Everything happened far too suddenly.
The fastest knight had just turned to run for the door when a searing pain exploded across his back. Countless blue points of light punched straight through his body. He looked down to see his torso riddled with holes.
Magical Power vaporized the blood in an instant.
Nolan stepped out of the hut without expression. A curved arc of sword light flashed past, cleaving several soldiers rushing in cleanly in half.
He had entered quietly, almost like a stealth infiltration. Now, he intended to carve his way out from the inside, the louder the chaos, the better.
Nolan gave the Claymore a light flick and turned as if he had eyes in the back of his head. A soldier on the roof was scrambling to string his bow when a Swift Glintstone Shard smashed his skull apart.
In just a few seconds, bodies carpeted the area around the hut. Blood soaked the ground, releasing a thick, nauseating stench.
Nolan slowly turned his head, his gaze falling on the girl clinging tightly to him.
Her face was splashed with blood, her delicate features twisted into something frightening. She wore a tattered rag dress, her thin body trembling slightly. Her eyes stared straight at him, unblinking, though her fear was impossible to hide.
"What's your name?"
"Alicia."
Nolan set her down gently, lifted his visor, and gave her a reassuring smile as he wiped the blood from her face.
"That's a nice name. You're from around here, right? You know this place?"
He studied her more closely. Her long golden hair hung in disarray, her features refined and pretty. She really was beautiful. No wonder those Cuckoos had lost control.
The girl nodded.
Nolan let out a soft chuckle and glanced toward the nearby wooden hut. A group of children was still huddled in the corner inside.
"Take them north, along the lakeshore. There are no bad people there anymore. Look for a big sister riding a wolf. She'll protect you."
"Big brother… what's your name?"
"Me? I'm Nolan."
He patted her head once more, cast a glance at the corpses inside the hut, then turned and walked away without another word.
...
Testu's Island, Cuckoo Camp.
An anxious Cuckoo Knight finally found the Commander-in-Chief.
"Lord Carlos, something terrible has happened."
The Commander-in-Chief stepped out of his tent, still pulling up his trousers, his face full of impatience.
"What is it now? Why are you panicking like this? Did the Carians attack?"
"Yes, and it was a Carian Knight. Commander Ael has already fallen at Annecy."
The knight was shaking as he spoke.
"That man appeared out of nowhere. He killed the commander and several knights. The brothers collecting taxes in Annecy suffered heavy losses."
"What? Something like that actually happened?"
Carlos stiffened, then said in disbelief,
"Didn't he take thirty men with him? Where are the rest?"
"The others are still fighting the Carians. I'm the only one who made it back to call for reinforcements."
The knight dropped to his knees, trembling, then hurriedly added,
"They're extremely strong. All the taxes we collected were taken by them."
"More than one?" Carlos frowned. "How many of them were there? How many Carian Knights?"
"Twenty in total," the knight replied, lifting his head. "Only one Carian Knight, plus several Albinauric Wolfback Archers."
"That's good."
Carlos nodded lightly, seeming to relax.
"If a Carian Knight led the ambush and the fight still hasn't ended, their strength can't be that impressive."
Everyone knew the situation with Caria. Raids like this weren't new. Still, with a Carian Knight involved this time, it might actually turn into a good opportunity.
"How many people do you still have in Annecy? How far is it from here?"
"Twenty when I left. On horseback, it takes less than a quarter of an hour."
After saying that, a chill crept up the knight's neck. He couldn't help but add a warning.
"Your Excellency, that's a Carian Knight."
Carlos shot him a cold glare.
"He's a hero. And I'm not?"
If he could hold command over an entire region, then he was certainly above those mere knight commanders.
Since when did an ordinary knight get to look down on him? If he couldn't win one-on-one, he'd simply bring more men.
A commander at the side stepped forward.
"But if you leave the main camp without leadership, what if this is a trap? What if the Carians attack—"
"The royal lands are being watched by the regiment commander," Carlos cut in, turning his head. "How many people could they possibly send?"
"Well…" The commander hesitated, then fell silent.
The last time the Cuckoos mobilized in full force, they had likely drained almost all of the reserve troops stationed in the royal domain.
And Caria couldn't possibly pull troops away from guarding their strongholds. No one to defend them meant that even the strongest walls were useless.
Who fights a war by selling out their own capital?
Carlos' eyes hardened.
"The Cuckoos need a victory right now."
"The Academy has cut military funding, and the surrounding villages have already been stripped clean."
"With Your Excellency holding the Carians at the northern shore, this is exactly when we should be contributing."
You're just trying to use this achievement to secure the vice-commander position.
More than a few people barely held back the urge to roll their eyes, cursing his shamelessness inwardly.
With Ingram dead, several high-ranking commanders were scrambling to climb higher. The competition was fierce, and no one had the luxury of caring about brotherhood.
Pressed by the commander-in-chief's moral grandstanding, the knights could only nod.
"Your Excellency is right. It's time for us to do our part. It's just a Carian Knight. If a hundred men aren't enough, we'll send two hundred. We'll take him down."
Seeing their morale rise, the commander-in-chief's expression softened slightly.
"Weren't you worried about the Carians raiding the camp?"
"Then add two more patrols to the lake. I'll also take two hundred men with me to Annecy."
"That still leaves three hundred in the camp. I don't believe the Carians would dare come."
The knights nodded repeatedly.
"Your Excellency speaks wisely. We'll see to it at once."
...
That the knight managed to escape was entirely within Nolan's expectations.
If the Dark Moon Knights had truly wanted to kill everyone, he would never have made it out.
Torrent had once been the mount of an Empyrean. Ordinary warhorses simply couldn't compare.
Not to mention that Nolan also possessed the utterly unreasonable sorcery known as Miriam's Vanishing.
"Sir, are you really certain they'll come?"
A Carian soldier stepped out from behind him, his longsword still dripping with blood.
Nolan shook his head.
"I can't be certain. I can only say the chances are high. But it's worth trying."
War, at its core, was nothing more than weighing risk against reward.
The situation in front of them was the same. If they lost, Caria would simply retreat to a corner of the lakeshore. If they won, Liurnia would settle into a three-way standoff.
This local conflict followed the same logic. If the potential gains far outweighed the risks, it was worth the attempt. Whatever choice was made, it had to be decisive. Indecision was the greatest taboo on the battlefield.
"It really is worth a try."
The soldier paused for a moment, then nodded heavily. In their current situation, if they didn't find a way to break through, all that awaited them was death. But—
Just as he was about to ask where Nolan's confidence came from, the sound of approaching hooves echoed from the distance.
"Go. Inform everyone to prepare. Remember, our goal isn't to wipe them out completely. If we can't hold, retreat north. Latenna will be waiting for us there."
"Yes."
The soldier answered and withdrew. The remaining stragglers had mostly been dealt with.
What came next was the real battle.