Chapter 60: Step Aside or Die
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The knight was terrified; his mind was blank and he couldn't think or react. Aside from peeing and crapping his pants, he was also drooling; his drool was like a waterfall. Every word and sentence Fei said was like a sword hanging over his head, and if he gave the signal, the swords would rain down and mince him into pieces. The screams of his peers who were on the ground begging for death were still sounding in his ears; the cavalry didn't hesitate a bit and kneeled down to the ground and crawled to Fei like a dog. He stuck out his tongue and licked the dirt off of Fei's boots. After he did that, he looked up and smiled flatteringly...
Fei sneered as he shook his head, "How can someone who's so arrogant yet afraid of death be worthy of being called a knight?"
"I'm not worthy, not worthy. I'm not a knight, I'm just an ordinary cavalry... Your Majesty, I beg of your mercy..." The knight kneeled to the ground and kowtowed like there was no tomorrow. His high up arrogance had disappeared, and he shivered as if he was a wild dog who wanted to survive.
"I won't kill you!" Fei said.
"Ah? Long live Your Majesty! Hail the king! Thanks you King Alexander for your kindness and greatness. I..." The cavalry was stoked and flattered Fei as much as he could.
Fei cut him off impatiently, "I won't kill you, but... Someone will." After he said that, Fei beckoned at the teenage boy who had his throat sliced open. That teenage boy had fully recovered under the effects of the [Normal Healing Potion], and he was only a little bit tired now. He was standing in front of the crowd with support from his friends. After seeing King Alexander beckoning at him, he walked up excitedly and gave Fei a formal salute to greet the king.
"Warrior, what's your name?" Fei asked with a smile.
"Tolis, Your Majesty, my name is Fernando-Torres." The teenage boy silvered in excitement. In the previous Chambord Defense War, he joined the military recruitment on the last day, so hje was only able to guard the defense wall; he didn't get a chance to participate in the real battle. But today, he had seen the blood boiling heroic scene of King Alexander dismantling and destroying the enemies almost all on his own. At that moment, King Alexander had become Torres' role model and inspiration. Every young man had dreams of becoming a hero; Torres told himself that he had to become a great warrior just like King Alexander, even if he had to face cruel enemies and a cold death; nothing would stop him. That's why when he saw the imperial cavalry and knights disrespecting the future queen Angela, he stood out first and reprimanded them.
Fei tapped Torres' shoulder gently; he kicked the cavalry's sword on the ground and flipped in into the air. Fei grabbed the sword in mid-air and passed it to Torres, "Torres, do you dare kill someone?"
Torres hesitated. He wanted to say no, but he quickly remember the bloody and thrilling scene on the stone bridge today. He bit his teeth and answered decisively, "I do, Your Majesty!"
"Alright then, help me kill this bastard who dares to insult our Chambord Kingdom." Fei pointed at the cavalry who was kneeling on the ground begging for mercy; that poor man had lost the courage to resist. After seeing Torres approaching with the sword, he didn't dare run away and just continued kowtowing.
This was the first time that Torres would kill someone.
Honestly, when he was walking towards the cavalry, he was very scared. But at the moment when he struck down with the sword and the hot spurting blood stained his face, Torres felt something ignite in his soul. He wasn't no longer scared of anything and his blood felt as if it was boiling.
"Great, Fernando-Torres, from now on, you shall be my personal guard!" Fei was satisfied with Torres' performance.
When he saw the teenage boy in front of him standing up for Angela and the dignity of the kingdom and didn't back off when faced against the sharp swords of the imperial cavalry and knights, Fei had a favorable impression of the sixteen year old Torres. The bravery of a person who was fully armored and had an absolute advantage was not reliable; only when one was in a disadvantaged state and had nothing to depend on would bravery truly come from their soul. It was obvious that although he was shivering when he held onto the sword, the blonde haired young man was meant to be a true warrior.
"Ah?"
Torres was stunned. The next second, the young boy felt like he had been hit by a gift that had fallen from the sky. He was a bit lost and didn't dare believe it. Finally, from his friends' reminders, he kneeled down and thanked the king's reward in a fluster. After he stood up and stood behind Fei, he still couldn't believe his luck. He pinched his thigh again and again; the violent pain told him that what happened wasn't a dream. He really did become the personal guard of his role model King Alexander. Torres quietly straightened his back and stood taller and looked more like a qualified warrior under the envious stares of his friends.
Under the huge stone god statue on the other side, Knight Captain Semak felt like his head wasn't smart enough to process all the information.
"An ant-like weak and retarded king of a level 6 affiliated kingdom, how dare he murder the Imperial Cavalry of the Zenit Empire in public so recklessly? How dare he?" Semak trembled as he pointed at Fei; his lips were shaking so hard that he couldn't say a word. In the previous fight, his opponent shattered his energy shield and also his confidence with a casual strike. The arrogant Knight Captain suddenly realized that the young king in front of him was way more powerful than himself.
After Fei took care of all the cavalry, he sneered as he approached Semak with a murderous intention. He repeated the same question, "Say bastard, how do you want to die?"
A humming noise filled the Knight Captain's head. He didn't know what to do.
Originally, he expected that even if this king was reckless, he would only kill the ordinary cavalry and wouldn't dare to do anything to him. After all, those cavalry were only ordinary soldiers, but he was a majestic imperial military officer and a henchman of his highness, the Second Prince Zhirkov who could potentially inherit the throne from the Zenit Emperor Yassin.... But he was wrong. The reckless king in front of him didn't have any intention of letting him go.
At this moment, Semak was finally scared.
