Breaking Off the Engagement with the Demon King - Chapter 15
“W-What…? This is absurd…”
Lars couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Gordon—supposedly the strongest member of the Hero’s party present—was being effortlessly subdued by Arviga. The scene before his eyes felt unreal.
Lars had fully understood the military risks involved in breaking off the engagement between Shou and Kiara. As a countermeasure, he had brought Hero Alls and his companions over to the royal faction as a trump card.
With someone as overwhelmingly powerful as the Hero backing the royal family, surely even the Rudel Marquessate would think twice about turning their strength against the crown.
That’s what he’d believed.
But now—this was reality.
Gordon, the very man meant to symbolize that overwhelming power, had been rendered utterly powerless by Arviga, Shou’s subordinate. Worse yet, Arviga was now casually voicing genuine concern for Gordon’s muscle condition. As if he had nothing to worry about.
“G-Guards! Assist Sir Gordon—now!!”
Snapping out of his daze, Lars frantically ordered the royal knights into action. He couldn’t allow Gordon to be seriously injured. This wasn’t the time to question why a knight would need to save a member of the Hero’s party. He convinced himself that Gordon must still be weary from the long journey.
“You there! Release Sir Gordon at once!!”
The strongest among the royal knights—second only to Gordon in physical might—charged toward Arviga.
But then—
“Aaghhh!?”
With a sudden, violent crash, the knight was launched sideways like a ragdoll.
Rumble rumble rumble…
Clatter!
He rolled across the floor, toppled a table full of food, and slammed hard into the wall. Frothing at the mouth, the knight lost consciousness instantly.
“W-What was…?”
The room fell silent.
The reason was clear.
At some point, Shou had slipped between Arviga and the approaching knight—and delivered a roundhouse kick to the latter’s torso.
The knight, struck squarely, went flying like an empty box. It wasn’t that he was light or weak—the sheer power of Shou’s kick was simply too overwhelming.
Lars—and everyone else present—could only stare in disbelief, breath caught in their throats. The lean-framed Shou had taken down a knight two or three heads taller than him with a single blow.
“Now, now. Don’t butt in like that. Right now, it’s Arviga and Sir Gordon’s turn to have a man-to-man brawl.”
With an exasperated expression, Shou let out a heavy sigh.
Though it hardly looked like a fair fight, Shou clearly still considered it a proper scuffle between men—and saw any interruption as nothing but tasteless interference.
“Y-You there! Do something—stop him!!”
Lars shouted desperately at the remaining knights.
But after seeing what Shou had just done—easily taking down the strongest among them—no one dared move. Everyone hesitated, frozen.
The man Shou had knocked out was the most powerful of all Lars’s personal royal guards.