I sat alone on a tree branch and practiced fire magic, I wanted to find a way to heat up my body because this cold was killing me… well, it was more a way to waste time until Sebastian came back.

Angel was getting advice from Lady Asteria and Archibald went off somewhere, and I sat atop a tree.

The fire danced to my will as I recounted what had happened ever since I met Sebastian.

'Haven't had a break…' I might've been physically fine, but mentally, I was exhausted.

I stood up and climbed to the top of the tree and balanced myself on the very top, "It's dangerous up there."

I looked at the tree beside me and he was standing on it like me, "not in the mood for your games."

His red eyes pierced through me, he was looking beyond me, "Don't worry, I'm not here to play games." He put his hand into his pocket and still kept his balance.

"The time to make your decision is near. If you make the wrong decision, then it all comes to an end." He reminded me.

"I won't be coming back anymore." I stayed quiet.

"Remember you're too important to this world, keep that in mind. And also think of your goal." He looked down.

"Girl! Get down from there!" I heard Lady Asteria roared like a bear from below.

"Don't forget that place I told you about." Those were the last words before he jumped into the branches below and ran off.

"Pandres!" I heard a familiar panicked voice, 'Elliot?' I jumped down and used wind magic to slow my fall.

He saw me and grabbed me by the shoulders, "It's Sebastian… Twilight Town… he's in trouble!" He was out of breath.

I looked around for Lady Asteria, "she ran off as soon as she heard." Angel came up and was very anxious.

He looked off in what was probably the direction she went, "The Knight-King is coming!"

I pushed him off and grabbed my sword, 'I can't leave Angel here…where was Archibald?!'

"Don't worry about her." Archibald came through the trees.

"Perfect." I looked one last time at the three of them and went for the horse.

'Where the hell did it go?! Did Sebastian forget to tie it properly? No, not the time to think. I need to go now.' I started to run as fast as I could.

'Please God, don't let them cross paths…'

________________________________

"What do you mean?" I blew past the girl and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"The Knight-King is coming. He's aiming for the two of you." Knight-King? Knight-King… that Knight-King?!

"Are you sure?" I had to keep calm.

"Yes, the Royal Knights and others were supposed to come here tomorrow but he went ahead of them… I left on my own as soon as I heard and managed to pass him by taking a shorter route."

"How long should it take before he reaches here?"

"An hour maybe? I'm not sure, maybe sooner…" That should be enough time.

"Hey… where's Pandres?" He looked around.

"In the forest, a bit farther back from the entrance."

"Listen, you need to go to the river west of here. You can't go on the original route we planned."

"Why is that?"

"There's an ambush there that the Knight-King arranged in advance, I had originally thought you could handle them but not when the Knight-King pincers you from behind."

"I'm guessing there's a boat there prepared by you?" He looked away and clenched his fists.

"Then how the hell are we supposed to cross it!?" No, stop it. Don't lose your cool.

"I thought you'd manage somehow."

"Manage? You're right. I will manage something." I let go and started running.

"An hour… no, think of it as twenty minutes. I had to think of the worst-case scenario here, Can't half-ass this, not when that monster was heading here."

'One of the only Imperium ranks in this land, if we fight we'd only face an utter defeat.' From the stories I had heard of him, there was one rule on this continent that everyone knew of no matter the language.

'Never fight the Knight-King.'

'I can't use mana now… if we do meet I'd need all my mana just to stall him.' I ran normally until I heard a crowd cheer.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

I glanced and saw horses surround a single person, I couldn't stop now.

I caught a glimpse of the person's face and recognized them, "Trinity?" It was her and she held a wooden sword as she fought off some Twilight knights.

She managed to keep her distance but they were pushing her back, their formation and technique were just too much for her to handle alone…

'Sorry, but I can't stop now, but I also can't leave her to the wolves… ah man…' I used wind and earth magic to fire rock bullets at them which broke their formation.

She managed to break through the confused Twilight knights and looked at me, 'I did all I could afford to do, you're on your own, asshole.' I continued my run and then I heard shouting and crashing from that direction.

I stopped once again and looked, "I'm here to save the day!" It was master.

'Good.' I went to leave, 'I can trust master.'

'But… my one hope was if master was there if we met the Knight-King… doesn't matter, I have to reach Pandres.' I made it out of the town's gate and was now on the road.

I sensed the mana in the for any changes in the wind in the direction I was heading, 'good, none.'

