“Aah!”

“Wh-who are you?!”

“Please don't kill me!”

At Shan's command, the two squires rushed into the mansion, throwing open doors one after another to check the occupants. Servants screamed in terror as the armed boys burst in while they were sound asleep. A few tried to resist with candlesticks or pokers, but the boys cut them down as ordered. The tapestries lining the halls and the carpets covering the floors greedily drank their blood.

Meanwhile, a commotion arose outside as well. Soldiers sleeping throughout the citadel heard the noise and began getting up. With an enemy army surrounding the city, most had prepared to fight at a moment's notice, and they moved quickly.

“What's going on?”

“Someone shouted something about the enemy. Did I hear wrong...? Wh-what the hell!”

The men approaching with torches recoiled at the corpse sprawled outside the lord's mansion and the lone knight standing motionless beside it: a boy in somewhat ill-fitting armor. Those two glowing green eyes alone told them who he was.

“D-don't tell me it's a night raid...”

“Where the hell did he get in?”

The screams and shouts from inside the mansion made it obvious that their lord was in danger, but none dared attack. A knight wielding a magic sword stood squarely in the entrance. At the very least, whoever charged first was certain to die.

Then a knight appeared with a clatter of armor and bellowed at Shan.

“You filthy Altoan! You know nothing of honor! At last you've shown your lowborn nature, sneaking in under cover of night like a coward!”

“By cowardice, do you mean kidnapping a little girl and using her to threaten her mother into serving you like a slave?”

“How dare you spout such nonsense... Attack, all of you!”

Momentarily at a loss for words at Shan's reply, the knight growled, leveled his sword, and charged as he gave the order. An obscure provincial knight he might be, but he was still a knight. Having honed his fighting skills all his life, he possessed strength and speed no ordinary soldier could match.

Shan held his ground at the front entrance and met the man's blows. As Guardian of the East crossed his opponent's blade several times, he felt anew just how much his body had changed.

'I'm only a little taller and heavier, but it feels completely different.'

Longer legs meant a longer stride and better mobility; longer arms extended his reach in both attack and defense. His stronger, heavier body could deliver jarring blows and stand firm without the help of spirit. Of course, he had noticed these things while sparring with Roden and the others, but the sensation was markedly different in a real fight with his life at stake. Only in moments like these, with every sense honed to a cold edge, could he observe himself more fully.

“Now!”

“Help the knight!”

Seeing him exchange measured blows, the surrounding soldiers apparently mistook it for an even fight and rushed in. Shan dodged a spear aimed at his face, stepped forward, and swung his sword diagonally. The magical patterns engraved on Guardian of the East shone, and the opposing knight's body split diagonally in two. It was the result of an overwhelming weapon working in harmony with spirit.

“Gah!”

“Th-the knight...”

The soldiers went white as the knight who served as sheepdog to their flock fell in two pieces, unable even to scream. What followed was the one-sided slaughter of sheep by a wolf in their midst.

Just as he had at Hasra's eastern gate, Shan darted among the soldiers, swinging his sword furiously and butchering his enemies. Unlike then, he had no need to keep his nerves on a knife-edge, concentrating on evading attacks from every direction. Though unenchanted, his armor was the finest plate issued to royal knights.

'Whew...'

It had always been this way: when he fought, especially when he saw human blood, he felt something boiling up inside him. Suppressing the surge of exhilaration, Shan took incoming arrows on his back and shoulders and cut down more enemies.

A few had come prepared with steel nets and threw them at him. But unlike ordinary knights, who grew overexcited and rampaged until they were entangled and sent sprawling, Shan roused his spirit to cut the nets apart or leaped out of their way. To make an example of the men who threw them, he split them in two from head to groin.

“W-we can't win...”

“Run!”

Terror spread in an instant. Once a dozen or so men had fallen, the soldiers lost their will to fight, backed away, then turned and fled. Seeing this, Shan sheathed his sword and took a moment to steady his breathing.

He had rested a little, but descending that towering cliff with two people in tow had apparently left him quite tired. His grip, too, felt considerably depleted. A blessing of vitality would have restored him quickly, but there was nothing to be done: borrowing a priest's power in a conflict between humans was a grave taboo.

Just then, a cry of “Found them!” rang out from the noisy mansion. Shortly afterward, the two squires emerged, dragging several men and women bound with the ropes they had used to secure themselves on the cliff.

“Aaaah! L-let go of me!”

“You bastards! Do you have any idea who I am?!”

“Wah... sniff...”

“Big brother... don't cry...”

A man and woman in their early to mid-forties, and two boys, one in his mid-teens and the other in his early teens. Having brought out all four, Biko reported to Shan with a confident expression.

“We've secured Viscount Zerkan, the viscountess, and both heirs!”

“Well done.”

Seeing this, bringing the two squires had certainly been worth the physical strain. Had Shan descended alone, he would have been running back and forth by now and certainly let one or two escape. In fact, if he had become absorbed in fighting, he might have failed to catch any of the nobles as they changed into servants' clothes and fled.

