Shadowless Night

The tent shook. Without hesitation, the knights strongly opposed Ricardis’ plan. ‘Step on our corpse if you must. You cannot die!’ They felt their determination in their boiling blood. Ricardis put someone’s name in his mouth to make a stand against them. It was a small sound that only Isserion and Starz next to him could hear.

[Sir Rosaline.]

There was a calm reply with no fluctuation in tone.

[Yes, Your Highness.]

It was Rosaline. To be more exact, the lower part of the tent lifted, and her head, with only her face shown, answered. Her wavy hair spread out on the dirt floor, which was somewhat terrifying.

[…]

[…]

J- Just now, Raymond had caught her, but when did she come back? Is it just the head that’s back? Pardict and Kairo were stunned by her persistent dedication.

Ricardis smiled as if he was having fun.

[Instead of Starz, she will protect me. Are you okay with this arrangement, Sir Rosaline?]

[Yes, I will protect His Highness.]

[With Sir Rosaline here, the number of escorts doesn’t matter.]

[That’s right. Honestly, more people will only get in the way.]

‘See? Doesn’t she say that too?’ Ricardis looked at the people in the tent with a gentle expression. They were stunned with their mouths wide open but soon came to their senses and shouted.

[Not possible!]

[Never!]

[As if a single senior knight…!]

Ricardis raised his hand and interrupted them.

[Sir Rosaline.]

Rosaline rolled over and fully entered the tent with her white uniform stained with dirt. Ricardis handed her a gigantic shield from the corner of the tent. Rosaline wielded the heavy shield of the protector knight, Pardict. The shield obscured most of her body.

She glanced at Ricardis. He made eye contact with her and opened his mouth.

[Break it.]

Everyone laughed at Ricardis’ joke. But soon, they had to shut their mouths as the thick shield crumpled like a piece of paper in her hands. Clang. Crraack. Tendons bulged on the back of her tender hands, but her expression was still gentle. The shield, which became more and more deformed, was completely twisted, and eventually… Taang! The metal broke into two pieces with that sound. Pardict was so shocked that he did not realize his precious shield had just gone to waste.

[Shall we do more?] (Rosaline)

Ricardis shook his head lightly. Isserion’s mouth was gapping, unable to speak. He couldn’t understand what he saw with his own two eyes.

Ricardis spoke his words into the quiet space.

[She will protect me.]

It was a word with a different weight than before.

[Yes, certainly.] (Rosaline)

***

It was an unfavorable scene for anyone to see. The Knights of the White Night fought desperately against the unusually strong Baltan raiders. Already a third of the knights were lying on the floor in the cold rain. Some were seriously injured, and some were already dead.

Starz and Pardict stood in the middle of the battle until the end. Skills and years of experience managed to sustain them, but they were already at their limits. They were so battered, but fortunately, their wounds weren’t near any vital points. One after another, the knights fell, and a path to the carriage opened up. One of the assassins quickly approached and opened the door of the white carriage. The spacious interior was only filled with moisture.

“Empty!”

Tsk. There was a sound of a tongue clicking. It was from the leader of Team 1. Judging from the atmosphere, he had already noticed that the 2nd Prince would not be here.

“There are only a few left. Let’s take care of them.”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

Starz took a deep breath as he grabbed hold of the lengthy cut on his stomach. ‘Is it over now? Victory has already been decided.’ However, none of the Knights of White Night let go of their swords until the end. Starz moved his battered body and slashed at two more enemies. Then another one stabbed him in the shoulder. He clenched his teeth, holding back his moans.

“You guys were quite tenacious, knights of Illavenia.”

The assassin stood over Starz as the Knight Commander was kneeling and pointed his blade towards Starz’s neck.

Thud…

The hand that was about to swing the sword stopped for a moment. At the strange sound, the assassin looked at his surroundings for a moment. Did he hear wrong?

Thud.

He didn’t hear wrong— the sound of heavy landings transmitted to their ears as the vibrations of the earth ran through their body.

Thud!

The knights, who were barely standing at the loud and heavy sound, eventually slumped down to the ground. The whole space reverberated like thunder. Surprised birds flew into the sky. ‘W- What is happening?’ Not only the Knights of the White Night but the assassins of the Black Moon also began to get agitated.

Thud. Thud. The sound grew faster and faster, and the ground shook more and more. Snap. Craack. They heard the sound of the giant trees, who had guarded this site for hundreds of years, breaking. A strange movement occurred in the forest full of green leaves. The trees began to bow down one by one like reeds bending to the blowing wind. Something was coming closer.

“W- What the hell is that…!”

