Chapter 96: The Battle of Honor

Chapter 96: The Battle of Honor

Olak couldn’t readily answer.

The reason was obvious.

‘If things go wrong, I might be branded a traitor.’

It was no simple matter for a warrior to entrust his banner to someone.

Much less handing the banner over to the enemy’s royal family.

‘I don’t know if that prince knows what that means...’

No, that guy clearly knew what he was saying.

Olak could tell from Ian’s expression.

That was why he was sure.

‘This country may really fall into his hands.’

Naturally, he could feel immense pressure weighing on his shoulders. But his silence didn’t last long.

“Please promise me a few things.”

Ian’s lips curled up into a smile at Olak’s words, his eyes prompting him to go ahead and speak.

Olak seemed to have made up his mind. He opened his mouth with a determined gaze.

“My banner is to be used only for the honor of the warrior. Never use it for anything but that.”

“I will.”

“And make sure not to shed the blood of my people besides the warriors as much as possible.”

Ian’s eyes gleamed.

He understood what Olak’s words implied. It meant that his name was not to be sold outside of the Great Warrior duel. Also, he showed his responsibility as a leader of the country to protect his people.

Well, it wasn’t a difficult request.

Of course, the results might not go the way Olak wanted it to.

“I promise I will use it only for the honor of the warrior. I will also avoid shedding the blood of your people to the best of my ability.”

“That’s good enough.”

Olak rose from his seat.

His limbs were tightly bound. When Ian gave a signal with his eyes, the soldiers released him.

Ian shouted to the soldiers.

“Return the kept banner to him.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Olak was soon able to get his banner back.

It was a banner made of leather with a huge white tiger painted in the middle. However, as soon as Olak received the banner, he threw it on the ground.

The knights shouted in surprise.

“H... hey!”

A banner was like a symbol of oneself.

Even though he was a prince of the enemy country, his action was too irrational. Fiosen tried to stop Olak’s action, but Ian intervened.

“Wait.”

“Your Highness, he is now trying to defile the banner he’s about to give to you.”

“No, he is not.”

“Pardon?”

“The Great Warrior banner is special. It was for a purpose.”

It was information that Ian could know because he had heard a lot about it during the Northern Expedition of his previous life.

Because the Great Warrior banner was special.

It could not simply be called the Great Warrior banner.

Sure enough. Olak stretched out his hand.

“Give me a sword.”

“Here you go.”

“Your Highness!”

Fiosen stopped him when Ian tried to give the sword himself. It was dangerous no matter what. Instead, he signaled with his eyes at the soldier next to him and handed him a short sword.

Upon accepting the sword, Olak slashed his arm.

Slaaash!

Blood gushed out of his arm.

But Olak seemed to be alright. Then, with his blood, he drew a new pattern on the banner. In no time, the pattern of a red-blood tiger instead of a white tiger was completed.

Olak took the banner and held it out to Ian with a tense face.

“Don’t forget your promise.”

“Of course. I promise on everything I own.”

Ian also walked forward and received the banner with both hands.

It was a gesture of respect for Olak.

The soldiers, as well as the knights, opened their eyes in amazement.

Even if Olak was the heir to the throne, Ian didn’t need to do this far to a prisoner.

But Ian smiled.

“Even if he is a prisoner, he will get what he deserves. It is only fair to give him this level of courtesy.”

“But... Your Highness...”

“Thanks to him, we have less blood to shed. Isn’t that so, Sir Fiosen?”

Fiosen stepped back as if he understood.

Ian then made up his mind.

‘Giving up the banner as Bahara’s successor requires great determination. He deserves more than this.’

The banner’s use didn’t end with this here only.

For the bigger picture, Olak needed to be on his side a little longer.

So, Ian smiled slightly at Olak.

A new sense of respect that was different from before was budding in him.

“Thank you for your determination, Lord Olak. I will promise you that I will never tarnish your will.”

And then.

“Lord Olak is no longer a prisoner. Treat him as an equal with me from now on!”

“!?”

Ian’s shout resounded throughout.

