OHNIR - Chapter 111
Chapter 111: The Rescue
Outside Seaside Town.
Kevit stood in a grassy field, reaching out to pat the head of his steed. After the horse snorted gently at him, the handsome commander lowered his eyes and let out a deep sigh.
He had lost count of how many days had passed, and how many times he had ordered the Royal Knight Legion to “not act rashly.”
Stalling for time, avoiding battle, repeatedly forcing a retreat despite having the upper hand… Such abnormal decisions were so frequent that even the dullest soldier could sense something was amiss with their commander. More than once, Kevit had caught strange glances directed his way, and some of the more reckless and loyal men had even come to question him, asking, “Why don’t we attack?”
But how could he attack?
The damp, slightly salty sea breeze swept through the treetops, enveloping him in a comforting scent, like the presence of his father. A willow leaf drifted down beside Kevit’s head, touching his cheek as lightly and gently as his mother’s fingers, filled with an indescribable tenderness.
The young man was bound in his armor. He remained silent, his green eyes shifting slightly, only to grow dimmer.
The knight sent to the capital to report on the battle should have arrived long ago… which meant there was little time left for him to buy.
His efforts to maintain the precarious stalemate had been too obvious and direct to fool even the most ordinary soldier, let alone the naturally suspicious queen.
Therefore, once Starangui arrived in person, she would immediately strip Kevit of his command, take direct control of the army, and order the Royal Knight Legion to attack without reservation.
But in Seaside Town, the main defensive force still consisted only of the Coalition Army and the townspeople. Not to mention, in the few unavoidable battles that had already occurred, some had been unfortunately injured and had yet to fully recover their ability to fight.
If not for Kevit’s strenuous maneuvering, the town’s flimsy walls would have likely been breached by the elite knights long ago.
For the Coalition Army, the disparity in military strength was already immense. What’s more, Starangui would bring the portion of soldiers left to guard the capital, widening the gap between the two forces even further.
If Kelusta couldn’t bring reinforcements to Seaside Town in time, what awaited them would be nothing short of a complete defeat… and a massacre.
Kevit closed his eyes, his fingertips digging fiercely into his palms.
He remembered the fleeting glimpse he’d caught on the battlefield of the incredulous disappointment and pain on his father’s face. He also remembered his former friends, their eyes filled with fear, yet still resolute as they forced themselves to take up arms.
The people of Seaside, who had lived peacefully in comfort, had never experienced the cruelty of war. Some didn’t even know how to use a bow and arrow. But they had to stand up and face a group of well-trained knights, all to protect the home behind them—
Kevit had not forgotten that it was his home, too.
The young commander turned his head, his verdant eyes, beautiful as new leaves, gazing deeply at Seaside Town in the distance. He stroked his horse’s mane with a placid expression, his voice so soft it was like a feather floating on the breeze.
“As long as I live,” he murmured, as if to himself, “I will protect her, always… until the last moment of my life.”
Sure enough, just as Kevit had predicted, the first thing the furious Starangui did upon arriving outside Seaside Town was to have him unhesitatingly arrested and brought before her.
Kevit had anticipated this scene, so he offered no resistance. He calmly allowed several of the queen’s personal guards to place shackles on him and, complying with their rough force, was viciously shoved to the ground at Starangui’s feet.
The blonde queen’s expression was as cold as ice, yet it seemed to burn with a blazing fire. A chilling light emanated from her pale violet eyes as she stared at Kevit like a venomous snake lying in wait. “Do you have anything to say?” she asked slowly. “My loyal friend—Mr. Kevit.”
Even now, her form of address for Kevit remained unchanged, filled with thick, undisguised mockery and malice.
Kevit lifted his eyelids and raised his head. After meeting Starangui’s gaze for a long moment, he unexpectedly gave her a gentle smile.
He knelt on the ground, his back straight, and said faintly, “No, nothing at all.”
The surrounding soldiers immediately began to whisper among themselves, seemingly unable to understand why he would give up this chance to defend himself.
It was well known that when the blonde girl was still a princess, many had heard of her ruthlessness. Starangui never allowed a convicted traitor to explain anything. She would simply order the executioner to chop off their heads with a smile, and afterward, she would preserve the head with ice magic to ensure all her subordinates could come and view it at least once, a method for securing loyalty.
But for her to be willing to give a traitor a chance to argue his case or offer last words, as she was today… was a first.
A small commotion gradually arose from the crowd due to this special treatment, with everyone trying to whisper their surprise to their companions. But when the queen in the center lifted her eyes and swept her gaze around, everyone fell silent as if under a spell, involuntarily shutting their mouths.
Like a flock of crows witnessing a death, they maintained a terrifying silence, waiting numbly and grimly for the impending execution.
