Chapter 41: The Ultimatum

It had taken only ten minutes.

“Here, your leader. Do you still want to fight?”

That was all the time it had taken for Ransen to cross over the Outer City, reappear, and return holding Ceseres’ head.

“Th… that’s impossible…”

The Outer City’s defense captain’s lips trembled.

“If you still want to fight, I’ll kill you all here.”

When the captain met Ransen’s indifferent eyes, his voice involuntarily rose.

“N-no, sir!”

In truth, what truly terrified him was not Ransen’s gaze, nor the severed head of Ceseres in his hand.

‘His clothes…!’

It was Ransen’s clothing.

‘Not a single drop of blood…!’

The captain knew well what kind of preparations lay inside the fortress.

Ceseres had been a meticulous man.

Of course, his greatest stratagem had been the banner of the Storm King, but he had never relied on that alone.

He had prepared scenarios for everything—whether Ransen, overcome by rage, charged in with his forces, or whether he broke through with a small elite squad as he had done when killing Delkash. Ceseres had thought of every possibility and had made countermeasures for each.

Then why had the outcome turned out like this?

‘Expert-grade warriors… Berserkers… He cut through all of them by himself in just ten minutes? Without a single drop of blood staining his clothes?’

The captain was stricken with fear.

This man before his eyes—

He was a being whose overwhelming might could never be captured by the mere word “Swordmaster.”

To resist would only lead to pointless death.

In the end, there was only one choice left for him.

“What are you all doing! Throw down your weapons and open the gate!”

“Y-yes, sir!”

Clang! Clatter!

The clamor of spears and swords being thrown down rang out like raindrops.

Screeech!

The gate of the Outer City, made of palisades, creaked open.

That was the moment Ransen captured Kashu City singlehandedly.

*         *         *

“The soldiers were saying something.”

I was resting a bit on the sofa in the lord’s office when Kalserik spoke to me.

“What were they saying?”

“They’re asking if our commander is actually a ghost.”

“What nonsense is that?”

Kalserik looked at me as if wondering whether I was really ignorant of the meaning.

“To be honest, I truly don’t understand either. Just how did you do it?”

“Do what?”

“The blood. Over in the marketplace, Expert corpses are scattered all over, and here inside the Lord’s Keep there’s a mountain of Berserker corpses… yet why doesn’t our commander’s clothing have even a single drop of blood on it?”

“If you cut cleanly enough, blood doesn’t splash. And if it still does, you just raise your Aura and push it away.”

“...”

“Don’t you know? When you draw up Aura into the blade, the wind surges, right? You use that to keep the blood droplets off.”

“Of course I know! Obviously! I’m a Peak Expert too, you know. But is that as easy as it sounds? I mean, calculating the spray of blood from every angle and managing it like that…!”

“Wasn’t that easy?”

“…Ah, yes…”

“It wasn’t a big deal.”

To be honest, before I learned ancient swordsmanship, I couldn’t do something like that either.

But now, I boasted a little.

Heh, this was the taste of getting stronger.

“Kalserik, you can’t do it?”

While showing off, I poked at Kalserik too.

“…I can’t.”

“Really? But it’s easy.”

“Ah, seriously!”

Kalserik’s face turned red.

I just chuckled and let it go.

It felt like we were finally getting a bit closer.

Stretching my body, I stepped out onto the terrace.

As befitted the Lord’s Keep, from here the entire city spread out beneath me in one view.

“Everyone’s working hard, huh?”

I could see it from here as well.

The Kushan City administrators who had followed the 1st Regiment were busily moving about, taking control of every part of Kashu City.

Courthouse, tax office, the barracks, and even this very Lord’s Keep.

They combed through all the documents, confirmed and seized all assets and manpower in Kashu, then sorted and classified everything.

Since I had brought only the most capable men from Kushan, they would seize complete control of this place within three days.

“Now I can finally relax a little. We took Kashu before the Storm King did. In the end, it’s ours first.”

At my words, Kalserik raised an objection.

“Is it really ours first? …Strictly speaking, the city bore his banner. This will cause problems.”

“So what if it does? Sooner or later, we were bound to clash anyway.”

“Uh… You are aware our power is still far weaker, right?”

“It’s fine. That’s why we hurried to take Kushan. As long as Kinalo is there, Haarun can’t directly strike us yet. Even if he does, because of Jafar in the south, a full-scale offensive will be difficult.”

