I Became a Mythical Knight King

Chapter 16: Fierce Battle (2)

Approximately five hundred years ago…

The Sacred King, Arthur Pendragon, led the Knights of the Round Table to exterminate countless evils that threatened the mortal realm.

Before the founding of Camelot, the world was ruled by savage beings. These entities, drawn to the light of humanity, were ultimately defeated by the Sacred King’s sword and driven back into the lightless abyss.

The god of the kobolds was one such entity.

Nearly five centuries after Camelot’s fall, the god of the kobolds finally emerged from the darkness, sending a descendant imbued with divine blood into the mortal realm to reclaim the flames of humanity.

Thus arrived the High Priest and Great Warrior of the kobold god—his chosen scion, the rightful prince of the kobolds.

The prince immediately recognized the extraordinary nature of Yoo-seong, sensing the aura of the Lady of the Lake surrounding him.

And so, the kobold prince laughed.

Unleashing the full force of his power as a prince of the kobold god, his energy roared across the battlefield.

Craaaaargh!

His roar shook not only the castle walls but the entire city. Though crude and primal, it carried the divine essence of the kobold god.

Just as Kate’s golden light inspired human courage, the kobold prince’s roar resonated with his kin, prompting them to respond with a chorus of roars. Their savagery ignited like wildfire, while the humans, hearing the roar, succumbed to primal fear.

In that moment, Yoo-seong instinctively realized: if the kobold prince was not defeated, this battle would be lost. Even if every kobold were slain, as long as their prince lived, the city would fall.

He steadied his breathing, suppressing the fear rising within him as he prepared to confront the grim reality before him. Yet, the feeling was fleeting.

“For the glory of Camelot.”

Kate’s soft golden light enveloped Yoo-seong and the knights.

Vanadain pulled back his bowstring, and Diana raised her lance from afar.

The knights of Camelot, their steadfastness unwavering, restored Robin and Edgar’s courage. Even Rene gritted her teeth and gripped her staff tightly.

“I’m going in,” Yoo-seong said, charging toward the kobold prince, who met his advance with a mocking smile.

Kate and Rene followed closely behind. Vanadain loosed his drawn arrow.

Whish!

The arrow streaked ahead of Yoo-seong, fast and accurate as always, but this time, it failed to strike its mark. The kobold prince had caught the arrow mid-flight. Though the sight was nearly unbelievable, Vanadain remained unfazed, swiftly preparing another shot.

Yoo-seong and Kate’s strides didn’t falter as they rushed forward. From the distance, Robin spurred her horse into a gallop once more. Seeing this, the kobold prince laughed, throwing aside the arrow he’d caught.

“Come, human blades!” he bellowed.

Boom!

The shockwave from the kobold prince’s swinging axe rippled across the battlefield as cracks spider-webbed across the walls near the shattered gate.

Vanadain’s second arrow was deflected mid-air.

And then Yoo-seong reached him.

As the shockwave subsided, Yoo-seong accelerated as though waiting for this exact moment, closing the distance in an instant. He lunged at the prince’s torso, but the kobold prince swung his axe again.

“One step.”

Whoosh!

The sound of cleaved air rang out. Yoo-seong narrowly evaded the axe, surging forward to strike with his sword.

Clang!

The blade clashed against the prince’s armor, rebounding with a sharp metallic ring. Though the aura blade could usually deal significant damage even to armor, it was different this time. The divine energy flowing through the prince’s violet armor negated the attack.

Disappointment flashed across Yoo-seong’s face.

At that moment, Kate attacked the kobold prince, but the result was no better. Lacking Yoo-seong’s potent aura blade, her assault only served to briefly divert the prince’s attention.

Still, her efforts weren’t entirely in vain. As the prince’s axe swept toward her, Kate rolled along the ground to evade it, hearing the rumble of approaching footsteps.

It was Diana.

Her charge, relentless and furious as a storm, struck with unparalleled ferocity. But the kobold prince was unshaken. As though it had been preordained, he extended a hand and chanted an incantation, summoning the Barrier of the Dark God.

Boom!

The collision of Diana’s charge and the dark barrier created a tremendous shockwave, throwing cavalry soldiers into disarray.

Enika and Diana, positioned at the forefront, were flung to the ground, and the kobold prince was pushed back toward the shattered gate.

Yoo-seong moved again.

From the flank, he leaped, aiming for one of the few unprotected areas: the prince’s head.

Clang!

The prince’s cuff blocked Yoo-seong’s strike at the last possible moment. Despite narrowly parrying, the prince’s face lit up with exhilaration.

Boom!

Simultaneously, a fireball launched by Rene exploded against the prince’s back. However, it was clear—the kobold prince was unharmed. His armor remained impervious.

