“Captain!”
Hubert and Dennis positioned themselves on either side of him, ready to face what came. The rest of the Croban Mercenaries did the same. Felix felt a profound discomfort. Despite appearing calm on the outside, inside, he felt twisted and nauseous.
Change, it seems, is not always for the better.
I dislike change.
When I was young, Jess, who used to lift him up with a kind smile beside Grandma, had changed as well.
Therefore…
Sylvia, at least, must remain unchanged as she is now, and he must protect her.
Felix drew upon his magical power. He moved, channeling the magic of the Black Dragon into his sword and all his accessories.
Jess drew his sword and shouted.
“Form an attack line!”
Hubert tried to bind the legs of the horses with water magic. That’s when a water magician from the 5th Knights Brigade interfered.
“Damn, you were prepared.”
They moved swiftly as if they had anticipated their attack methods, being from the same brigade.
“My lord!”
In that brief moment, Felix soared into the center of the enemy lines.
Boom!
His landing sounded different from the others. The large sword moved sharply. Whooosh. The sound of cutting through the wind was extraordinary. Thud, the sound of impact, followed by a slice, a sound of something being cut through, echoed.
Croban’s mercenaries, although outnumbered, began to focus their attack swiftly from one point, just as they had when hunting demonic beasts. If Felix disrupted the formation from the center, Hubert and Dennis would attack from the outside. This was their usual method when hunting numerous demonic beasts.
Sylvia, watching the fight from a distance, was stomping her feet anxiously. Eryngium sat on her head, pulling her hair, saying,
[Don’t worry, Sylvia! Felix is very strong!]
Poppy added, sitting on her left shoulder.
[He’s a child who inherited the power of Lord Aethernum!]
[Asta is more worried about Sylvia. Shall we hide over there?]
Asta gently sat on her right shoulder, leaning against her.
“How can I not worry?”
She thought that no one here knew better than Sylvia how strong he was. In the original work, he had even beaten the king of demonic beasts, so she believed he could not lose in this situation.
However, apart from that fact, her worry wouldn’t follow her wishes. Then, arrows made from wind magic targeted only Felix, flying from the surrounding trees.
Cling, clang, Felix quickly deflected them with his large sword, relieving Sylvia, though she felt like she was dying of anxiety.
“Felix…”
“Aargh!”
Felix cut down his opponent relentlessly. He moved agilely, dodging arrows and swords coming from all directions.
Jess, trying to maintain his crumbling expression, gritted his teeth. He kept promising himself to think only of his daughter, granddaughter, and son-in-law, who were captured by the Count of Lansmorris.
He did not think of the former queen mother whom he had sworn a knight’s oath or the suddenly deceased former king. He could trust no one. The Kingdom of Capitis was already falling apart. He resolved to save only his family amidst it all.
Bang! He blocked the rushing black sword with his magically enhanced sword.
Boom, boom, boom!
The ground shook and moved. Some of the 5th Knights Brigade, riding on horses, began to be sucked into the ground.
The youngest with brown hair, Jordan, launched an attack with earth magic. Unlike other elements, this wide-ranging magic could not be used many times, so he approached carefully and began to target.
The movements of demonic beasts were sharper and more proactive. In comparison, the movements of the knights brigade were clearly visible. What needed attention were the magicians hidden among the knights. They appeared to be knights but were definitely magicians.
The best course of action was to find those who could cast wide-range attack magic and kill them first.
Felix moved like a flash of lightning, jumping into one formation. The horses collapsed as if crumbling, and the knights riding them fell and tangled up.
Then, Dennis, attacking from the outside, broke through.
“Crown Prince!”
Dennis struck down powerfully from above to below, targeting the sword piercing Felix’s side. Clang! The sword was cut in half. Felix agilely pulled his body back and thrust his sword forward.
“Ugh.”
The sword pierced right above the neck of the armor, and the opponent’s body collapsed. There was a time when he had seen a knight brigade setting out to subdue demonic beasts. Mounted on horses, their gray armor reflected the sunlight and looked so magnificent.
He also liked the Black Dragon emblem that symbolized the Kingdom of Capitis. The reality that he was attacking a knight bearing the Black Dragon emblem on their gray armor made his head spin.
“Huff, huff.”
Though he shouldn’t have been tired, his breathing grew rough.
“Attack! Risk your lives to capture the traitor!”
Jess screamed as if he was vomiting blood. The hidden wind magicians simultaneously created a large number of arrows with wind. They targeted only Felix, who stood out in his black armor.
Their orders were the same.
The Crown Prince must be killed at all costs.
Having never seen the Crown Prince, they felt no emotion. They only had to think of their families and their own safety.
“Now, release all the arrows!”