“That’s true, but still…”

“Don’t be so afraid.”

“How can I not be afraid? We’re talking about one of the Five Kings!”

Kalserik. At first, I had thought him a steady mercenary captain, but now I realized he was just a nag.

‘Ah, was he even steady at the beginning?’

Our first meeting had been when he was on his knees begging for his life…

“Huh? Huh? I feel like you’re having some very rude and unpleasant thoughts about me right now?”

“No, no.”

For the sake of my subordinate’s pride, I told a harmless white lie and corrected my expression.

While I was bickering back and forth with Kalserik like that, a soldier knocked and entered.

“My Lord Count!”

“Hm?”

“I believe we’ve found it! That bizarre chapel you mentioned.”

Ah, they really had found it.

I straightened my posture.

As Seah had foretold, there was indeed a cultists’ chapel here.

“A chapel? Wait, why exactly did you order us to search for something like that? Religion is a bit…”

“Religion, my ass. I’m doing it to travel through time.”

“…What?”

Kalserik’s eyes went wide, but I just smiled and let it pass.

Someday, I would have to explain it to them, but for now, it felt premature… and honestly, just bothersome.

‘Still, checking it right now wouldn’t be wise, would it?’

Part of me wanted to grab the Book of Fate immediately and head there. But if I ended up being forced into another time travel like before, things would become very troublesome.

After all, I had just slashed down the Storm King’s banner.

At the very least, I needed to see how the Storm King responded, and only once I was sure I could keep him in check would I be able to safely make the trip.

“Preserve the chapel exactly as it is. Forbid all entry.”

“Yes, my Lord!”

After dismissing the soldier, I turned my gaze back to the terrace.

Kalserik kept pestering me—“What do you mean by time travel, sir?!”—but I ignored him.

‘I need to establish contact with Kinalo City as soon as possible.’

I had stabilized Kushan, and Kashu was in order as well.

Now came Kinalo.

Someday, we would have to seize that place too, but for now, a temporary alliance would suffice. If we joined forces with the magicians there, we could build a force strong enough to check the Storm King.

That had been the plan.

But only two days later,

I would have to tear up all of it and draw up new plans from scratch.

*         *         *

Two days later, at dawn.

The Storm King’s envoys gazed down at Kashu City.

Each of them mounted upon white horses with unusually long, thick manes.

“What a madman.”

Firze, a Peak Expert warrior of the Storm Cavalry, clicked her tongue as she looked at Kashu in the distance.

“To ignore Lord Haarun’s banner and capture Kashu? I knew he was insane, but… does he have ten lives to throw away?”

What irritated her most was their ignorance.

“If you don’t know any better, you might think that way. He’s a Swordmaster, so he can oppose Lord Haarun. He has an army, so it might stand against the Storm Cavalry. It’s an easy mistake to make.”

That ignorance was both laughable and contemptible.

Outside Ailun, there were only country bumpkins who knew nothing.

They didn’t understand the sheer gulf between the Ailun region ruled by the Storm King and every other land.

Not just in economic power, but in both the quality and quantity of troops, the difference was on another level.

“Even the Empire wouldn’t dare be this arrogant in dealing with us.”

Firze truly believed that.

If Ransen had heard, he would have scoffed, but that was of no importance—she really believed it.

“Come. Let’s grant these ignorant fools our lord’s final mercy.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

With nine soldiers who answered like blades drawn,

“Hyah!”

She spurred her steed.

Neighhh—!

The finest steeds across all of Roberland—

The white horses of Ailun, which the people of Ailun believed to be the greatest in the world, beyond all doubt.

Among them were the finest steeds, carefully chosen, pounding the earth with long cries.

Dudududu—!

The wind whipped across Firze’s cheek as she rode.

As captain of the cavalry, this was always the moment she loved most.

This overwhelming speed, tearing even through the wind itself.

The palisade, five meters high, which had been far in the distance, rushed before her eyes in an instant.

Ransen’s soldiers standing guard atop it spotted her and her riders charging in, and, startled, hastily loosed their arrows.

Fwhoosh— fwhiish—!

“Not bad. Their reaction is quick. Are those Imperial Black Bows?”

She allowed herself a brief note of admiration.

Their reaction speed was fast, and their aim accurate.

However—

Not a single one struck true.

Accelerate once, accelerate again—arrows always fell behind.

“W-what did she say?!”

“She’s getting faster?!”

Voices of shock rang out.

