Chapter 9 Ch. 9: Memories [1]

–Rustle –Rustle –Rustle

The sound of the rustling bushes hitting each other was heard.

A black-robed man was seen running through the wilderness with blood leaking out from his wound.

Sometimes he would look behind his back to make sure that the damn brat didn't chase him.

"Haa... haa..."

After making sure that he was safe, he stopped behind a tree.

Although he succeeded in escaping, he was badly injured, thanks to those brats who worked together.

He opened his robe and a diagonal cut that started from his right chest down to his abdomen could be seen.

"Shit."

He took out a Super Potion and poured half of it into the wound before drinking it.

What troublesome teamwork they had. Guess their title as the Princes of the Empire was no joke.

He wondered what kind of training they had to become that amazing at such a young age.

–Rustle –Rustle –Rustle

He turned to the sound and his eyes crossed with men wearing armor; knights.

They immediately draw their swords upon seeing him.

'Damn it!'

He cursed inside when he realized that his luck had run out.

He threw the bottle sideways and unsheathed his weapon.

Three knights rushed at him and so he was.

Unbeknownst to them, the assassin covertly ready his smoke bomb to escape their eyes.

Of course, he wasn't crazy enough to fight the three of them at once, not to mention that he was injured.

Especially, the knight with light green hair–that man was a freaking Emperor Escort Knight!

It might be easy to fight the two knights behind him, but there was no way he could defeat the light green-haired man.

Simply put, escaping was the best option right now.

–Rustle

The assassin's eyes widened when an arm holding a dagger suddenly appeared in his path.

Due to how fast it was, he couldn't stop his step.

–Slash!

The blade passed through his neck.

His brown eyes peered, only to find a white masked man standing next to him.

'What?'

How come he couldn't sense his presence at all?

Soon after, everything went blackout.

–Drop!

The knights were stunned by the sight that was present before them.

The assassin's head dropped and rolled on the ground. Blood was seen dropping from the masked man's weapon.

But it wasn't what made them frozen, but the fact that the headless corpse was still running toward them.

It continued to run before it fell on its knees and slumped down in front of a knight with light green hair's feet.

Blood splattered on his sabaton and thick red liquid oozed out from the assassin's severed neck; drenching the soil.

Recovering from their surprise, the knights instantly stood on guard and looked at the masked man warily.

"Who are you?!"

The masked man dismissed his dagger and took out a badge carved with the Lancaster family crest.

Subsequently, the knights lowered their weapons.

"I will take care of this corpse, the assassin left a blood trace, follow it. I'm counting on you to look for Prince Adrian."

"I understand, thank you."

Wasting no more time, the knights heeded his suggestion.

Once they were a bit far away from the masked man, a knight opened his mouth.

"Is he the infamous 'Egberg's Flash'?"

"I don't know, but watching his swift movement skill, I guess it's him."

The light green-haired man silently listened.

He recalled how the white-masked man jumped down the tree and stretched out his hand on the assassin's way, then the man was decapitated.

It was so fast but he managed to catch the glimpse of it.

A long time ago in the Egberg Region, there was once a man who was feared by the enemies.

It was said that he was capable of killing them before they could even blink and no one was able to best him in terms of speed.

It was rumored that the late Emperor was fond of him and wanted to make him his escort Knight.

Unfortunately, he declined the offer because he chose to remain loyal to his Lord, Duke Lancaster.

Many praised his loyalty and the late Emperor respected his decision.

Shortly, his spine shivered.

Imagine if he was an enemy, and before you could even react, your head had already separated from your body.

'How scary...'

And he was sure that the white masked man was 'the Egberg's Flash', doubtlessly about it.

Minutes passed and a strong current was heard. They got out of the forest and a river greeted them.

Catching sight of stone walls that stood tall surrounding them, the Knights assumed that they were in a ravine.

However, they were astonished when witnessing the scene across the river.

Many craters were formed on the ground, stone spears stabbing the soil, cut earthen walls, and corpses scattered everywhere.

A large-scale fight had happened there.

"Let's hurry."

The Emperor's escort Knight reminded.

"Yes sir!"

".גשר �ד�ה"

Soon, a magic circle appeared, and an earth bridge was created on top of the water.

They hastily crossed the river and the man's light green eyes vigorously swept the area.

He let out a relieved sigh when he didn't find any kid's corpse; he had never been this glad before.

But even so, although they managed to kill many assassins, he thought that the Princes wouldn't escape unscathed.

Their enemies were well-trained assassins with much experience, different from both Princes who hadn't tasted a real battle.

With that in mind, he increased his pace.

.

.

.

–Rustle –Rustle –Rustle

Rustling bushes along with sobbing resounded throughout the forest as a black-haired boy ran through the wilderness.

An unconscious white-haired boy was riding his back.

"I will save you..."

Tears slid down Nathaniel's face like a waterfall, it had no sign of stopping.

[ "I already knew..." ]

[ "Shut up!" ]

[ "It's useless..." ]

[ "I told you to SHUT UP!" ]

[ "..." ]

[ "Why...? Why are you doing this to me?!" ]

[ "..." ]

[ "Why... just... why...?" ]

[ "I'm... so sorry..." ]

A glimpse of his memories emerged; it rang in Nathaniel's head and clutched his heart so hard.

"Don't worry, I will save you..."

The truth of the past choked him down.

"I will save you this time..."

Regardless of his bitter yore, he continued to recite the same word over and over.

"I will save you..."

–Rustle!

A sword appeared in Nathaniel's grip, he turned around and stood on guard stance.

"Your Highness?"

"Ah..."

Three knights standing not too far away from him, he dismissed his weapon, and just like the rain that soaked an arid desert; relief washed over him.

The knights approached him and Nathaniel's complexion couldn't be said all right.

His eyes were bloodshot and tears poured nonstop.

"Please... please, save Ian..."

Nathaniel pleaded.