She was clad in armor, her golden hair neatly tied back, and a simple helmet on her head. But there was no mistaking her.
No, to Eurius, she was more familiar in this battlefield than anywhere else.
"Beatrix!"
"Protect His highness!"
At her command, the knights who rushed on their horses surrounded him like an iron wall.
But the assassins and shadows were relentless.
Clang!
She caught another assassin's sword that sneaked through the gaps of the knights.
"Upper right."
Clang!
Slash!
Eurius's sword broke the assassin's blade and cut off his neck in one swift motion.
"Thank you!"
Beatrix backed up against him.
If a skilled warrior guarded his back, there was no way that those who specialized in assassination or group combat could show their power.
He was a bit worried about her, but when he checked her stats window briefly, he was rather surprised.
[Beatrix Dios]
Job: Senior Knight, Force Master
Strength: B+ Agility: A+ Intelligence: A Willpower: A Force Aptitude: S+ Force: A
Disposition: Good, Pure, Stubborn, Hardworking
[Traits]
Swordsmanship (S)
Dual Core – A circle with two auxiliary rings that help the circulation of force. You get additional bonuses in all aspects of force control.
'If you look at her abilities based on stats alone, you'd believe she's a superhuman.'
Eurius clicked his tongue inwardly. He knew she was talented, but Beatrix had not been lazy in training either.
'We have things to talk about, but first we have to deal with these bastards.'
In fact, the situation was already decided.
Not only did they get reinforcements from the capital, but the decisive factor was Beatrix's participation!
Her appearance made Eurius momentarily flustered, but as soon as they backed up against each other, she felt a bit confused.
'Why do I feel so in sync with His highness when we've never fought together in real combat?'
'It's because you helped me too much in my previous life.'
Eurius also smirked inwardly.
His sword parried the shadow's sword and created an opening, and Beatrix's sword pierced his throat.
At the same time, he blocked the crescent blade of another assassin who aimed at her with perfect timing as if he had predicted it.
Fortunately, Eurius was reluctant to expose his full power, so he only showed a level of skill between a master and a superhuman.
'It feels like I've gone back to my previous life.'
Their ages and situations were very different, but it had been a long time since they fought like this.
It was her first time, but Eurius had already experienced this kind of synergy dozens or hundreds of times.
When skilled warriors matched their breaths well, the effect was great.
Just look at how the shadows of the Grand Duke could hold off a superhuman for a while even though their individual power was not comparable.
How could they stand a chance against two superhuman assassins and shadows who were outnumbered?
"Shadows, retreat!"
Dmitry had to decide to retreat with tears of blood. He had already lost another squad of shadows. He had wasted three out of four squads entrusted by the Grand Duke due to his misjudgment.
'I have to at least report the strength of the first prince to His Grace.'
The power he saw from Eurius was at least above master level.
It exceeded Grand Duke's expectations.
He actually hoped that things would go smoothly thanks to the strange people who joined forces with them (?) this time, but he didn't expect that reinforcements from the capital would arrive so quickly.
'…'
The two surviving special assassins sent by the Order also exchanged glances.
The assassination was over.
'We have to return alive and report to the priest.'
One of the assassins disappeared like a ghost, buried in the noise of the battlefield.
Eurius sensed his presence and bit his tongue.
'I have to check their corpses later.'
They were more formidable than he thought.
In his previous life, he had always had Beatrix by his side, so they wouldn't have sent such scum. But they sent such skilled ones on only the second attack.
'Maybe hiding my full power will be impossible from the third attack.'
They still had more tricks up their sleeves.
In his previous life, he had faced several crises because of assassination attempts.
Anyway, the battlefield was easily cleared after all the dark forces retreated. Nuada finally captured Gundar.
"Your chieftain is here!"
His declaration echoed across the battlefield, and most of the tribes dropped their weapons and showed their willingness to surrender.
Thud!
"I surrender."
The warriors they trusted and their chieftain were either captured or fled. The strangers who led the charge didn't give them any confidence.
"We may have lost a lot of power, but if we mobilize all the warriors and capture the key figures of the enemy, we can negotiate with them!"
That was Gundar's reason for convincing them. They still had a numerical advantage, and they had the mysterious strangers with them.
The tribes at the entrance of the mountain range had some knowledge of the strangers.
