Ch-218. **One Strike, Certain Kill**
—
“He’s truly an arrogant bastard!”
“We should kill him immediately!”
“Only six! Meanwhile, we have five thousand soldiers waiting in the royal castle right now. We can easily—!”
After King Friedrich left,
the palace erupted into chaos.
His demand was outrageous enough—but his smug attitude made it infuriating.
Killing him on the spot would have been too generous.
Only six men.
There was no way five thousand soldiers couldn’t kill six.
*Serengeti. What do you think?*
Amidst the uproar, Marquis Weiser turned his head toward Serengeti.
But with a hardened expression, Serengeti only shook her head.
Even she — a 12th-level, 1-star Transcendent — could not move easily in front of the aura she felt earlier.
If someone like Serengeti reacted like that—it meant danger.
Marquis Weiser knew Serengeti well.
She was someone who couldn’t bear injustice and would charge ahead no matter how strong the opponent was — a pure white knight in name and in heart.
For someone like her to shake her head outright meant only one thing:
She couldn’t gauge the opponent at all.
Just how strong were they?
Serengeti, who grew so powerful fighting beside Randolph that no one in the human realm could match her—had looked like that.
“…If five knights must stand tomorrow, who should they be? Any suitable candidates?”
Seated on the throne, rubbing his forehead, King Valan spoke weakly.
When Saint Seia appeared, he thought they might have leverage—
but Friedrich showed no reaction.
To think he wouldn’t be threatened at all…
Seeing the king so exhausted, the vassals became even louder.
“Your Majesty! Do you mean to accept the duel?”
“That will only make him look down on the Valan Kingdom even more!”
“Please reconsider!”
The king’s brow creased deeper.
Reconsider?
Meaning—think again?
“Are you… truly incapable of thinking?”
King Valan finally spoke, unable to listen any longer.
Their emotions were overriding reason.
“The Iron Kingdom already controls more than forty territories, with over five hundred knights ready for immediate deployment. Their army numbers fifty thousand—elite forces forged through unending war. What advantage do you believe the Valan Kingdom has over them?”
“Then we should kill King Friedrich—”
“You don’t know why the Myun Kingdom fell, I see. They were in the same situation as we are.”
“But that’s only a rumor.”
The King shook his head.
Myun Kingdom was the nation destroyed by the Iron Kingdom.
As the rumor said—
not a single blade of grass or single human was left alive.
The war ended so quickly that almost no one knew how it happened.
But King Valan did.
“King Friedrich marched to Myun with five knights. They too were offered a duel.”
“And they accepted?”
“No. They attempted an ambush. And the very next day, the Myun Kingdom vanished.”
“…….”
Silence reclaimed the room instantly.
Myun Kingdom was similar in scale to Valan.
If such a kingdom disappeared in a single day—
there was no guarantee Valan would be spared.
King Valan was not someone who spoke lightly.
If he said it with certainty, it was truth.
“So make recommendations. Which five knights should fight tomorrow, and in what order.”
“The first duel carries the meaning of seizing initiative. If we are to choose one, then of course the kingdom’s strongest knight — Batus — must go first.”
“Yes, Batus is indeed reliable. Duke Sian.”
The young man known as Duke Sian stepped forward.
After the previous family head was assassinated by Maxim, once called one of the Eight Heroes, Sian inherited the duchy.
Immediately, the knight beside him — Batus — straightened his back proudly.
He was among the strongest in the kingdom.
No one objected.
“…Wouldn’t it still be wiser for
Serengeti to go first? The White Knight survived and returned from the Great Expedition—”
“Stop speaking of that failure. What is so glorious about an expedition that was defeated and massacred?”
Sian cut the suggestion with barbed words.
If his knight fought first and defeated Friedrich’s knight, his influence in the kingdom would soar.
He would wash away the shame of having his predecessor assassinated by Maxim.
And above all—Sian despised the Great Expedition.
It was because accepting Maxim — one of the Eight Heroes — led to that disaster.
“Besides, I personally heard from my late father — Serengeti returned from the Great Expedition as a cripple. Can she truly exert her former strength?”
“…There is no problem whatsoever with Serengeti, Duke Sian.”
Marquis Weiser immediately countered.
Serengeti had indeed returned broken and unconscious, cursed by the Demon King.
Thinking back made the marquis’ face flush with shame.
He almost sold his own daughter to the old Duke Cyan because the territory was struggling.
Something that should never have been done.
If Randolph and Hudson hadn’t appeared…
The thought alone was horrifying.
The young Duke Sian narrowed his eyes.
“So you claim Serengeti is stronger than my Batus?”
“Why did the Knight King choose Serengeti and not Batus for the Expedition?”
