Chapter 215- There is a Path in the Darkness (3)

The Cold of Winter Had Not Yet Fully Dissipated from the Room.

An old man sat alone in a place where no one else was around.

The carpet beneath his feet was soft and the clothes he wore were thick, yet the old man still leaned toward the burning fireplace as if he felt cold.

"...So this is what has happened."

Prince Armand.

A man who abandoned his surname to fulfill the duty that preceded his name.

From his mouth, which he could no longer control, came a broken voice.

"Even if I die, I will not have the honor of seeing you."

Armand's eyes were focused on the burning firewood, but his withered hands held a worn note.

The note, which he had carefully kept, was the last letter sent to him by August, the former commander of the Imperial Guard.

"..."

Despite having read it countless times, Prince Armand lowered his gaze to the paper with a somber expression.

My sword, the sword of the empire, and the proud commander of the Imperial Guard, Knight August.

Prince Armand, remembering the man he could no longer see, clenched the paper in his hand.

"...But even if you are not near, I still have to do what I must do."

An old man saddened because he could not fulfill his duty.

Although Prince Armand's time was running out, like the logs in the fireplace, the old duke had not yet given up.

Because the last telegram sent by his loyal knight still contained a spark of hope.

Though I couldn't preserve the bloodline, I will at least try to carry on his will.

Holding the letter that August had sent him from the elf forest, Armand's eyes still burned with a flame that had not gone out.

***

"As expected, he has dark blonde hair and blue eyes, just as I heard."

"..."

Vlad looked at the men who surrounded him in an instant and carefully set down the glass he was holding.

He realized that the men watching him were not ordinary thugs, but formidable swordsmen.

"Who are you to gather like this?"

"I am Rodrigo, a high-ranking knight of the Imperial Guard."

The flag the men held bore a white lightning bolt piercing through the darkness.

It was the banner of the Imperial Guard, the pride of the imperial brigades, said to be on par with the imperial guard.

"...Shouldn't you be in the capital, you of the Imperial Guard?"

"We have come to arrest a criminal."

Bang!

The man seemed displeased with Vlad's relaxed demeanor despite being completely surrounded, so he made a loud noise and left a piece of paper.

The document he placed on the table was an arrest warrant signed by Prince Armand.

"I arrest you for the murder of Sir August, the former commander of the Imperial Guard. Vlad."

"What?"

Dark blonde hair and blue eyes.

The Imperial Guard was baring their teeth at the northern knight, who clearly had dragon blood.

Because they had discovered that the last person to have been with their murdered commander was the young dragon now before them.

"..."

Vlad, recalling the familiar name he had heard from an unknown man, began to read the arrest warrant with slightly trembling hands.

The order, written in brief and firm handwriting, included his own name and August's.

"Sir August is dead?"

"Do not deny it, dragon blood."

Vlad was asking about August's fate with a frozen face, but the Imperial Guards simply drew their swords.

Thinking this was also a foolish trick by the criminals, their swords filled with an anger they could not hide.

"Because your sin is already proven by your natural blonde hair and blue eyes."

"..."

Vlad's eyes trembled at the sharp and powerless misunderstanding.

The old knight who once told him to visit when he reached the capital.

He was the one who said it was alright to use his own name on the imperial sword, in case something went wrong.

"When? Who did it?"

"...You, damned."

Vlad's name held many facets.

When Kihano saw him, he was a star looking at the sky, and when August saw him, he was a knight protecting the young world tree.

"As expected of dragon blood, it only shows its cowardice."

But for Rodrigo, Vlad was just a dragon who had killed his commander.

The worlds hidden in the left eyes of the knights began to form towards the dragon's veins as they shouted in anger.

"Vlad Dragulia! I will arrest you!"

They called him by the name he was born with, not the name he earned.

Vlad ended up biting his lip at the men who saw him as a dragon instead of a knight.

"...It wasn't me."

Vlad knew that the misunderstanding was already tangled like a ball of thread and that he was trapped in a snare.

"I did not kill Sir August."

That is why he had to prove his innocence to these knights.

That he was not a dragon and had not killed their commander.

With those words, Vlad slowly rose and drew his sword.

The world of Vlad, who tried to prove his innocence, was a golden light that shone with pride.

***

Kwaaaaaaaaaaa!

Baron Moldavir and Joseph were startled by the loud noise coming from the center of the city.

The sound was so loud that it made the teacup in their hands tremble.

"What was that? What is happening?"

At the sudden noise, Baron Moldavir quickly rose from his seat and ran to the window.

The changing political situation in the center made him fear that a war had broken out in his territory.

"This. What the hell is this..."

However, the city walls were calm.

There was only a cloud of dust rising from the center of the market in the distance.

Joseph recognized the familiar golden flash in the pale dust and silently set down the teacup he was holding.

***

"Dammit!"

"Filthy rat! You already knew!"

The knights rolled amidst the walls that exploded noisily.

