Are You Sure Our Empire's Knight Order Captain is a Yandere? - Chapter 3

Mission
Outside the Imperial Jurisdiction, Forest
“Eight hundred meters, East, La’er.”
Di Xian opened his eyes. His left hand moved to his waist, drew the bow, and loosed. A silver streak shot deep into the forest. Simultaneously, some colossal creature seemed to be tearing through the trees eight hundred meters away, accompanied by the continuous crash of falling timber.
“Now.”
“They’re here.” La’er rolled his sleeves up; he’d been itching for a fight for ages.
“Boom!”
The colossal trees in front of them were suddenly ripped from the earth, the accompanying surge of dirt swirling into a blinding plume of dust that obscured the knights’ vision.
As the yellow smoke billowed, La’er squinted excitedly. After all, who amongst them had ever seen a true Fiend? No one! Except for the older generation, who constantly boasted about fighting and slaying fiends on the battlefield, the younger knights had only ever seen them in the illustrations of their Knight Academy history textbooks. It was said that fifty years ago, the Demon King and the King had signed a peace treaty…
“Blast it all,” La’er cursed, the vulgarity slipping out the moment he spotted the fiend’s silhouette within the yellow smoke.
“How… how are we supposed to fight that?”
As the thick smoke cleared, all the knights stared at the bizarre sight, utterly stunned. Wasn’t that the S-Class Demonic Beast, the Hecatoncheires (Hundred-Armed Giant), from their textbooks? How could it appear in a place like this?
“ROAR!” The Hecatoncheires, waving its almost hundred arms, opened its huge mouth and let out a roar that shook the heavens.
Di Xian had actually noted that the enemy was over six meters tall. According to their records, fiends ranged in average height from two meters to over a hundred. He had even felt a tiny bit relieved that they hadn’t run into one of the truly massive ones. But when the enemy emerged from the dust cloud, Di Xian felt like crying.
A Hecatoncheires!
An S-Class creature, no less! You’ve got to be joking! The library records stated that on the battlefields of old, the Hecatoncheires were the equivalent of Generals! Even a single one was capable of wiping out an entire regiment of human soldiers!
The Hecatoncheires had little patience. Seeing the knights frozen, it extended five hands and, with a casual twist, tore ten-meter-long trees from the ground. It then launched a sweeping attack towards the knights’ formation. The five knights in the front row, upon being struck by the trees, flew backwards like ragdolls and vanished deep into the forest.
“Hoo hoo hooo~~!”
Seemingly delighted by the ease with which it had flattened five knights, the Hecatoncheires began to shriek like a child. Seeing a second sweeping attack imminent, Di Xian quickly snapped out of his shock.
“Imperial Knight Order, listen up! Non-combatant knights, retreat immediately! Combatant knights, assist in sending the wounded back to the Knight Hospital! Vice-Commander-class knights, remain to cover the retreat! Move now!”
On the battlefield, strength was everything. Although Di Xian himself was the strongest knight present, facing the powerful Hecatoncheires without prior planning or tactical discussion, leading a hundred knights to victory in this battle would be extremely difficult.
“Heh heh heh, so we can finally go all out, then?” La’er cracked a smile, his eyes, hidden beneath his messy fringe, seemed to gleam.
“Guess we don’t have to worry about getting disciplined by the Academy for killing something now, do we?” Wu Feng, a known troublemaker at the Knight Academy, wore a wicked grin.
“Don’t worry, Senior Di Xian, I’ll do my best!” Carter called out, trying to encourage Di Xian.
“Oh, my! What a rare opportunity. I’ll treat him like my big brother!” La’ni’s face bloomed with a brilliant, sunny smile, causing La’er’s expression beside her to freeze up.
These people—no, these knights—didn’t seem… afraid of death?
No, that wasn’t right. They must feel the fear of death. Di Xian could tell from the slight tremor in his companions’ limbs. What supported their forced smiles was nothing more than the sheer solitary courage of a Knight Order Vice-Commander, the will to ensure their subordinates could retreat safely.
“Knights, come back safe.” Di Xian gripped his bow tightly.
“We’re all Vice-Commanders. Who gave you, a white-haired elf, the right to order us around in that superior tone?” His four colleagues all turned back and told Di Xian this in unison.
“Tch!” Wu Feng reached up to wipe away the bl00d continuously oozing from the corner of his mouth. His companions weren’t doing much better.
La’er took the opportunity to relocate his dislocated left arm. Both of La’ni’s sleeves had been completely shredded. Carter was leaning heavily on his spear shaft, gulping down air. And that blasted giant? It only had a few minor scratches on it! What the heck?
“Should we retreat?” Wu Feng asked Di Xian, who was currently sliding to dodge one of the giant’s tree attacks.
“Difficult.”
This fiend was smart. It wasn’t engaging them in a straightforward slugfest. Instead, it waited for their mistakes before ruthlessly striking. La’er’s left arm was dislocated after he clashed with the Hecatoncheires to save La’ni when she stumbled.
“Then what? Wait for backup?” Only after saying it did Wu Feng realize how ridiculous his own words sounded. The five of them were the Empire’s greatest combat strength, second only to the Commander’s sister. If they were trapped in this situation, who exactly could they call for help?
Wu Feng dodged a massive tree sideways, yet his skin still felt a faint, stinging pain as if brushed by its leaves. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Carter stumbling over some branches behind him. A twisted grin appeared on the Giant’s deformed red face. Two more massive trees hurtled towards Carter…
In the instant he tripped, Carter thought of his end. He’d struggled so hard, trained his martial arts, studied, and earned the top spot in his year to be fast-tracked into this Imperial Knight Order full of seniors, only to die like this…
Carter silently closed his eyes. One second. Two seconds. The world around him seemed to stand still. Confused by the delay in his death, Carter opened his eyes, only to be astonished by the powerful back blocking him, a back that had just sheathed its sword.
“Don’t close your eyes during a fight, you idiot! As long as you keep your eyes open and look carefully for a chance to live, you still have a chance!” Wu Feng yelled at his junior behind him.
What kind of moron closes their eyes in a fight? They deserve to be killed! The thought flashed through Wu Feng’s mind, yet his body moved against his own conscious will. By the time he realized it, he was already in front of Carter. The thumb of his right hand lightly flicked open The Fang—the Silver Blade Vice-Commander of the Imperial Knight Order’s weapon—which flashed with a sharp brilliance, tearing into the first massive tree that crashed towards them.
Even though he knew it, The Fang was still immature.