Chapter 24: The Duel Before the War

Upon arriving at the Krukd territory, I was greeted by the Duke’s welcome.

“Welcome. A Three-Circle Mage, huh? That’s reassuring.”

Duke Krukd was truly the nobleman I had imagined in my mind.

His body was massive and strong, adorned with expensive-looking clothes and lavish jewelry hanging all over him.

It wasn’t just the Duke.

His wife, standing beside him, was equally extravagant, her strong perfume scent and dangling ornaments reflecting the light so much it almost hurt the eyes.

It was clear that Mages were rare.

For a noble family to welcome a commoner like this was surprising.

The decisive battle was set for two days later, so the Duke assigned a maid to us, telling us to rest in the mansion until then.

‘His gaze is filthy.’

Though his words were kind, I couldn’t hide my dislike of the Duke’s eyes.

The way he looked at Jenny was so lecherous, dirty, and greedy.

Lately, I had been feeding Jenny well, caring for her, and dressing her nicely, so she looked quite beautiful.

Even during mercenary times, she was pretty enough to attract attention from men, but now she was even more so—I could feel the gazes pouring in from those around her.

So, when I was first introduced, I made it clear that my personal bodyguard would serve only as that and nothing else.

He would likely put a stop to any sexual advances.

If a Lord about to go to war already lost his mind over lust, he would have been ruined long ago, maybe several times over.

Jenny and I headed to the assigned quarters.

Originally used by soldiers, the building was now occupied by mercenaries.

More than a hundred mercenaries had already arrived besides me.

The mages among them all seemed to be holed up in their rooms, not even daring to look around.

I rested in the room, sometimes pacing, sometimes chatting with the mercenaries.

The day of the decisive battle finally arrived.

***

The Day of the Decisive Battle.

I moved alongside the forces led by Duke Krukd.

At the front were ten knights, with the Duke’s carriage following behind them.

The banner fluttering atop the carriage bore the Duke’s crest boldly displayed, waving in the wind.

Behind them marched a thousand foot soldiers.

Two hundred shield-bearers, two hundred spearmen.

One hundred archers, and finally, the swordsmen wielding swords.

They were well-trained, following the carriage in perfect order.

The last rear guard consisted of the mercenaries.

There were 150 mercenaries in total, all walking except for me, Jenny, and the three mages.

Naturally, being at the very back, I couldn’t hide the slight tension creeping up inside me.

“Is something wrong? You keep glancing around.”

Jenny noticed my excitement and asked.

‘How can I tell her it’s because it’s my first battle?’

It was just a simple march of troops, after all.

The movement, which started early morning, stopped around noon.

“Oh…”

I honestly admired the sight of the enemy forces upon arrival.

Across the wide field, the enemy had arrived earlier and had already taken their positions.

Although we had just arrived, they remained completely still.

An eerie silence spread across the enemy camp.

Noises were scarce.

Just the faint clatter of armor and a few horses’ heavy breaths.

As the carriage stopped, Duke Krukd dismounted and ascended a raised platform designed for observation.

A large curtain hung there as usual.

Once seated, the Duke quickly had the knights and soldiers form ranks.

The army’s formation mirrored that of the enemy.

At the front stood the knights, ten abreast.

They wore heavy armor shining brightly, a mark of their status, draped with stylish cloaks.

Behind the knights were the shield-bearers.

Two hundred shield-bearers knelt on one knee, holding shields roughly half their height forward.

Behind them stood the spearmen.

Spearmen were positioned tightly between the shield-bearers, ready to thrust their spears at any moment.

Swordsmen took position a little apart, already drawing their swords, prepared to spring into action on command.

At the rear were the archers, their quivers full and bows at the ready.

Based on the central soldiers’ positions, the mounted cavalry awaited to the left, while the mercenaries were on the right.

Finally, the three mages waited at the very back, close to the Duke.

Both formations were identical.

“How will this end?”

The terrain we stood on was an open plain, surrounded by nothing else.

There was no way to use the environment to our advantage; victory would rely purely on strength and tactics.

‘Is Duke Krukd skilled in tactics? Or do many in this world truly understand tactics well?’

I pondered that silently.

Looking ahead at our formation lined up in front of me, I thought:

‘The role of the shield-bearers is to hold back the charging enemies, with the spearmen stabbing from behind. The swordsmen will likely be in free mode, and the archers will shoot mercilessly if enemies come within range.’

That seemed like a reasonable prediction.

The mounted cavalry would trample and sweep through, while the knights would fight honorably among themselves.

The mercenaries would try to aim for throats, fighting fiercely but likely avoiding unnecessary risks.

‘This is going to be chaos.’

It will be a bloody, massive battle.

Many will die.

