The sun gradually set in the west, and the slaughter on the chaotic battlefield continued.
The Companion Cavalry, fully armored, lined up under the Macedonian royal banner, standing silently on the only path leading to the center of the army.
The captain of the cavalry at the forefront, with short black hair, wore a dark blue cloak emblazoned with a standing yellow lion.
He looked towards the eastern side of the battlefield.
The Companion Cavalry led by Seleucus had cornered King Uther's routed army, carrying out the final slaughter.
But this had nothing to do with Hector.
At this moment, he had something more important to attend to immediately, a figure who required all the knights of the cavalry regiment to be fully armed and ready to receive.
The true knight, Edoardo!
Hector raised a hand and kneaded his stiff neck. After receiving Lars' urgent message, he immediately led the entire cavalry regiment to line up on this road, preparing to receive that true knight and personally bestow upon him the highest respect of the Companion Cavalry.
"But... where is he?"
After waiting for a long time, there was no sign of anyone.
Hector didn't doubt the authenticity of the knight, as countless soldiers had witnessed the knight's charge towards the end. He was more concerned that this knight might have fallen halfway before completing his mission.
That would be truly regrettable!
Thinking of this, his expression hardened, and he turned to his deputy, asking:
"Have all the military orders been disseminated? Have the scout cavalry found that knight?"
"No," the deputy shook his head.
"From the royal banner to the entire central army, from the central army to the phalanx legions, and from the phalanx legions to the light infantry on both flanks, we've organized a carpet search, but the information we've received is very vague."
"Almost all the soldiers we passed by claimed to have seen that blood-soaked knight charging, but the messages from different places are strange."
"The central army guards say he charged straight towards the royal banner and is coming to your side at the fastest speed, while some light infantry below claim they saw the knight take a detour and then flee."
"?"
Hector blinked, tilted his head, and his gaze became fierce.
It was a look so ferocious it could almost flay a person's skin.
"What do those peasants know?"
"A noble knight, even in the last moments of his life, would launch such a desperate charge. Such a true knight's conviction is beyond doubt, and I will not allow anyone to insult this knight in any form!"
Just then,
"Bang!"
In response to the reddish-brown magic signal flare shot from the central army, a green signal flare rose high from the hills outside the army formation.
"Found him!"
Hector's spirits lifted.
The deputy frowned slightly, his expression somewhat strange.
"Hmm? This location... is the direction Lars set out to deliver the message. But that place is in the scouting direction of the forty-fifth scout cavalry squad. Knight Edoardo... uh, did he run back?"
"Stop muttering, old man! Come with me to welcome this knight!"
Hector spread his cloak and raised his lance high.
He stood with his back to the sun, the fiery orb forming a halo around his head.
His cloak fluttered violently in the fierce battlefield wind.
"Companion Cavalry—"
Hector's eyes widened, a joyful, defiant smile on his lips, and he roared:
"Let us go and bring this knight home!"
With that, he gripped his horse with his legs and charged out from the battlefield, leading the way!
Behind him, over a hundred knights simultaneously drew their lances and followed with roars!
"—Oh!!!"
At the trenches where the forty-fifth scout cavalry squad had passed.
"It's Edoardo!"
Lars' hands trembled as he dismounted and quickly jumped into the trench. Amidst the strange, shocked, or surprised gazes of the group behind him,
He reverently held the body of the first Macedonian scout cavalryman killed by Suya, as if cradling the body of God himself.
"Without a doubt, this sword wound, this face, I remember him!"
Lars' eyes trembled slightly, his eye rims red, his hands shaking uncontrollably.
"But why is he here!?"
"Shugus, tell me, why did Edoardo come back here!?"
"I don't know, Your Grace, I really don't know."
Shugus found this scene incredibly ridiculous, making him almost unable to restrain himself from bursting into laughter on the spot.
He looked at the body of his subordinate, Edoardo, and inexplicably felt both ridiculous and pathetic.
Edoardo had clearly died alongside Wallace, another subordinate of Shugus, at the hands of that murderer and swindler, yet he was regarded as a 'true knight' because that swindler had deceived these fools?
What about Wallace next to him?
Just like this, like the ubiquitous weeds in this world,
No one cared, no one paid attention, and even the truth was known only to himself.
However,
Shugus didn't expose it.
He laughed, then immediately realized that laughing in this atmosphere was wrong. He immediately straightened his face like a skilled actor.
He walked forward with a straight face, pointing at another body in the trench, which was Arthur Pendragon's body—blond hair, blue eyes, a狰狞 (grimacing) face, and a massive penetrating sword wound in his chest.
Shugus spoke seriously and solemnly:
"Your Grace, I surmise that Edoardo returned here to rescue his comrade who stayed behind to cover his escape from Arthur Pendragon."
"As you said, he is a knight of noble character. He might have realized he couldn't reach the general, or perhaps he realized he had already delivered the message and that you and the commander would definitely find him, so he immediately returned here, choosing to live and die with his comrades!"
"For his comrades, and also to help the army find Arthur Pendragon!"
"Hiss!" Lars' eyes widened in astonishment.
He looked incredulously at the sloppily deceased knight Edoardo in his arms.
He stammered, wanting to say something, but his words trembled so much he couldn't organize them.
"Lars, he did it!"
Beside him, another blue-haired youth who had dismounted, the same knight Suya encountered on the right, now patted his younger brother's shoulder, his face filled with an unbearable pity and anger.
"He did it!"
"He fulfilled everything a knight should do; his life has no regrets!"
"Look—this villain!"
"Arthur Pendragon!"
"With the cooperation of Edoardo and his unnamed but equally noble knight comrade, they defeated him!"
"Your Grace, his name is Wallace," Shugus reminded him appropriately.
"That's right, Wallace, Edoardo, they are all true knights! Lars, we should be happy for them, we..."
The blue-haired youth continued, then suddenly choked up, tears streaming uncontrollably from the corners of his eyes, his anger burning like fire.
"Brother Woven, you..."
"I understand, I understand. We must prove the achievements of these two knights!"
"From now on, everyone in my unit will encamp on the spot—"
"Until Commander Hector arrives here!"
The youth named Woven's eyes sharpened, and he immediately gave the order. Then, he drew an alchemy gun from his waist, which looked like a flare gun with a thick barrel, and raised it to the sky.
"Bang!"
A green signal flare rose high from this hill.
Seeing this, Shugus cursed under his breath.
If they delayed any longer, the real culprit who killed Edoardo, Wallace, and this golden-haired knight who was now called Arthur Pendragon, would disappear!
He stepped forward, controlling his facial muscles, squeezing out two tears to make his eyes appear red.
Then, he showed a deeply pained expression and choked to Knight Woven, who was truly in charge of this cavalry squad:
"Your Grace, I wish to offer flowers to my lads. I... I couldn't, but I think I have the only thing I can still do for them—"
"I understand, please accept my condolences." Woven patted his shoulder and sighed.
"Go."
"Western pass, I saw white roses. I think—"
Woven suddenly recalled the bouquet of white roses Edoardo had been holding when he charged alone into the central army. After a moment of thought, he removed his gauntlet, took a signet ring from his ring finger, and tossed it to Shugus, his eyes showing a piercing gaze.
"Whatever you intend to do,"
"Thief, you must return here with the most beautiful flowers in all of Cornwall!"
Shugus immediately knelt on one knee, bowed his head, and took the signet ring with both hands.
Where no one could see,
A cold, indifferent killing intent flashed in his eyes.
"As you command!"