Side Story Chapter 72

Side Story Chapter 72

Joshua was fighting alone against a group of people. Although he couldn’t use his mana nor did he have his favorite weapon, there was no reason he would lose.

Once, twice, thrice... The more Joshua spun his spear, the stronger wind he created, setting his dark blue hair fluttering.

“Come. Don’t even think about mentioning your knights’ honor,” Joshua commanded.

There were hundreds of Imperial Knights in this place, but not one said a thing. They were going to go up against the Martial God, the emperor of the Avalon Empire.

One of the Imperial Knights turned and began to reach for the other practice weapons. “Then we’ll also get wooden swords—”

“It’s fine. As long as you don’t use your mana, you’re free to use your swords.”

“H-How could we...!”

“I said that it’s fine—and besides, you won’t be able to leave a scratch on my sleeve at your level.”

The Imperial Knights' pride was great, as great as anyone’s, so they couldn’t let Joshua’s comment slide. If they felt nothing when they were insulted like that, they weren’t even men.

The Imperial Knights drew their swords, all traces of hesitation burned away..

“...Yes, Your Majesty.” Decker nodded. “Everyone, brace yourselves. The man in front of you has fought millions of soldiers alone.”

“Yes, sir!”

“We will now attempt to defeat His Majesty. Think of this as actual combat, not a spar.” Decker’s muscles tensed as he prepared to initiate his attack. He exploded forward like a bolt of lightning.

The other Imperial Knights leaped into action as well. In a perfect order, hundreds of knights surrounded their target, Joshua.

“Oh?” Joshua exclaimed. He had been preparing to block Decker’s attack, but Decker, who had looked like he was going to attack Joshua right away, took several steps backward; Decker’s initial charge was a feint.

“Get into an attack formation!” Decker shouted.

“Yes, sir!”

The scattered knights came together in groups of three to five people and stood in triangular formations.

In chaotic battles like real war, there was a high chance of allies ending up fighting against each other, which was why formations were created. By determining their positions in advance, tragedy could be prevented, and people could fight more efficiently.

“They weren’t complete idiots.” Cain observed from below with a slight grin. Supposing they’d attacked Joshua one by one, they would’ve been defeated in no time.

“This is not good,” Joshua admitted. Now that the Imperial Knights were in formation, Joshua would be subjected to a barrage of attacks from all directions. When Joshua deflected one attack, two to four more would pour in. Those trapped in the center of their formation had to deflect the onslaught of attacks again and again. That was why the formation was named...

“Waterfall Formation,” Joshua murmured.

“Attack!”

Joshua’s eyes gleamed. Five of the Imperial Knights instantly closed in on him, with an extra ten Imperial Knights behind those five. Only a fool would stand in a waterfall, just as it was said that sometimes that was better to avoid getting caught in a shower of rain.

The clack of his staff striking the ground drew the Imperial Knights’ attention. Joshua used the staff to leap high into the air high above the Knights, from where he unleashed a real waterfall.

“Urgh!”

“Ahhh!”

“D-Don’t push me! Arggh!”

Decker was bewildered. Although Joshua’s method of breaking through their siege was extraordinary, Decker was really confused by what he was looking at.

“H-How is he still floating in the air...?” Decker wondered. He was sure that Joshua wasn’t using his mana as there was no way Decker would miss a mana flow like that, but Joshua was continuously swinging his wooden staff down even at this moment as if he was suspended in the air by invisible threads.

“Urgh!”

Shortly after, the last knight of the group was hit and collapsed. In a matter of seconds, over ten people were groaning on the ground.

Only then did Joshua slowly land on the ground.

“You aren’t giving up already, are you?” Joshua asked with a faint smile on his face.

The woman in question approached Joshua and the Imperial Knights

“Your Majesty, if you’re done with your work, may I have a word with you?” the woman elegantly asked. It looked like she was carefully maintaining her composure. “Anyhow, judging from how he’s harassing the knights as soon as he returns, that seems His Majesty was greatly stressed while he was away.”

“...Did that look that way? Yeah, I think I got a little stressed because I’ve had a lot on my mind lately...”

Joshua trailed off. Unsurprisingly. Joshua’s appeal for her sympathy didn’t work at all.

Icarus, the Heaven’s Mind, officially the Second Queen Consort of the Avalon Empire, beamed. “What a coincidence! So do I. Let’s hear the details later.” Icarus’s eyes gleamed as she examined the Imperial Knights. “For some reason, it looks like the Imperial Knights have been neglecting their training.”

“N-No! We drenched ourselves in sweat in our morning training today too—!

“Is that why you got beaten up by His Majesty in spite of the fact that you’re holding real swords?” Icarus asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Decker shut his mouth.

When encountering Icarus, it was best to only present actual accomplishments and never make excuses.

“We’ll do better!” Decker shouted.

“Of course you will—else, I’m going to help you out myself.”

“What do you mean...?”

“The knights on the battlefield happen to be exhausted, so it’s about time you fill in for them, isn’t it?” Icarus tilted her head.

Decker and the other Imperial Knights turned pale.

The Imperial Knights currently had two main jobs: one was to guard the Palace in case of emergency, and the other was to fend off and execute the rebels that were endangering the Empire’s peace. For the sake of their wellbeing, the Imperial Knights had been taking turns guarding the Palace and deploying to the battlefield at three-month intervals. The Imperial Knights in the Palace right now had returned from the battlefield less than three weeks ago.

“W-We’ll grind ourselves!”

“And Your Majesty?” Icarus turned.

At this point, Joshua’s instincts were warning him of terrible danger.

“I think talking here is a good idea...” he began.

“W-We have a problem!” Just then, a soldier came flying towards them, confusing the gathering.

“He’s wearing the uniform of the front gate guards.”

Upon realizing that Joshua was there, the soldier's eyes widened.

“Y-Your Majesty.” He bowed.

“Skip the formality. What is going on?” Joshua asked.

“There is someone who wishes to enter the Palace. I tried to send them back, but the news that they brought sounded serious...”

“It’s okay. Go on,” Icarus said with a gentle smile.

“...I know it’s bizarre, but this person... is saying that His Highness the Second Prince is in danger in western Avalon.”

None of them understood what was going on still, but one person’s eyes widened—Cain’s.

“Is the person who delivered the news a woman?”

“Pardon? Ah, yes, that’s right.”

“Brunette. Mid-thirties?”

“Yes, she d-definitely looked like that.”

Cain vanished from the practice area before the soldier’s words had fully left his lips. Considering that Joshua was with them right now, it was a tremendously rude thing to do.

“...Let’s get going too.”

Fortunately, no one in this place was that inflexible.