“My brother has been fighting demonic beasts with a sword since he was 15 years old. So he will return safely.”
“Yes, he will.”
Agnes repeated those words to herself several times. Otherwise, she couldn’t stay still.
“Because he promised me. He’ll definitely come back.”
She closed her eyes and recalled his dark green eyes. She remembered the lips that said they would come back. That was all Agnes could do.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
The Estar Castle quickly prepared for battle and stocked up on provisions.
Thanks to Agnes’s quick and meticulous instructions, everything was in order. From some point on, Zoltan followed Agnes like a lord.
“It’s fortunate that we have plenty of provisions.” Niall said with a sigh of relief.
Moving the gold coins to a new building and filling the empty warehouse with provisions had been a great help.
She also asked the wizards for help in combat but they shook their heads….
“I’m sorry, Duchess. We still lack research on combat magic.”
“I see.”
If they could safely overcome this, she would instruct them to research combat magic first.
She felt regretful, but there was nothing she could do.
Two days had passed since the castle gates were closed. As noon approached, a grim bell rang throughout the castle.
Dung dung dung dung-
“BEAST!”
Someone’s shout brought her back to her senses.
Agnes quickly stood up and looked for Zoltan. He was passing through the hallway clad in armor.
“What happened?”
“It’s the Lequi.”
“How many?”
Zoltan’s face hardened.
“Seventeen in sight.”
“…Can we handle it?”
Ney’s face, who was listening next to her, turned white.
Lequis are notorious demons with high intelligence who like to group together.
Handling even one is difficult, let alone seventeen.
Agnes bit her lip tightly. Zoltan chuckled inappropriately at the question.
“I will do it, because I made a promise to my brother to protect the princess.”
Agnes didn’t know what to say. She took a deep breath, raised her head, and looked at him.
“Come back alive.”
That’s all she wanted to say.
“Yes.”
Zoltan flapped his red cape and walked to the other side.
Agnes, with a heart trembling with anxiety, gathered the people of the castle in one place.
“Madam. The demonic beasts…….”
Everyone’s faces turned white out of nervousness.
The news of the defense line collapsing had already spread throughout the castle.
Tears were about to burst in the eyes of the young maids.
“Estar is a fortress of a thousand years. Don’t worry too much, as the knights, including Sir Zoltan, went out to deal with the beast.”
Agnes met the eyes of each person gathered in front of her as she spoke.
“We have enough food left and the Duke Arpad will return soon. All we have to do is wait.”
“Yes madam.”
After reassuring them, Agnes headed towards the center of the castle.
There was a large window where one could look outside the castle.
Through the window, screams and the sound of weapons could be heard.
The Lequi horde could be seen running towards the castle from a distance.
Agnes closed her eyes, clasped her hands together, and began to pray earnestly.
It wasn’t clear for whom or for what she was praying.
She just had a desperate heart.
‘Please. Please come back safely.’
“Madam!”
Ney, who was next to her, shook Agnes urgently.
She stopped praying, lifted her head, and looked up.
The Lequi completely surrounded the castle. The surrounding was so dark but she could see how many there were.
Even just by looking, it seemed like more than seventeen.
Her mind went blank. There are only 15 knights in the castle and around 50 soldiers.
With the sound of the air splitting, a thud came from the castle wall.
The sound of people’s screams grew closer.
Boom boom.
Her legs trembled uncontrollably.
Then the beasts began to stick one by one over the window.
With a crack sound, the glass window showed signs of cracking as if it would shatter at any moment.
“Ma, madam!”
Ney cried out. Agnes bit her lips hard.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
“Milord!”
He was just pulling out a sword stuck in the body of the beast.
Ralph was running towards them from afar.
Coooooo!
In a brief moment, six Lequi screamed and ran in all directions.
Laslo swung his sword through the air, cutting the demon in a straight line from left to right.
Kyak!
It was just one move.
With that, three demons fell to the ground, pouring blood simultaneously.
As soon as the three fell down, the remaining three rushed behind Laslo.
