The Indomitable Martial King

“Not a chance!”

Siris sprinted through the canyon and launched herself towards the cliff. Her movements, climbing the cliff by stepping on protruding parts, were reminiscent of a mountain goat. She swiftly ascended nearly halfway up the cliff and then threw herself into the air, shouting.

“Sarana! Come out, all of you!”

Immediately, three wind spirits, Sarana, materialized before her eyes, forming steps in the air. Stepping on the Sarana one after another, Siris quickly reached the top of the cliff where the ballista was located.

The soldiers near the wagon cried out in shock.

“Aah!”

“Elf witch!”

Siris swung her hands. The two scimitars scattered a chilling sword light into the air. The sword wind raged, and the soldiers near the ballista fell, spraying blood.

“Hyaa!”

She then attacked five wagons one by one. After dealing with the soldiers, Siris extended her hand.

“Go! Salamander!”

Five fire lizards flew out in succession, burning the wagons. It took only a few minutes to neutralize all the ballistae, a truly formidable feat.

Sir Gallant slumped his shoulders helplessly.

“Damn… It’s hard enough to deal with the Fist King, but his subordinate is also a monster…”

Having dealt with the situation, Siris threw herself back down the cliff.

Using the sylph to lighten her body, she landed as lightly as a feather, her movements incredibly natural. Repenhart wore a proud expression.

‘Her skills have really improved.’

Since the World Tree was revived, Siris’s spirit magic had been advancing by the day.

Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Light, Darkness, Thunder.

Among the seven great spirits, she had become able to handle most of the five major spirits except for Light and Darkness, and in the case of familiar fire or wind spirits, she could even summon multiple entities.

Even though she had initially started with an advantage in mastering spirit magic faster than others due to her qualification as a user of Nihillen, her progress had been exceedingly rapid. Considering that even Relhard, the chieftain of the Dahnhaim tribe, could only manage a few fire and wind spirits, her growth was beyond conventional wisdom.

‘Hoohoo, it seems the effects of the engraving are finally showing.’

Repenhardt smirked slyly.

In truth, there had been a bit of trickery involved in Siris’s tremendous growth.

It happened when Repenhardt revived the World Tree Jerunting and linked it with the World Tree Nihillen. At that time, he secretly engraved Siris’s name onto the core of the World Tree.

The true World Tree from ancient times, Elvenheim.

Elvenheim had traditionally chosen one elf to bestow powers upon as its guardian. The elf chosen by Elvenheim would become the leader of all elves, tasked with protecting the World Tree and leading their race.

In other words, Repenhardt had manipulated the World Tree’s internal information to make Siris the guardian and leader of the elves.

This was the main reason why she could act as one of the Four Heavenly Kings in her previous life.

Attila, Tassid, and Makelin were naturally the strongest of their respective races, but Siris was just an ordinary elf saved by Repenhardt. While she had great talent in swordsmanship, she was not fit to lead her tribe. Simply put, she was a skilled individual made through connections.

Of course, even if she was chosen as the guardian, without her own efforts, it would be futile. Fortunately, like in her previous life, the present Siris was steadily building up her skills, so there seemed to be no issues.

Satisfied, Repenhardt turned his gaze toward the canyon.

Seeing that not even the ballistae were effective, the Knights of Chetas were hastily turning their horses to flee. They were being pursued relentlessly by the Knights of Galin.

Siris, who had approached, murmured in a leisurely voice.

“This marks the end of Baron Chetas.”

* * *

In the central fortress city of the Barony of Chetas, Hundargard.

A stout middle-aged man was pounding the table, venting his rage.

“So they have finally passed the Nedas Canyon!”

Sir Gallant, bowing his head, answered with deep remorse.

“My apologies, Baron Chetas. Our strength was insufficient…”

Unable to contain his anger, Baron Chetas’s fists trembled with rage. He gritted his teeth and spat out a curse.

“Repenhardt! That damn bastard! This was his usual tactic from the start!”

Come to think of it, it was the same during the Crovence civil war. Yubel’s forces, on the brink of defeat, suddenly appeared, enforcing harsh conditions without giving any choice and eventually established their own country. The same trick was being used now.

“To exploit others’ misfortunes for his gain, does this so-called Fist Emperor not know the knight’s code?”

Though it was not his place to speak, being the ’cause’ of the misfortune, from his perspective of almost winning, it was infuriating.

The intervention of the Duchy of Antares had completely reversed the situation. The triumphant forces of Baron Chetas were decimated, most of the territories invaded, pushing them back to Hundargard.

Even the trusted Aura User, Sir Grandiad, was of no use. Upon realizing they were facing Repenhardt, he found various excuses to avoid the fight.

Though related by marriage, Sir Grandiad and Baron Chetas were only distant cousins. Facing the Fist Emperor would risk his life, and there was no reason for him to go that far to help Baron Chetas.

Desperate attempts to negotiate had also failed, as it was Baron Chetas who had initially rejected negotiations. Naturally, it was of no avail.

“Is he the only one I can rely on now…?”

Baron Chetas stood up, determined to seek out his last hope.

Inside a luxurious bedroom within Hundargard.

A handsome blonde youth was toying with a woman. He slipped his hand under her dress and buried his nose in her neck, speaking in a lascivious tone.

“Your skin is so soft, hoohoohoo.”

“Please, don’t do this.”

The woman, on the verge of tears, tried to push the youth’s hand away. However, his next words made her pause.

“Hoohoo, if you upset me, your family won’t be safe, Lady of Baron Guyurette?”