Their spirited report was short-lived. At the front entrance, the squires gasped at the bodies of more than a dozen soldiers and a knight strewn around them. One look at Shan, his sword and armor dyed crimson, was enough to tell them who had done it. Viscount Zerkan and his wife, who had been screaming and resisting, also fell silent in terror at the sight.

“D-did you do all this?”

“They've all fled for now, but they may bring reinforcements from the outer walls soon. Let's move quickly. Viscount Zerkan?”

Shan addressed the fat man who had been dragged out in his nightclothes. The viscount recoiled as the blood-soaked knight strode toward him.

“Wh-what do you want?”

“Where have you locked up Ravana's daughter?”

“Ravana... That mercenary bitch? Why should I tell you—Aagh!”

Apparently affronted that a mere knight would address him so rudely, enemy or not, Viscount Zerkan had tried to bluster in a surly tone. He screamed when Shan seized one of his fingers and snapped it. Taking hold of a second finger, Shan warned him quietly.

“Talk. I don't have time for this.”

“I-I am a titled noble entitled to sit in the Grand Council of Pendia's royal court! I have the right not to be tortured—Agh! The dungeon! She's in the dungeon! That way!”

“Good. Fortunately, I didn't have to break a third. Let's go. Lead me somewhere else, and I'll kill you and ask your son.”

“Urgh...”

Shan ordered the squires to bring the whimpering viscount and his family, then led the way.

* * *

The prison, a small hut, stood less than two minutes from the lord's villa. The soldier who should have been guarding its dungeon was nowhere to be seen; he had either died in the recent fight or fled. Shan descended the stairs into the foul-smelling underground chamber and found several people confined in separate barred cells: two men whose vicious looks suggested hardened criminals, an old man with a thick white beard, and an Altoan girl in her early teens with the ears and tail of some animal he couldn't identify.

Not even moonlight reached the pitch-dark interior, which sprang into brightness beneath the magical lamp Shan carried.

“Eek...”

The prisoners recoiled in terror at his sudden arrival. Hardly surprising, after screams outside were followed by a knight entering in bloodstained armor.

Ignoring the others, Shan approached the girl's cell. She was probably in her early teens, and her long red hair looked dry and coarse, perhaps from neglect.

“You're Ravana's daughter, aren't you?”

Rather than answer immediately, the girl kept her mouth firmly shut and studied him, as though weighing whether answering would be to her advantage. That alone was answer enough. Shan swung his sword and cut through the bars. As the sturdy metal sliced apart like cheese, the girl went wide-eyed and pressed herself against the wall, away from him.

“Let's go. I've come to take you back to your mother.”

“... Really?”

“Yes. Look, I'm an Altoan too.”

Though the magical lamp lit their surroundings, it was still dim enough for Shan's eyes to glow faintly. Noticing this, the girl brightened and took a few steps toward him.

“Shan Barendil of the Bright Eyes!”

“That's right. You've heard of me.”

“Mom told me about you. You're the first Altoan to become a knight!”

“Did she?”

“Yes!”

Whatever else her mother had said about Shan, it apparently hadn't been anything bad. Thinking that this should make things considerably easier, he brought the girl out and had her stand between his squires.

“It may be dangerous, so let these two protect you. All right?”

“All right.”

“She's important. Guard her well.”

As he gave the squires their instructions, someone coughed behind him. It was the old man huddled in a corner. The Altoan girl exclaimed as though she had completely forgotten, then turned to Shan.

“Oh, right! He has to come with us too!”

“That old man? Do you know him?”

“Yes. He's a mage. Mom often said Princess Sherin would be happy if we brought him along.”

“What?”

Who on earth was he? Shan quickly cut through the bars opposite and entered to check on the old man. Perhaps it was his advanced age and confinement in a filthy, cold prison, but he looked in very poor health.

“Sir, are you conscious? Can you speak?”

The old man opened his eyes a fraction and nodded. Yet his body apparently would not obey his wishes; his mouth moved, but no words came out. Reading his lips, Shan reached behind him.

“Water, quickly!”

At Shan's shout, Tavera hastily handed over his leather waterskin. Shan trickled water into the old man's mouth. After swallowing with difficulty, the man finally spoke.

“I... Tenon, Count Palatine...”

“Count Palatine Tenon? Surely not...”

The name sounded familiar. After a moment's thought, Shan realized with a start that it was the title held by the head of the Mages' Association. Was this shabby old man one of Sherin's teachers and patrons, whom he had only ever heard her speak of?

“Are you Count Palatine Tenon?”

The old man nodded with difficulty. Shan had never met him and couldn't be certain he was genuine, but at least his appearance matched Sherin's description of an elderly man.

“How on earth did you end up here...?”

Setting his questions aside, Shan lifted the dying man and held him out to Biko behind him. Any questions would have to wait until the man's condition had improved, even a little.

“Biko, carry him on your back. Tavera, you're responsible for all the hostages. Kill them immediately if they try to escape.”

“Even the viscount?”

“No exceptions.”

