I Became a Mythical Knight King

Chapter 56: Lords Meeting Ⅱ (5)

Baroness Ober considered herself a deeply materialistic woman.

She had managed to defend herfather’s fortune and merchant fleet after fighting numerous battles against her uncle, who had assassinated her father and sought to seize the inheritance. In the process, she annihilated her uncle’s entire family. However, what she lost in that struggle was immeasurable.

The dreamy, pure-hearted girl who once loved stories of romance was no more.

All that remained was a hardened merchant, incapable of trusting others and judging everything solely based on profit and loss.

But perhaps it was a misconception.

Beneath the forced mask he wore, Baroness Ober from her younger, more innocent days still lingered.

“Good heavens.”

Even in a life-threatening situation, Baroness Ober inadvertently let out a bright exclamation.

Above her head was the sky.

Through shards of golden light, pure white Pegasi with massive wings glided down.

The sight was like something out of a fairytale—or rather, a scene from mythology. Baroness Ober’s legs gave out beneath her, and she collapsed.

She was not the only one astonished.

Baron Anjou stared at the Pegasi with wide eyes.

His amazement differed in focus from Baroness Ober’s, but it was far greater in magnitude.

‘Is this truly the chivalry of an individual?’

The Black Knight of Lothian summons the army of light.

He had heard rumors.

When a near-hundred-strong army suddenly materialized in the conference hall, he had been astounded.

But an aerial cavalry of Pegasi riders?

Could this really be something achievable with second-tier chivalry?

Not third-tier?

Moreover, there was no guarantee that this was the end of it.

No one could predict just how many and what kinds of forces were hidden within the chivalry of the Black Knight of Lothian.

Count Carian, too, exhaled roughly, his expression complicated.

The Black Knight of Lothian.

The man who had appeared suddenly during the emergence of monsters, saved Lothian, and repeatedly performed extraordinary feats to defend it.

Chaos calls for heroes, and so he had thought of the Black Knight as merely a wandering knight who rose to prominence in turbulent times.

But he was wrong.

He was no mere knight describable in such simple terms.

“I-I believed in you!”

Baron Laval cheered with a shout.

What exactly he had believed in was unclear, but tears filled his face, showing his genuine joy.

The Pegasi landed in the floating garden.

After seating René and Jillian behind Diana and her lieutenant, respectively, Yoo Seong climbed aboard a nearby Pegasus rider’s mount and called out.

“Quickly, mount up!”

He had to secure the lords.

It wasn’t merely out of humanitarian concern for not leaving them to perish.

Why had the Dark Elves sought to annihilate the lords in the first place?

The lords had to survive. They needed to live and rally the strength of their respective territories.

“I-I’m riding a Pegasus,” Baroness Ober muttered to herself.

While he was whispering, the lords and their knights had all mounted. Yoo Seong turned to Diana.

“We’re departing.”

At Diana’s low command, she urged her mount forward, and under Enika’s lead, the Pegasi soared skyward.

“Batus! Batus!”

At that moment, Ratmen stationed atop the castle walls shouted noisily and began firing arrows.

“Evasive maneuvers! Raise shields!”

Flying, Diana gave the orders. The Pegasus riders simultaneously avoided the arrows, flying in the opposite direction, and raised their shields to block those they couldn’t dodge.

The Ratmen’s bows and arrows were undoubtedly crude.

But among them were Dark Elves.

“Galleon!”

Yoo Seong, summoning the barrier of Gareth’s golden lion shield, threw it to intercept arrows targeting Count Carian.

Bang!

The arrows collided with the shield’s barrier, exploding with a loud noise.

As Yoo Seong retrieved Gareth’s golden shield and turned to Jillian, their eyes met. Jillian clasped her hands together in prayer.

“Barrier of Omphalos!”

She wasn’t creating a barrier in midair.

Jillian’s prayer caused a new barrier to rise on the castle wall, where the Ratmen and Dark Elves were stationed.

“Whoa!”

Blocked by the barrier, the Ratmen and Dark Elves could no longer shoot their arrows, eliciting an exclamation of admiration from Baron Laval.