Of course, they would be shocked. There was no horse under the heavens faster than these.

“W-wait! They’re going to crash!”

The soldiers atop the palisade panicked as Firze’s company thundered forward, never slowing as they closed in.

But then—

Thud————!

Tap!

No crash ever came.

Instead, something even more unbelievable happened.

“T-they… they’re flying?”

The white steeds leapt, hooves hammering the air, landing atop the palisade in a single bound.

Horses that could clear a five-meter palisade in one jump.

Could such creatures even be called horses?

Neighhh—!

“Kyaaah!”

The white horses stood tall upon the palisade, neighing loudly, while the cold gazes of the cavalrymen upon their backs bore down on the soldiers.

The men, utterly daunted, could not even think to thrust their spears, stumbling backward instead.

“Ailun white horses…”

“The Storm Cavalry!”

These were warriors who lived off Norberju as their homeland.

They had all heard the countless rumors about the Ailun white horses.

Most had dismissed them as exaggerated tales or idle boasts. But never had they imagined that horses could actually leap a five-meter palisade.

Firze’s lips curled into a mocking smile.

The ignorant only came to their senses when the truth was trampled before their very eyes.

“Listen well!!”

Her voice, brimming with Aura, shattered the dawn silence of Kashu City.

It boomed past the Outer City, over the Inner City, beyond even the Lord’s Keep, a wave of overwhelming sound.

“From Kinalo! A message from the Storm King! The Storm King, in his mercy, makes one last offer to Ransen! If you abandon your obstinacy even now and come to share a drink with me, I shall treat you as both brother and friend!”

Firze paused, sweeping her gaze over the nearby soldiers, whose faces had gone pale.

Then, with even greater force in every word, she bellowed:

“But! If you reject this final offer, then you and your friends shall be seized as my captives, treated as wicked criminals! Think carefully!”

The ultimatum, tearing through the dawn air, rang out sharply and woke the entire city.

Not a single person failed to hear the proclamation.

And they saw it too—

Ten white horses standing tall upon the walls, and upon them, ten cavalrymen sat like divine generals.

At that moment, Kalserik was stationed near the Outer City.

The instant he realized what was happening, he sprinted with all his strength.

‘Damn it… this is bad! A stunt like this will shatter morale! We can’t just let them get away with it!’

While the nearby soldiers and Experts all froze, he alone moved. Anything to lessen the blow of this cursed situation.

So he sprang forward.

From the blind spot below the palisade, where he couldn’t be seen, he leapt straight upward.

“You bastard!!!”

He roared, voice booming to rival Firze’s, and swung his sword at her throat.

Even if he couldn’t cut her down, at least he could humiliate her—

Fwish—

The blade never touched.

Firze did not flinch, did not move—she only stood proudly, gazing down at Kalserik.

‘What kind of horse is this…!’

It wasn’t her.

It was her steed—the Ailun white horse—that had thwarted the strike, stepping a single pace backward to nullify Kalserik’s attack.

And then—

Kwaaang!

As soon as it retreated, it surged forward again.

At that exact moment—wham!—Firze swung her shield.

“Urgh!”

Kalserik took the blow squarely, unable to dodge, and was hurled down from the palisade.

“Hmph.”

With a sneer on her lips, Firze gave her final shout.

“One month! I expect a good answer, Ransen!”

She turned her horse at once.

“Let’s go!”

“Yes, ma’am! Hyah!”

Just as suddenly as they had appeared, the cavalry leapt from the wall and vanished beyond the distant hills.

*         *         *

“…They sure made a noisy mess of it.”

Amid the uproar, I arrived late.

I had been in the Lord’s Keep far away, so even running at full speed, I was a step too late.

“All their faces are ruined.”

The soldiers’ expressions, which had been shining just a moment ago, were now dark and lifeless.

Could morale, so high, truly be broken in a single instant like this?

“The Storm Cavalry…”

I cast my gaze into the distance, but they were already gone.

They had spouted plenty of pompous nonsense before leaving, but hidden among their words was a piece of information worth noting.

‘Kinalo has already fallen?’

Grit.

My teeth clenched of their own accord.

If that was true—

No, it almost certainly was.

“They’ve finally got their hands on our leash, haven’t they?”

There was no avoiding a decisive battle now.

“Fine. Let’s see, then.”

If they came charging in like this—

I had to confirm it for myself.

Just how well that so-called Five King could truly fight.

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