Her resistance subsided. With a humiliated expression, she bit her lip. The youth’s hand began to move towards her more private parts.

“Sniff…”

Feeling miserable, Guyurette closed her eyes. Born into a noble family and having always maintained her propriety, she couldn’t help but shed tears at the thought of losing her precious chastity to such a scoundrel.

It was three days ago when this blond young man appeared at the Baron of Chetas’ estate.

Introducing himself as a mage from the Tower of the Sun, the young man boasted that he could eliminate King of Fists, Repenhart, if paid ten thousand gold coins.

Naturally, the Baron of Chetas didn’t believe him at first. How could he trust someone who appeared out of nowhere, demanding a huge sum while treating the renowned King of Fists as a mere pawn?

However, this mysterious young man possessed truly terrifying power.

With a simple gesture, thirty of Chetas’ knights were simultaneously knocked down, and the subsequent magic sliced through Hundargard’s massive stone tower like cheese.

Witnessing this immense power, the Baron of Chetas immediately changed his attitude. He respectfully welcomed the young man and treated him as an esteemed guest.

But this young man was nothing short of a rascal.

Demanding exorbitant compensation, he settled into the Chetas estate, harassing maids and ordering servants around as he pleased. The servants were beaten senseless for even speaking back, and the prettier maids were dragged straight to his bed.

With the safety of the family at stake, no one could restrain him as he acted with impunity. Now, he had begun to lay his hands on the Baron’s own daughter, Guyurette.

“Heh heh heh, indeed, girls raised in luxury smell different from the lowly ones.”

With a lecherous grin, the young man was about to undo Guyurette’s clothes.

Someone knocked on the door from outside, followed by the voice of a servant.

“Sir Jade, the Baron of Chetas has arrived.”

“Damn it, interrupting just when things were getting good…”

Soon, the door opened, and the Baron of Chetas entered. Guyurette hastily covered her chest and fled the room. Seeing his daughter sobbing as she ran away, the Baron’s face hardened.

‘That bastard dared to touch my daughter?’

But the Baron was the one in need. Suppressing his urge to lash out, he clenched his fist and spoke in a hurried voice.

“Mage Jade! The King of Fists is coming here after all!”

Jade twirled a lock of his golden hair, pretending to be uninterested.

“Is that so? Then you’d better gather thirty thousand gold coins quickly.”

With a smug attitude, Baron Chethas ground his teeth and made a hand gesture behind his back. Two attendants struggled as they carried two wooden crates into the room.

Pointing to the crates, the baron exclaimed, “Here is the gold you wanted!”

The crates were filled to the brim with yellow gold coins. Jade’s eyes sparkled.

“Oh? You’ve already gathered it? They say the Chethas baronial family is wealthy…”

The baron, seeking reassurance, asked, “You can really take down the Fist King, Repenhart, right?”

Thirty thousand gold coins was not a small amount, even for the famously wealthy Baron Chethas. It was an enormous sum equivalent to several years’ worth of budget. He had to mobilize all his cash and sell his art pieces and jewels just to manage it.

However, if this could truly bring down the Fist King, it was worth it. After all, if he lost this war, he stood to lose everything anyway.

“Of course,” Jade nodded calmly and responded confidently, “He is nothing before the power of great magic.”

The two attendants placed the crates beside Jade and stepped back. As he left the room, Baron Chethas spoke once more.

“The enemy will reach Hundargard by tomorrow. Except for the Fist King and the Moonlit Sword, the rest are a ragtag group. I trust you will handle them all!”

“Leave it to me.”

Only then did Baron Chethas leave the room, seemingly relieved. Once the baron was out of sight, Jade took out a small emblem. It was a silver emblem intricately crafted with various divine beasts among giant trees. As he fiddled with it, he shrugged his shoulders.

“He’s a target I have to take down anyway because of the orders…”

Putting the emblem back in his pocket, he then took out a small pouch. It was a relic from the Age of Silver, the Pouch of Infinity. He transferred all the gold coins from the crates into it and chuckled.

“Since I’ve got leverage, I might as well enjoy myself and take what I can. Heh heh heh.”

* * *

The combined Antares-Galin forces reached Hundargard, the stronghold of Baron Chethas, within a day after crossing Nedas Canyon. The allied forces quickly fortified their positions, besieged the castle, and launched a full-scale attack. Archers continuously shot arrows at the castle, and catapults relentlessly hurled boulders at the castle walls.

“First volley, fire!”

Whiiing…

Boom!

A massive boulder struck the walls of Hundargard, shaking the ground. Grosten, a knight under Baron Galin, shouted again.

“Second volley, fire!”

This time, the angle was slightly higher, and the launched boulder crashed into the troops atop the wall. Soldiers crushed by the rock screamed as they died.

In the meantime, soldiers with ladders and grappling hooks rushed to the base of the wall, preparing to climb. Hundargard’s soldiers fought back fiercely, cutting the ropes and pouring boiling oil.

This was no longer a mere territorial battle; it was a full-fledged siege war.

Typically, territorial disputes did not escalate to such extremes. Usually, when the outcome became clear, the king or high-ranking nobles would intervene, and the losing side would end the battle by paying a suitable compensation.

However, this situation was different.

This war was initiated while ignoring even the king’s mediation from the start. With the king enraged, there was no way Yubel II would mediate now.

Moreover, Baron Chethas had waged an all-out war with the intention of annihilating Baron Galin’s family completely. He brutally trampled not just the knights but also the commoners of Galin’s domain. The time for mediation had long passed.

Having reached this point, the war would not end until one of the two families was wiped off the map.