knight King, Mara Valencia, can achieve.”

“Hmm.”

Killian closed his mouth at Isla’s quiet words.

Valvas Cavaliers' strength and capability had been proven throughout history. If some of them stood on the side of the Arangis Duchy, they would pose a huge threat.

But if the cavaliers could be united and won over to their side, the Pendragon Duchy would be gaining an incredibly powerful ally.

The only one qualified to achieve such a feat was Isla – the one who succeeded the blood of the Knight King, Mara Valencia.

“Tsk.”

Karuta licked his lips, and Killian remained silent. Isla gazed at the two before putting his hand on the pommel of his sword and speaking.

“This is something I have to do as a knight of Pendragon, and as the descendant of the Knight King. I will bring together the blades of Valvas and return.”

Isla’s eyes contained a strong will.

Killian was left with no choice but to surrender.

“Ah, I don’t know anymore! Do whatever you want. Dammit…!”

Killian turned around in a sulky manner before waddling away. Then, he stopped and spoke without looking back.

“If you die, I will kill you again, so do whatever you want. I do not care if you will be dead, because I’m going to kill you anyways. Then I will kill all the cavaliers. Well, even if I do not, the lord will. Don’t get the wrong idea. It’s not like I’m worried about you or anything!”

After saying so, Killian quickly moved away. A large grin appeared around Karuta’s mouth as he looked at Killian’s disappearing back.

“Keheul! You have got to hand it to him. Our one-egged scarecrow is quite the loyal kind. Don’t you think so…?”

As he looked back towards Isla, Karuta flinched. He saw a smile on the mouth of the cold, expressionless Isla.

“You. Are you smiling?”

“…..”

At Karuta’s words, the smile disappeared from Isla’s face like a lie.

“I did not smile.”

“Yes, you did.”

“You saw wrong. A Valvas Cavalier never smiles at men except the lord he serves and his lifelong rival.”

After returning to his usual, cold self, Isla quickly turned around and walked away.

“Keheuheu. What’s there to be embarrassed about? All of you are grown men.”

Contrary to his joking words, Karuta knew deep down. The two men did not consider each other simple colleagues. They were comrades, connected through deep affection and loyalty. For Karuta, who respected warriors regardless of race, it was a respectable, honorable bond.

“Hey, you scarecrows! Wait for me!”

He ran after the two. Karuta felt a sense of comradery towards the two men, even though he had looked down on the two scarecrows in the past.

The gazes of all the waiting soldiers of the Pendragon Duchy headed towards the three figures. Although they were all left without a lord for now, they were united thanks to the three.

***

“Heave-ho! Heave-ho!’

Peace had descended once the pirates and the island orcs disappeared off the inland sea. On an island, fishermen with tanned skin were eagerly pulling up their nets.

“Kuhaha! A rich haul today as well!”

“Wonderful! This is how a boatman should work and make a living!”

“Isn’t this all thanks to his exalted presence?”

They were once half-forced into piracy or enslaved, but now they were residents of nearby islands. They worked hard every day. Their peace was all thanks to Duke Pendragon and the 7th imperial regiment.

“Huh? What is that?”

As they worked hard, a fisherman placed his hand on his forehead and frowned heavily.

“What are you doing? Get back to work.”

Others scolded him with a frown. Then the fisherman removed his hand from his forehead and pointed to the distant skies.

“Look, look over there.”

“Hmm?”

“What is it?”

The fishermen stopped pulling up their nets and turned to where their colleague was pointing towards.

“What…?”

They had been frowning in the scorching sun, but their eyes began to grow larger at an unanticipated sight. The fishermen soon began to tremble in fear.

“T, t, there! Over there!”

Squawk! Squwak!

Not a single speck of cloud could be found in the endless sky. As ‘it’ came closer from the horizon, the seabirds hovering near the ship became surprised and scattered.

Fwooooosh!

It was a humongous silver-white dragon. The majestic creature crossed the blue sky, shining brighter than the reflection of the sparkling sunlight on the water.