The ones who hadn't revealed themselves earlier were the Imperial Guards blocking the escape routes outside the building.

'A total of six!'

There were four knights surrounding Vlad inside the bar, but in reality, there were six in total, including the knights waiting outside the building.

Vlad, who had discovered their location while they held their breath thanks to his sensitive hearing, deliberately cornered Rodrigo and destroyed the wall they were standing on, causing confusion.

"Lord Vlad!"

"Stay still!"

Although Nibelung was hastily packing his backpack, Vlad couldn't accept his help this time.

"I'll handle it myself!"

Though it was just a messy marketplace, the place where Vlad stood now was no different from a courtroom.

The only judge who can prove my innocence through the knights before me.

To prove his innocence, he would have to persuade them with his sword.

Clang!

"Do you intend to prove your innocence with such tricks? Vlad Dragulia."

"..."

However, the process of trying to prove my worth was never an easy path, as it always was.

The anger he had seen before flared up from Rodrigo's burning left eye.

Everything stemmed from a misunderstanding, but at least his anger was justified.

"Did you ask how Sir August died?"

Rodrigo's world was formed by iron chains.

His sword began to gradually extend along Rodrigo's world, which held the color of cold iron.

"…!"

His sword, which had stretched to the point where it was no longer possible to predict the distance, began to curve toward Vlad as if it were a rope to bind a criminal.

"That is something I want to know too!"

Bang!

Though his sword seemed flexible, the impact was enough to break the ground.

The merchants around the market began to scream as the market exploded.

"Now!"

"Catch him!"

Vlad was taken aback by Rodrigo's whip-like attack, but he didn't even have time to breathe as other knights immediately attacked him.

"Surrender quietly, you Dragulia bastard."

The death of their commander, whom they had followed all their lives.

The noble knight, who should not have died, had returned as a corpse, and the knights, with no place to direct their anger, poured it onto Vlad.

[...Move quickly! Before they form their formation!]

"Tch!"

The direction in which the knights entered was sharper than the straight sword.

Their movements, taking advantage of all advancement possibilities, pressed Vlad like an iron net falling from the sky.

Clang! Clang!

'I can't let myself be cornered!'

Though he understood their intent, escaping was difficult.

When I block one sword, another comes in, and I think I see a space to push it away, but before I realize it, another knight has filled the space.

'Dammit!'

Meanwhile, Rodrigo's sword kept flying persistently.

The persistent malice of the Imperial Guards, determined to catch him alive, complicated Vlad's every move.

[Predict the next move! Only then can you escape!]

"...!"

There is absolutely no way to escape through the visible gap.

In that case, there's no choice but to predict the gap that will form in the future and escape through it.

Vlad, who understood Kihano's advice, quickly leaped and escaped backward.

Kwaaang!

Some building somewhere exploded again due to Rodrigo's sword.

Vlad found it difficult to breathe due to the thick dust created by the collapsing building, but he only tried to stay calm and lift his sword.

"...That's it."

He was shaking his shoulders violently, as if he were tired, but his dazzling gaze was fierce.

Rodrigo, seeing Vlad raising his sword like an arrow about to be shot, felt a strange dissonance.

The sword rises above the shoulder as if an arrow were being shot.

Vlad's stance of holding his breath for a single strike must have been a very familiar posture to the Imperial Guard knights.

[Do you see it now?]

"Yes."

Perhaps to his surprise, a gap became visible among the disheveled knights.

August's eyes could see the gap that had not yet formed but would open the moment the sword touched it.

"I can see it."

I can hear the movement of the twisting muscles.

You can see the remnants of the breath about to be exhaled.

Thus, even the gap between them that will form in the future.

[Then go!]

The skills of the former Imperial Guard commander overlaid on the imperial sword.

Although it was just for a moment, the Imperial Guard knights were shocked to see as if their captain was standing before them.

"Haa!"

Following the weak points shown by August's path, Vlad's sword moved.

An elegant sword that flows from point to line, like a brush.

The Imperial Guard knights felt a strange sound resonate in their hearts as they saw the silver sword pass by them.

Boom-boom!

The silver sword Vlad held was crying.

Along with the true silver coins the knights keep in their hearts.

The coin, which could only be purchased with honor, was a noble metal that could only be possessed by those who had surrendered to themselves, and moreover, it came from a single sword.

"No way!"

Rodrigo's mouth opened wide as he saw the sword passing the knights and approaching him.

This was because, as he watched the silver sword cry on its own, he remembered the content of August's last message.

Ausurin. The Sword Master's sword has been drawn.

"I will prove my innocence with this sword!"

The swordsmanship of the Sword Master approached, piercing through the darkness created by the misunderstanding.

Rodrigo could realize this by feeling the sound of the coin ringing slowly in his chest along with the sword.

The young dragon of Dragulia, who had been with his commander until the end, was not a murderer.

Only then did Vlad appear from the other side, not as a dragon, but as a knight who had inherited someone's will.

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