I was on the last stretch and used wind magic to boost my step.

Just as I stepped into the air, I got hit on the nose and fell to the ground, I opened my eyes and found dark golden eyes looking down at me.

Pandres was on top of me, "Oh thank god." She grabbed my face, "I made it in time."

"What do you mean 'made it in time'?" I asked confused.

"The Knight-King is on his way here!" She got up and pulled me to my feet.

"How do you know that?"

"Elliot told me."

"But Klaus told me you were in danger? And Elliot? Klaus told me he rushed here on his own…" why wouldn't he mention Elliot being with him…

She also noticed it, "And how did he know where to find you..?" I questioned and she looked up worried.

"We need to go back." She pulled me but I resisted.

"In the direction of the Knight-King?!" There's no way I'm letting that happen.

"I left Angel with Elliot!" Ah fuck.

"But maybe we're misunderstanding? And Archibald is also there, right?"

"No, no… who knows if the Knight-King is even really coming here? But Klaus wouldn't do that…" We don't have the luxury of thinking.

"Pandres, either we go back now or run, choose." She looked at me and then in the direction of the camp.

"Let's go back." She had set her mind.

"Then come on." We started running and she was faster than me, I checked the wind again and felt a difference.

'Someone is coming.' My mana was halfway used, 'no good, no good at all…'

We ran through the trees and arrived at an empty camp, "Elliot! Angel?!" She called out to no answer.

"Maybe they ran to hide?" I tried to be reasonable, "the Knight-King should be after her, right?" She threw her sword beside me, it was too fast to react.

It hit something, "Stupid girl! You're so lucky, I'm fast!" I recognized the voice.

"Master!" She held Trinity's hand in one hand and Pandres' sword in the other.

"I'm sorry, I just reacted." She apologized and master threw back her sword and looked around.

"Why are you so panicked?" She noticed Pandres' panicked eyes.

"Master, the Knight-King is coming after us." Her face and Trinity's changed to worry.

"Knight-King? Well, That's no good… where's the kid?" Her eyes searched through the camp.

"Kidnapped." I looked back at Pandres.

"We don't know that-"

She hit her hand against a tree, "Shut up! I-I don't want to believe that Klaus would do this for any kind of reason but I have to think of the worst case scenario."

She turned to master, "Lady Asteria, can I ask you to find Angel for me?" She desperately asked.

"Sure, we'll both look for her, you two get away from here." She hit her chest and looked at Trinity, who looked away.

"Thanks." We both started to make our way to leave.

"Sebastian."

"What?" I stopped but only for a second.

"Fuck you, but don't you dare die yet." She didn't look at me but I knew what face she was making, she did have this side to her.

"Well fuck you too. And you don't need to tell me, I wasn't planning on dying." Pandres went ahead of me, so I went to catch up.

"Pandres, we need to get our info together." I grabbed her just before she got past the tree line.

"Sure… what did Klaus say? Elliot just told me you were in danger and that the Knight-King was coming.' Basically the same story I got.

"Same as you but he said not to go the planned route and to go to the river. And also that he managed to arrive before the Knight-King by using a shorter route." She rubbed her temple.

"Let's say what Klaus said was true, and we don't go the planned route and we go to the river. What are supposed to do? Cross it with no boat?"

"He said he expected us to figure it out."

"So it's a gamble… I'm thinking of every possibility… and I think I'd rather believe Klaus. I don't know why he made up this stupid plan or lied but one thing is for sure, he wouldn't put me in danger."

"Maybe he just wanted to get an upper hand on the Duke by using Angel as a witness as originally planned, but decided to do it sooner than later." She added.

I couldn't care about why the brat did it right now, "so the river it is?" She nodded.

We went back into the forest and she led the way to the river. I gauged my mana as we made our way.

We arrived at a clearing and there was the river but we also found four figures on near the tree line, three on one side and one on the other.

I recognized the three, "it's Archibald, the idiot, and Angel!" I almost ran out but Pandres stopped me.

"Why?!"

"Wait, I think know that man." I looked back at the fourth person.

'Knight armor from the capital and a long stick on his back. Can't make out anything else.' Is that the Knight-King? No, the Knight-King is said to always wear a helmet.

The idiot's mouth moved, "We're not close enough to hear them…" I then got an idea.

"Use that shadow spell of yours." She said just as I prepared my mana.