At the command of a magician who seemed to be the vice commander, thousands of wind arrows began to pour into one place like a whirlwind. Sylvia, who had been watching anxiously from a distance, screamed.
“Felix!”
“My lord!”
“Your Highness!”
Dennis blocked the front, and Hubert created a water barrier for protection. The barrier only filtered out a few arrows. More than half of the arrows were still directed at Felix. He also prepared to counter with wind magic.
At that moment…
A mesmerizingly sweet scent numbed his nose.
With just a blink, his surroundings were filled with scarlet hues and greenery, pushing away everyone around him as if to protect only Felix. Trees grew, wrapping around him completely.
Felix felt dizzy from the sweetness of the scent. It was lethally sweet.
Even without anyone saying it, it seemed he could tell.
“Siri…”
The small scarlet petals covering his vision were violently shaken by the rough wind. Even as the typhoon seemed to swallow the trees whole, uprooting them, the trees stood firm, scattering only their enchanting fragrance. The wind arrows, pouring like harsh wind, hit the trees wrapping around him but could not penetrate.
Sylvia could not stand it anymore and rushed forward. She did not think of the scene as one where blood was being splattered everywhere. She only saw Felix.
“Felix!”
What do you think you’re doing!
What did he do wrong!
“Just leave him alone! Just let him be!”
Sending magical power to the wind magic circle drawn on her body, she soared. Following her movement, the forsythia began to grow. Its roots flowed like waves.
This movement pushed back the 5th Knights Brigade, which was forming a formation, and the Croban mercenaries attacking from outside did not miss the opportunity to tie them up.
“Dennis!”
Hubert created a binding sphere with water magic. Transparent streams of water, woven like ropes, moved quickly under their feet. Dennis did not miss the opportunity and pressed his sword to Jess Saphia’s neck.
Sylvia made the vines climb the trees, targeting the group hiding among the trees.
“Aaah.”
The group hiding among the dense trees screamed and tried to cut the plant stems, but the densely woven plant stems were unexpectedly strong. Binding their bodies, it was not easy to cut them off with wind magic.
Yet, as they tried to escape by cutting the vines with wind magic, blood flowed from the bodies of those who were cutting.
“Eryngium, Poppy, Asta! Check if there are other enemies around and come back!”
Sylvia called out softly to the fairies flying with her.
[Got it, Sylvia!]
The fairies simultaneously headed towards the people entangled and bound by the trees. Sylvia made a motion as if rolling her foot once and then soared higher before jumping down towards the center of the forsythia.
As she fell, a gap opened just in time. Felix, who was trapped inside the forsythia, had planted his sword into the ground and caught the falling Sylvia with both hands.
“Felix!”
She had been anxious that something might happen to him.
Being the protagonist of this place, she was worried that something big might happen, which made her heart tighten and her stomach churn. Aware that the flow was different from the original work, she feared that something bad might happen to him because of her.
She hoped that, unlike in the original, he would be happy. She believed that this would prevent him from starting a war with the empire and hoped that he would meet the female lead and live happily. She hoped he would be compensated for the lonely and hard times he had endured during his childhood.
No, apart from all that…
She earnestly wished for his safety.
Sylvia embraced him, not minding the blood-stained armor.
“Siri.”
Felix felt as if his heart would burst with the slight strength pulling at his neck.
“Why does it have to be you only!”
Sylvia remembered the lines he had said in the novel when he was suffering and killing the knights of the kingdom.
[Why does it always turn out like this? What did I do wrong? Was it such a big mistake to have wanted affection from that woman?]
Sylvia put more strength into her arms and hugged him tightly.
“It’s okay, I have you.”
At his calm and firm voice, Sylvia whispered, choking back tears.
“Yes, I’m here. But… I have to say this. You’ve done nothing wrong.”
At her words, Felix inhaled deeply with a gasp. Sylvia, startled, held his face in both hands, looking into his eyes that shimmered like obsidian.
Felix stared intensely into her eyes laid before him. The teardrops hanging there mixed with the turquoise, as pure and fresh as new shoots dewed at dawn.
Sylvia decided to retract the thoughts she had just a moment ago.
‘Did you wish to be happy with the female lead?’
She laughed at the thought she herself had had.
‘By now, I should have noticed.’
Why she never stopped looking at him, that fundamental reason. The other people she had lived with did not catch her eye at all. She only cared for Felix’s well-being and wounds.
Even Dennis, who had been by his side, did not catch her eye. Only Felix filled her vision, and nothing else was visible. Even now, only his beautiful black eyes filled her sight.
Sylvia shouted loudly with a snort.
“I’m going to make you happy!”
Felix, who had been stiff and breathless at every word she said, found it hard to contain the emotions boiling up at her shout. The emotions he had wanted to keep secret started to leak out.
