"Count, are you okay?!"
Even in the midst of great panic, Lien cut the potentially dangerous monster in two and hurriedly checked Deon's condition.
The arrow went deep into his shoulder.
Looking at the location where it was hit, it appeared that it came from behind.
If that's the case, it meant it didn't come from the border...
After wrapping things up in a short time, Lien, who was calling Deon again, paused for a moment at his reaction.
"Whoa..."
"...Count?"
She winced and took a step back without even realizing it. A horrifying feeling of rejection came over her.
Was this what it would feel like if the energies of the members of the rampaging murderous knights were combined? Excitement and madness that could not be hidden were revealed in the slowly exhaled breath.
She heard a strange cracking sound and looked down to see him holding his own shoulder as if he was squeezing it.
Even though his sharp fingernails made the wound worse and the hand covering his shoulder was drenched in blood, Deon Hardt was smiling.
"Sir Lien."
"Yes, yes!"
"Cut this off."
"...Yes?"
"Hurry."
Lien hesitated for a moment, looking at the arrow shaft that protruded from his shoulder.
Looking at the way he was talking, it seemed like she should cut off the protruding part completely so that there was no discomfort. If you cut the arrow shaft like that, it will be convenient for now, but the aftereffects when you remove the arrowhead later will be significant.
The more you move, the deeper the arrowhead will dig in, and in order to pull it out, you have to cut deeper around it and expand the wound to pull it out.
It was natural that the recovery time would increase accordingly. Considering the fact that Deon Hardt was the Emperor's sword, she should stop him.
The moment Lien met the bright red eyes that slowly moved and focused on her, she pulled out her sword and swung it as if she was possessed.
The arrow shaft that was sticking out and shaking fell down, and Deon smiled in satisfaction as the cumbersome thing disappeared.
"Okay then, guys."
All right.
As the horse took a step forward, he tilted his head slightly.
Then, as if from nowhere, another arrow grazed his ear and stuck on the floor.
Leaving the flagship Lien behind, Deon turned back the hood of his white robe with his bloody hands and looked around at the members.
His eyes narrowed under the light, as if the strong early summer sunlight was too much for him, but his mouth was still smiling.
"It's time to take your medicine."
It's a battle! The members' eyes changed.
Lien trembled because it doesn't seem like they were the guys she used to know.
Deon lazily wiped his blood-soaked hands on the hem of his robe and waited leisurely for them to finish preparing. In the meantime, the attackers, who had no intention of wasting any more time, began to charge on horseback, but no one except Lien was impatient.
"Do you have any medicine?"
"Just mine."
"Damn. Then, Cleter, do you have any leftover medicine..."
"That's all I brought with me just in case. Are you sure you didn't bring anything?"
"It's about subduing monsters. I never thought I would be dealing with people."
Milan shook his head roughly as if he was troubled.
As if he was the only one who did not take medicine, several other members were also walking around among the members to get medicine.
Deon, who was watching this, took out a pouch from his pocket with clean hands.
"Milan."
"Yes? ...Hmph!"
Milan reflexively grabbed something that flew by, realized that it was actually a pouch, and carefully checked its contents.
It was filled with pure white medicine.
Milan, who immediately realized what it was, raised his head and looked at Deon with puzzled eyes. "Can't you, Count, manage well without these things? But why..."
"I received it from a drug addict with a swollen liver when I went to carry out His Majesty's orders."
"Yes? Ah... Anyway, I'll be grateful."
Milan wondered how on earth he could go to defeat monsters and meet a drug addict with a swollen liver, but he thought a good thing was a good thing and quickly put a pill in his mouth.
Then he immediately frowned.
The substance of the medicine dissolved instantly without a trace when placed in something like a glass of water.
In other words, it was not a drug made for a very good purpose. Thanks to this, it was easy to ingest, so if you think positively, you can look at it as a good thing...
'These kinds of medicines are bound to have side effects...'
Even high-end medicines were unpleasant. If the person who provided this wasn't the Count, he would have spit it out right away.
'Well... there won't be a problem with the medicine the Count gave me, so the side effects won't be that serious.'
Milan was about to swallow the medicine that was quickly dissolving at the tip of his tongue with an uncomfortable expression. Others who had been looking for medicine came and everyone was about to take the medicine and put it in their mouths when Deon said, "Oh, there is a mixture of sleeping pills and paralyzing drugs in there, so make sure to tell them apart."
"...Cough!!"
"Ptooh! Hehe!"
The sound of something being spit out was heard simultaneously here and there.
Some of them smelled the wet medicine in their palms and checked it again, putting it back into their mouths with relieved faces, while others threw it on the floor with bitter expressions.
A grumbling voice came from somewhere.
"You say you have some level of immunity, but isn't that too much?"
"It's my fault for not being able to distinguish."
"Now that I see it, sleeping pills and paralyzing drugs seem to have very severe side effects. Is the Count still a person?"
"I'm not a person now."
"Ah."
"If you think about what you're going to do from now on, you shouldn't be a human being."
"Anyway..."
Lien, who was watching the incomprehensible scene unfolding before her eyes, stuttered before opening her mouth.
"Count... Count, what kind of medicine is that...?"
"A drug."
"Cough! It's a drug?! Aren't drugs banned in the Empire? If even the Count, who should be stopped, does that...!"