It was not Bahara’s soldier who answered. It’s Nathan, one of Ian’s knights.

“Y... you can’t be... Kaistein’s...?”

“Well, well. To think that the highly renowned Lord Yamanta would recognize such an insignificant knight as I am. Isn’t this but a great honor?”

“How did you get there...”

“Who knows.”

Nathan raised his hand.

Chuck!

With a gesture of his hand, there was a change in the Molar Castle. Flags rose above the torches. It was the flag of Kaistein and Ian’s banner.

While they were dispatched, the enemy occupied the Molar Castle.

“Mmph! Mmph!”

His adjutant was also held by Nathan’s side.

Knowing that Yamanta was in danger, he rushed to dispatch troops, but Nathan and the cavalry troops of the Blue King were already waiting at the gate. All of them, who were pushed back at once, had long since become prisoners.

Nathan shouted out loud.

“The former owners are longing for the taste of arrows! Shoot them at once!”

“Wh-what!”

Thunk thunk thunk!

Bahara’s troops were already exhausted.

There was no way they could hold on as arrows were raining down on them.

Not taking a second longer, they started to run away from the castle.

“S... such a disgrace... To have our castle taken away so easily.”

“What should we do, General?”

“Kegh...”

Yamanta clenched his teeth tightly.

In the front, Ian’s army was catching up to them, and in the back, the castle they trusted was taken away and they were hit by a hail of arrows.

There was only one way.

“Take the shortcut and get out of here. We will join the other units first.”

“That’s impossible, General! If you enter another unit, they will look down at you!”

“....”

That said, Yamanta couldn’t lead his beat men to fight Ian.

No, it was when he thought there was no other option.

“G, General!”

At his subordinate’s urgent call, Yamanta’s eyes widened.

Flutter—

His body couldn’t help but tremble.

It was inevitable.

Flap!

What he saw in front of him was the banner belonging to Ian, who had followed them before he knew it. It was not just the banners; thousands of troops surrounded them.

Ian and his men in the front, and Nathan’s men guarding the castle in the back.

It was a complete checkmate.

Yamanta and Bahara soldiers all gritted their teeth.

“Seems like this place will be our last. Then let’s die like a warrior at least for one last time!”

“We will follow you, General!”

The moment they steeled their resolve.

Kaistein’s troops split up, making a way.

No, it didn’t end at that.

Clip clop!

Blue Emperor was approaching them. The one riding there was, of course, Ian Kaistein.

Ian spoke to Yamanta in a cold voice.

“Are you Yamanta, the lord of the Molar Castle?”

Yamanta was so flabbergasted that he couldn’t even utter a single word.

He never once imagined the opponent whose heart he just vowed to eat would show up like this.

‘He is a kid who hasn’t even had a coming-of-age ceremony yet!’



But this pressure was never something a snobbish kid could give off.

The Ian before him now gave off a fierce aura in his gaze, as if he had been on the battlefield for decades.

Yamanta didn’t even dare to raise his weapon.

It was then.

Ian raised the banner that had been placed on Blue Emperor’s back and threw it.

Thud!

Flutter—!

It’s obviously a banner with a familiar pattern on it.

Yamanta as well as Bahara soldiers immediately recognized the banner.

“N... no way. Isn’t this Prince Olak’s?”

“It’s not just any banner! It is the Great Warrior banner!”

“What? How could that Kaistein bastard have His Highness’s Great Warrior banner!”

Everyone was shocked, their mouths agape.

Their reaction was only natural.

That banner belonged to the man closest to the successor position among the Bahara royal family they followed.

But the problem was Ian’s attitude.

‘Throwing the Great Warrior banner at the opponent means fighting a battle of honor. No way...’

Even if Yamanta was injured, that kid tried to fight the man who had risen to the position of general with that exact body.

However, they had no choice but to gulp nervously at Ian’s words that soon followed.

“I respect you. Therefore, I propose the honorable Great Warrior duel. How is it? Will you fight me?”

It wasn’t just his words.

Ian’s aura riding on Blue Emperor suppressed them with terrifying might.