“Captain!”
Hubert and Dennis positioned themselves on either side of him, ready to face what came. The rest of the Croban Mercenaries did the same. Felix felt a profound discomfort. Despite appearing calm on the outside, inside, he felt twisted and nauseous.
Change, it seems, is not always for the better.
I dislike change.
When I was young, Jess, who used to lift him up with a kind smile beside Grandma, had changed as well.
Therefore…
Sylvia, at least, must remain unchanged as she is now, and he must protect her.
Felix drew upon his magical power. He moved, channeling the magic of the Black Dragon into his sword and all his accessories.
Jess drew his sword and shouted.
“Form an attack line!”
Hubert tried to bind the legs of the horses with water magic. That’s when a water magician from the 5th Knights Brigade interfered.
“Damn, you were prepared.”
They moved swiftly as if they had anticipated their attack methods, being from the same brigade.
“My lord!”
In that brief moment, Felix soared into the center of the enemy lines.
Boom!
His landing sounded different from the others. The large sword moved sharply. Whooosh. The sound of cutting through the wind was extraordinary. Thud, the sound of impact, followed by a slice, a sound of something being cut through, echoed.
Croban’s mercenaries, although outnumbered, began to focus their attack swiftly from one point, just as they had when hunting demonic beasts. If Felix disrupted the formation from the center, Hubert and Dennis would attack from the outside. This was their usual method when hunting numerous demonic beasts.
Sylvia, watching the fight from a distance, was stomping her feet anxiously. Eryngium sat on her head, pulling her hair, saying,
[Don’t worry, Sylvia! Felix is very strong!]
Poppy added, sitting on her left shoulder.
[He’s a child who inherited the power of Lord Aethernum!]
[Asta is more worried about Sylvia. Shall we hide over there?]
Asta gently sat on her right shoulder, leaning against her.
“How can I not worry?”
She thought that no one here knew better than Sylvia how strong he was. In the original work, he had even beaten the king of demonic beasts, so she believed he could not lose in this situation.
However, apart from that fact, her worry wouldn’t follow her wishes. Then, arrows made from wind magic targeted only Felix, flying from the surrounding trees.
Cling, clang, Felix quickly deflected them with his large sword, relieving Sylvia, though she felt like she was dying of anxiety.
“Felix…”
“Aargh!”
Felix cut down his opponent relentlessly. He moved agilely, dodging arrows and swords coming from all directions.
Jess, trying to maintain his crumbling expression, gritted his teeth. He kept promising himself to think only of his daughter, granddaughter, and son-in-law, who were captured by the Count of Lansmorris.
He did not think of the former queen mother whom he had sworn a knight’s oath or the suddenly deceased former king. He could trust no one. The Kingdom of Capitis was already falling apart. He resolved to save only his family amidst it all.
Bang! He blocked the rushing black sword with his magically enhanced sword.
Boom, boom, boom!
The ground shook and moved. Some of the 5th Knights Brigade, riding on horses, began to be sucked into the ground.
The youngest with brown hair, Jordan, launched an attack with earth magic. Unlike other elements, this wide-ranging magic could not be used many times, so he approached carefully and began to target.
The movements of demonic beasts were sharper and more proactive. In comparison, the movements of the knights brigade were clearly visible. What needed attention were the magicians hidden among the knights. They appeared to be knights but were definitely magicians.
The best course of action was to find those who could cast wide-range attack magic and kill them first.
Felix moved like a flash of lightning, jumping into one formation. The horses collapsed as if crumbling, and the knights riding them fell and tangled up.
Then, Dennis, attacking from the outside, broke through.
“Crown Prince!”
Dennis struck down powerfully from above to below, targeting the sword piercing Felix’s side. Clang! The sword was cut in half. Felix agilely pulled his body back and thrust his sword forward.
“Ugh.”
The sword pierced right above the neck of the armor, and the opponent’s body collapsed. There was a time when he had seen a knight brigade setting out to subdue demonic beasts. Mounted on horses, their gray armor reflected the sunlight and looked so magnificent.
He also liked the Black Dragon emblem that symbolized the Kingdom of Capitis. The reality that he was attacking a knight bearing the Black Dragon emblem on their gray armor made his head spin.
“Huff, huff.”
Though he shouldn’t have been tired, his breathing grew rough.
“Attack! Risk your lives to capture the traitor!”
Jess screamed as if he was vomiting blood. The hidden wind magicians simultaneously created a large number of arrows with wind. They targeted only Felix, who stood out in his black armor.
Their orders were the same.
The Crown Prince must be killed at all costs.
Having never seen the Crown Prince, they felt no emotion. They only had to think of their families and their own safety.
“Now, release all the arrows!”