The identity of the Military Officer from the Parent Empire could no longer protect him, nor could his strength and two star ranked earth energy. Now that the two key factors that he relied on when to threaten and pressure other affiliated kingdoms became useless, Semak finally felt how weak he was and started shivering uncontrollably.
He backed off instinctively; there wasn't any more arrogance left in him. He had a scared expression on his face and was preparing to escape.
At this moment–
"Presumptuous! Alexander, stop your actions!"
A voice sounded in the crowd farther away. Semak's eyes brightened; he suddenly saw Little Prince Tropinski squeezing out of the crowd and appearing in the circle.
"Your Highness, help me Your Highness. Chambord has betrayed the Empire! This evil king is planning to take on Zenit Empire..." Semak forgot all about his knight's temperament and class. He crawled and rushed to Tropinski's side. He kneeled down and cried, "It's so cruel! This evil king murdered the Imperial Cavalry. He even commanded his troops to wipe out the entire Royal Canonization Legion!"
All the blame and faults had been skillfully pushed onto Fei by Semak.
After Little Prince Tropinski looked at all the severely wounded and almost dead cavalry on the ground and the panicked Knight Captain Semak, he questioned Fei angrily, "King Alexander, what is this? You better give me an explanation!"
Little Prince Tropinski was having a lot of fun tonight. This poor and remote kingdom had allowed him to experience an unprecedented freedom and happiness; there were no more imperial teachers following him everywhere he went and telling him again and again what not to do. He didn't have to pay close attention to his father's– Emperor Yassin– mood and act accordingly, nor did he did have to swallow his anger from the insults of his older brothers Arshavin and Zhirkov. Here, he felt the warmness of the citizens, and was able to run and dance around the bonfire happily. This type of freedom was rare at St. Petersburg.
This unprecedented party had slowly removed all of his dissatisfaction and bias towards Alexander. A few moments ago, he heard the Chambord citizens beside him proudly discussing Alexander's brave and heroic stories again and again. He even thought to himself, "It sounds like this King Alexander is a great man. Interesting, maybe we could become friends..."
But, what happened in front of him had angered greatly.
Due to the crowding citizens, he had arrived after more than half of the situation had already taken place, so the Little Prince didn't know the whole story. However, it didn't matter if what Knight Captain Semak said was true or not. As the prince of the Empire, Tropinski felt that the majesty and dignity of the Empire was severely challenged. He had to stand up; if Alexander wouldn't give him a reasonable explanation, then the consequences would be catastrophic.
However, the response Fei gave shocked him. He couldn't believe it –
"Explanation? Explain what?"
Fei's mouth drew out a disdainful arc. As if he heard something ridiculous, he continued to walk forward; he approached Semak slowly and steadily, one step after another. The golden sword felt like the life harvesting sickle of the Grim Reaper, with coldness diffusing from it. Fei stared at Tropinski and said coldly, "Your Highness, don't make the wrong choice. Step aside or die!"
"You..."
Little Prince was enraged.
At that moment, he clearly felt the undisguised murderous intent from the opponent. He didn't doubt that if he continued to block Fei's path, this young king would kill him without any hesitation– even if he was a high ranked imperial prince... However, it was the dignity of the imperial prince that forced him not to beg or please Alexander like the last cavalry did. Although Tropinski was not a hero or even a warrior and had inappropriately attacked Fei before, at this moment, Little Prince knew that he wasn't just protecting the Knight Captain Semak, but rather the dignity of the entire Zenit Empire.
Therefore, although Tropinski knew he wasn't a match for his opponent, he still had to draw his sword.
"Eh?"
Fei wasn't expecting this kind of behaviour from the prince. He didn't know that this playboy looking prince could be so tough in this situation... but, he was only surprised. His pace didn't slow down at all. Everyone had something that they wouldn't allow anyone else to touch, and whoever violated this would face the consequences. Even if the Emperor of Zenit– Yassin was in his way, Fei wouldn't hesitate to strike him.
At this moment, under the shade of a huge god statue at the side of the square, someone was getting impatient.
"That guy is too audacious..." The female knight Susan who was hidden under a large cloak said angrily. She turned around and said to the other person hiding under the large cloak, "Your Highness, please allow me to go and kill him."
"You can't take him on." The princess shook she said lightly.
"How is that possible? Your Highness, I respectfully disagree. I'm a three star warrior; even if that savage was able to defeat Second Prince's vile jackal Semak, he is no match to me!" It was obvious that Susan didn't trust princess' judgement.
The princess shook her head and ignored Susan. She turned around and said to another person, "Knight Captain Romain, it looks like you have to take action yourself this time."
"It's my pleasure to serve Your Highness." The cloaked man took off the cover on his head. It was the tall and bulked smiling blonde warrior who had followed Princess Tanasha and knight Susan on the streets this afternoon.
"Oh, this man named Alexander is interesting. Knight Captain Romain, you don't have to battle with him. Just bring Jimmy back safely." The princess added. Her voice was still weak and faint.
"Eh?" The blonde warrior was surprised, "Your Highness, Deputy Knight Captain Semak, he..."
"Hehe, that sly and vile jackal, it won't be a big deal to leave him to die here. He has done so many things that have shamed our Empire's honour and majesty all these years. It's time for him to suffer from his own retributions."
The smiling blonde warrior stayed quiet for a couple of seconds, then nodded and said, "I understand, Your Highness." After he finished, his swayed and disappeared from the princess' side.
"Your Highness, although Semak deserves to die, he is the Second Prince Zhirkov's henchman. He has done many things for his highness in the dark these years. If he dies here, the Second Prince won't let it slide easily." The female Knight Susan suddenly reminded.