“…I regret your obstinacy.”
In the dead silence, Starangui slowly began to speak. “I admit, you are a talent so outstanding as to be admirable, and I have entrusted my trust to you more than once… But clearly, the facts have proven me wrong, for not only have you betrayed your kingdom, you are still trying to do things for that shameful Kelusta Amirium—”
Kevit raised an eyebrow.
As if he had nothing left to lose, he gave a lazy smile and said mockingly, “First, I don’t think Ruth has done anything that should be called ‘shameful’ since she recovered her status. Second, I’m afraid no one knows better than you that you never placed your trust in me. And finally, Your Majesty, please allow me to correct the most important point—”
“Seaside Town is my hometown,” Kevit said faintly. “Believe me, protecting her is entirely of my own volition. It has never required any reason.”
As his words fell, he seemed to hear the faint sound of gasps from the crowd.
“…”
Starangui stared grimly at Kevit, the smiling mask on her face finally disappearing. Her expression darkened, and every word she spoke seemed to be coated in bone-chilling ice, making people shiver. “Are you saying this to sever your ties with Amirium?”
“Oh, not at all,” Kevit rolled his eyes and let out a muffled scoff. “After all, my relationship with her is much deeper than my relationship with you—that’s common knowledge at the Holy Light Magic Academy, isn’t it?”
When he finished speaking, all the knights and guards present quickly lowered their heads, none daring to look at Starangui’s face.
This traitor was far too arrogant.
But Kevit, kneeling on the ground, was clearly unaware of this. He even straightened his back further, his green eyes filled with undisguised provocation and sarcasm as he looked directly at the stone-faced Starangui and said meaningfully, “After all, she never ordered me to slaughter my own hometown, did she, Your Majesty?”
As expected, Starangui’s expression grew even uglier at these words.
The surrounding knights also seemed to come back to life, looking at each other in astonishment. Some of the bolder ones even quietly raised their eyes, trying to discreetly observe the queen’s changing expression.
Starangui, keenly aware of the many gazes upon her, felt her eyes darken. She pursed her lips and, as if she had suddenly lost all interest in continuing the conversation with Kevit, said coldly, “Since you have so many complaints about me, then I have nothing more to say.”
Kevit’s lips curled into a slight smile as he lowered his gaze and said nothing.
“Take him away,” the lofty blonde queen lowered her eyes, staring with something like pity at the young man tightly bound in shackles. Her voice was devoid of joy or sorrow, as if she were discussing the day’s weather. “As per the old rules, my friends,” she announced calmly, “the sentence for Kevit Maity’s crime of treason will be carried out here in two hours… At that time, I ask you all to put aside whatever you are doing. Attendance is mandatory.”
With that, she turned and left the place without a backward glance, followed closely by several guards.
Kevit was also roughly pulled to his feet by several men and escorted away to another location.
A heart-stopping silence spread like dark magic, infecting everyone who remained. They looked at the spot where their former leader had been, some with sympathy, some with contempt, some lost in thought, before gradually dispersing after a long while.
That patch of ground, as if tainted by something ominous, remained unapproached for the next two hours.
As time passed, a heavy, dark cloud drifted across the sky. Faint rumbles of thunder echoed between the cloud layers, roaring and grating on the ears.
It was like a death knell tolling the hour—after the third clap of thunder, everyone followed their instructions and stood by the clearing that Starangui herself had designated as the execution site.
They had all, without exception, changed into black riding attire, each arriving with their own thoughts to attend the impending funeral.
When the first drop of rain hit the ground, Kevit was roughly pushed onto the cold earth by a guard. His knees ached from the sharp stones, and his once-soft hair was quickly soaked by the ensuing downpour. He knelt in the center of the clearing, a pathetic sight.
Starangui stood not far away, her expression indifferent, while a handmaiden beside her struggled to hold up a large umbrella that looked as if it had just been woven from vines by a wood mage.
Not a single drop of rain touched the hem of the noble queen’s dress, making her stand out starkly from everyone else who was being drenched in the downpour.
“The time has come.”
After another deafening clap of thunder, the ruler in charge finally deigned to speak. She stretched out a hand, and a white light of surging magic flowed from her fingertips. With almost no effort, she condensed the falling raindrops into a long, sharp blade.
The edge of the ice blade was thin and cold, and it emitted a faint white mist even in the rain.
“This is my final mercy to you, Kevit,” Starangui said gently. “The things you have done for me are still worthy of an execution tool crafted by my own hand.”
Kevit let out a scoff, not too loud, but just loud enough for Starangui to hear clearly.
