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Two knight orders clashed at the center of the battlefield—the Knights of the Blue Wolf and the Silver Hawk, both the main forces serving their respective princes.
“Shoot!”
“Charge! Break their ranks!”
Both armies were about equal, neither giving an inch as swords and spears crossed. While the western forces outnumbered the eastern ones, they were still a little frightened by the poison gas attack from earlier. Even if Arthur had somewhat raised their spirits, the Knights of the Blue Wolf’s morale was still higher.
“Hang in there, everyone! This is a crucial moment!” shouted one of the warriors contributing to the fight—Lenka. Though she was a woman, she resolutely swung her sword, slaying soldier after soldier in Arthur’s army.
“Ugh... Don’t get carried away, woman!”
“Who do you think we are?! I am the third son of Count Cymbal—”
“I don’t give a damn!” Lenka clad her sword in mana and beheaded the man who was about to name himself. “Don’t act so high and mighty just because I’m a woman—especially not when you’re losing to me! You’re the ones acting like sissies here, even though you’re all men!”
“You cheater!”
“How could you attack him while he was introducing himself? Don’t you know the etiquette of war?!”
The western army’s soldiers criticized Lenka’s sudden attack as unfair. The Knights of the Silver Hawk were one of the five knight orders, and they were composed of high-ranking nobles. They took formalities seriously, so they couldn’t forgive Lenka’s surprise attack.
“There’s no such thing as ‘fair’ on the battlefield! Do you think the enemy will just play along with your rules?!” Lenka snapped back, her expression cold.
Before, Lenka would have fought courteously. However, in the past few months, after battling against monsters, bandits, and assassins, she had learned that manners were useless in a fight.
A one-on-one duel is one thing, but there are no rules on the battlefield where friends and foes all fight against each other. Only winning matters!
Being defeated meant losing everything, just like when she’d been drugged by the bandits and nearly been raped. Losing meant having your pride and dignity trampled underfoot.
And she wouldn’t be the only one—the person she wanted to protect more than anyone would lose everything too.
“Victory matters more than pride to me! If you really want a fair match, then lock yourselves in a room and play chess or something!”
“How dare— Gah!”
“You— Ugh!”
“Hiyaaah!” Lenka mowed down the angry soldiers coming at her one after another.
The Knights of the Silver Hawk weren’t weak—far from it. They were truly the elites. Still, compared to Caim, whom Lenka was used to training with, they were nothing. She easily dealt with them, not even giving them a chance to counterattack.
“Oh, what a surprise. I didn’t expect to find such a beautiful flower on the battlefield,” a man on horseback suddenly said. He had long blond hair and seemed to be in his late twenties.
“...And you are?”
“Ah, forgive me—I forgot to introduce myself. I am the vice captain of the Knights of the Silver Hawk—Slaine Tito. O flower blooming on the battlefield, would you grace me with your name?”
“It’s Lenka!” she shouted, slashing at him with her sword before he could ready himself. Yet, despite the surprise attack, Slaine repelled her blade with the gauntlet on his left arm.
“What a terrifying flower... But as I thought, you are truly beautiful!” Slaine smiled ecstatically. Coupled with his noble looks, it made for a picturesque smile, but for some reason, it really gave Lenka the chills. “Truly beautiful blossoms cannot grow in greenhouses. Only by surviving in the wild can they truly flourish and become gorgeous! And this is what you are—a flower that bloomed out of a wasteland, a beautiful red rose! How wonderful!”
Lenka stepped back, revolted. “What is wrong with this man...? He’s creepy.”
Lenka was even more disgusted by this man than by the octopus that had stuck to her at the beach. His every word gave her goose bumps.
On the other hand, Slaine seemed very pleased as he combed up his hair. “I have decided!”
“...What?”
“I shall make you my wife!”
“How did you reach that conclusion?!” Lenka snapped back, utterly confused. She couldn’t understand how the conversation had led to this.
“I have decided so, thus it will happen. Now, take my hand, and let us ride down the aisle together astride my white horse!”
“Die!” Lenka yelled in an unusually violent tone, aiming a stab at Slaine’s throat, but he easily parried the blow with the spear in his left hand.
“I see... To gain your love, I must first defeat you in battle. Just like a tragedy where the hero and heroine are enemies...” Slaine descended from his horse and gracefully readied his spear. “Well then, come at me! I shall defeat you and make you mine!”
“...Pervert,” Lenka muttered, completely forgetting how she usually acted. She didn’t know how things had ended up like this, but at this rate, a fate worse than death awaited her if she lost. “I must kill him.”
Her resolve renewed, Lenka increased her bloodlust and tightly grasped the handle of her sword. She then struck the ground and leaped at the man before her.
