The Age Of Arrogance

With Carlyle’s roar, the gates swung open and the allied forces began to charge out.

 

Of course, Carlyle and Asha were at the forefront.

 

Carlyle’s philosophy was that it was stupid for the commander-in-chief to be at the forefront, but that didn’t apply to himself.

 

Because he was confident that he wouldn’t die.

 

And his plan to put Asha in the middle was thwarted by her stubbornness.

 

So, as they led the charge, they soon came face to face with the vanguard of the attackers.

 

“Don’t worry about my back, milady!”

 

As planned, Carlyle swung his greatsword first, breaking through the ranks of the Igrams. In the process, he naturally cut down what appeared to be a general.

 

And Asha followed close behind, cutting down those who tried to attack Carlyle.

 

“Here he is! This is the leader!”

 

The Igrams, judging Carlyle to be the leader based on the fact that he was a new presence and had started attacking first, shouted out his location and attacked him.

 

“You dare, you filthy dogs!”

 

Of course, Carlyle was not an easy man to defeat.

 

He was blessed by the gods. Those who looked into his eyes during battle would instantly freeze.

 

The enemies, experiencing this for the first time, had no time to feel surprised by their own strange reaction before they fell under Carlyle’s sword.

 

However, there was no rule that said they could only attack from the front. Some Igram warriors aimed their swords and spears at his back.

 

“Can’t you see me?”

 

What they didn’t see was Asha, protecting Carlyle.

 

She used her relatively small size and quick movements to guard Carlyle’s surroundings, allowing him to focus on completely destroying the Igrams’ vanguard.

 

Of course, there were also times when the two of them worked together.

 

“Carlyle! Your right!”

 

Asha, who had stabbed the left attacker in the vital spot, immediately shouted as she blocked the sword of the right attacker, and Carlyle, without even looking back, broke the enemy’s sternum with the hilt of his shield.

 

Meanwhile, Asha lowered her body, jumped forward, and pierced the throat of another enemy who was trying to attack Carlyle from the front, and the Igrams’ sword that was trying to stab Asha’s side was broken by Carlyle’s swinging greatsword. Asha then cut off the enemy’s neck.

 

“Are we done yet?”

 

“Shut up and watch the front!”

 

Asha shouted at Carlyle, who was still joking even in the midst of all this, but Carlyle was serious.

 

This was the first time he had experienced such a blood-curdling battle.

 

‘It’s really…exhilarating to have someone you can trust to watch your back!’

 

There was no other way to describe it.

 

Thanks to the blessing of the gods, I never had to worry about dying on the battlefield, but sometimes, as I swung my sword mindlessly, I would suddenly feel like I was standing alone in the middle of hell.

 

At those times, I felt more lonely than scared, to the point where I would immerse myself in even more carnage to forget that feeling.

 

But now, I didn’t feel that way at all.

 

‘It feels like I have another body that moves according to my will.’

 

No, even more than that, it seemed like Asha understood my will better than I did.

 

Just as he was about to shout “Watch out!” in his mind, Asha’s sword was already removing the threat.

 

Carlyle felt a surge of excitement as if every hair on his body were standing on end.

 

“They say, ‘Husband and wife are one.’ Is this what they mean?”

 

“What nonsense…”

 

Asha scoffed at Carlyle’s words and glanced back at him.

 

As they followed the path they had cleared, the allied forces pushed forward into the fray.

 

At first glance, both the Pervaz army and the Haven knights were performing their duties well, trained as they were.

 

“Are you starting to get closer with me while we are fighting?”

 

“Me?”

 

“What the hell have you been spouting since earlier… Just look ahead!”

 

Bewildered, Asha was about to retort when she shouted and thrust her sword forward. Three Ingrams rushed toward Carlyle and Asha.

 

But Carlyle, as if he had already known, swung his sword without even looking ahead, dispatching two of the Ingram warriors to his left.

 

A strange smile lingered on his lips.

 

“You should watch out for yourself.”

 

A tender voice was heard, but in an instant, Carlyle’s shield brushed past Asha’s ear, and a cough came from someone behind her.

 

Even then, Carlyle and Asha kept gazing into each other’s eyes all along.

 

“I owe you one.”

 

“I’m the one who’s been owing you all along.”

