On the border east of the Muivell Kingdom.
More than a thousand soldiers were standing on a plain field.
"Hold out!"
The soldiers were standing in lines while stacking their shields together. More than three hundred demons were charging toward the soldiers. Once they saw their prey, they started gathering in one position.
*Roar!*
*Roar!*
*Roar!*
All the soldiers had big, muscular bodies. Their faces remained stern as though they were not afraid of the demons.
However, a volley of arrows suddenly flew into the sky from the back of these soldiers.
The demons were taken aback and unable to maneuver at the last moment, resulting in the arrows raining them down.
*Roar!*
Some demons released their spiritual energy to form a barrier, but about twenty demons ended up dying. Their bodies rolled on the ground, causing more demons to trip.
Now that the momentum of the demons had been hindered a bit, the demons didn't have enough force to actually crush the soldiers' formations.
*Bang!*
*Bang!*
The demons rammed their bodies into the formation, but most of them were actually stopped by the numerous shields. Those who managed to penetrate the shields ended up dying from the spears behind those shields.
After that, another volley of arrows rained down, killing more than fifty demons.
When it was about to become an all out brawl, the cavalries were coming from the left side. At the front was a man in his mid twenties. Despite his young age, his eyes were sharp as though he had undergone hundreds of battles.
With just a single glance, the man said, "Alicia. Peel off their rear."
He was talking to a woman next to him. Her frame was rather thin, but her eyes were extremely cold.
Once she received the order, she raised her sword while turning to the left, leaving the cavalry with only fifty men.
After that, the man turned his head around while raising his glaive. "Michael, Sam. It's time to hunt."
The two men behind him smiled and shouted, "Sir!"
The other soldiers also roared, their voices were so loud that it felt like their eardrums were going to burst. The demons turned around and tried to stop them, but the group of cavalries moved so fast that they had reached them before they could change their position.
And the one at the very front was the young man. Once he swung his glaive, four demons had their bodies split into two.
Seeing such a performance raised the soldiers' morale. With such a man leading them in front, they shouldn't need to be afraid.
"Haaa!" The army turned into an army of beasts. They fearlessly traversed in the middle of the demon's rank and cut down one demon after another at fast speed.
Their advance was unstoppable. The demons tried to stop them, but their speed didn't decrease in the slightest.
As if trying to change their approach, the Peak Level Demon stood in their commander's way. This Peak Level Demon swept its claws to stop him on his track.
However, the young man wasn't afraid. Even the horse was charging straight at this Peak Level Demon.
The man waved his glaive, striking the claws. The clash produced a powerful shock wave that startled some other horses.
Normally, the horse wouldn't be able to withstand the weight of the Peak Level Demon, but there was a sudden rise of wind coming underneath the horse, which neutralized most of the force.
After that, the man held the glaive with both hands and used every ounce of his strength to actually knock the claws away.
"!!!" The Peak Level Demon looked surprised, its upper body was knocked back.
At that time, the two commanders, Michael and Sam, leaped into the air and cut the demon's two paws.
Without having anything to protect himself, there was nothing that could stop the young man's attack.
The man swung his glaive vertically as the raging wind burst out. The glaive cut the skin and flesh apart while the wind actually pushed the flesh in two directions, ripping the demon apart.
In just an instant, a Peak Level Demon died, and its body was pushed to the two sides, knocking a few more demons away.
Sam and Michael only smiled as if they had expected this.
"Sam. Coordinate your attack with Alicia and exterminate all the demons. Michael is to head in the opposite direction and peel off those demons from our infantries."
"Yes, sir!" The two replied in an instant as they led their respective groups according to the arrangement.
The rear of the demon's rank were pincered from two sides, causing them to be exterminated at fast speed. The same applied to the demons that tried to break through the infantries. The shields were much stronger than they expected, allowing Michael and his soldiers to kill them one by one.
Meanwhile, the man smiled at the rest of his soldiers. "We'll continue!"
The soldiers shouted and followed their general, creating a wide gap in the demon's rank and splitting them into two. Only after that would they turn around and start killing the rest of the demons.
In just thirty minutes, three hundred demons were exterminated.
The young general stood in the middle of the battlefield with his glaive resting on his shoulder, observing his soldiers clean up the battlefield.
"General. We only have three casualties and thirty injuries." Sam came to report.
"Good." The general nodded without any change of expression as though this was what he expected from his soldiers.
Suddenly, he heard a woman's voice echoing from behind.
"General!"
"Alicia? What's wrong?" The young general asked with a nonchalant expression.
"You've received a letter from your family." Alicia handed him the letter.
"My family? Is it my father?" The general grabbed the letter and read it. Both Sam and Alicia were a bit curious but they stepped back to respect his boundaries. "It seems that it's time for me to go home and fulfill my duty as a noble."
