Chapter 121.1

“As expected, the number of the pilot squadron was too few, so I was right to send the troops here,” Kalion muttered as he struck the ground with his sword. The ground beneath him was soaked with the blood of knights cloaked in Kelon’s armor, and his voice deafened by the clashing of swords.

After defeating the forces of Kelon and Nandes, Kalion and his knights rushed to the capital. However, when they arrived at the city of Iltissen, a day away from the capital, the city was surrounded by Kelon’s army. Kalion was well-aware of the city’s situation. Iltissen was not protected by a military presence. Erna had told him when they’d laid together.

“Iltissen has been filing petitions to the Grand Castle and to the Council these days,” Erna had said. “They asked me to expedite the city building code.”

“Why all of a sudden?” Kalion had asked.

“It’s not all of a sudden. Did you know that Iltissen is a historical city?”

“It’s a place where people from the capital often go to hang out, don’t you know that?”

That night, Kalion wondered if Erna had been perceiving him as an idiot. In retaliation, Kalion bit her bre*ast with a hint of resentment, but of course, gleefully sucked her taut n*pple.

“Hey!” Erna had protested. “Stop, stop sucking! As I was saying, Iltissen, uh!”

A contest had then unfolded underneath the sheets between Kalion, who coveted her sensu*al mo*ns, and Erna, whose mind was set on Iltissen. In the end, Erna was victorious, having said everything she needed to say regarding the city.

Through that intense night, Kalion could easily recall information regarding the city, along with his lover’s mo*ns.

Iltissen is a town near the capital with numerous historical sites. After Hessenguard regained stability, the city continued to direct their efforts and attention into tourism and the preservation of the city’s heritage. Recently, the city has been saturated to the point where it cannot cater to all of its customers. Consequently,security forces and military facilities to protect the city could not be accommodated. As such, they requested for the city building code to be hastened in order to build more infrastructure.

That was the latest situation in Iltissen that Kalion was aware of.

He glimpsed a building engulfed in smoke and ashes with the flag of Hessenguard swaying with the wind.

Was everyone annihilated?

Among those who collapsed to the ground were knights in Hessenguard’s armor. Familiar faces no longer moved and their eyes remained shut.

In the Grand Castle, a sufficient number of knights in the Knights Templar were assigned for each city. As they were deployed for security rather than war, there were not plenty.

Still, everyone fought back.

Callion looked at the tightly closed gate. The people of Iltissen would have seen the knights fall. Have they chosen to turn a blind eye, ungrateful for the deaths of the knights who bravely fought for them? Kalion couldn’t be resolved to defend the city.

His grip loosened on his sword, but then he remembered what Erna had said when he’d told her to entrust the city’s matters to the Council instead.

“The duchy of Hessenguard cannot be indifferent to these matters. So please give me your opinion. This is more troublesome than I thought.”

Erna had slipped out of his embrace, wrapping a thin blanket around her body, and began reading the papers which were piled on the desk. Without choice, Kalion followed suit and they sat on the couch, with Erna on Kalion’s lap, where the two discussed the matters in Iltissen.

Kalion realized Erna was right. Whether he liked it or not, it was his responsibility to bear. Kalion clutched his sword again.

Cedric, who was in front of him, shouted as he cut down the knight of Kelon who was attacking him. “There, my lord!” He pointed to the gates of Iltissen. But an ordinary gate wouldn’t withstand an army. Before it stood the remainder of Hessenguard’s knights clothed in Nandes’ armor, fighting against Kelon’s knights. Though they were dismayed at the fact that they could not fight as knights of Hessenguard.

Cedric clicked his tongue as if he felt their despair.  “Guess I’ll have to go.”

Suddenly, the gates of Iltissen opened with a loud creak. The knights of Hessenguard stood bewildered as people poured out of the gate—not knights, not guards, but common folk dressed in common clothes, carrying puny tools as weapons. A young man carried a pickaxe while the other a pitchfork which seemed to have plowed the garden until this morning, and in the hand of a middle-aged woman was a cleaver without a blade.

The sight was astonishing: the city residents of Iltissen engaging in a battle with men in full armor and weaponry.

Then a man in front shouted with all his might, “You motherf*ckers! Hessenguard is ours! We won’t give you anything!”

“Don’t come near our houses!” another yelled.

The residents roared as they ran toward their enemy, their spirits piercing the highest sky.

Kelon’s knights, caught in between the  people of Iltissen and Hessenguard’s knights disguising as Nandes’, were dumbfounded, but their worries were short-lived as their commander shouted an order.

“Kill them all! Even if they surrender, you don’t have to spare them!

The knights of Kelon regrouped and the citizens of Iltissen trembled in fear, but they did not back down. Rather, they huddled closer to each other and gripped their weapons even tighter. Some grabbed the fallen knights of Hessenguard into the gate and those who seemed doctors immediately tended the wounded.

Even so, it was clear that the civilian army stood no chance against the knights of Kelon. In fact, they’d be annihilated in an instant. Furthermore, Kalion and his knights were also perceived as an enemy. But, despite the prevailing circumstances, the citizens of Iltissen chose to defend their city.

Kalion deemed their courage reckless. Until he heard the cries of the people.

“Hold on! The grand dukes will come!”

“One time is enough, you bastards! Long live Hessenguard!”

“You thought we’d be beaten by you guys again!”

Their angry screams echoed in Kalion’s ear. He could hear his and Erna’s name from their cries—desperate cries in need of saving.

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