The second prince, Estevan, was sent to the eastern wall to check on the damages and ensure things were secured despite the mess. Their walls were not in complete good condition after the magical bombardments. That said, it was hard to trust the integrity of the wall alone. Magic powered knights could easily scale such walls.

The most the walls could help was to give defenders a good vantage point to attack the enemy and keep them from getting close. If they were normal soldiers with no magic capabilities, it would have been a different case and be easier, but considering that it was the Empire, their enemy, and bold enough to attack their capital city, it was appropriate to assume that they use magic-able knights.

That was Estevan’s thoughts. But when they indeed began their assault on the palace, his thoughts and expectations were met.

He positioned himself at the northeastern part of the wall, and he saw how the enemy knights were going and spreading on the east side. To attack this side as well.

“Men! Get ready!” Estevan shouted. “Knights! Once they’re in range, fire your spells at will!”

The knights readied to cast their spells. And once the enemy was in range, various kinds of magic spells rained down upon them. Bolts of flames, lightning strikes, plain magic splitting up into different streaks, while some unleashed streams of violent mana. The common soldiers shot their arrows as well.

Imperial knights ran towards the wall like a swarm of pests. And like pests which shared their nature, a lot of them were struck by countless spells. Knights that failed to shield themselves in their excitement to reach the wall were burned, electrified, blasted. While others tried to defend themselves with their magic shields, but to a few, their protection was shattered, causing them to either perish, or be severely injured. But at least that stopped them from coming.

Still, like pests, a lot of them managed to slip and slither through the curtain of spells. No, it was most of them. To Estevan’s surprise, they moved faster and defended stronger. From the looks of it alone, they were elites. With that in mind, he grew apprehensive. Just how many elites did they send?

“Get ready for a direct engagement!”

It didn’t take long for the enemy to reach the palace’s protective wall and begin climbing up. Some knights leaped up high and stabbed their blades into the surface before jumping up again. Others cast ice spells to lift their allies, which was the most common method among them.

Wisterian knights destroyed the quickly ascending ice with knights on top of them, it was not easy as the ice were of magical origin, and they were made more durable. The ice may have been eventually destroyed, with some knights falling back to the ground, but there were many that jumped before the ice platform they stood upon was destroyed and collapsed.

With the enemy now stepping foot on the top of the wall, the Wisterian knights quickly moved in to attack and strike them down.

“Kill them all!”

“Stop them!”

Noise instantly filled the area, from people shouting, swords clashing, and parts of the walls being wrecked, where knights were thrown back onto the surface. Normal soldiers, on the other hand, didn’t have a good chance of facing the enemy knights.

One common soldier in particular swung at an imperial, only to be easily evaded and casually cut down. Those who couldn’t even cast magic stood no chance. But there were others merely supporting the Wisterian knights, perhaps to either help form an opening, or strike at where the enemy was vulnerable while an allied knight engaged with them.

A common soldier was doing as such. The Wisterian knight swung at the imperial, and while the two of them were immersed in their battle, a common soldier charged the imperial from his flank. He thrust his spear at the enemy, successfully stabbing him into his vulnerable side. Of course it was not enough to kill the target, but that gave the Wisterian knight the chance to land a killing blow.

Estevan glared at his surroundings, clenching his sword tightly. An enemy jumped in front of him and quickly struck at him. The prince blocked the blade and quickly took a step back. It was a bit difficult to move around, considering how tight the space was. Even more so when everyone was fighting.

Estevan coated his blade with magic. The enemy charged at him again, so Estevan met the enemy’s sword and let both blades grind. At the same time, Estevan removed his one hand from the sword and held it out towards the enemy. A blast of electricity crashed against the prince’s opponent. It was not strong enough to kill, but was enough to stagger. And with that chance, Estevan swung at the enemy.

Stolen story; please report.

His blade touched the enemy’s armor while he unleashed a magical slash. It cut through the metal, lacerating through flesh, and blowing the imperial knight away.

Estevan sighed, although he was quite glad that his training paid off. He was stronger than before.

A bigger knight landed close to him. Before Estevan was about to strike, the enemy knight rammed himself against him. The prince was able to shield himself in time, but he was thrown off the wall, falling to the ground. Thankfully, it was on the friendly side. He adeptly landed, but the enemy knight, with his long sword, was coming down at him.

Estevan quickly dashed to the side, evading just in time before the enemy crashed down. The impact was so powerful that it caused a large crater to form, and dust was thrown all around him. Estevan quickly fired a pair of light slashes at the enemy, and they moved at tremendous speed. The target was able to block one, but failed in the other, and it damaged his armor on the right side of his chest. The speed and strength of the prince’s attack surprised him, and he grew more wary.

