Chapter 36 ─ The principality attack

This happened after Rei and Rose left.

"That's not how you put up a tent."

"But I want to set it up like this Isaac."

"Al, I'm telling you this needs to be more spacious so Eli has more mobility."

"No, no, no. You do understand that tents are for sharing right? You're using two tents for her alone!"

Everyone was setting up their stuff.

At that moment while Alfred was stopping Sig from using his sleeping bag to make a bed for Eli.

"...!"

He became aware of an approaching presence.

"Where's it coming from?"

"Al?"

Alfred looked sideways.

(It's moving around a lot, I can't detect how many there are.)

"What's the matter Al?"

Sig was asking him, but Alfred wasn't paying attention.

Behind them a hooded man ran straight at Sig.

Alfred shouted.

"Enemy attack!"

Everyone reacted to those words.

But it was too late.

The hooded man was approaching, pulled out a dagger and standing a meter away.

"Bacon, guard His Highness!"

A voice came from the sky, Alfred raised his head and saw Sieghart falling from the sky.

Alfred grabbed Sig's shoulder and they both threw themselves to the side.

Sieghart fell on top of the hooded man, breaking his bones instantly.

Getting up, Sig asked him.

"Commander Hogan, what are you doing here!"

Then he noticed that Sieghart was covered in blood.

It did not appear to be his but someone else's.

Sieghart shouted to them after making sure the hooded man was dead.

"Why are you still here, I told you to run!"

In the distance they could see more hooded men approaching them.

Some of them had bows.

The arrows were covered by wind magic to boost the attack and speed.

Quickly Sig approached Eli and grabbed her hand.

"Everyone, run away fast!"

Everyone's surprise reaction was slow, but they heeded Sig.

They started to run.

At that moment, Sieghart drew his sword and went after the hooded men.

He commented on his situation as he destroyed the arrows that were sent at the others.

"I never expected to be ambushed. These guys came out behind me and I cut them down."

"Then I noticed more of them approaching."

"Why did they come out now?"

Sieghart got so close to one of them, he grabbed him by the face and slammed him into a large tree nearby.

Due to the size of the tree, the man died instantly.

He picked up the dagger from the ground and threw it at the eyes of another.

The man took cover avoiding that killing blow.

But that was Sieghart's target.

Grabbing it he threw it at another enemy standing next to him.

The man's sword pierced the enemy's belly.

Then Sieghart using his fingers, stabbed them into the guy's corneas.

A terrifying sound of pain was emanating.

To prevent him from screaming, he slit his throat.

The men around him were frightened.

Leaving them alive was problematic.

"Therefore I will eliminate them immediately to protect the prince and princess."

"You talk a lot for an old man."

Sieghart looked in the direction where the voice came from.

"You two, get out of here. We'll take care of the rest."

A dozen men wearing black robes approached.

The republic soldiers left immediately.

Sieghart wondered without losing his guard.

(Why did they run away?)

(These guys are not his comrades?)

(I don't think so. Just seeing how scared they were was proof enough of that.)

"Who are you guys?"

There was a momentary silence, one of them answered after showing his face.

"Nice to meet you Commander, don't you remember me? I am Martin Zimmermann, you denied me entry to the royal knights for alleged extortion."

"I remember you, it was. You were extorting money from people of modest means just to feel superior."

Martin laughed as he stroked his brown hair.

"We are part of the cult. We were christened codes."

"Codes?"

"One of ours was Matt, remember him?"

"...I remembered. So? Did you turn to the enemy's side to justify your crimes, or is it something else?"

"For power obviously."

Martin said.

"Right now the principality is attacking all around the capital."

"What did you say!"

Sieghart exclaimed in surprise.

"What are you surprised about?"

Martin asked him as he drew his sword.

"The cult is secretly supporting the principality."

"Their mission is to take over the world, but first they will destroy the wretched Kingdom due to the fact that they have been a pain in the ass lately."

"So, commander."

Everyone prepared to kill Sieghart.

"Die for our future."

◇◇◇

"Don't stop, keep running!"

Sig shouted, everyone agreed.

They dropped their stuff, even Eli asked something they all knew.

"Shouldn't we go back for Rose and my prince?"

Even if Rei isn't present, Sig knew not to worry about him.

"That guy even if he doesn't act like he used to be still strong."

"Don't think he'll be defeated easily."

"You are the ones who should think like that."

A voice spoke to them from some direction.

Suddenly from the ground manifested a huge hand made of dirt.

Zoey and Sasha were caught off guard.

"Kyah! What is this?"

"It's really tight!"

Oliver yelled.

"I'll get you out of there!"

"You should check for yourself before the others."

The mysterious voice again spoke to him and Oliver watched as several fists came out of the ground hitting him.

Then, several men made of sand manifested in front of them.

Isaac pointed his hand at the sandmen to attack them.

"They are golems! Someone must be summoning them, be careful."

"Too late to say that."

A blizzard surrounded a cannonball made of mud which hit Isaac in the face.

"Damn!"

Sig drew his sword.

"You two get Eli out of here!"

"Al, we'll buy time for them to leave."

"Count on it."

The boys' determination was interrupted by the voice coming from Diethard who appeared before them.

"It really is careless of the kingdom. Their crown prince and princess are in a critical situation and they sent them on a picnic."

"It's really boring this simplistic development."

A group of men with their faces covered by a light black cloth pointed their hands at them.

"Immobilize them."

Fireballs and waterballs launched like missiles were aimed at them.

Nadine used her sword as a shield, but they forgot that the enemies were superior in numbers.

Attacks came from all sides, they even used earth magic to immobilize them.

Defeat was inevitable.

Diethard approached them.

He grabbed Eli by the hair and said to Sig in a nasty way.

"You wanted to protect her didn't you? Come on, move."

"Hey, Rodman, look."

Everyone's gaze focused on Howard who was bringing Rose and Rei tied up on the floor.

At that moment, everyone realized their situation.

"The end of this country is more than guaranteed now."

◇◇◇

After killing everyone present.

Sieghart had to cut his hair to defeat Martin.

"They were more skilled than I thought."

"But, to believe that by taking my hair would be a disadvantage are wrong."

"I grow my hair long for that, but I had to use my best asset to defeat a mere minion."

"That tells you how old I am."

He heard a branch snapping. There approaching was Henry along with a group of soldiers.

"Looks like I won't get out of this without a fight."

Sieghart marched against his enemies.

"I will not go down without a fight!"

But he was stopped.

"S-Stop please! I am not an enemy!"

Sieghart did not stop until he saw Henry kneeling. Then he asked in the face of this possible tactic.

"What are you doing?"

Henry raised his head to tell him.

"I want your help. To save my nation."

________________

I leave fanservice of Oriana as an apology for not coming out since the prologue: https://chan.sankakucomplex.com/es/post/show/31940306