The latter, however, seemed unconcerned by his foul attitude. She simply smiled and waved her hand, ordering the executioner, who had long been on standby, to take the ice blade. The man’s heavy, crude footsteps stomped through the wet mud, splashing dirty black water as he walked step by step to Kevit’s side.
“Alright, Tata, be gentle,” Starangui’s smile deepened, her instruction lacking any sincerity. “Remember not to let this gentleman feel too much pain, understand?”
The silent executioner turned and gave the queen he served a deep bow.
The magically created ice blade was heavy and cold. Even for the burly executioner, lifting it completely was a struggle. The heavy rain, which had started falling at some point, soaked their clothes, making them hang like water bags from everyone’s arms, but it still couldn’t stop the executioner from raising the gleaming blade high—
Kevit let out a deep sigh.
He closed his eyes and straightened his back, like every person from Seaside, preparing to face his impending death with composure—
But in that very instant, a deep purple arc of lightning split the sky, and a clap of thunder powerful enough to shake the earth suddenly exploded. As everyone involuntarily looked up at the sky, a fierce gust of wind swept in, instantly blowing the steady raindrops into a straight, diagonal line.
The vine-woven magic umbrella was blown away, crashing into the executioner who had his hands raised high, knocking the large man hard into the mud. The sharp ice blade slipped from his grasp and fell, practically grazing Kevit’s cheek as it hit the ground, startling him so much that his breath caught for several seconds.
…Where did that wind come from?
The driving wind and rain left the once immaculately dressed queen in a disheveled state. She shot her eyes up, her brow tightly furrowed. As if sensing something, she stared intently in the direction from which the sudden gale had come.
“—This is magical wind.”
Starangui quickly made the correct judgment.
She said coldly, “Since you have come, Your Excellency, why not show yourself and grant me the honor of your name?”
“…”
In the pouring rain, there was only the muffled rumble of thunder and the ceaseless whistling of the wind.
As the crowd waited in a long, silent vigil, a figure in a large black robe, whose gender and age were impossible to discern, slowly walked out from under a large tree in the distance.
The rather sinister-looking robe showed no signs of dampness, as if protected by some spell. The deep, wide hood was turned against the wind and sat firmly on the person’s head, almost completely obscuring their face.
Starangui warily raised a hand, magic faintly stirring at her fingertips.
But before she could act, the robed figure let out a contemptuous snort, their tone utterly nonchalant.
“…You don’t need to know my name, usurper.”
A hoarse, deep voice came from under the hood, grating and unpleasant as if it had been scraped with sandpaper, filled with straightforward disdain. “You only need to know—”
“You are all doomed to fail.”
As his words fell, the already sudden storm seemed to grow even more frenzied!
The raindrops became the perfect weapon, pelting everyone who faced the storm until their bodies ached, making it impossible to even open their eyes. Starangui tried to conjure an ice wall for protection but was shocked to find she couldn’t control the rainwater, which was now flying about wildly under the influence of the wind magic.
In that brief moment, Kevit, who was also forced to squeeze his eyes shut, felt someone yank him up from the ground. The force was truly savage, like dragging a dead dog, and he was thrown onto the back of something!
Before he had time to react, he first heard the neigh of a horse, followed by a mad dash straight into the gale—
“Hey, sit up.”
A sharp voice, nearly drowned out by the wind and rain, said, “Have you never ridden a horse? Do you have any idea how much space you take up lying down like that?”
“…”
Vines shot out from Kevit’s palm, untying the ropes binding his wrists. This finally gave him a chance to free his hands and properly wipe the rain and mud from his face.
At the same time, he opened his eyes just in time to witness the hood on his savior’s head being blown off.
“Huh?” Kevit stared at the black hair in surprise, frowning as he asked with some confusion, “You’re that…”
Musen turned back, giving him a look of disgust and indifference.
“…” Seeing the other’s face, Kevit paused. His brain short-circuited, and he blurted out, “You’re that kid from the academy who was always underfed, poorly dressed, and short—”
“…Shut up!”
Catching the keyword “short,” Musen’s face instantly contorted. He snapped irritably, turning his head back again as if he were a dragon whose reverse scale had been touched. His black pearl-like eyes seemed ready to spit fire as he snarled—
“Call me Lord Demon King!”
The rescue operation was not particularly grand, nor was it meticulously planned or prepared.
In fact, it was so sudden that many people didn’t have time to make sense of the situation.
—In any case, regardless of whatever commotion might be happening on Starangui’s side, when Kevit was unceremoniously kicked off the horse by a scowling Musen, he was still too stunned to react, staring blankly at the familiar, dark gray temporary wall he had just passed through.
I’m back in Seaside Town?
