300 Retirement

"Haa... Haa... That was intense. I almost lost my life."

After their fierce battle with Jack, Gex struck his sword to the earth before he dropped his knees out of exhaustion. On the other hand, Dane called forth her flying blades and orbited them around her body like satellites. "After this war, I'll probably quit being a warrior and start a new life." Dane uttered as her blonde bangs that covered one of her left eyes were billowed by the gust of the war, revealing her other blue eye. When her forelocks returned, she then turned her head around and took a glance at the direction of the city; specifically, she was staring at where the captain of the Paladins stood. "I don't know how powerful the Sword Saint is supposed to be, but the captain is the strongest person I encountered," she muttered. "I tried to warn Lady Mylene how powerful the captain was, but she deliberately shrugged my words off—" n..OvelB1n

Crack!

As Dane was intoning her concerns, an intensely bright flash of light illuminated the entire battlefield, followed by a loud rumble that echoed throughout the battlefield—no, it reached the ears of the citizens of Richtpole and even to nearby cities. What was happening at that moment was that a bolt of blue lightning struck the field. Dane and Gex, as well as many soldiers nearby, were blinded by the lightning and then tried to look away from it or cover their eyes. Soon after the flash subdued, Dane slowly looked back at the source of the light, and with her keen vision, she opened her eyes wide once she saw the scorched body of the Paladins' captain lying on a particularly burned surface. The captain of the Twelve Paladins, Sir Justine Bezant, also known as the Unrivaled Spear, was the second son of a marquis of Astley who pursued the path of a warrior. After spending years honing his body and skills, Justine mastered the way of the spear and became the most powerful individual in Astley. Through his efforts and perseverance, he was knighted and later became a paladin. However, being raised in the typical noble family of Astley, he was quite a proud person, and he was not satisfied with just being a member. That said, he challenged all the members of the Paladins, and he was promoted to captain. Some even got beaten by him so much that they eventually quit the order and were replaced by the new generation, which was the current generation. Seeing how the two powerful paladins, Jack and Frederick, got overwhelmed by Justine, the new members did not even dare pose hostility to him and question his management. In his late thirties, Justine was said to be at Level 600, the highest in the history of the kingdom. But in front of his countrymen, Astley's strongest was utterly humiliated by a single Lightning Strike from a much more powerful opponent, which happened to be the Sword Saint, the most alleged continent's strongest.

"No way..." she astonished in disbelief. "The captain was one-shotted...?"

"That instantly...?" Gex dropped his jaw. "Was it even a fight?" "With that power, she could even stand against the whole kingdom..."

Even though they did not entirely witness the whole thing, Gex and Dane finally realized that the kingdom's pride was definitely not in the same dimension as the Sword Saint. They were still uncertain if Justine had survived the attack or not.

It was said that her wife, the Sage was also at the same level as her, and their children were quite powerful as well, making the Raevender family as powerful as hell. Now that they thought about it, the Sword Saint alone could easily turn this war into a landslide victory for her side if she took it seriously, let alone the entire Raevender family. But doing that would make the kingdom indebted to them, so they refrained from contributing to the war as much as possible. "Well, I think I have changed my mind." "About your retirement?" "Yeah. I decided to continue my career as a warrior, but on a different course." As Dane uttered her words, she shifted her attention in a certain direction and saw how the Sword Saint's daughter, Louise Raevender, easily defeated the vice captain of the Paladins, Dame Lillian the Blazing Sword, whose strength was only second to Justine. "Well, I might retire after this war and take care of my wife and son." Firmly gripping the hilt of his sword, Gex slowly pulled up. "I have been through a lot, so I want to spend more time with my family later, but this time, we have a war to win." Afterwards, Gex and Dane scattered around and helped the revolutionaries defeat the king's army. ◆◇◆◇◆◇

Inside the king's tent at the royal army's camp, Prince Richard XVI was impatiently walking around with his arms behind; he was frantically waiting for something to come. The king, who was on his makeshift throne, had been watching his son for the last ten minutes. The crown prince was supposed to be leading the army, but he was in the tent with anxiety filling his face.

"What's the problem, son?" The king asked. "You look impatient." "Don't disturb me, father; I have something I have been waiting for." The prince replied without halting his feet from walking quickly in the tent. "Our troops are falling; you must go there and lead."

"It's almost there, father." "I am here, master."

"?!" As if he predicted it to happen, a man suddenly appeared inside, bending his knees before the prince. The king and the knights inside were surprised by the man's sudden entrance, and the knights immediately pointed their spears at him. "Who are you?!" One knight exclaimed. "How did you get in?!" In spite of being surrounded on all sides, the man remained unwavering. To break the tension, the prince raised his right, commanding the knights to lower their weapons, which they hesitantly did. "Very well, do you have things I requested?" "I have, master." After that, the man handed over the small chest that he had been holding to the prince. The prince accepted the chest, and when he checked out what was inside, his lips formed a big grin.