Overwhelming Firepower

After waking up Robert, the group exited the forge. The moonlight shone above them as the group started walking back to town.

The night air was cold, crisp enough to bite through lingering heat from the forge. It carried the faint scent of smoke, damp stone, and metal; it was rather comforting.

For a while, no one spoke, well, except for Robert, who was pretty much talking to himself in a low murmur. Their boots crunched softly against gravel and packed dirt, the sound echoing faintly between stone houses.

Lamps burned low along the road, their yellow light casting long, wavering shadows that stretched and twisted across the ground.

Still, there were a few people who continued working through the night as the sound of a hammer hitting an anvil could be heard here and there.

People laughed softly as they passed by, a pair of miners arguing about something trivial, a smith wiping sweat from his brow as if tonight were no different from any other.

None of them knew that deep beneath their feet, something that could erase the town in a single night lay coiled and breathing.

Well, even if they knew it felt like nothing would change, they would still continue what they were doing.

These weren’t just miners, but they were also proud people of Norvaegard of the north, they who had dealt with monsters, and the harsh cold would not succumb to something like fear.

After walking for a while, the group could see the light from the Drunken Badger Tavern. But just outside the tavern seemed to be several figures wearing armor, one of which was very familiar to the group.

It was the arrogant son of Count Jurhen. It would seem that the display Durik showed yesterday wasn’t enough to deter him from coming back.

When he spotted Durik alongside Lucen’s group, he ignored Lucen and the others and simply showed a condescending smile towards Durik.

He approached Durik alongside what seemed to be knights who worked for Count Jurhen. The two escort knights Durik defeated were not among them.

”I’ve been waiting for you, dwarf.”

”Do I know you?” Durik asked, looking confused.

Hearing Durik’s response, the noble son’s face contorted, and a vein looked like it was going to pop.

”You continue to embarrass me! This time, I will really teach you a lesson.”

”Oh, good, it seems like we can let off some steam.” Lucen suddenly spoke as he stood beside Durik.

”And who are you?” The noble son asked Lucen.

”I’ll tell you once we’re done here,” Lucen answered with a smile on his face.

He then glanced at the several knights with armor. Even without an analytical type skill, he could already see that these guys weren’t even the younger members in Thornefang. Still, he noticed the two mages in the back, who seemed to be looking at Robert.

”Hmph, it doesn’t matter. Teach this dwarf and those with him a lesson.”

The noble’s command had barely left his mouth when everything fell apart. The second the knights in armor moved and attacked, Lucen’s group responded.

There was no shout, no warning, just a sudden blur of motion. The nearest knight barely had time to widen his eyes before Bram’s fist slammed into his chestplate.

Metal crumpled inward with a dull, thunderous boom, and the knight was sent skidding across the stone road like a kicked barrel, coming to a stop in an unmoving heap.

The rest of the knights momentarily stopped and were stunned by the sight. The knight that flew was at the second aura mantle, similar to them, and he was easily blown away.

They came here confident that they would only deal with a single dwarf, but seeing what happened, they started to falter.

The leader of the escort knights, the only one at the third mantle, already knew this would happen; he had already advised the young master about it, that even increasing the numbers wouldn’t help, but his advice fell on deaf ears.

The knights then turned their heads around and saw the muscular Sir Thalos standing in front of them.

In a state of surprise a few swung their swords at Sir Thalos, who did not dodge and simply took the hits.

The swords that were not enveloped by aura did not do any damage to Thalos’s body.

”How saddening to see knights act like this. It is true that a knight must be loyal to his lord, but it is also a knight’s job to correct his lord if he’s on the wrong path.”

Thalos then started breaking their swords with a speed that they could not see. The knights who had lost their weapons fell to their knees.

While that was happening, a few of the knights were attacking Lucen, who was easily evading the strikes. He would then counter with one aura-infused punch to the chin, making the opponent knights faint from the hit.

Durik stepped forward with a snort, ducked under the knight’s swing, and drove his shoulder into the man’s midsection.