"It is implicitly permitted only for our knights. As long as you don't get caught outright, it's okay."
"What is that..."
"Now wouldn't be the time to worry about such things, right?"
Deon, who had said that, kicked off his horse's saddle and jumped up.
He lightly jumped over Lien, twisted his body in the air, wrapped his arms around the neck of the guy running towards Lien, and they fell to the floor together.
Falling from a horse! If you're not careful, you could not only get seriously injured, but you could even die!
When Lien, startled, looked down after Deon, he skillfully landed using his opponent as a cushion and plunged a dagger into both of his shoulders, pinning him to the floor.
Both shoulders, then both hands. As the other person struggled in pain, he lowered his gaze and asked,
"Should I do it on his legs too?"
"..."
These words were sincere.
The guy almost froze when he saw the shiny red eyes.
Deon grinned at him and stood up.
If he had enough daggers, he would have done that, but unfortunately, there were only two left.
Therefore, he turned his gaze towards the members who had already entered into battle and spoke to Lien, who was waiting.
"Sir Lien."
"Yes, Count."
"Take care to make sure this guy doesn't die."
"I will follow your orders."
You don't have to worry about this anymore.
She could see the members fighting like crazy on one side.
If the general public had seen everyone's eyes go crazy, they would have thought they had lost their minds... but Deon's eyes narrowed.
"What are you doing now?"
A monotonous voice that was neither very loud nor contained any particular emotion. Still, for some reason, everyone's eyes were on him. Despite the enemy's gaze, it was quite a burden to see drugged and bloodshot eyes looking at him, but Deon didn't care.
He slowly stepped towards the place where the dangerous madness flowed between reason and instinct.
Entering a place full of horses was tantamount to suicide, but there was no sign of hesitation.
"It's been so long that you've lost your senses..."
"..."
"Or maybe it's because you feel like you can fight as a human now that you've become a knight."
"!"
He disappeared for a moment, then appeared right next to the enemy's horse and stabbed the opponent's thigh with a dagger. When the unexpected pain threw him off balance, he took the opportunity to raise his fingernails and scratch the wound, grabbing his clothes and pulling them down.
The sight of the dagger being thrust down without hesitation as soon as it was dropped was enough to turn the attention of even members who were so accustomed to it that they even did it themselves.
Yeah, that one.
If they had really lost their minds, they wouldn't have looked away like that.
A sneer appeared on Deon's lips.
"Why are you suppressing the energy of the medicine?"
If the behavior after taking the medicine was no different from usual, there was no point in taking the medicine.
The members' eyes widen as if they didn't even know. Deon looked at each of the gazes directed at him and spoke as if they were pitiful.
"You guys aren't that skilled yet."
They didn't have the skills to survive without becoming cruel.
However, they were not immune to guilt. Feeling guilty about being a victim of that action as well.
So you have to get drunk. You need to blow away the memories with medicine.
"I would have told you repeatedly."
The bright red pupils in the eyes were curved like half moons and looked to the side.
Perhaps they were planning to take advantage of the distraction to make a surprise attack, but there was a guy approaching with a weapon in his hand, standing there with his eyes wide open as if he couldn't believe it.
A dagger dug into the guy's heart when he swung it.
He put all his strength into his hand, twisted the dagger, and pulled it out. A lot of blood splattered, leaving red stains on his white hair and cheeks. Deon didn't stop there, he grabbed the guy by the hair, tilted his head back, and started repeatedly slashing his dagger at his face.
In contrast to his actions, which were rough and bordered on madness, his voice was calm.
"You just need to leave enough reason to distinguish between friend and foe."
The blood that had not yet soaked in ran down his bangs and dripped.
And the moment they encountered the red eyes of the same color hidden behind them, they could not help but freeze as they seemed to hear those words that remained so powerfully in their minds.
'Be consumed by madness.'
***
While Deon and the Murderous Knights were dealing with enemies that had suddenly appeared, there was great confusion in the kingdom beyond the border.
The commander, who was in charge of the important role of guarding the border, looked blankly at one place and muttered in an absent-minded voice.
There was deep disbelief in his voice, as if he couldn't believe it even as he said it himself.
"Is that Deon Hardt? A hero of the Empire?"
"Looking at the white hair, it seems like that."
"Looking at the fighting style, I think it's correct."
"I can't see the color of their eyes because they are far away, but I think it is him because of the white clothes."
"The uniforms of the guys with him clearly belong to the Murderous Knights. So it's probably right."
"Shit."
Why on earth did he come here?
Calling it a simple monster subjugation felt suspicious.
Subjugating monsters usually involved two or more knights, so wasn't this too few?
Just when he was leaning more towards the hypothesis that they had come to spy on a small number of elites rather than simply to subdue monsters, a further problem arose.
"What is that again?!"
A person who appeared to be Deon Hart was hit in the shoulder by an arrow that suddenly flew out.
And a battle broke out again with these new, suspicious-looking people.
As confusing as it was on the other side, this side was also confusing in a different way.
If they were going to harm a hero of the Empire, there would have to be a high-ranking person behind them. Was it infighting? Was there a lot of infighting in the empire? Or a show of force against their kingdom? No, the arrow was stuck quite deeply for it to be considered a show of force. It would probably be difficult to use his arms properly for a while.
...Huh? For a while...?