But relief was premature.

The enemies weren’t only on the castle walls.

“Kiiiaaaah!”

Giant bats, similar to those encountered during their battle with the necromancer, were now soaring upward.

After throwing his shield at the creatures, Yoo Seong ignited searing flames on the blade of his sword.

Swoosh!

The golden flames extended in a crescent shape, slashing through multiple bats at once.

“Wow!”

While Baron Laval cheered again, René didn’t remain idle. She cast her magic.

It was wind.

The small whirlwind that started from René’s palm grew into a massive blade of wind, slicing through the bats.

Elemental magic.

René wasn’t just skilled in fire and ice magic. She excelled in all elemental magics, including wind, water, earth, and fire.

Yoo Seong, donning Gareth’s golden shield that had returned, panted heavily and reassessed the surrounding area.

Ratmen and Dark Elves were moving on the ground.

Though Yoo Seong and René had taken down over a dozen bats, more than twenty were now rising anew.

Their direction of approach.

The positions they occupied on the ground to attack.

“To the south! Head for the monastery!”

At Yoo Seong’s command, Diana reacted instantly.

As she adjusted her course and moved forward, the entire aerial cavalry followed suit.

Swish, swish!

Arrows flew up from below.

Yoo Seong swung his sword once again at the bats closing in from behind, all while thinking.

The Pegasi couldn’t stay airborne for long.

Reaching the monastery in one flight was impossible.

They would have to land along the way, continuing on foot thereafter.

Yoo Seong looked down at the ground.

Lushen was in flames.

From the large hole dug by the Land Worm, Ratmen continued to pour out.

“Kiiiaaaah!”

As the Land Worm burrowed back underground, the earth quaked, causing buildings to collapse.

That wasn’t the only tragedy.

The Ratmen swarmed like literal rats, leaving Lushen’s residents defenseless against them.

Yoo Seong gritted his teeth.

He wanted to jump down immediately and save the residents, but it was impossible.

There were far too many Ratmen.

Once a summoned unit was dismissed, it couldn’t be called back immediately, leaving only the Elven archers of Vanadain as available forces.

Furthermore, Yoo Seong wasn’t alone.

He was escorting the lords of the nearby territories.

Yet he couldn’t simply turn a blind eye to Lushen’s residents.

Yoo Seong turned his gaze to the city gates.

The residents of Lushen were fleeing en masse.

Yoo Seong launched a sword wave at the Ratmen chasing the fleeing residents.

“Southward! To Lothian!”

Whether they heard Yoo Seong’s shout or were startled by the explosion behind them, the fleeing residents lifted their heads momentarily before resuming their desperate flight.

“Successor!”

A voice from ahead caught Yoo Seong’s attention, making him turn his head.

Through tear-streaked cheeks, Rene’s eyes shone with a resolute gleam.

It was time to go.

Just as it had been during Baron Varian’s time.

Now was the moment to move forward.

“Let’s go.”

At Yoo Seong’s command, the Pegasus riders spurred their mounts once more.

Bats dove toward them, but Yoo Seong’s sword aura and Rene’s magic kept them at bay.

The sun was setting.

Leaving the burning Lushen behind, the celestial cavalry soared toward the monastery.

The Ratmen and Dark Elves had joined forces to bring Lushen to its knees.

The Dark Elves were the first to infiltrate the city.

Gathering information, they soon learned of the imminent lords’ council and the attendees.

The one leading the Dark Elves past the city walls was Narcis Deorn.

A formidable warrior and mage, Narcis furrowed his brow as he listened to his subordinate’s report.

The plan to eliminate the human lords in one fell swoop had failed.

They had succeeded in killing three of the six key assassination targets, but three had survived, along with most of the other lords.

The one silver lining was that using the Ratmen, they had effectively seized control of the city, but it was far from satisfying.

‘The strength of humanity, which has monopolized the flames of civilization for so long, is not to be underestimated.’

Standing atop the wall, Narcis looked up at the sky.

The night was dark and pitch-black, but the moon and stars shone brightly—an unimaginable sight beyond the city walls.

