Chapter 18

'Fuck- She was suicidal? I thought she'd have trust issues, but I didn't think she'd be suicidal. There are better ways to kill yourself you know? I'm pretty low on Mana since I wanted to make it look like I was so pissed that I gave into rage, but then again. I'm not that far in Mana Class 8 and she even has a bloodline ability, my over all stats as a fighter aren't that high so it stands to reason as to how someone like her pierced my stomach.'

"YOUNG MASTER!-"

The knights all yelled in unison and placed their hands on their swords. I raised my hand, signalling them to stop. I hugged Charlotte even tighter before speaking.

"You don't need to be afraid, I'll be here for you."

"LET GO OF ME! JUST LET ME DIE ALREADY, I HAVE NOTHING TO LIVE FOR AND YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET IN MY WAY!"

She took a deep breath before speaking.

"I-i just want to see my mother again, without her I've got no one."

She started sobbing, tears kept streaming down her face and they just wouldn't stop. I had an opportunity and I was going to take it, but the only thing was. It was that she was still actively trying to kill me.

'I might actually die here today, I don't really believe in Gods even though they exist in this world but I'm considering offering a prayer.'

I kept slowly patting her back, compassion would go a long way into making her more subservient towards me.

"My bad, I don't think I can let go of you right now. I'd regret it for the rest of my life if I let someone like you die. If you don't have anyone to live for then live for me. The Aries House has met its end, so you're no longer a prisoner. I would say you're free but, I won't lie, I really want you. I won't force you though."

"Y-y-you want m-m-me?- T-t-that's vulgar-"

"Yes, become my knight, how is being a knight vulgar? Isn't it an honour and justice filled job?"

"Ah, you want me to be your knight. But can I trust you?"

'Does she have trust issues or something? And I'm sort of worried by her interpretation of "I want you" and that sigh sounded like she was disappointed. Did she want to be my maid?'

"I'm not sure as to whether I'm worthy of your trust. But serve me and I'll fulfill each and every one of your wishes, I'll even let you ask for any one thing right now."

"In that case, I want to go to the main battle and watch those belonging to the Aries House are slaughtered. Not a single one of them helped me or my mother, I want to see them dyed in blood."

She said this all with a smile face, the smile could probably melt the world. But the only thing was that her hand was still in me. When she realised this she took out her hand from my stomach. The knights immediately rushed to Mr and fed me a potion, they likely kept them just in case I got injured in the fight.

"I want you three to let everyone know of the events that transpired today. I want each and every one of my knights to know the value of those close to me. Let my father know that I've chosen her as my personal knight. She'll sure to be a gem that shines in the world of mages when she grows up. But for now, let's head to the battlefield."

We got into the car, the driver had been waiting the entire time. I ordered him to take us to wherever the main battle was being held. We made our way to the Aries Household's mansion. The important where all there, I was taken to the main tent, Lucas was there and was sipping on some tea.

"Father, I'm sure you've been notified but I've chosen her as my knight."

He looked at me with warm eyes and smiled. He looked at Charlotte properly and smiled once again.

"She's mage? I never knew the Aries household had a daughter, they were likely going to use for experiments. Another reason as to why the royals have given us permission to destroy them is because they've been experimenting on humans and try and achieve something but we're not sure what. All the researchers were killed by their own knights or committed suicide."

My face darkened and I made an 'angry' face, I released my bloodlust. I clenched my fists so tightly that blood dripped.

"I'll be heading to the battlefield I don't think I can sit still after hearing that."

Lucas smiled and stood up, he was wearing a beautiful white armour with gold highlights.

"In that case, I too shall make my move. After all I've been waiting for you."

'I've been wondering why they hadn't destroyed the mansion yet, after all someone at Mana Class 2 could've easily made an entire city dissappear.'

He stood outside and raised his sword.

"ALL TROOPS! PREPARE FOR BATTLE!"

The ground rumbled as a thousand all prepared for battle, they all stood pridefully. An interesting thing to note from earlier on was that no one questioned my descision of making Charlotte my knight.

They likely believed it to be a better idea to just leave it the Archduke. Rumours of my fight had already spread, how I singlehandedly took down a knight who was a Mana Class above me. As such, the troops knew that I wasn't some sort of pushover. Especially since they heard about what I did to the brat. All of these factors contributed to them not daring to question who I chose as my knight.

The Archduke had over a thousand men behind him, his armour shone under the moonlight sky. He truly looked ethereal. I looked at the three knights behind me, they were here for the same reason as before.

Charlotte was over in the tents being taken care of by the maids and being allowed to rest.

In front of us were around two thousand or so men. The person at the front was a blonde haired man, he was the Aries Household's current head.

Lucas waved his hand, Frost gushed from his feet and surrounded the mansion from all angles but one. With a mere wave of his hand he had Frozen a large part of the mansion and forced the Aries family with only one option.

To fight.

"I do not care whether or not you wish to surrender for you will die tonight. Be grateful that you will die to the Knights of Avalon."

He drew his sword, it shone under the moonlight. He took a breath before continuing. He raised his sword above him and roared with all his might.

"ALL MEN, ADVANCE, DO NOT LEAVE A SINGLE MAN ALIVE!"

***

I thought about the conversation I had with Charlotte, I asked why she joined so quickly.

"Why I joined? It's simple really, I've got this 'Monster' inside it's like another me. It told me something about you."

"It told you something about me?"

"It told me that you..."

***

I was brought back to reality by the scarred knight who misunderstood my expression and fear. He smiled at me as if to reassure me of my safety.

We were outnumbered by 2:1 but our soldiers were of far higher quality. From their equipment, to their skills and even their team work. We were simply better.

I had regained almost all my Mana in the time we took to get here. So today I would show these soldiers what fear truly looked like.

I siphoned Mana from within my core, and enhanced myself. I spread Mana throughout my body as I usually did and ran forward. I enhanced specific muscles instead of my entire body, I had been feeling out what muscles were used and the overall form of my muscles and skeletal structure and had memorised them.

This meant I knew which muscles and bikes were being used and when they were being used, and I was only going to use Mana on a muscle or bond when it was moving which would effectively half the Mana consumption.

When I had a larger capacity I wouldn't need to do this but until my core became strong enough. But this technique which I've named 'Selective Enhancement' would allow me to fight for longer but it'd be a pain to use.

I ran forward enhancing only the necessary muscles and bones, my three knights ran at a pace similar to me. We ran into a huge crowd of knights and I spoke in a cold voice while releasing the strongest wave killing I've ever released in this world.

"My knights, wreak havoc unto those mutts."