The First Strike

Kael was about to mount his horse when suddenly, a knight with incredible speed tackled and sent him far behind Kalasag and everyone else.

"Urg...!"

Stomp!

Rumble...!

Before he found himself back at the northern gate, Kael stomped the ground to slow the momentum of the enemy knight. And as they both stopped in place, they jumped back from one another, unsheathing their blades before clashing with each other.

Clang!!

Now that he got a clearer look, Kael was able to recognize who it was.

"You're the one who managed to escape from Takkot this afternoon."

Kael was the first one to break out of their clash.

"And you're the one leading the army of Reilaea on behalf of the prinsepe, Aran." Said the knight of Kruule in reply. "It must have been nice to be in control of the others, huh? To be honest, I know the feeling."

"I haven't the slightest idea of what you're talking about." Kael poured mana into his rapier, making it glow with pure mana. "I am not in control of the others, I am simply standing in the place of the prinsepe as his substitute."

Kael thrust his rapier and shot a beam of pure mana energy at the knight.

"Eh? Are you saying you don't have a desire to climb up the ranks and have people follow you?"

"I don't," Kael answered straight away.

"Then why take such a role full of responsibilities?"

The knight leaned his head sideways, avoiding Kael's attack before sprinting at Kael.

"Because Reyna Amaya demands it."

"So you're the kind of guy who'd rather be controlled by the rulers, instead of making choices yourself? What a boring person you are!"

Kael proceeded to parry the knight's sword strikes.

"Allow me to correct you, Reyna Amaya doesn't control me or anyone else."

Kael shoved the knight away and returned the favor of engaging him by thrusting his rapier at him.

"I am the one currently standing in the prinsepe's place, and the Reyna stands above me and everyone else, but that doesn't mean we have them in control. That doesn't mean the Reyna controls us." Kael stated calmly as he tried to grab the knight and use Grasp Lightning, but he failed. "Our Reyna doesn't have the reason to control us. Because she knew that we, the proud knights of Reilaea have sworn to serve her and protect the kingdom of our own volition."

The moment they clashed swords one more time, the lightning current began discharging from Kael's rapier.

"...!"

"Unlike your Hari who rules by force and terror, our Reyna rules us with freedom."

The lightning current went to the knight's blade, but through instinct, the knight threw his sword before the lightning current reached him. That was also the moment when the knight of Kruule stopped holding back.

"Freedom, you say? That's funny!"

The knight activated his Liksi and began making movements that threw Kael at a standstill as he tried to land a few thrusts but failed miserably.

"You claimed that your Reyna doesn't control you and the others, yet you're willing to do her bidding..."

The knight found an opening and struck Kael's right hand, forcing him to let go of his rapier.

"That's not freedom. Freedom is just a lie to convince yourselves what you're doing is right."

Upon losing his weapon, Kael found himself defenseless before the knight's fists.

"But at the end of the day, everything you and the other soldiers of Reilaea do is just an act of hypocrisy!"

The knight used the back of his fist to land a powerful blow on Kael's navel.

"Gah...!" Kael spat out his saliva in shock.

"You're all nothing but an army of hypocrites who failed to realize when your Reyna is exploiting your idiocy for her own gain!"

Kael managed to get back his rapier. But the moment he did, the knight knocked him up by kicking Kael in his face.

"Uruk may be using force and terror to rule Kruule now, but compared to Amaya, our Hari does not resort to exploiting the people's freedom to follow him."

Not letting him off the hook just yet, the knight proceeded to pummel Kael's wide-open face with strong punches.

"That's because he knew, all he needs is his power to make everyone bow to him!"

A powerful straight landed on Kael and sent him quite far away from the knight. But that did not put his back against the ground. To be more precise, Kael refused to go down defeated.

"You're wrong." Still having a calm composure, Kael spat out blood. "Using force and terror to rule only means he's not cut out to be a Hari. Or at least the one whoever's inside Uruk right now."

"What?"

Despite receiving a quite amount of damage, Kael still had the strength to take a fighting stance, singlehandedly pointing his rapier at the knight.

"Reyna Amaya does not exploit people's loyalty for her own gain."

That's right, it was only fitting for him to have such a bold claim. After all, alongside Aran, Kael had spent the rest of his childhood being raised by Amaya. Amaya thought Kael a lot of things, such as using his rapier and his formal manner of speaking towards other people, to become who he is today. For that reason, Kael is forever grateful to Reyna Amaya and revere her with great respect.

"But you're also right. You could call the path we chose an act of hypocrisy. But..."

That is why, if someone dared to defame Amaya in front of Kael, it's only natural, but Kael will not hesitate to let them feel his wrath.

"Compared to other hypocritical things out there in the world, I'd say..."

At that moment, Kael's rapier, along with his whole body, began discharging a strong lightning current.

"... Our choice to serve Reyna Amaya and the kingdom with our free will is a righteous hypocrisy!"

Seeing this, the knight knew to attack before Kael does. He grabbed his sword lying on the ground and used Liksi to get close to him quickly. But!

"Wha...!"

Before he could even get closer, Kael vanished. The knight realized he shouldn't let Kael make a move or it would spell trouble for him, but he was one step too late. Kael is gone, and he doesn't know when or where he'll attack.

All the knight of Kruule was able to do is to look around him, hoping that he'd catch Kael's sight before he could land his attack. In a moment of losing composure and panic began overloading the knight's thoughts, Kael finally reappeared.

Not behind the knight, not on the left, neither on his right, but on the same spot Kael was standing before. Unfortunately for the knight, he wasn't looking at Kael's way. Contrary to this, Kael found the angle and distance just perfect.

Crrrr-crrrr!

The knight heard the sound of lightning being discharged.

"...!"

Zaap!!

He tried to look forward, only to see a flash of light blinding his sight. The moment the knight froze, Kael was already standing behind him, sheathing his rapier. Kael had already finished his attack.

"Lightning Flash: The First Strike."

In an instant Kael's rapier's guard touched the sheath, a raging discharge of lightning current brought the knight's body to the ground.

"So it's over, huh. If I may be frank, that was hardly a test to see how powerful I currently am." He turned his back on the knight and started making his back to where Kalasag and the others. "How disappointing, but I guess it can't be helped. Though again, I wish I could have landed a hit more than once."