The messenger hadn't even noticed the First Knight standing in the room. Hearing the King's shout, he shuddered but, after taking a few deep breaths, he reported, "Your Majesty, it has yet to be confirmed how many are attacking—"

"Speak clearly!" shouted Rollyet.

The messenger lowered his head further. "The report sent back to us concerns an individual who's wiping out the kingdom's towns as we speak. One week ago, a few soldiers reported small villages at the periphery being uprooted, but their superiors, upon finding out, didn't bother to report back, thinking it was just a group of bandits."

BANG.

King Avaro slammed his fist on the desk in front of him, sending splinters of wood flying in all directions. Anger barely suppressed, he ordered, "Go on."

The messenger gulped loudly, not daring to raise his head. "We've currently lost two low-tier towns and four large ones, along with eight knights and more than a thousand soldiers."

Although he heard the sound of gnashing teeth, he braced himself and continued, "This individual is currently heading toward the small city of Nille. The estimated casualties so far are less than in a small war, but the damage done to our towns and villages rivals that of a sneak attack done by an army."

"Is that all?" Avaro said coldly. The more he listened, the colder he became.

"Y-Yes, Your Majesty."

The king waved a hand. "Report as soon as you get more details, and tell the soldiers to keep track of this person. Whatever happens to him, I want to know."

Bowing slightly, the messenger soon left, leaving Rollyet and Avaro to stare at each other.

"Your Majesty, give the order, and I shall bring you their head," said Rollyet.

"No. This might be a trap," said the king, but Rollyet couldn't believe it.

Seeing his expression, Avaro said, "How can a normal person infiltrate our kingdom and destroy our towns? To make matters worse, it took us a week to find out about it. Do you think a normal soldier is capable of such a monumental task?"

Rollyet pondered on that but couldn't imagine how a normal soldier could slay knights along with a small army. "What is happening, then?" he asked.

Gazing out the window, Avaro said, "This must be an attempt to draw out our forces and see how much we've hidden from the public eye."

"Is it the Lotra Kingdom?" asked Rollyet. By now, he was more curious about who was behind the attack than the attacker himself.

"It might be. Or it might be Tiberan's doing. I can't even rule out the Empire at this point."

"What? The Empire?!"

"None of this makes sense," Avaro thought aloud. "Wulfric shouldn't be trying to start a war with us. His first priority should be survival. Tiberan, on the other hand, has just received an edict from the Emperor to attack the Lotra Kingdom, why would he risk making an enemy out of us now? As for the Empire, we even have its Crown Prince as an ally. If the Emperor wanted to wage war against us, the prince would've told us by now. But there's no information at all. There are three options but either of them doesn't feel right."

Having listened quietly to the king's words, Rollyet asked, "Since we can't think of anything else, why don't we capture them and ask directly? After all, they only sent one person. Although strong, I doubt they will be able to escape from us."

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"Catching them is easy. It's the how that is the problem. If we mobilize too many troops to catch one person, we'll become the joke of the Empire. But if we fail to catch him, we'll be ridiculed just as much." King Avaro looked at the First Knight and said, "That means you, as the strongest knight of my kingdom, can't personally go. Do you understand now?"

"This one understands."

"Mhm. Order Melissa and Kahn to proceed toward Nille at once. Their mission is to capture that individual alive; if that's not possible, they are allowed to kill him," ordered Avaro.

He doesn't want me to go but has no problem sending one of the strongest mages and one of the strongest knights. I can't understand His Majesty, helplessly thought Rollyet, but outwardly he bowed. "Yes, I'll go and make the preparations."

Left alone in the room, Avaro muttered, "Who dares to test the depth of my kingdom?"

///////

Nova, carrying Letto and rapidly approaching Nille, didn't know that he had finally earned the attention of the king, nor would he care if he did.

'Large towns don't have any mages, and I couldn't find a single third stage knight. I hope the city I'm headed toward has them, because I doubt that after today I'll be as free to enter these cities and towns as I am now. After all, if I manage to bring down this city, I can be considered to have done great damage to the kingdom thus I'll have a target painted on my back,' he thought as he drew closer to the city.

Not even half an hour later, he could see the city walls in the distance.

'Found it.'

Nova tossed Letto to the ground and, without saying a word to him, he slowly made his way toward the city. When he got a better view, he frowned and stopped in his tracks.

'Where is the line of people wanting to enter the city? And the gates are closed with no guards manning them? This is too coincidental. Either there's an important event happening in the city, or… they've finally tracked me down.'

'If there's an event, I can just sneak in. But how likely is it that they'd close the city down with no security? Why am I even entertaining such absurd thoughts when it's obvious that if I step outside, they'll ambush me? This is sooner than I thought, I guess my little adventure here is over.'

With that, he started walking… and stopped about a dozen meters from the gates.

Nova stared ahead and shouted, "You waited for me, right?! There's no need to hide anymore, I'm here! Don't make me wait too long, or I'll run away! I want to see how you plan on catching me!"

Not even a few seconds later, a beautiful woman clad in mage robes and holding a staff appeared on top of the walls.

"You knew this was a trap but chose to walk in anyway? Are you dumb or just confident?" Melissa said, shooting Nova a disdainful look.

A small door next to the gate opened, and a lean man clad in knight's armor, with a greatsword strapped to his back, stepped out. His footsteps were light despite the heavy gear.

"We have orders to take you in alive, but if you resist, you might die. What's your choice?" Kahn asked lightly, curious about what the young man before him would do. This was the first time he'd been sent on a mission alongside a high-ranked mage to capture someone so young, and he couldn't help but wonder which path Nova would choose.

Will this young man choose to fight and thus ruin his future or, will he submit?

'A mage on the walls and a knight right here on the ground. I can't gauge the mage's strength, but this knight is at least stage three. They don't even know my strength, yet they've sent such a strong duo. Truly, an ambush worthy of a kingdom,' thought Nova as he silently stared at the two before glancing around.

Seeing Nova's reaction, Melissa snorted. "Why are you looking away from your enemy? Do you think we need backup to capture you? Can you even tell the difference in strength between us?"

In her opinion, the only reason Nova was looking around was that he couldn't feel either her strength or Kahn's, and she was right.

Nova couldn't tell how strong exactly she was. What he could tell, however, was that she was, undoubtedly, at least equal in strength to the knight in front of him.

'I wish I met fools like her every day; it would make my life so much easier,' Nova thought. His eyes landed on Melissa, and he said, "Thank you! I was afraid there was an army hidden somewhere around here."

Kahn's expression didn't change nor did he say anything. He was still waiting for Nova's answer. Fight or submit?

"That sharp tongue of yours will be your downfall." Melissa, on the other hand, lifted her staff and muttered, "Hexawind Seal."

Sigh, this young one just pissed off a stuck-up mage like Melissa. I wanted to give him a choice but now I don't think there's a way for him to survive anymore. Kahn felt pity as he stared at Nova.

Six large green-grey magic circles, each easily a hundred meters wide, appeared out of nowhere high above in the sky.

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