 

The next moment, they swung their swords in opposite directions. The two Ingram warriors who had rushed at them failed to dodge the swords coming their way and collapsed to the ground.

 

Witnessing this, Hector whistled in amazement.

 

“Wow, these two are in perfect sync! Haha!”

 

Hector wasn’t the only one who thought so.

 

Seeing Carlyle and Asha fight as if they had been in perfect harmony for a long time, the morale of many who followed behind them soared as if to pierce the sky.

 

Furthermore, the fact that the highest leaders of both armies were at the forefront, eliminating the greatest dangers, ignited the hearts of everyone.

 

***

 

“How is it going? I’m so anxious!”

 

Fabian, the painter, was looking out the window with a telescope, blaming his bad luck on the fact that another war with the barbarians had broken out while he was there.

 

“Are the half-naked ones the barbarians and the ones with clothes on our side?”

 

He could roughly distinguish between the enemy and the friendly forces, but it was difficult to tell who was winning or losing just by looking at the people fighting one by one. This was because he had zoomed in too much on the telescope, so the scene changed quickly even if he moved it a little to the side.

 

However, Fabian, who had lived only by painting, did not even know that.

 

Then, there was a moment when his telescope accidentally swept across the front of the friendly forces.

 

“What? That’s…!”

 

The first thing he recognized was Carlyle.

 

Of course, his reddish-brown hair stood out distinctly amidst the sea of black hair around him, but beyond just his hair color, he exuded his own aura.

 

Even now, it seemed as if the air around him was being drawn towards him.

 

“As expected, the one to become Emperor is different…”

 

Watching Carlyle fight, he felt reassured that this wasn’t the place he would die.

 

But someone continued to wield a sword near Carlyle.

 

Initially, he tensed up, thinking it was a barbarian because of the black hair, but upon closer inspection, it was Asha.

 

“Goodness…! I’ve never seen a woman fight like that before, it’s the very first!”

 

His curiosity as an artist was now focused on Asha.

 

In truth, he had always believed that male forms were more beautiful than female ones.

 

Having been tormented by lowly nobles who commissioned nude paintings of women to satisfy their lust, he may have developed even more aversion towards the female form out of rebellion.

 

However, now, as he looked at Asha, he completely changed his mind.

 

“Beautiful…!”

 

While Carlyle’s large and sturdy physique moved roughly and contorted, it was indeed beautiful, but even more so, the graceful and agile body of Asha, twisting and extending tirelessly, was also beautiful.

 

Admiring this sight, Fabian witnessed Carlyle turning around and smiling at Asha.

 

“Ah!”

 

Suddenly, three enemy warriors rushed towards him.

 

“No!”

 

But in the next moment, Asha dealt with the one on the right effortlessly, while Carlyle took care of the two on the left. Not stopping there, Carlyle lifted his shield and struck down another enemy warrior who was aiming for Asha’s back.

 

“Wow…!”

 

As onlookers were gasping for breath from the tension, Carlyle and Asha, while muttering to each other, continued to slay one enemy warrior each.

 

“Can… can humans… do that…?”

 

Fabian had seen and observed countless things, but he had never seen two humans, let alone two different humans, move as one.

 

At that moment, inspiration struck Fabian’s mind like a bolt of lightning.

 

“That’s it!”

 

The portrait of the prince and princess that he didn’t like.

 

Now he realized why he didn’t like it.

 

“These two should not be drawn sitting still!”

 

He had always wondered why the newly married couple looked so awkward together, and why there was no sign of the passion that should be burning brightly.

 

But it seemed that the place where they confirmed their love for each other was not the comfort of the castle, but the middle of the battlefield, where blood and flesh flew.

 

As he watched them fight the enemy together, he felt a heat flush up to his neck, as if he had been caught peeping into someone else’s bedroom.

 

“As expected, they are born to be guardians.”

 

Fabian, who had been smiling awkwardly, set up an easel by the window as if possessed, and quickly brought over paper and charcoal.

 

Then, with a telescope in one hand and charcoal in the other, he quickly sketched the battle scene of the couple, Carlyle and Asha.

 

He was in a hurry, thinking that this was a scene he would never see again once this moment passed. At the same time, an artistic excitement that he had never felt before in his life was coursing through his body.

 

Even more than when he painted the winning picture at the Salon!

 

‘This portrait will be my masterpiece!’

 

He was convinced of that.