Somewhere far away, the parties of the wild beasts and hawks watching over this field will soon collide.

My heart suddenly started pounding.

And then just as suddenly, it quieted down again.

I probably got excited without realizing it.

My pounding heart was quietly calmed by my Mental Strength skill.

As our preparations finished, the enemy finally made a move.

A knight stepped forward and shouted.

“Duke Krukd, listen well! If you abandon the mine now! I, Knight of Light, will be your guarantor!”

At those words, murmurs rose quietly among our troops.

“Knight of Light?”

“The knight who uses swordsmanship unlike anyone else, faster than anyone, right?”

“I heard he’s a Free Knight.”

I almost burst out laughing at the familiarity of the name and phrase.

Jenny looked at me curiously but I ignored her and kept my eyes forward.

One of our knights stepped forward and shouted at him.

“Knight of Light, what guarantor? Have you paid off the debts you lost in gambling recently? Thanks to you, I got scammed!”

Our knight removed his helmet and revealed his face.

I only saw his back, but the enemy knight’s face turned red with anger and he shouted.

“You! I’ll kill you!”

“Fine. Let’s settle this now!”

Both donned their helmets again and rode their horses side by side.

“Yaaa!”

The two knights charged simultaneously.

Dust clouds billowed up as their horses galloped fiercely.

Soon, a sharp clash rang out.

Kham!

The two knights crossed swords.

Sparks flew where their blades struck.

The two horses ran wildly across the wide plain.

The knights exchanged blows, attack and defense.

Kling! Kham! Kham!

Sparks burst with every strike.

I could hear the soldiers shouting excitedly as they watched.

“It’s an Aura User fight!”

“We must watch while we can!”

“This isn’t something we see every day!”

Only then did I realize the swords glowed blue.

It was the aura fight between knights I had only heard about and seen in games and novels.

“Wow…”

I couldn’t help but admire the spectacle.

Aura could cut through even steel armor like paper.

That was what was happening before my very eyes, executed in dazzling swordsmanship.

I knew there were ranks in Aura mastery.

Faint mist-like Aura was beginner level.

Aura lightly wrapped around the sword was intermediate.

Stable Aura maintained on the sword while swinging was advanced.

The one boasting a definite form was the Swordmaster rank.

The level of the two knights before me was advanced Aura user.

They were maintaining Aura steadily on their swords.

That was a level I could not dare approach yet.

All eyes were focused on them.

The intense back-and-forth battle slowly started to shift.

“Damn it.”

A groan escaped from the enemy knight.

The Aura around his sword was opening much more than before.

Kham!

Every strike the two exchanged opened Knight of Light’s Aura little by little.

“Is that all?”

“Not yet.”

They fought with skill beyond bowing deeply on horseback.

The horses tried to hit each other by turning in place or quickly looking the other way.

The fierce attack and defense continued.

Suddenly, our knight’s horse raised its front hoof high.

“Ihiiyang!”

Then it struck down the enemy knight’s horse.

“Why—”

A soldier on our side gasped.

I couldn’t help but echo his astonishment.

Even my personal pet Toma couldn’t have pulled off that move easily.

The enemy knight who fell from his horse rolled on the ground.

But he quickly jumped up, pointing his sword forward.

Our knight dismounted and looked down at the enemy from above.

In knightly duels, if one falls off their horse, the opposing knight dismounts to continue fighting.

Waiting for this was also a mark of courtesy.

Clang!

Their swords clashed again in midair.

The enemy knight’s sword was as fast as the soldiers had said.

It was so fast it was hard to follow with the eye.

Clack clack clang!

The ringing of steel striking steel never ceased, and sparks flew relentlessly.

Unlike the enemy, our knight silently blocked each attack with his sword.

He seemed to focus more on defense, moving his sword just enough to parry.

After more than ten exchanges, a different sound suddenly arose.

Kkam!

It was the sound of metal being hammered.

The sparks stopped.

At that moment, I clearly saw the enemy knight’s face.

“Haaa… Haa….”

Exhausted, breathing heavily, his face had turned a pale blue.

Then—

Without warning, the enemy knight’s throat was cut by a sharp Aura sword.

Silence fell over the battlefield.

But it was short-lived.

“Waaaah!”

A loud cheer erupted from our side.

It was a perfect victory for our knight.

The morale soared as the cheers reached the sky.

“Yes! Yes! Clap clap clap!”

Duke Krukd smiled brightly and applauded upon seeing this.

A fight between knights had an enormous impact on the morale of the troops.

Our soldiers began stomping the ground fiercely, their bodies burning with energy.

Thud, thud, thud!

Duke Krukd seized the moment.

“All units, attack !”

Waaaaah!

Our army launched the attack first.