As Keiren reacted to the enormous reward and the System's sardonic comment, Tadorian Castell approached from behind the group. He was still bound and clearly a prisoner. He dropped to his knees in front of Keiren and said, "I want to submit."
The Knights burst out laughing as thunder cracked in the air. One of them stepped forward and sneered at Tadorian. "Who are you to speak to His Majesty in such an insulting manner? You're a prisoner. Be content with being sold as a slave."
Suran intervened, "Easy, guys! I know you're frustrated with not being able to fight, but don't make impulsive decisions. He's the son of a duke, so he's worth quite a bit as long as he's unharmed."
The knight who had spoken earlier looked at Suran, then back at Tadorian with a sneer. "A prisoner stays a prisoner and a slave stays a slave. It doesn't matter if the father is a slave or a king."
Tadorian knew the knight was right, he was a prisoner and it was a reality he had yet to fully accept.
Just as Suran diffused the situation between Tadorian and the Eternal Knights, the surrounding air began to shimmer and condense before twelve majestic angels appeared before everyone.
"Your Majesty!" They bowed in unison and greeted Keiren.
Keiren was astonished and reprimanded himself for forgetting about his welcoming gift. There were twelve 16-winged archangels at the Mortal God stage and four 18-winged archangels at the Immortal stage. The Immortals were missing, but Keiren saw it as punishment for neglecting them and forgetting their existence. He only remembered the Immortals because they were Immortals.
# There are 12 Superior Elites. That is everything you are able to get from the outside world. #
'Thank you, System.' Keiren genuinely thanked the System in his mind.
-----------------
The situation had gone from strange to bizarre and surreal with the appearance of the Archangels. The only ones who were able to maintain their composure were Suran and the Valkyrie. Even the Eternal Knights were amazed. They had never met any of the Angels, unlike Suran, who had already had contact with the four Immortal Angels that served as Keiren's personal bodyguards. She had already assumed there had to be more than just these four Angels.
For the defeated knights, it seemed like a twisted form of mockery. They had attacked a small group of travelers and were beaten and captured. Then, a squad of 100 knights descended from the sky, along with a beautiful angel woman who effortlessly overpowered their captain, all while claiming she was weaker than the kid who was apparently in charge. To top it all off, a group of 12 16-winged archangels appeared.
The black knight who had fought alongside the golden knight against the purple-winged Eternal Einherjar was devastated beyond measure. He had always been proud of his strength. He could contend with the top 5 of the fabled Number knights and paired with Regal Solum, the Golden Knight, they were able to fight Number 2. Yet, the two of them against two unknown Knights, they lost so hard, they barely survived. It was a true tragedy for all of them.
"Aren't you going to kill us now?" one of the defeated knights asked, his will to live having vanished with the appearance of the angels.
"That has yet to be decided by the Emperor. Don't you see that he is currently busy? You are prisoners that we captured in battle. We defeated you and your leader. Your leader has already submitted himself to the Emperor, and when he sees fit to deal with you, he will grant you his attention," the Eternal Einherjar Knight who had captured him replied.
The two mages and the archers were quivering and shaking in their boots. In their heads, a scene played over and over again, of them fighting Keiren alone in the woods, but now it was them attacking Keiren and a squad of 100 Knights and 12 Archangels, being slashed into pieces. They looked like a force of nature, and fear crept into their bones.
Keiren turned to the kneeling knight. "Your name is Harald Tunderlance. Can you tell me why you attacked us earlier?"
"My Lord, please let me explain what I did to him so you can understand," the Valkyrie answered before Harald could even open his mouth to speak. "This man was controlled by another person, a black mage. I don't know exactly how strong he is, but he survived the backlash of me reversing his spell. At least he survived the initial spark. His injuries are unknown to me, but it could be that he died in the aftermath. But if he survived, then he is a very serious threat. I assume that Sir Thunderlance had been under his control for a rather long time already, long enough for his companions not to notice the subtle changes in his behavior."
At this point in her speech, the eyes of the captured knight widened in horror. Until now, they had been blind like moles. Their heads sunk, and their already damaged spirit broke completely. They reprimanded themselves for their blindness and decided that if they were to survive this day, they would become better than that.