“Ha ha ha ha ha!” The kobold prince roared with laughter, swinging his axe at Yoo-seong. The attack was purely offensive, with no regard for defense, making it fast and devastating. Each swing unleashed shockwaves, shaking the surroundings and leaving little room for evasion or intervention.

Yoo-seong gritted his teeth, analyzing the patterns of the axe’s trajectory and the accompanying shockwaves. Finding an opening for a counterattack seemed nearly impossible, and even if one existed, the prince’s armor was impenetrable.

Rene unleashed another spell, and Vanadain fired another arrow. The kobold prince deflected them with his armor and cuffs, then turned to retaliate against them with a massive axe swing.

Slash!

This wasn’t an ordinary shockwave—it was imbued with a crimson, murky energy, transforming into a sharp, giant blade that shot toward Rene and Vanadain.

From his position, Yoo-seong couldn’t intervene. Rene froze momentarily, but Vanadain grabbed her waist, pulling her out of harm’s way. Just then, Kate planted her banner between them and the blade.

Crash!

The crimson blade shattered against the banner, but the banner broke in turn. Exhausted from the effort, Kate coughed up blood and collapsed. The kobold prince swung his axe at Yoo-seong once more.

The kobolds began moving.

As the battle shifted, kobolds poured through the breached gate, some descending from the walls where the defenses had faltered. They surged toward the injured Diana and Kate.

Rene and Vanadain struggled to protect them, but the number of kobolds pressing down on them was overwhelming.

The kobold prince, laughing uproariously, swung his axe at Yoo-seong. Though Yoo-seong dodged, the shockwave tore through his left shoulder.

It was deep.

Blood spurted, and searing pain erupted, as though his flesh was being branded with a hot iron. It was the first injury he had sustained since arriving in this world.

It hurt. He wanted to scream.

But Yoo-seong gritted his teeth, enduring the agony as he kept his eyes fixed forward.

“I’ve got you,” the kobold prince sneered.

The prince wasn’t wrong. Injured, Yoo-seong would now struggle to evade further attacks. As the damage accumulated, his fate seemed sealed.

Yoo-seong knew this. Yet he hesitated.

Using his hidden trump card in this situation didn’t seem ideal. However, there might not be another opportunity.

He needed time.

Time to divert the prince’s attention. Time to pin him down.

But only Yoo-seong could buy that time. Diana and Kate were injured and blocked by kobolds. Rene and Vanadain’s ranged attacks couldn’t delay the prince for long. Robin, Edgar, and even Sir Simon were stuck atop the walls, unable to intervene.

The kobold prince readied his axe while Yoo-seong steeled his resolve but at that moment, someone rushed between them.

***

It was a man who knew he was old. A man who knew his body could no longer fight properly.

***
He was an old man.

Worse, he was injured.

But he didn’t hesitate.

On the contrary, he charged bravely.

He wasn’t crazy or overzealous, he was simply determined.
***
Baron Latus was born the eldest son of a baronet and was heir to the title.

But he always aspired to be a knight, and he never forgot his admiration for Arthur Pendragon and the Knights of the Round Table, the great saint king who ushered in the age of men.

He was not a great talent and realized chivalry at a later age than most.

He knew best that he would never be the knight he had dreamed of since childhood, the one who would leave a legacy of honor but he didn’t care.

He was grateful for the fact that he realized chivalry, for its power to reflect his life and soul.

***
Old Man- A red, vibrant aura rose from Baron Latus’ entire body like a flame.

It was the chivalry of Baron Latus.

And at the sight of it, Lord Simone, who had been fighting frantically, swallowed back an involuntary scream.

The chivalry of Hugo Latus was the Flame of Life, a chivalry who burned his own life in exchange for transcendent power.

Born in the body of a commoner, but dreaming of becoming a great knight, it was his desire.

It was the reason Baron Latus was so much older than he should have been.

It was the reason he couldn’t use his chivalry to fight the kobolds at the gates.

If he used chivalry once more, it would be his last spark.

He knew it but Baron Latus was determined nonetheless.

He ran towards the descendants of the evil god who appeared leading a horde of kobolds, or more precisely, towards the knight who was fighting against the descendant of the evil god.

He was not a knight of this realm.

René had brought him here, but he was a stranger and yet here he was, fighting, risking his life to stop the spawn of an evil god.

It was shameful but at the same time, it was something to honor.

Baron Latus gritted his teeth and ran.

He steeled his resolve and ignited the final flame.

As Baron Latus, he would defend his lands and his people, to fulfill the knight oath he had sworn as a child.

Boom!

Baron Latus’ sword of fire struck the kobold prince’s axe from the front.

The kobold prince was genuinely taken aback, and it created a gap.