“Hiyaaaah!”
“Ha ha ha ha ha!”
Lenka swung her sword right, left, up, down—in all directions—but Slaine parried them all with his spear. He was on a different level than the soldiers she had defeated so far.
“He’s...strong...!” Lenka groaned, her expression twisting bitterly. Slaine was a creep, but his skill was the real deal. Befitting the vice captain of the Knights of the Silver Hawk, his technique with the spear was practically an art.
“Charm me more! Make my pulse race! Pierce my heart with your blade!”
“Stop it! You’re creeping me out! I will stab you in the heart as you wish, though, so let me kill you!” As asked, Lenka aimed for Slaine’s left breast with her sword, but he repelled the thrust with his spear.
Slain chuckled. “You are quite the stubborn little mare, my precious kitten.”
“Make up your mind! Am I a flower, a horse, or a kitten?!” Lenka yelled, then gritted her teeth as she regulated her breathing from the intense exertion.
He’s a disgusting man, but damn is he strong. Slaine had easily defended against all of her attacks. While it was true that there was a difference in reach between a sword and a spear, in this case it was just that her opponent’s skill was far better. Also, although Lenka was going for a lethal blow, Slaine wasn’t. As he wanted to make her his wife, he was waiting for Lenka to give up without killing her.
“Are you done? While you have been resting, I have thought of a hundred different ways to propose to you,” Slaine said.
Lenka almost retorted, but instead she endured it and took a deep breath to calm down.
I’m not only losing in skills, but in spirit too... Slaine’s every word was disturbing, which weakened her. Losing my calm will only make it harder to control my mana. I need to sharpen my mind like a blade!
“If...” Lenka started.
“Hm?”
“If you can defend against my next attack, I’ll become your wife.”
Slaine grinned creepily, which annoyed Lenka, but she wouldn’t lose her composure this time. Instead, she focused her mind and poured mana into her sword.
“So you finally understand, my beautiful flower! Fine, I am ready whenever you are!”
“Here...I come!” Lenka closed the distance between them. Then, when she sensed that Slaine was focusing on her weapon, she turned around mid-charge.
“Huh?” Slaine was stunned to see Lenka suddenly show her back to him. Anyone would be bewildered if their opponent charged at them running backward.
You’re a noble knight who has learned all the proper manners of battle. Surely, nobody has ever done this to you before!
“Hah!” Using the opening caused by Slaine’s confusion, Lenka pivoted on her right foot and slashed at him.
“What?!” Slaine’s spear was blown away, and shock painted over the creepy grin on his face.
Lenka had come up with this tactic by chance while training with Caim. By suddenly showing her back to the enemy during a serious battle, she made them too stunned to react for an instant, and she would use the opportunity to rotate her body and deliver an attack at full strength. That was more trickery than swordsmanship, but the more the opponent was used to deadly battles, the more effective it was.
The short reprieve from the tension of a mortal struggle is like a poison that only gets stronger the more experienced you are in battle!
“Hiyaaah!” Slaine had lost his weapon, but Lenka didn’t stop. Instead, she swung down her sword, aiming for the crown of his head.
“Ugh!” Slaine groaned as he stopped the blow with his gauntlet-covered right arm, which granted him enough relief that his unsettling smile returned. “Ha ha ha ha... I stopped it! Which means you are now my—”
“Boneless Man!”
“Gaaaaaah!” Slaine screamed in pain as his right arm was suddenly severed, even though he had successfully defended against Lenka’s sword. Strangely, his gauntlet wasn’t damaged at all.
“Sorry, but this technique uses condensed mana to send a slashing mana shock wave straight through armor!” Lenka said coldly.
Lenka’s new technique—Boneless Man—was based on Caim’s Ouryuu. By compressing her mana into a slashing shock wave, she could bypass armor and cut the opponent directly. It needed intense concentration, however, so Lenka had to be perfectly calm when using it.
“My arm! Aaaaaargh!”
“Unfortunately for you, my heart already belongs to another man. Also... I don’t have the slightest desire to be spanked by you!” Lenka declared, then severed Slaine’s head before he could reply. He had been a tough opponent, but she had obtained victory. “Phew... I won.”
“We must retreat, Lady Lenka!” a soldier shouted at her. “Prince Arthur’s army is advancing with incredible momentum. We won’t be able to hold this position for long! We need to withdraw and regroup!”
“Out of the frying pan and into the fire!” Lenka gritted her teeth in vexation as she looked westward. At one point, she might have stayed and continued to fight, but now she remembered Caim’s words. “I can’t die here,” she murmured.
Lenka couldn’t die here. The only one who was allowed to kill her was Caim in bed. So as instructed, she retreated alongside the Knights of the Blue Wolf.