# Congratulations, you've recruited a superior elite: Black Knight Mitum Darkus (Darkness) (+1000 QP) #
# Congratulations, you've recruited a superior elite: Golden Knight Regal Solum (Light) (+1000 QP) #
# Congratulations, you've recruited a superior elite: Mage Knight Musian Serga (Water and Earth) (+1000 QP) #
# Congratulations, you've recruited a superior elite: Knight Isabella Berida (Fire and Wind) (+1000 QP) #
"Archmage Trekon."
Tadorian Castell shivered at the mention of this name. The Archmage was not an easy person to deal with. He was the very reason the House Castell needed the favor of the Imperial family. Archmage Trekon was the illegitimate son of Tadorian's great-grandfather. Tadorian's great-grandfather was on the brink of death, and only a major breakthrough in magic could save his life. The problem was that Tadorian's grandfather was already gone, and Tadorian's father was scared of his ruthless uncle. No matter what he tried, he wouldn't be able to bridge the generational gap between the two. Over 5000 years of magical studies separated them, something a 'normal' Duke couldn't compensate for. Duke Castell was sure that Archmage Trekon was plotting to take over House Castell by any means possible. Tadorian prayed with all his heart that Trekon would not survive this.
Yet, the gods seemed to spite him, because unbeknownst to anyone in the field, the healer was barely fast enough to save Archmage Trekon from the brink of death.
Deep down in the underground basement of the palace, a young man sat on a luxurious chair, sipping wine. He was 1.8 meters tall, had pale white skin, and black hair. His eyes were pure white, but the malice that shone from them couldn't be concealed at all. He wore no armor, only a red leader coat, black pants, and a belt with a silver skull.
With him in the room was a naked maid who served him. She would have been beautiful if not for the hundreds of scars and bloody marks all over her skin. She looked like she got tortured regularly and walking was hard for her, it was more of a limping.
The maid was refilling the wine glass of the young man as he grabbed her by the neck with one hand and choked her. The noise of her anguish and her suffering turned the young man on and he was about to open his belt when the door flew open and the Knight number 40 stormed into the room and kneeled before the young man in a spectacular manner.
The young man growled in annoyance but before he could explode into the face of his knight, Number 40 began his Report.
"Young Master, I bring grave news. Archmage Trekon lost control over Thunderlance and all his acolytes burned to ash by the backlash-" something akin to a sledgehammer hit the side of Number 40s head and catapulted him against the wall, before he could continue.
This young man was Kebon von Stein. He just used his maid as an improvised bat to smash his knight against the wall.
"YOU WHAT! I must have a problem with my ears. You just told me that Trekon lost control over Thunderlance. Yet I remember him telling me that only the high-priestess of the church of light would be able to help him." Kebon's yell vibrated through the knight's skull amplified by the enslavement spell that controlled his lesser subjects.
Kebon only trusted one person, himself. The only other people that he didn't distrust were Archmage Trekon and his 1st knight. Gerald Hunter aka Number one served him ever since his mother gave birth to him and Trekon would suck him off just to get his hands on the Castell legacy that he thinks he is entitled to.
Kebon spent years undermining his uncle's influence with the help of these two men. Yet when he was in the last steps his plan was about to blow up in his face. The arrival of Duke Castell at court was a serious threat to him and Archmage Trekon. The blunt and insufferable Duke smashed a big part of his plan just by regulating his own household in the capital and cleaning up all the spies and useful personnel that Archmage Trekon amassed to aid his plan. He even went so far to sue the archmage in front of the Imperial Court.
Now he even lost Thunderlance and his knight squad which put a serious dent in all the careful planning he did over the years.
At these thoughts ran through Kebon's mind the knight with the number 40 spit blood and teeth over the floor.
"I am sorry your majesty." He said he sounded funny missing most of his teeths. He kowtowed in front of Kebon von Stein. His head pressed flat on the ground.
Kebon snorted before he remembered the maid in his hands. He had long since stopped struggling because her improvised use as a punishing bat had snapped her neck and destroyed most of her bones. In a fit of more rage Kebon smashed his now useless maid against the wall.
"SEVEN" Kebon's angry shout resulted in the appearance of another knight who kneeled down without looking at the mess in the room.
"Your Majesty," the knight number 7 greeted his Master.
"Contact the assassins and tell them I agree to their last offer. I need her alive. Everything else is irrelevant. And if they have to blow up the entirety of this damned Palace as long as they deliver the princess alive I will write of the favor Varmak owes my parents as well."
"Yes, your majesty!" number 7 acknowledged his master's order and left a moment later.
"Now what should I do with you," Kebon refocused his attention back to the kotowing number 40…