Baron Latus laughed ferociously and charged.

He could tell from the previous blow that even if he burned the last of his life, it was impossible to slay the monster in front of him.

Baron Latus’ own life would be lost before the monster could be defeated but he didn’t care.

He was not here to defeat the enemy and gain fame.

The man who came with Rene, a knight claiming to be a descendant of the long-gone Camelot.

He believed in him.

And now, with what little life he had left, he would use it to weaken the Prince of the Kobolds.

When Yoo-seong saw the back of Baron Latus he understood what he had to do and rose to his feet.

As Baron Latus’ last flame clashed with the Prince of Kobolds, he used the last thing he had left, the King’s Hour.

A Knight Order proclaimed by the authority of the King.

The power of the Holy King that allows him to use the chivalry of all the knights in the Knights’ Order for a limited time.

Yoo-seong’s eyes glowed gold.

The dormant dragon heart awakened and began to radiate dragon magic.

Kate’s chivalry manifested.

A faint golden glow emanated from Yoo-seong’s entire body.

Vanadain and Diana’s chivalry manifested simultaneously as a light like the morning sun shone brilliantly from the sword in Yoo-seong’s grip.

Everyone on the battlefield took notice. Even those who were fighting turned and gazed at Yoo-seong but the Prince of Kobolds could not.

Baron Latus’ sword and the kobold prince’s axe clashed once more head-on.

With a tremendous shockwave, both Baron Latus and the Prince of Kobolds stumbled backwards at the same time.

Baron Latus’ flame died like a lie.

His old, exhausted body collapsed, coughing up blood, and the Prince of Kobolds looked up sharply.

Yoo-seong was coming.

The Prince of Kobolds saw the Yoo-seong sword in his eyes.

‘I must flee!’

It would be foolish to fight back.

If he ducked and bought himself some time, the heir to the Holy King would collapse from exhaustion, just like the old man before him.

But he could not.

An arrow came flying.

It was Vanadain’s.

Even as he was stabbed in the back by the kobold’s dagger, the arrow he fired pierced the kobold prince’s blind spot.

The arrow struck him in the head but it was not deep, however it stole a moment from the kobold prince.

Rene’s magic flared.

“Freeze!”

Ice rose from the Prince of Kobolds’ feet.

It was crimson ice, made from the blood of Lord Mont, his soldiers-and Baron Latus.

Tsk!

It wasn’t so strong and he could break it in a heartbeat but it was enough.

Yoo-seong struck the kobold prince in the face.

He closed the distance even further, narrowly dodging the axe he swung wildly.

There was only one spot he was aiming for. The gap in the armor caused by the final blow of Baron Latus, as well as the consecutive strikes of Yoo-seong’s himself.

It was a small gap in his back but Yoo-seong found it.

Glaring at the kobold prince, his eyes filled with pain and fear for the first time since he’d stood on the battlefield, Yoo-seong summoned all three knights’ chivalry at once.

Kate’s light, Vanadain’s piercing power and Diana’s shockwave glowed as one.

The stab unleashed an immense force.

– Aaaah …

The shockwave condensed from the tip of the sword exploded from inside the kobold prince’s body.

The entire city walls and city center shook, and the light that came with it bathed the surrounding area in golden color, like the rising sun.

The kobold prince could not hold out.

The wall of divinity that protected him had collapsed, and even the hardy flesh of a godblood could not withstand the shock from within.

The kobold prince’s screams shattered in the silence created by the explosion as the golden glow faded.

Yoo-seong’s eyes, which had turned golden, returned to their original color.

Yoo-seong sucked in a ragged breath and looked ahead.

The Prince of Kobolds had fallen.

His armor was shattered, and his torso was no longer in proper shape.

His severed head lay on the ground and everyone saw it, not just Yoo-seong.

Everyone was silent in wonder at the sight, and then someone uttered the first cry.

“Aaaah!”

It was just a cry of joy.

And that was the beginning.

Everyone on the ramparts and on the battlefield raised their weapons and cheered.

The battle was still on.

There were still hundreds of kobolds left but that didn’t matter anymore.

The human knight had defeated the kobold prince.

The human knight had won!

The thunderous shouts of the humans shook the heavens and earth.

The kobolds, seeing their prince dead, began to retreat.

Yoo-seong let out a long breath.

He straightened his back and held high the sword that had struck down the kobold prince.

And that was the signal.

With a renewed roar, the kobolds began to flee.

The humans roared and fought back.

The knights of Camelot, led by Kate, stared at Yoo-seong.

They pounded their fists on their chests in honor of their king.

Yoo-seong looked back at them and smiled as he saw Renee running toward him.

In the Battle Lothian the armies of men had repulsed the armies of kobolds.

It was a night of victory.