"What?!" Alicia gasped in shock.
"What? What will we do if you go home, General? You are the General of our Blue Knight Army, the famous Flying General. Our army's speed is feared by other kingdoms and demons thanks to you." Sam was worried, considering it would only be their general. On the other hand, the army would remain here as they had been stationed to protect this front.
"Dylan…" Alicia looked at him as if she were pleading for him not to leave. She even tried to call him with his name instead of his title.
"Well, it appears that my younger sister is going to get married. As her brother, it's only right for me to attend her wedding ceremony. To think that there is someone who is able to actually control my sister…" Dylan muttered as he couldn't help but recall the memories from the past.
…
17 years ago.
"Look, Brother!" Anna, who was still innocent, came to her brother with a crown made of flowers. "I made this for you!"
"Really? Thank you!" Dylan smiled.
"Hehehe!" Anna had a big smile on her face.
However, it started to change the moment Josephine started coming to their family.
"Look, Brother!" Anna came again one year later. Dylan was happy and turned around, but what he found on her hands were not something cute or beautiful. Instead, it was a dead rabbit.
"Anna? What are you doing?!" Dylan gasped.
"What am I doing? I'm just doing something normal. A good rabbit is a dead rabbit," said Anna innocently, but it was as if she was talking about her enemies instead of mere animals.
It didn't take too long for him to confront his father.
"Father. Anna is…"
Before he could even speak, Kevin shook his head.
"Are you going to let Anna…" Dylan looked shocked, but Kevin simply sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm not strong enough."
Dylan knew about Anna's talent that surprised him. But as an older brother and a male heir, he was still ahead in terms of succession. Besides, it didn't really matter to him. After all, his sister was more talented and so cute.
However, his opinion changed the moment Anna started to change.
Day after day, Anna became much colder and more violent.
And after a few years, specifically when he was 15 years old, Dylan was sent to the front line so that Anna's madness wasn't harming him.
Dylan had been in this place for so long. While he still could go back home to meet his mother once in a while, he couldn't stay for a prolonged time.
The more he rose through the ranks, the more he realized the darkness that made even his father unable to do anything.
He gradually lost his emotion after knowing the burden that his parents had to endure this whole time. He was unaware about it when he was a kid, but this time, it was clear.
The royal family, Anna's talent, and even the Ardagan family. He learned all the connections and understood why his father had no choice but to send him to the battlefield.
Still, he was unable to forget about his family back home, especially that bright, innocent smile on his sister's face, hoping that one day he could see it again.
Even though he was away, he did his best to follow everything that happened back home. In fact, his mother kept sending the letter to update him about the situation while making sure he didn't feel too lonely here.
Finally, the letter had arrived.
When Dylan saw this letter, he didn't know what to feel. On the one hand, he expected this to come sooner or later. On the other hand, he was surprised that it came this early.
Home was such a rather unfamiliar term after fighting in the battlefield for so long. Dylan said, "Even if I'm not here, the Blue Knight Army will continue to prosper."
"But… if you leave…" Sam wanted to say that they would lose a Spirit Grandmaster in their ranks.
However, Dylan simply said, "My father is not that foolish. If he recalls me home, he must—"
Before he could finish his words, Michael rushed toward them while shouting, "General. The Demon Guardian Squad, led by their zero squad, is coming here."
Dylan nodded as if he had expected it. "Alicia will follow me back. Sam is to take over my position, with Michael as the witness."
"Huh?" Michael, who didn't know anything, looked shocked, but he hurriedly composed himself and corrected his reply. "Yes, sir!"
"Sir…" Sam bit his lips.
Dylan let out a long sigh. "I told you right after I came to this place. Never get attached to me because I would be leaving the army sooner or later."
Without hesitation, Dylan turned around and started walking away.
Sam clenched his hands into fists, thinking, 'How could we not be attached? Not only me, even all those soldiers… You were the one leading us to one victory after another, you ate together with us, lowly soldiers… you were our hope. Even if you said it was only to raise everyone's morale, how could we not be attached to you?'
Dylan stopped for a moment before saying, "Sam, Michael. There is a reason why I can easily leave this army. It's because I know that my two deputies are capable. It might be hard at first, but I believe that the two of you will do just fine. Continue making me proud, Sam, Michael."
Sam's body was trembling while Michael simply grabbed his shoulder as if telling his friend that they shouldn't see their general off this way.
Sam clenched his fists even tighter as his nails were about to cut the skin of his palms. However, he soon straightened his posture, placed his right fist on his chest, and shouted, "General Dylan, Lieutenant Alicia. Salute!"
Michael did the same next to Sam.
A small smile appeared on his poker face as he waved his hand without turning back.