Everyone looked at the scene in astonishment. An assassin, moving backward, stepped on a branch that had fallen to the ground. Tak! With a crashing sound, a massive, black figure leaped out of the forest boundary.

Groaaaaaaaarr-!

It was a deafening roar. The upper body of the person who had their sword aimed at Starz’s neck flew away in an instant. Blood splattered all over Starz’s face. It was only after a few moments that he blinked and wiped the blood out of his eyes. In the meantime, the screams of humans continued unabated.

Black fur and sharp claws: it was a gigantic bear three or four times the size of a typical brown bear. It slaughtered the people, and its speed was fast enough to overshadow its massive size. The assassins of the Black Moon also had tiny magical beast crystals implanted in their bodies, but they were no match for this creature. The raiders did not even think to confront the beast. Those who ran away and those who lost their will had their bodies shattered by the bear’s thick paws.

‘But why…’ Starz’s question could not be answered due to a voice coming from behind him.

“C- Commander.”

Nestor Sihorge called out to Starz with a bewildered voice. Nestor had stood in the path of the black bear but had returned safely. The bear pushed him with its big ass and bounced him away. While it was chewing and spitting out the head of the assassin next to him, Nestor seemed to hear, ‘Uncle, don’t block the road. Get out of the way because you’re getting in the way.’ It’s like the bear was getting rid of annoying things.

After that, the beast shoved a few people away with its head and buttocks. All of them were knights of Illavenia. One by one, knights joined the horde of survivors in the direction the butt had bounced them. Everyone had a blank expression on their faces. It was unclear what was happening, but it was clear that the beast was only targeting the assassins of the Black Moon. Amid the chaos, Starz tore his uniform to stem the wounds on his shoulder.

“Find the wounded!”

Throughout the constant screams of the assassins, the knights moved quickly according to Starz’s orders. They’re not being attacked now, but he didn’t know how things would change after all the assassins died.

The screaming stopped. The dirt floor was wet with blood. A few lucky assassins escaped. The black beast looked around at the knights with wide eyes and disappeared into the forest in the direction the assassins ran away. Thud. Thud. The sound of the shaking ground gradually faded away.

“Haaa… Haaaaahh…”

With pale faces, the knights let out a breath they had been holding. It was an increasingly more terrifying experience than the battle with the assassins. But thanks to that creature, they avoided annihilation.

“Commander.”

Pardict trudged towards Starz. He also had a cloth wrapped around his thigh to stop the bleeding.

“Did you notice that beast?”

Starz nodded. Everyone had been so absorbed that they didn’t even think about it, but the two of them noticed. The black bear was soaked in blood before it showed up here.

“Perhaps the crowd that followed His Highness suffered similarly. That’s great luck for us. Did the Black Moon bastards steal the bear’s money?”

“You have no talent for joking, Sir Pardict. It might come back, so let’s get out of here quickly.”

“Or was it deprived of its prey? Did they touch its cub?”

“…”

Since then, Pardict has made all sorts of assumptions, even talking about the enemies of the bear’s parents.

Starz had enough of his words and put an end to the chatter, “I don’t know what it is, but I’m sure they must’ve threatened something precious.”

Starz suddenly looked up at the sky. The eagle that should be flying above their heads… he could not see where it had gone.

***

Tyreng was quite angry. The plan to obliterate all the knights in the field and kidnap the prince kept going wrong. Ricardis’ tactics and even the eagle that attacked only the raiders. ‘Is this one of those very unlucky days?’ He hurried his steps in impatience. He had to go back and put an end to the situation. However, when he reached where the third carriage should have been, the scene he faced was somewhat different from his imagination.

“T- This…!”

Tyreng looked around quickly.

“Damn it! Those damn bastards!”

There was nothing left in the empty field. Whether it was the carriage, the horses, or even the living Knights of the White Night. It was as if they had scattered in the cold rain, leaving only corpses stained with blood in the mud. Most of the dozens of corpses were members of the Black Moon raiders, and there were only four corpses of Knights of the White Night. The team members who followed Tyreng back to the starting point of operation were all bewildered.

Tyreng screamed, “Find them and kill them all!”

He looked around with red, bloodshot eyes. The corpse of Janan, who was in charge of the 2nd team, was seen. He was a good-natured guy. Tyreng sat and gritted his teeth.

“…This is?”

Tyreng picked up a small glass bottle that was rolling around the corpses. It was a bottle containing Balta’s mad poison, Fragment, distributed only to the captains. But this one was empty. It’s a weapon that shouldn’t be taken out unless it’s a desperate situation, and someone seemed to have used this.