"I am the Bulwark of the Capital, the Shield of Godwyn the Golden, the Dragon's Flank, the Giant-Slayer, and Leader of the Tree Sentinels—Hector of the Draconic Sentinels!"
Hector raised his Dragon Greatclaw high. The blessing of the Golden Vow caused every plate of his armor to shimmer with the brilliance of the sun.
"Hero of Caria, declare your name! With such martial prowess, why throw your life away for a kingdom destined for ruin? Join the banner of the Erdtree instead. I, Hector, personally guarantee your commission as a Knight of the Capital!"
"I am no knight," Loretta said.
"What? Do you truly believe that I am not worthy of knowing your name?!" Hector roared. "You are clearly a champion among ten thousand, a peerless warrior of Caria. How could you possibly be unknighted?"
"I am Loretta of the Albinauric Village," she said calmly, leveling her Silver War Sickle. "Loretta, the Maiden of the Sleeping Wolf! Enough talk. Let us settle this."
"Hiding behind anonymity! Do not think that defeating a weakling entitles you to such arrogance. I shall hang your head in my chambers!" Hector hoisted the Dragon Greatclaw as a bolt of red lightning struck from the heavens, coiling around the jagged blade. "Witness the power of the Dragon!"
The two spoke no more. They spurred their mounts into a head-on charge, and the Silver War Sickle collided violently with the Dragon Greatclaw.
A thunderous crack erupted between heaven and earth!
The sound was so immense it bordered on silence—perhaps it was the "Great Tone" that transcends hearing, or perhaps the sheer pressure was like a tidal wave that rendered sound irrelevant.
The very sky seemed to shudder. The ground surrounding Loretta and Hector suddenly buckled, sinking nearly half a meter and carving a shallow crater dozens of meters wide into the battlefield. Their warhorses let out pained cries, their legs nearly buckling, yet they exerted every ounce of strength to stay standing for their masters.
Red Dragonbolt surged up the Silver War Sickle, lashing against Loretta's gauntlets until tongues of electric fire covered her entire body. Seeing this, Hector broke into a cold, triumphant smile. But as the stalemate passed the one-second mark, he realized that although Loretta's arms were trembling slightly from the shock, her body remained unshakeable amidst the searing lightning.
One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.
Hector's smile vanished. His own hands began to shake—his muscles were reaching their breaking point under the sustained output of force. His expression darkened as his exertion deepened, and with a sudden, explosive roar, he wrenched the Dragon Greatclaw out of the clash and swung it with savage force at Loretta's horse. Simultaneously, Loretta's sickle swept down in a counterstrike.
They galloped past each other. Both horses took only a few staggering steps before collapsing onto their sides, throwing their riders to the dirt. Blood geysered from the headless necks of the mounts; both warriors had decapitated the other's steed in the same instant.
"Excellent! Now, we fight on foot!" Hector rolled across the ground and leapt up with a shout, only to find that Loretta had not stood up with him.
"What? Are you out of strength already?" Hector mocked loudly as he strode toward her, but then he stopped, squinting in surprise. "What is wrong with your legs?"
Loretta used the handle of her sickle to prop up her upper body, but from the knees down, she was motionless. She could not stand. The curse of the first-generation Albinaurics was the loss of their legs; without a mount, she was incapable of standing for combat.
Her chest ached fiercely. Loretta tightened her grip on her sickle and pointed it at Hector. It was impossible to fight a master of this caliber while sitting on the ground. Was today truly the day I die?
"Dammit! To think I was pushed to this limit by a cripple!" With Hector's experience, he could easily see that Loretta's lower legs had no sensation. He hesitated momentarily; there was no honor in slaying a disabled knight who could not even stand. In this moment, the 'honorable' thing would be to command two Leyndell knights to surrender their horses so they could resume the duel mounted.
"But this is a battlefield," he finally decided, gripping the Dragon Greatclaw with both hands as he advanced on her. "Die."
Loretta gathered her mana, knowing she had, at most, one final strike left in her. Before the end came, she looked up at the clear, vast sky.
Not a cloud in sight. A beautiful day.
My Prince, it seems I cannot accompany you to the Eternal City after all.
Hector raised his weapon, but he noticed the sun-drenched ground suddenly go dark, as if a massive cloud had obscured the sun.
His expression shifted instantly. He performed a desperate roll to evade a massive dragon tail that slammed down from the sky. "A dragon?! Knights of Leyndell, prepare for a hunt—wait!"
A warrior clad in a heavy fur cloak leapt from the dragon's back, swinging a massive sword downward. The Royal Greatsword clashed with the Dragon Greatclaw several times in rapid succession. Neither could gain the upper hand, and after a final, bone-shaking impact, both retreated several paces.
The Leyndell knights noticed the change in the tide and abandoned their pursuit of the Carian light cavalry, turning back to reinforce their commander—only to be halted by a blast of cerulean dragonfire.
Adula, the Glintstone Dragon, craned her neck, unleashing a breath of glintstone magic that covered a massive 180-degree arc. Seven or eight knights were caught in the blast, falling wounded from their horses. The remaining knights were forced to scatter, attempting to flank the beast from both sides.
"Princess of the Moon." Hector's face was grim as he recognized the tall, red-haired girl standing beside the half-wolf warrior. "I ask that Your Highness does not interfere. This matter has nothing to do with you."
"You lead an army to invade my homeland and commit atrocities, yet you say it has nothing to do with me?" Ranni stepped forward. Her freezing aura caused the ground to frost over in a wide radius, turning the soft earth into hard, permafrost. "I command you to withdraw your troops immediately. Get out of Carian territory."
"Hmph! I'm afraid I cannot obey that."
Hector's gaze darted between Ranni and the half-wolf. Though she was born of the Carian Queen, she was also the daughter of King Radagon. He wasn't sure if harming the Lunar Princess would result in praise or punishment from his own King. Furthermore, while Ranni lacked the legendary battle record of her brother, General Radahn, she was still a demigod. If they truly came to blows, he had no certainty of victory.
Combined with that remarkably skilled Greatsword warrior at her side...
"To show my respect for the Princess, I shall order the army to halt its advance temporarily," Hector conceded begrudgingly.
"I am taking this knight with me," Ranni said, pointing at Loretta.
The veins in Hector's forehead throbbed, but he ultimately chose not to explode in rage.
"You may enter that border castle of Caria. But if you do, while Your Highness may remain unharmed, your servants will surely perish there," Hector said, pulling his Dragon Greatclaw from the ground. "For my King has already arrived."
From the distance, the horns of the Capital and the flutes of the Oracle Envoys echoed, making the earth vibrate slightly.
Ranni looked toward the horizon. The Leyndell Royal Army covered the landscape. Knights, heavy infantry, ballistae, gargoyles, trebuchets, and troll slaves with hollowed bellies pulling massive carts... the tide of the army advanced, their banners blotting out the sky. The dust they kicked up rose into the air like a cyclone.
Hector folded his arms, admiring the world-swallowing grandeur of the Royal Army. It wasn't until he noticed that the Royal Army had come to a halt, yet the vibrations in the ground had not stopped, that his composure broke.
He spun around, his gaze passing over Ranni to the opposite horizon.
Under the banners of the Moon and the Stars, an army in blue stood like a reflection of the sky itself.
After a moment of silence, he turned to the Leyndell knight beside him. "Inform the King. The Queen of the Full Moon has arrived."
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Elden Ring: The Unborn One's Journey Through Elden Ring(48 Chapter - Ongoing)
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