With two guards, things might have been different, but one person couldn't manage four hostages while trying to subdue them with half measures. Tavera gritted his teeth and nodded at Shan's order.

Leaving the dungeon, they headed straight for the citadel gate. With Viscount Zerkan and his entire party captured, the war was as good as over before it had even begun. All that remained was to let everyone know.

But as they passed beyond the citadel toward the outer walls, they sensed something amiss.

“What? Why can I hear fighting...?” Biko murmured in bewilderment.

Surely the plan had been to pretend to attack, not launch an actual siege until they gave a separate signal.

Approaching in confusion, they realized that the battle taking place was not a siege at all. The fighting was inside the walls, between the levies and the mercenaries.

“You traitorous bastards!”

“Traitors, my ass! You threatened us into working for you...!”

Thirteen or fourteen mercenaries stood in formation, surrounded by a hundred-odd levies and a handful of armed soldiers. They held on despite the overwhelming numerical disadvantage because nearly half the levies had to watch the army beyond the walls. And there was another reason—

“Uwaaah!”

“She's a monster! A monster!”

Ravana, the Slaughter Rabbit, was demonstrating with her whole body how she had earned that name. Every supple sweep of her enormous axe crushed flesh and sent bones flying. She paid no heed to arrows lodging in her body or the blood running from her head where a stone had split it open. Her eyes had rolled back, their whites flushed red with burst blood vessels, revealing that her reason was no longer intact.

Unlike the other mercenaries, who barely held their formation, she plunged alone among the enemy and butchered them indiscriminately. Even the two knights among the soldiers could do little more than barely defend themselves and stay out of her way. Her reputation for surpassing most knights was no empty boast. She might fall short of Shan, but even royal knights would have reason to be wary of her.

“GRAAAAAARGH!”

With a roar closer to a monster's than a human's, Ravana chopped through three men at once. The terrified levies fled backward.

Watching this, Shan raised his voice.

“Surrender, all of you! Viscount Zerkan has been captured!”

Amid the uproar, his voice did not reach everyone at once. But when the two squires behind him joined in, the people nearby soon spotted Viscount Zerkan and his family bound with rope.

“They've captured our lord?!”

“Should we rescue him?”

“How?”

With Tavera holding a sword to their lord's throat, none dared charge. Besides, Shan Barendil himself stood unharmed beside him. The enemy army was still outside, yet infighting had broken out within the walls and their lord had been captured. Sensing defeat, the soldiers quietly lowered their weapons.

“A-are we alive?”

“Damn, my ass hurts... Did I take an arrow?”

“That's not an arrow.”

“Please, cut the bullshit.”

As the fighting gradually subsided, the mercenaries clustered in a circle with their shields up began relaxing, cracking jokes among themselves. Then the growling Ravana's gaze turned toward Viscount Zerkan and the girl behind him.

“Mom!”

“Ki... ri...”

Uttering her daughter's name, Ravana roared thunderously and charged with her axe.

The soldiers before her scattered to either side in a tumbling rush, opening a path. Terrified, the viscount tried to flee, only to trip over the rope and fall where he stood.

“H-help me!”

As his desperate cry rang out and the axe descended toward his head, a longsword slipped between them in a shower of sparks. Her attack blocked, Ravana glared with rolling eyes at Shan, who stood in her way.

“You!”

With an enraged mutter, she swung her axe again. Shan stood calmly and met it. An ordinary longsword would have shattered instantly beneath the monstrous strength and spirit carried by that huge axe, but Guardian of the East was sturdy enough to endure it, and Shan's technique precise enough to smoothly deflect the impact.

'She can use spirit too, just as I thought.'

Indeed, however exceptional one's physique and skill, a warrior could only go so far without spirit. Hadn't that been why Shan himself had struggled so much to hunt a troll in the past? Of course, even back then, he could easily have killed a mere troll if he'd had Guardian of the East.

'Still, that strength is nowhere near normal... Has she taken some sort of drug?'

Shan, too, was strong for his size, but not to that extent. And judging by the way she seemed half out of her mind, perhaps she had used the berserker's elixir he had only heard about. He had never taken an interest because its suitability varied considerably with one's constitution and it could shorten one's life, but its effects looked far more potent than he had expected.

As their weapons clashed, no one nearby dared interfere. They were overwhelmed by Ravana's strength and ferocity, more befitting a large monster than a human, and by Shan's unruffled defense against her onslaught.

After they had exchanged dozens of blows in moments, Shan shifted his weight forward, intending to subdue her. He had hoped to let her wear herself out and stop on her own, but she looked ready to rampage for quite a while yet. Now genuinely tired, he wanted to put her down quickly and rest.

Amazingly, however, the instant Shan shifted to the attack, the rampaging Ravana shuddered for some reason and took a step back. Utterly unlike her behavior a moment before, she resembled a terrified rabbit. When Shan strode toward her, her rigid rabbit ears drooped backward.

“Mmm...”

Everyone stared dumbfounded as Ravana suddenly flung away her axe and curled up.