“The Knight King? Knight King Wilhelm? Ah, yes—Valan Kingdom once placed great expectations on him. And what came of it? What did it leave us? Even you, Marquis, lost 500 knights, did you not?”
It was true.
The Great Expedition — on which the kingdom wagered its entire fate — was the cause of its decline.
Marquis Weiser lost 500 fully trained knights.
The king and countless nobles also suffered tremendous losses.
*But that wasn’t all we lost.*
In fact, there were enormous gains too.
Knight King Wilhelm —
He brought the kingdom unimaginable benefits.
With no resources, Valan should have been a forgotten wasteland — but through Wilhelm, the land became a “paradise for knights,” drawing talent from all around.
Even now, manpower continued to increase because of his legacy.
And—
He had solved countless issues plaguing the kingdom.
If one weighed gains and losses, the kingdom gained far more.
Originally, Valan was a weak nation mocked even by its neighbors — far worse than Myun.
Marquis Weiser’s expression hardened even further.
“To forget that the kingdom prospered only because of the Knight King—”
“Enough.”
To fight each other when the enemy stood right outside was disgraceful.
King Valan intervened to cut them off.
“Batus will go first. The second will be my knight, Abdulla. And for third—Serengeti.”
“……!”
Marquis Weiser trembled stiffly.
Meanwhile, Duke Sian smiled smugly at him and Serengeti.
As if he knew it would end up like this from the beginning.
*
*
Batus.
The strongest knight of House Cyan —
and across the kingdom, one of the finest sword masters alive.
Once, his name was mentioned alongside Serengeti’s.
*I am stronger.*
He refused to accept otherwise.
A mere woman?
In physique, in training time, in effort—there was nothing he lacked compared to her.
Why did Knight King Wilhelm take Serengeti on the Great Expedition instead of him?
*Did he need a woman beside him?*
He pretended to be a pure and noble knight —
but such men were always the worst in secret.
If he had gone instead, the Expedition wouldn’t have collapsed so easily.
*Today, I’ll prove I’m superior.*
Pure White Knight?
Knight King?
Those names were of the past.
After today, everyone will cry out his name —
Batus.
He was not someone who would be overshadowed by a woman.
Hooooo…
He gripped his sword, calming his breath.
Everyone was watching.
The king. The nobles. The soldiers.
He would prove his supremacy.
“King of Valan — it seems your head isn’t just for decoration.”
“……”
King Friedrich.
He clapped once as he looked at the knights Valan Kingdom sent.
If they had attempted an ambush, the castle would already be burning.
Then his eyes landed on Batus.
“But you still have no eye for people. I expected the strongest to go first…”
“Batus is the strongest knight in the kingdom.”
“Is that so? Then I suppose I should send out my weakest. Shalla.”
Tap.
A small-framed knight in full armor stepped forward.
Among Friedrich’s five knights — the weakest.
*A woman?*
Batus’ expression hardened further.
That body was definitely female.
The faint swell beneath the armor, the slender neckline, and most of all — those eyes.
Eyes dripping with dangerous allure — no man could have them.
*Sending a woman first? Madness.*
Against *him*?
True madness.
Disappointing.
It was Friedrich who had no eye for people.
Ridiculous — but convenient.
Now he could show Serengeti once and for all—
who stood above whom.
Batus raised his sword.
*I’ve become stronger.*
Ssssaaaaa—!
Blue aura rose around the blade.
“Th—that’s Sword Aura!”
“Sir Batus unleashed sword aura!”
“Oooooooh—!”
The kingdom was in an uproar.
Sword Aura — proof of a true master.
A weapon only the strongest could wield.
And Batus had awakened it.
“This is a national celebration!”
“With sword aura, he can win!”
“Hurray for Sir Batus!”
Everyone cheered as one.
Batus smiled faintly.
Go ahead. Shout.
My name.
He rolled his shoulders triumphantly, as if he had expected this.
There were few sword aura users in the entire continent.
Even King Valan was gazing at him with deep affection and pride.
*This is my stage.*
A perfect stage.
All that was left was victory.
“Sorry, but I’ll end this quickly.”
Batus positioned himself.
He took a step.
She was going to die anyway — no need for polite courtesy.
Fwoooooom!
He expanded his sword aura to the limit, launched off the ground like a storm.
*You won’t even know how you died. Don’t blame me.*
Too fast to see.
She wouldn’t be able to react.
And then—
his sword reached her neck.
At that exact moment—
Tap.
Thud.
Something fell.
“Wh—…?”
“What is… Wh…?”
“Why…?”
“What just happened?”
Everyone who saw what dropped stared in horror.
Batus had attacked.
Yet—
…why was **Batus’s head** rolling across the ground?
—