For over 500 years, humanity had hoarded the flame of civilization.

While it had made them complacent, it also granted them immense strength.

The plan was to cause chaos by exterminating the lords, secure the infiltration tunnels they had dug, and call in reinforcements from beyond the walls to seize the south.

The first step had faltered, but the plan was not entirely derailed.

Looking forward, Narcis saw the Ratman sorcerer Regal sneering irritably and past him, the arrayed Dark Elf warriors.

“Dispatch pursuit squads immediately. Pegasi are not unlike Hippogriffs. They can’t sustain long flights. If you hurry, you can catch them.”

“Understood.”

The Dark Elves promptly departed, leaving Regal scowling.

“Aren’t you going to pursue them yourself?”

“They will suffice. Are there any issues with reinforcement logistics?”

At Narcis’s question, Regal twitched his nose irritably.

“The tunnels are open, so reinforcements aren’t an issue. By tomorrow, troops will be pouring in.”

Currently, fewer than 2,000 Ratmen have infiltrated Lushen.

With far fewer numbers than the population, more forces were required to fully control and defend the city.

“Then I’ll take my leave.”

Perhaps unwilling to press the powerful Dark Elf mage further, Regal scurried away, leaving Narcis alone to gaze at the burning Lushen.

He thought of the flame of civilization that no longer existed among the Dark Elves.

Yoo Seong and Narcis were both correct in their assessments.

Not long after escaping Lushen, the Pegasi were forced to land.

“What—what’s going on? Why are we stopping?”

Baron Laval asked, visibly flustered, though no one answered him.

Truthfully, most of the other lords seemed to share his question.

“Pegasi cannot sustain long flights,” answered Count Carian.

Sweat drenched his body, his face pale from the loss of his right hand, yet his gaze had sharpened.

“Then, what are we supposed to do now?” Laval asked again, seemingly on behalf of the others.

Instead of answering, Carian remained silent, and all eyes turned to Yoo Seong.

“They can’t fly for long, but they can still run. We will continue southward to the Omphalos Order’s monastery and regroup there.”

The Dark Elves were a relentless foe and pursuit was inevitable.

‘At least once.’

There would have to be a confrontation.

Yoo Seong decided the monastery would be the battleground.

At the same time, he understood that mere retreat wasn’t enough.

‘It’s likely the enemy plans to push through the unclaimed territories.’

They wouldn’t have targeted Lushen thoughtlessly.

Seizing the rear and launching a frontal assault with reinforcements would allow them to dominate the entire southern region of the Western lands.

If their plan succeeded, the kingdom of Silatein west would face an unprecedented crisis.

How could he stop it?

What strategy would disrupt their plans?

Yoo Seong had an idea, but first, he needed to secure the lords in the monastery.

Just then, Baron Laval spoke again.

“L-Lord Black Knight.”

Turning to the stammering voice, Yoo Seong saw Laval swallowing hard before speaking more clearly.

“Th-thank you. You saved us. I apologize for my earlier behavior.”

Blushing, Laval seemed embarrassed but earnest in his gratitude.

Though awkward, Yoo Seong was genuinely surprised.

It was an unexpected sentiment from an equally unexpected individual.

Laval wasn’t alone.

Baroness Ober also expressed her gratitude.

“Thank you as well. I owe you my life. Truly, thank you.”

As two lords voiced their thanks, most of the others followed suit, albeit hesitantly.

“Thank you.”

Even Count Carian acknowledged the debt owed to Yoo Seong.

For the lords, these weren’t mere words; admitting such gratitude meant recognizing their life debts to Yoo Seong.

Though some, like Laval, spoke out of embarrassment, most understood the gravity of their acknowledgment.

Yoo Seong returned their respect with a nod.

“Let’s move.”

The Pegasi had rested enough.

Mounted on their steeds, Yoo Seong, Rene, and Jillian led the march. While some lords, like Baron Anjou, stared in amazement at the sight, there was no time for delay.

Two hours later, deep into the night, Yoo Seong’s group reached the monastery—just as the Dark Elf pursuit forces emerged in the distance.