If they captured Eurius, who was as good as an emperor, Gundar's plan to bring the empire to the negotiating table would be a success.
But even those who had some brains on Gundar's side were skeptical from the start.
'Our warriors have also decreased a lot, and the enemy has two great warriors. Is that really possible?'
That was why most of them surrendered so easily, even though Gundar's side still had a superior number of regular troops.
"Your Highness, are you all right?"
Count Anderson ran over and checked on his well-being.
"You have many wounds. It's fortunate that none of them are serious."
"How could I be harmed by such injuries? You have suffered a lot, Count. They were vicious bastards."
"We'll have to think more about them later."
The Count also wore a worried expression.
It was not enough to stop him, but they aimed to kill Eurius, who was an emperor. It must have been the work of an external force.
"But who is this knight?"
He finally noticed Beatrix, who was standing next to Eurius, and looked at her with a puzzled expression.
She saluted him with her sword.
"It is an honor to meet you, Count Anderson, the White Knight. I am Beatrix Dios, who was appointed as the temporary commander of the knight squad sent from the capital."
"Dios?"
The Duke accepted her salute with a curious look.
Female knights were rare on the battlefield.
And she had the name of a famous martial family from the Holy Kingdom.
"It seems that you are acquainted with her, Your Highness."
"I don't know why either."
How did she come here as a reinforcement from the empire when she should have been in the Holy Kingdom? Eurius had no idea.
Beatrix spoke calmly, regardless of what they thought.
"My identity is that of a temporary knight commander of the reinforcements. I will explain more later. There seems to be a lot to clean up on the battlefield right now."
"That's true. Cleaning up the battlefield is a priority."
He wanted to hear her story right away, but Eurius put his thoughts aside for now.
Nuada was taking care of the surrendered or escaped immigrants. It was his job to appease the tribes of the north, so Eurius and the Count left him alone and checked on their troops and knights.
A while later, after checking on the damage, the Count sighed in relief.
"Except for some sacrifices of the knights, it's a great victory."
"It's thanks to them who threw themselves to protect me. It's my fault."
"How can it be Your Highness' fault?"
The knight squad that guarded Eurius while blocking the last attack of the shadows and assassins suffered considerable damage.
If Beatrix hadn't come to help at the right time, Eurius would have had to reveal his full power to protect them.
Some of them were knights who had gone deep into the northern mountains with him.
'It's lucky that Grand Duke's men retreated quickly and avoided that situation.'
Eurius swept his chest inwardly.
And he looked at her with grateful eyes.
"Anyway, thank you very much. Rize, without you, there would have been more sacrifices of the knights who fought them."
"…?"
Of course she didn't know that. Even if she was powerful, Eurius could have handled them without her if he showed his full power.
But she had some sense. She guessed his intention and responded humbly.
"I just did my duty. Thank you for giving me such excessive praise for a mere knight."
***
Meanwhile, Nuada was also dragging Gundar along.
He wanted to smash his head right away for driving the whole mountain range into war because of his greed, but he had many questions for him.
But the result was not very satisfactory.
"I don't know anything more about them."
Gundar was a greedy scoundrel. He spilled everything he knew when he said he would spare his life if he gave useful information, but there was hardly any helpful information.
'How could he not prepare for being abandoned when it was obvious that the unknown forces were using him?'
Eurius expected it, but he sighed. Grand Duke was a formidable man. Everything about them was mixed up: their items, their traces, their speech.
'At least there is no evidence to conclude that they are an internal force of the empire?'
In the end, Gundar's fate was obvious.
Splat!
In front of all the chieftains who surrendered, his head was smashed by Nuada's fist.
Eurius felt a bit sorry for him who was only used, but it was his fault anyway.
'If he hadn't been so greedy, things would have been much easier in the north.'
But he gained something from it.
Rather, if he looked at the result only, Eurius should have thanked him and shook his hand.
'Thanks to him, I gained the hearts of the people in the north, as well as an unexpected military merit.'
His original goal was to win the hearts of the people in the north and form an alliance with Nuada. But because Gundar started a big war, he added a military achievement to that.
The hero who led the war in the north to victory!
This reputation would give him a huge benefit in his future actions.
'There were too many unexpected situations, but the result is good, so I'm glad.'
'Oh right!'
Then he remembered something he had put aside for a while.
'How did Beatrix come here as a reinforcement when she should have been in the Holy Kingdom?'