"Mother, this man is the one who killed Sir Afton and Sir Rendi!"
Upon hearing this, the four golden Cantiaci knights were taken aback. Unconsciously, they stepped back and among them was their senior, Sir Malcolm.
"Is it true?!" He exclaimed, genuinely shocked.
Apparently, these golden knights had maintained rather good relationships with one another, hence the reason why they became quickly agitated at the moment. They grasped the hilts of the swords that were resting on the side of their hips.
The queen acknowledged this motion, though, so she shot them a glare that immediately stopped them in their tracks.
The queen then shifted her glance towards Fantumar. She then asked,
"How did the princess manage to escape? I thought they were fully surrounded."
The usually confident Fantumar was now rendered speechless, unable to answer the question. Not only was he not able to explain the magic gate, but he was also still tense about the current situation he was in. He was absolutely sure if he didn't mediate this properly, there would be a fight soon and it wouldn't end well for him.
"I apologize, my queen, but I think it is best to hear what he has to say about it first," he replied with his best diplomatic tone.
The queen was a little confused and stared at Emery, brows furrowed. "State your purpose! Speak!"
The expression on Emery's face was serious and stern. He began to ask, "Your majesty, what would it take for you to let the princess go?"
The queen broke out into incredulous laughter, throwing her head back. This request was simply out of the question. "Hahaha! We cannot allow that. She will always be a threat to the Cantiaci."
Emery took a deep breath, asking her again one more time. "Your majesty, you already won. You can take the kingdom for all I care, but please, let the princess go."
At this statement, the queen began to feel annoyed. When she refused a request, her no was final. This young man was persistent.
"Young knight, you seem to be a determined individual, so l'll be lenient and give you a good offer. These knights are itching for you to pay for what you did to their friend. But I will be generous and let you out of this camp, you and all of your friends. I will guarantee that no one will hurt you as long as you give us the princess."
Emery let out an exasperated sigh. He then looked the queen straight in the eye before calmly answering.
"Then, your majesty, I will offer you the same thing. Let the princess go and I will let you all out of this tent completely safe and unharmed." He then bowed his head slightly, a gesture of respect that was so contradictory to his previous statement.
Except for Fantumar, everyone in the room chuckled upon hearing this.
After all, the two of them were currently unarmed. Meanwhile, there were currently 4 golden knights plus a thousand Army just outside of the tent. It would only take a single word and a few seconds for the hordes outside to kill them both.
The queen and her men, however, were still laughing at what they thought was an absurd statement from Emery.
"I guess we should just take that information by force," the queen said with a sneer.
At this moment, Fantumar shouted in an attempt to stop them. "Wait! Wait!"
It was Prince Edward who was the first to draw his sword, pointing it towards the fat noble in an accusatory motion.
"You are being so suspicious! Why are you helping them? Your... Your son also snuck out of the camp like a spy! What are you planning, really?!"
At the same time the four golden knights started to take their offensive positions as they surrounded themselves around Emery and Yvain.
"Please, wait!" Fantumar pleaded again, eyes growing wide. "Listen to him, he's a wizard!"
A tense silence followed his statement. For a moment, no one said anything, but suddenly the stillness was broken, as more of the knights in the room started to chuckle again. Fantumar's whole life, the entire basis of his success, had always been about persuasion. It was killing him that, when it came to this life or death matter, none of them believed him.
"But it's true! It's true!"
"So what if he is?" Said Edward, right before gesturing for the rest of the knights to attack them.
Emery shouted at Yvain to duck while he quickly cast [Black Smoke].
Everyone was shocked by the sudden smoke cloud. A second later within total darkness, there was a slight scream before suddenly it was quickly stopped and followed by a thudding sound, making the presence of the smoke even more terrifying than before.
Less than 10 seconds after, though, the smoke had started to fade. As it cleared, the queen was terrified to see that the four golden knights had already fallen to the ground, not moving a muscle.
She also surprises to see that the edge of her son's blade was bloody, but it was not blood that belonged to the enemy, it was Fantumar's.
During the dark, the fat noble had been stabbed in the chest and he had been knocked onto the ground. As he crawled through the floor, his wounds left a bloody trail behind him. He was slowly dragging himself in the direction of the door, hands grabbing at nothing.
Yvain on the other hand was astonished, finding it amazing that in just a few seconds, Emery was immediately able to disable the four knights.
The queen was about to shout more orders at the remaining men, but Emery quickly cast [Blink] and in an instant he was restraining Edward from the back, holding a black dagger to his throat. It was as if he came out of nowhere, nobody could anticipate his movements.
Just as the prince was about to open his mouth, Emery muffled his mouth with his other arm and stabbed the blade deep into his thigh.
The prince screamed in agony. Once more, Emery stabbed his other thigh. With that, both his legs began to gush with blood. The prince's knees buckled and dropped to the ground and still restraining him, Emery began to whisper.
"The next one will be your neck!" He hissed. He then shifted his gaze to the queen's direction, his glare was dripping with venom.
"Your majesty, how is that deal now? My princess' life for your prince's, I think that's a fair trade."
Emery didn't need to wait for her answer. Her expression said it all. He then released the prince, making him fall face first onto the floor.
"The princess is under my protection. If you even try to harm her, trust me when I say that I can find you any time."
It had finally dawned on the queen: the person standing in front of her really was a wizard. A very strong one, at that. She gave him a quick, wordless nod.
Emery turned and was just about to leave when he suddenly noticed the fat noble who was bleeding out on the ground.
"Please…" He choked. "Please... Save me.."
Emery stared down at the man. It was a pity he did not get an opportunity to land a blow on him, but seeing him crawling helplessly on the floor in a pool of his own blood, he wasn't sure if he even wanted to finish him. But then again, even if he didn't want to, it didn't mean he should save him either.
He suddenly remembered Abe who warned him about the attack and a strange feeling started to brew within him. He decided he would show the noble a little mercy. He squatted next to his body, which was drenched in cold sweat and took out a jar of [Healing Paste]. He waved it in front of Fantumar's face before responding to him.
"I will save you, but only if you can answer my question."
"Yes," he gasped. "Anything."
"Do you know Geoffrey Ambrose?"
Fantumar was startled for a second before he quickly nodded.
"You see... I am Geoffrey's son…"
The fat noble was in excruciating pain, but Emery could see he looked more terrified than ever.
"My question is simple… What is my name?"
The fat noble was almost completely out of breath. With pale lips, he tried to mutter out the words, but none came out.
"I thought so... Your crimes are so numerous you can't even remember any of them."
With the last of his strength, Fantumar grabbed Emery by the collar before murmuring out a sentence unintelligibly. "If… I die… the nobles… Chaos…"
Emery smiled and whispered back. "With or without you, there will still be chaos."
He didn't even need to do anything. He just waited and watched the fat noble Fantumar breathe his last.
He stood up, looking the queen in the eyes one more time. "Remember our deal !" Emery then left the tent as if nothing had happened and told the men to start walking out of the camp.
20 men walked out the enemy camp completely unscratched, while still carrying the king's lifeless body on their shoulders.