"Already on it." It's a two-way spell of communication. But depending on the direction of the mana, you can choose to transfer the sounds around you to the other end or bring them to you.

They were shadowed by a tree so it shouldn't stand out. I guided the shadow over to them, the further it got the thinner I had to make the trail to not waste mana.

"There." We could now make out the sounds.

"Sir Violend predicted something similar would happen… but for you and Mr. Klein to do this, it's unthinkable." The short Brown-haired man spoke.

"1st Lieutenant, do not interfere with this."

"What do you mean? This is our job. We were sent on official duties to detain the kidnappers and recover her. And last time I checked, you weren't a part of the squad." He pointed at Angel, who I couldn't make out her expression.

"So they weren't lying…" Pandres commented.

"But you're a day early, 1st lieutenant."

"Doesn't matter. You do know even your names can't protect you from being tried as accomplices. Hand her over and this won't go on my report."

"Damn it! Where are those two?!" He whispered to Archibald but the spell still picked it up.

"Have you heard enough, Pandres?" She put her hand up and waited.

"Come on, let's be honest here, I'll make sure you're both compensated appropriately, Just imagine the promotion I'll get after I save her. I may even become a captain and get my own squad."

He reached his hand out to grab Angel, "If you don't hand her over I'll be forced to-" Suddenly, he was hit by Archibald's sword but it was Archibald who was sent back.

Archibald landed on his feet and looked at the man surprised, "Who even are you?" He looked at Archibald and brandished his sword.

"Her trusted guardian." He held his giant sword up, "You'll have to take her over my dead body."

Elliot his Angel behind him, "You're making a mistake, Duke Wolfgang."

"Damn it! Klaus, you put too much trust into those two…" Pandres heard enough and jumped out.

'At least warn me!' I canceled the spell and ran after her.

He turned to us, "So you really are accomplices. Honestly, I'm very disappointed in you two." He turned his attention back to Elliot and nonchalantly blocked Pandres' swing.

He sent her flying and I caught her, "Got any information about this guy?" She said she knew him so she should know something.

"Lieutenant Rodonzo V. Vansten of the 1st squadron in the Royal Knights, nephew of the Knight-King and a very talented swordsman who uses the Dawn style." She gets to her feet.

"Looks young, has a long stick on his back a sword, and didn't seem to be the strong type, but he's a Dawn style so he's definitely strong. We should just overwhelm him with speed." She nodded.

"You done planning?"

"Yeah." The Dawn style is a reactionary style, block attacks, push them back, and use that momentum to break their defenses with sheer strength.

But it's only effective against a single opponent not two, "with enough speed and teamwork, we should be able to overwhelm him."

I took the left side and she took the right, "this won't end well for you." He glanced at both of us as we circled.

"Now!" She gave the signal and I went in, feinted a swing, and backed away which he fell for and was left open on the other side.

"What are you scared?" He looked back at Pandres, who didn't move from her position.

"Any competent swordsman would know not to go for openings that are too obvious." He laughed at her.

"Maybe you aren't as stupid as you look." I got behind him and sidestepped his immediate downward swing and used wind to blind him.

"Wah?!" I took the opportunity to slash at his throat but he somehow blocked it and pushed me back.

I continued using the wind to blind him and Pandres took the opportunity to shoot fire at him, he ran like a headless chicken making some of the fire bullets hit the trees, "You sly bastards!" One managed to hit his head and his hair caught on fire. He quickly tried to put it out.

I ran at him and aimed for his fingers, "Give up." He kicked my blade away and changed the direction of my swing and held his sword above his head.

My body was forced to follow my heavy sword's direction. I was in an unfavorable position, I was mid-fall, "Got ya!" He swung down at my head.

As it came down, a rock pushed it away and he got kicked away by a red flash, "Sebastian, we need to use magic to our advantage." She helped me up.

"Is that okay?" She asked. He got up and put the fire out, "yeah, it's not like he'll live to speak about it."

Archibald came up to us, "please, let me assist you." great, we could use him as tank.

"Pandres, you attack from behind while Archibald and I take him on head on." She nodded.

"Don't you think it's a bit unfair? First, it was the weird tricks now this?" He laughed and looked confident.

Me and Archibald stood at the front while Pandres stayed behind, "Then maybe I should actually start trying now." He pulled stabbed his sword into the ground and took the long stick into his hands.

"1st Lieutenant Rodonzo V. Vansten, [Knight-King's Chosen Shield] clocking in!"