This first thought popped into the mind of the young man who, just hours ago, had been the commander of the Royal Knight Legion. His head was a mess from his near-death experience. He couldn’t think, as stiff and wooden as a corpse just pried from its coffin. He was about to slowly turn around to ask Musen what was going on when—
He was fiercely embraced by someone who rushed toward him.
“Kevit!”
A familiar, clear girlish voice exploded in his ear, as striking as a beam of light breaking through dark clouds.
Kelusta’s voice was filled with trembling alarm and lingering fear. She grabbed Kevit’s hand and asked frantically, “Are… are you okay? Did Starangui do anything to you? Was Musen on time? Are you hurt?”
The rapid-fire series of questions left Kevit no time to answer. He blinked slowly, lowered his head, and met the brown-haired girl’s urgent and worried golden eyes.
“…I’m fine, Ruth.”
After a moment of stunned silence, he gave Kelusta a reassuring smile and said softly, “Sorry for making you worry.”
“What are you talking about!” Seeing that he was indeed unharmed, Kelusta finally let go, saying with a hint of self-reproach, “With things having come to this, I should have brought you back long ago… You suffered for so long over there for nothing. I’m the one who should be apologizing!”
“But if I had come back earlier, who would have bought you the time to get to Seaside Town?” Kevit said soothingly. “Alright, little girl—this is my hometown, too. Protecting it is my duty. There’s no need for you to apologize to me.”
He smiled at Kelusta and let out a long breath, only to see Gloria watching him with a gentle gaze.
The silver-haired ducal daughter gave Kevit a slight nod, took two steps forward, and extended her hand to him with poise and elegance. She smiled and said, “Honorable Mr. Maity, thank you for your efforts and sacrifice during this time. Now that you have finally returned, some truths must be revealed as soon as possible, so that everyone knows what you have done for us—and please allow me, as an unworthy representative, to say this—Seaside Town will be proud of you.”
Kevit, somewhat flattered, shook the hand of the renowned Silentdis, unable to help but say, “It was what I should have done. It’s not worthy of such praise from you…”
—In truth, when his eyes met Gloria’s, the first thought that popped into his head was, I just hugged Ruth… It’s a miracle I’m still alive.
“No, of course it is worthy,” Gloria shook her head but didn’t argue the point further. She withdrew her hand, turned slightly to the side, and offered another smile. “I am obligated to tell you that your parents have been extremely worried and tormented these past days… but I imagine Wend has already explained the true situation to them. They are on their way here now—”
Before she could finish, her voice was interrupted by a tearful cry of “Kevit!” from behind her. Mrs. Maity rushed over and hugged her son tightly, tears streaming down her face like broken strings of pearls, falling onto Kevit. She sobbed with a mixture of fear and pride, “My child… thank goodness you’re safe, thank goodness you’re safe…”
Kevit froze for a moment, then hugged his sobbing mother, gently stroking her back. He gave a wide smile and comforted her softly, “Yes, Mom, of course I’m safe.”
He looked up and met the eyes of his father, who stood not far away, his own eyes red-rimmed. He gave him a firm nod and repeated, “Of course I’m safe, don’t worry.”
Mr. Maity took a deep breath and reached out, clapping his son’s shoulder firmly with a look of relief.
Nearby, Kelusta stood beside Gloria, watching the family reunion with a gratified expression. She couldn’t help but sigh, “What a happy ending. Now I can rest easy.”
Gloria turned and smiled at her, not saying more on the matter, but instead reached out and touched the dark circles under her lover’s eyes with some concern. “You should get some proper rest, too.”
“No, it’s not time to rest yet.” Kelusta shook her head. Just as she was about to say more, her right hand, hanging at her side, was gently tugged by someone.
She blinked and turned her head, meeting the displeased face of Musen—
“Your friend said I’m short,” the still-fuming Demon King said, his anger flaring. “How can he be so rude!—It’s not like he’s that much taller than me!”
Kelusta was speechless.
She gave her brother’s hair a tolerant and perfunctory pat, casually praising him with a few lines about how he’d “grown at least ten centimeters since going to the Demon Realm.” This successfully placated the satisfied Musen, who then went off to organize the demon reinforcements he had brought.
“We can rest after the situation is completely stable.”
Kelusta turned back, leaned in to nuzzle Gloria’s lips, and finished the sentence she had started earlier.
The array for the Condensation Spell was complete; reinforcements from Satrick and Musen had all arrived; healing potions were being distributed with the help of Professor Lysa and others; and Principal Love had joined the Coalition Army and was discussing defensive strategies and tactics with Duke Reginald.
And now, Kevit, their last remaining concern on the opposing side, had been successfully rescued…
Now, it was time for their counterattack.
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