Without blinking an eye, he spun around and cut each demon’s throat.
Blood flowed like a river on the floor.
Ralph approached Laslo over the bodies of the demons, with a disgusted expression.
“You’re really incredible.”
“What’s going on?”
“By the way! Lequi has invaded the castle. Sir Zoltan is holding them off, but it’s not enough.”
“What about the princess?”
“Yes?”
“Is there another elesh next to the princess?”
“Oh, Kess is there…”
He blurred the end of his speech. Kes was skilled in stealth rather than swordsmanship. Knowing that, Laslo frowned.
“Bring my horse. Right now.”
“Yes. Understood.”
Ralph hurried off.
✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
“Madam! Over there!”
It was then. A sound that could be either a scream or a cheer could be heard from far away.
The demons clinging to the window started screaming and falling off one by one. The number, which was only one or two at first, gradually increased.
Agnes gathered her courage and walked closer to the window.
“It’s the Lord!”
Nae shouted as she jumped up and down. Agnes looked around frantically.
Squeak!
The Lequi let out a long howl.
Laslo, wielding a sword as tall as Agnes, was fighting off the approaching demons.
Every time he swung his sword, he knocked down a lequi, but the battle was prolonged because they were crowded.
“Oh no…”
To make matters worse, the sky on the opposite side began to darken.
What they thought were dark clouds turned out to be winged demons.
Zoltan and several other knights ran towards that direction.
Kweeak! Kweak!
Some archers shot arrows at the winged demons in the sky, but they had little effect.
A large demon descended rapidly, trying to grab Laslo with its claws.
Laslo calmly parried with his sword.
Even from a distance, the urgency was palpable.
As he took down one demon, others started descending towards Laslo just like before.
“No!”
Agnes screamed without realizing it.
The demons poured down endlessly. On top of that, six Lequi latched on all at once.
Laslo was seen sporadically through the black wings.
Agnes paced back and forth. Her heart was pounding heavily.
The situation was too disadvantageous. There are knights around Laslo, but they were busy dealing with other lequi.
From a distance, Agnes could see Laslo moving.
However, he was covered in red and his movement is slower than before.
‘What should I do? What should I do?’
“Eugene!”
A sudden thought struck her.
“What? Why are you suddenly calling …… a wizard?”
Ney, who was nearby, looked at Agnes with a puzzled expression.
“Come quickly!”
“You called for me, my princess.”
Eugene’s soft, low voice came from behind.
“W-what…how…”
Ney stepped back in surprise as if she were going to faint.
Agnes pointed at Ney with her chin.
Understanding her intention, Eugene flicked his finger lightly towards her. In an instant, Ney’s eyes glazed over.
“Say it now. Agnes.”
“Help me.”
Agnes didn’t beat around the bush. It wasn’t the time for that.
“What do you need?”
“Didn’t you introduce yourself as the King of Demons?”
Agnes distinctly remembered Eugene introducing himself in that manner.
“That’s right.”
He calmly nodded his head.
“In that case, it should also be possible to drive away the demons.”
“Of course, it’s possible.”
Eugene smiled sweetly and whispered.
“But they are hungry, that’s why they are acting like this. How can we ruthlessly drive away those who have come because they are hungry? They are like my own children.”
His twisted smile made him look more like a snake than a dragon.
Agnes immediately understood what he meant.
“I will grant your wish.”
“I’m glad you understand so well.”
“Tell me.”
“We need to go somewhere, Agnes.”
“Do I just have to go?”
As she spoke with him, she kept glancing outside.
Lequi’s bodies were piling up around Laslo. At the same time, his movements had significantly slowed down.
He was still holding on, but Agnes couldn’t help but feel anxious about when he might fall.
“Just do as I say when we get there.”
“I will do as you say.”
Agnes replied quickly. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter. She had already dedicated her soul to saving him, so there was no reason to hesitate even if there was more to it.
“Good.”
Eugene raised his hand high, palm open, and muttered something in a language that was not human.