At the command of a magician who seemed to be the vice commander, thousands of wind arrows began to pour into one place like a whirlwind. Sylvia, who had been watching anxiously from a distance, screamed.
“Felix!”
“My lord!”
“Your Highness!”
Dennis blocked the front, and Hubert created a water barrier for protection. The barrier only filtered out a few arrows. More than half of the arrows were still directed at Felix. He also prepared to counter with wind magic.
At that moment…
A mesmerizingly sweet scent numbed his nose.
With just a blink, his surroundings were filled with scarlet hues and greenery, pushing away everyone around him as if to protect only Felix. Trees grew, wrapping around him completely.
Felix felt dizzy from the sweetness of the scent. It was lethally sweet.
Even without anyone saying it, it seemed he could tell.
“Siri…”
The small scarlet petals covering his vision were violently shaken by the rough wind. Even as the typhoon seemed to swallow the trees whole, uprooting them, the trees stood firm, scattering only their enchanting fragrance. The wind arrows, pouring like harsh wind, hit the trees wrapping around him but could not penetrate.
Sylvia could not stand it anymore and rushed forward. She did not think of the scene as one where blood was being splattered everywhere. She only saw Felix.
“Felix!”
What do you think you’re doing!
What did he do wrong!
“Just leave him alone! Just let him be!”
Sending magical power to the wind magic circle drawn on her body, she soared. Following her movement, the forsythia began to grow. Its roots flowed like waves.
This movement pushed back the 5th Knights Brigade, which was forming a formation, and the Croban mercenaries attacking from outside did not miss the opportunity to tie them up.
“Dennis!”
Hubert created a binding sphere with water magic. Transparent streams of water, woven like ropes, moved quickly under their feet. Dennis did not miss the opportunity and pressed his sword to Jess Saphia’s neck.
Sylvia made the vines climb the trees, targeting the group hiding among the trees.
“Aaah.”
The group hiding among the dense trees screamed and tried to cut the plant stems, but the densely woven plant stems were unexpectedly strong. Binding their bodies, it was not easy to cut them off with wind magic.
Yet, as they tried to escape by cutting the vines with wind magic, blood flowed from the bodies of those who were cutting.
“Eryngium, Poppy, Asta! Check if there are other enemies around and come back!”
Sylvia called out softly to the fairies flying with her.
[Got it, Sylvia!]
The fairies simultaneously headed towards the people entangled and bound by the trees. Sylvia made a motion as if rolling her foot once and then soared higher before jumping down towards the center of the forsythia.
As she fell, a gap opened just in time. Felix, who was trapped inside the forsythia, had planted his sword into the ground and caught the falling Sylvia with both hands.
“Felix!”
She had been anxious that something might happen to him.
Being the protagonist of this place, she was worried that something big might happen, which made her heart tighten and her stomach churn. Aware that the flow was different from the original work, she feared that something bad might happen to him because of her.
She hoped that, unlike in the original, he would be happy. She believed that this would prevent him from starting a war with the empire and hoped that he would meet the female lead and live happily. She hoped he would be compensated for the lonely and hard times he had endured during his childhood.
No, apart from all that…
She earnestly wished for his safety.
Sylvia embraced him, not minding the blood-stained armor.
“Siri.”
Felix felt as if his heart would burst with the slight strength pulling at his neck.
“Why does it have to be you only!”
Sylvia remembered the lines he had said in the novel when he was suffering and killing the knights of the kingdom.
[Why does it always turn out like this? What did I do wrong? Was it such a big mistake to have wanted affection from that woman?]
Sylvia put more strength into her arms and hugged him tightly.
“It’s okay, I have you.”
At his calm and firm voice, Sylvia whispered, choking back tears.
“Yes, I’m here. But… I have to say this. You’ve done nothing wrong.”
At her words, Felix inhaled deeply with a gasp. Sylvia, startled, held his face in both hands, looking into his eyes that shimmered like obsidian.
Felix stared intensely into her eyes laid before him. The teardrops hanging there mixed with the turquoise, as pure and fresh as new shoots dewed at dawn.
Sylvia decided to retract the thoughts she had just a moment ago.
‘Did you wish to be happy with the female lead?’
She laughed at the thought she herself had had.
‘By now, I should have noticed.’
Why she never stopped looking at him, that fundamental reason. The other people she had lived with did not catch her eye at all. She only cared for Felix’s well-being and wounds.
Even Dennis, who had been by his side, did not catch her eye. Only Felix filled her vision, and nothing else was visible. Even now, only his beautiful black eyes filled her sight.
Sylvia shouted loudly with a snort.
“I’m going to make you happy!”
Felix, who had been stiff and breathless at every word she said, found it hard to contain the emotions boiling up at her shout. The emotions he had wanted to keep secret started to leak out.