The imperial knight rushed at him, his legs heavily slamming on the soil, and their swords collided. They swung their weapon at each other, magical energy bursting at every hit. Estevan had to admit, his opponent’s hit was heavier and more powerful. But he noticed that he was relying on his strength more than speed and technique. The prince saw that as his enemy’s weakness.

I just have to be faster.

If he was the same a couple of months ago, then perhaps he wouldn’t be able to be more confident in defeating this opponent. He might have struggled more, and be more at risk of being defeated. But this time, it was different.

Estevan swiftly stepped to the side and pointed a hand at the flat of his enemy’s sword, casting a bludgeoning force. The sword was pushed back, and Estevan took the chance to send a fatal blow. Pouring a large amount of mana into his sword, he swung down at the enemy, unleashing a bright slash of light, brighter than anything he had made before.

It collided against the enemy, sending chunks of his armor in the air, as he was pushed far back into the wall. Estevan glared, making sure that he was dead. The imperial knight was bloodied all over, the slash cut in deep, and he didn’t move, not even a twitch.

Estevan looked around. The enemy was overwhelming his forces. One Wisterian knight was struck from behind, another was pierced through the chest, some were struck by Armament Magic. The common soldiers on the other hand, couldn’t do much but take fatal hits. They screamed in pain, while others didn’t even get the chance to do so.

Estevan clenched his sword tightier, a heavy feeling in his chest. He might be able to defeat his own opponents, but what about the others? It would be pointless if Wisteria as a whole couldn’t win in its entirety.

He sensed an enemy coming from behind him. But as he turned around, a one handed Wisterian knight engaged the enemy before he could reach the prince. It didn’t take long before the one handed hand knight blew the enemy away with his magic. But it was doubtful that such an attack would kill the enemy.

“You should be more careful, Your Highness.”

“Alzen, thanks. It’s just… the situation is bad.”

Alzen looked around. “Yes. But we still need to fight.”

“Yeah.”

Suddenly, they noticed slashes of wind lashing at the knights nearby. Estevan frantically turned towards the source of that magic, that kind of magic was just too familiar. The caster of those winds jumped down, one with a pair of long, pointed ears.

“Elf…”

The elf glanced at them. It was a beautiful female elf. Smooth light brown skin, long blonde hair, and emerald colored eyes.

“You look important,” she said in a monotone.

Estevan raised his sword as Alzen moved in front of him.

“Stay behind me, Your Highness.”

Estevan frowned. “You can’t beat that alone.”

“... Perhaps.”

The elf gave them a blank look and pointed her weapons at them. On her right hand was a beautiful and slender rapier, on her left was a short sword. The two blades glowed slightly.

“Doesn’t matter, you’re dying anyway. I just want this over with.” She sounded tired.

Wind bursts suddenly shot forth from her weapons.

“Disperse!”

Estevan and Alzen quickly spread apart and headed straight for the elf woman. But the elf moved towards Estevan, taking only a brief moment to reach him. Her sheer speed shook the prince, he couldn’t have imagined she could move that fast.

Estevan swung his sword at her, and she met it with her rapier. But then instantly, at a speed that Estevan failed to react fast enough, she extended her short blade at his belly. The blade touched his armor, and started cutting through it. With that little resistance from his armor, it gave him a window to cast bludgeoning magic, pushing the elf back. While Estevan quickly backed away.

Alzen subsequently swung his sword at her. But the elf blocked his attacks.

Estevan glanced at where her dagger reached. He was a bit surprised that her blade could cut through metal just like that. Could be her strength, or the magic cast on the blade. At least she didn’t reach his skin.

Estevan charged again, striking from the elf woman’s flank. But she parried off the sword and directly extended her long blade towards Alzen, aiming for his chest. The rapier pierced through his armor, and he quickly stepped back the moment Estevan continued his attacks.

When she pulled her rapier, blood was stuck on the blade. Estevan fired a couple slashes of light, prompting the elf to evade and back away.

“Alzen! You alive?”

“It’s nothing fatal.” He raised his sword again.

Estevan retreated beside him. He could heal him, but there was no time.

“That bitch is tough,” Alzen said bitterly.

“Yeah. But there’s two of us. We have a chance.”

The elf sighed. “I won’t die to the two of you. I still have to go back home.”

Alzen’s face contorted in annoyance. “Oh yeah? Then you’re free to leave!”

“Can’t…”

She took a step forward and swiftly ran towards them. Both Alzen and Estevan split up to attack her on both sides.