With a roar, he hooked one arm behind the knight’s knee and heaved. The human lost his footing instantly, armor clanging as Durik spun and hurled him into another knight like a living battering ram.

The mages in the back did not do anything as they were focused on Robert. That was when they remembered who that was, one of the most famous mages in Norvaegard, the mad genius Robert Duskwell.

When they realized who Robert was, they finally realized who the young man was. A young man with silver hair and ruby-red eyes who was with Robert, that would mean that the young man was Lucen Thornehart.

That meant the large man with a very muscular body who was taking hits from swords was the famous Sir Thalos Stonemaul.

The only one they could not recognize was Bram, but knowing he was with Lucen would mean he was either part of Thornefang or the Stellhart knights; either way, he was not someone they could handle.

They were just second-circle mages; they were not a match for Robert or anyone on the opposing side. The mages then told what they realized to the leader of the escort knights.

The second the leader of escort knights learned who Lucen and the others were, he wanted to quickly apologize, but he was too late.

Lucen and the others had already defeated all the knights present. The young noble son was filled with even more rage and shame as he shouted at the mages behind him.

”What are you two doing! Go and cast a spell against them!”

Instead of following his orders, the mages shook their head and quickly got on their knees and bowed their heads.

The young noble stared at the kneeling mages in disbelief, his face flushing red with fury.

”You—!” His voice cracked. ”You dare disobey me?!”

Neither mage looked up. Their foreheads remained pressed to the cold stone, shoulders trembling, not from fear of punishment, but from knowing exactly who stood before them. The leader of the escort knights spoke up for the mages.

”Young master, please stop. That young man is.”

”Enough! Stop talking and do as I say!” The young noble shouted in anger.

”That was a good way to get off some steam,” Lucen spoke in front of the young noble son. The young noble looked at Lucen, who stood before him.

”Who are you?! How dare you do this! Do you even know who I am?! Do you know who my father is?!”

When the leader saw how the young master spoke to Lucen, he started sweating and intervened. He quickly got in between the young master and Lucen and bowed his head.

”Please forgive the young master, he doesn’t know what he’s saying.”

”What are you doing?!” The young noble shouted, but the leader of the escort knights ignored it.

”If you wish to punish someone, please punish me for failing to do my job as a knight under my lord.”

”So you realize who I am. Now tell this idiot, young master of yours, who I am.”

The young noble wanted to shout again in anger, but the leader spoke first. ”Young master, the one who stands before you is the heir of the North, of Stellhart. The young lord before you is the eldest son of the Iron Duke; he is Lucen Thornehart.”

The name fell like a hammer. The young noble’s mouth opened, then closed. His face drained of color so fast it was almost unnatural, as if the blood had been pulled straight out of him.

”... L-Lucen... Thornehart?”

His knees gave way. He stumbled back a step, boots scraping against stone, before collapsing onto the ground in an undignified heap.

The arrogance that had filled his posture moments ago shattered completely, replaced by raw panic.

”That’s... That’s impossible...” He muttered. ”You’re lying... You have to be...”

Seeing the young noble’s reaction, Lucen couldn’t help but smile a little for a second. ’Nice, another cliché young noble. I should answer in some cliché way as well.’

Lucen wiped away the smile on his face and looked down at the young noble, his expression calm, almost indifferent.

”If you’re going to challenge someone,” he said evenly, ”you should at least learn who you’re drawing your sword against.”

The young noble, unable to handle the pressure, suddenly fainted. Seeing the scene, Lucen found it hilarious, but he kept his face looking indifferent.

”Bring him away, and tell him that he needs to treat people better. If he messes around again, he might get himself killed.”

The leader gave a knight’s salute as he spoke. ”I shall.”

With that done, Lucen’s group headed into the Tavern, where it was quiet, and people were looking at them.

”What are you lot looking at?! Get back to yer drinking, the young lord over here says he’ll pay for the drinks tonight!” The second Durik said those words, the patrons in the tavern cheered.

Mugs were raised, and laughter returned. Lucen and his group sat down and also started drinking.

For the rest of the night, they drank merrily, never mentioning what they found beneath the stone.