With the Baron's collapse, the camp instantly fell silent.
For a moment, no one could react to what had just happened.
Knight John took a few strides to the Baron's side, knelt down, and helped him up.
A trickle of blood ran down the Baron's pale lips.
There was a distinct, charred hole in his chest.
He parted his lips to speak, but no sound came out.
“My Lord is wounded!” Knight John shouted.
Rosie darted through the crowd to the other side of the Baron. Reaching out her hand, she began to chant:
“O shining Holy Light, answer my call, descend upon—”
“Silence.”
A voice echoed from behind her.
The voice was quiet, flat, and altogether familiar.
Rosie's throat suddenly felt as though it were blocked by something.
The final syllables caught in her throat, refusing to come out.
She whipped her head around.
Anna stood beside Count Morris, the tip of the wand in her hand glowing with an extremely faint light.
Her expression was calm—as calm as she always was when doing anything.
“Baron Weiss has taken it upon himself to give away the kingdom's territory. He shall be punished for treason!”
Before anyone else could react, Count Morris's voice rang out across the camp.
The crowd erupted instantly.
“What?!”
A knight of the Weismar Fief lunged forward, his hand already on his hilt.
But after only a few steps, a knight of the Count, clad in fine armor, blocked his path.
The Weismar knight stopped and glared at Count Morris, his voice thick with rage:
“Lord Morris! What is the meaning of this?! Whether Lord Weiss is in the wrong or not, it is not your place to deal with him! Only His Majesty the King has the authority to decide!”
Another knight squeezed through the crowd. “Lord Morris, you are not His Majesty! By what right do you declare treason?”
“You are only a Count, not His Majesty!”
“Whatever Lord Weiss did, it should be judged by the King!”
“Lord Weiss did nothing wrong! The Pioneer Decree has always been in effect!”
Others joined in the interrogation, and the voices grew louder and more numerous.
Count Morris's expression barely shifted when confronted by their questioning.
He swept a cold gaze over the sources of the noise and spoke with nonchalance.
“Soldiers, hear my command! Seize them. Kill anyone who dares to resist.”
The sound of drawing weapons filled the air as the Count's knights and soldiers unsheathed their blades.
The Baron's men refused to be outdone, drawing their own weapons to face them head-on.
The mercenaries drew their weapons as well, stepping up beside the Baron's soldiers. Some cursed and spat, while others silently tightened their grips on their hilts.
The laborers immediately fled to the corners, crouching down and curling into tight balls, too terrified to make a sound.
The atmosphere in the cavern instantly turned explosive as the two sides faced off from a few meters apart.
The dwarf stood behind Rosie, glancing left and right.
He gripped the handle of his axe but did not raise it, looking as though he wanted to say something but had no idea where to start.
“Anna! What is the meaning of this?!”
The Silence effect on Rosie finally wore off. She glared at the female mage and demanded answers.
Anna looked back at Rosie, her tone matter-of-fact. “Rosie, I told you. The Count is my employer. I am obligated to help him.”
Rosie stared at her, her eyes narrowing slightly.
Anna continued, “Rosie, you are a smart person. You know what choice to make, don't you?”
“You should have let me save the Baron. He is a good man,” Rosie said.
“He is indeed a good man, but good men usually don't live long...” Anna replied softly.
“I knew mages couldn't be trusted!”
The dwarf spat with a curse and stepped up to Rosie's side.
The light of the bonfire danced between the three of them.
Though they had been chatting happily just moments ago, they now felt as if they were separated by a thick wall of ice.
Rosie looked toward Count Morris. “Even if Lord Weiss did something wrong, it is for His Majesty the King to decide. Your act of murdering another lord on your own authority, Lord Count, is the true act of treason, isn't it?”
Count Morris did not even twitch an eyebrow. “Hmph! Do you think because Weiss dubbed you a knight, you are qualified to speak to me?”
He raised his hand, his voice cold and hard. “Lay down your weapons and surrender, or be executed on the spot.”
As he spoke, the Count's men took a sudden step forward.
Their steps were orderly and powerful, their iron boots thudding against the ground in an intimidating display of force.
Even with the mercenaries, the Baron's side numbered only about fifty, and some of their people were still out exploring.
Meanwhile, the Count had brought two hundred well-equipped, orderly soldiers. The disparity in strength was clear at a glance.
“Lord Morris, do you truly think you can cover the sky with a single hand?”
The Weismar knight who had spoken earlier did not back down, glaring intently at Count Morris.
Count Morris sneered. “And what if I do?”
He paused, then spat out two words: “Do it!”
The moment the words left his mouth, a flash of sword light swept in from the knight's flank.
The blade pierced the knight's throat, sinking into the side of his neck and protruding from the other.
The knight's pupils dilated instantly. He didn't even have time to comprehend what had happened.
Then, the blade was violently ripped out. Blood erupted from the wound, splashing onto the ground beside the bonfire.
The knight's body collapsed to the ground, astonishment still lingering in his eyes even in death.
The other knights were stunned.
Their eyes darted from the corpse on the ground to the man who had drawn the sword, and back again, as if unable to connect the two.
Knight John sheathed his longsword and stood there calmly.
“John? How could you...” one of the knights gasped in disbelief.
“I have always been the Count's man,” John's voice was exceptionally flat.
“Kill them all. Leave none alive.”
Count Morris's voice rang out, ruthless and decisive.
At that exact moment, Rosie moved.
She lunged toward Count Morris the very instant the command was uttered.
The Charge skill pushed her speed to its limit in an instant, the distance between them shrinking faster than the eye could track.
Anna clenched her left hand, and a blue barrier materialized out of thin air, enveloping both her and Count Morris.
Rosie slammed violently against the surface of the barrier. A dull thud echoed as ripples cascaded across the shield.
Rosie herself was flung back by the force of the rebound.
She had intended to use Charge to close the distance and take the Count hostage, but she hadn't expected Anna to be so well-prepared.
The blue barrier continued to shroud Anna and the Count, isolating them from everyone else in the cavern.
“Kill!”
At the same time, the Count's soldiers launched their assault.
The clash of metal erupted through the crowd. Flesh tore, blood splattered, and screams echoed as people collapsed to the ground one after another.
Rate on N.U.
