Chapter 117

Chapter 117 – Chapter 19: Change

Karatus, the barbarian king, had crossed the border .

In-gong thought back to Paratus . As the barbarian king’s younger brother, his value was both small and big . If he was caught as a prisoner, he could be used somehow .

Was Paratus still caught under the pile of rubble? Or had he already moved? It had been close to 20 minutes since he used True Destruction . It wasn’t a long time, but it should be enough for Paratus to climb out from that spot .

Paratus was strong . So, In-gong wasn’t sure he could win against Paratus in a one on one fight . In a situation where there was no one supporting In-gong from behind, In-gong could lose his life in an instant .

It was a situation where he had to prioritize securing Nayatra, so he avoided the battle . However, what if that was the wrong move? Would it have been better to fight?

“Relax, Shutra . ”

Felicia said, placing a hand on In-gong’s shoulder . In-gong recovered his spirit and looked over at Felicia thankfully .

She just laughed, immediately understanding what In-gong was thinking .

“The situation has changed . Once again, relax . Do you think that General Vandal has already been cornered?”

Her words were right .

At the time of his confrontation with Paratus, he hadn’t know the barbarian king was moving . Moreover, the reason he had avoided fighting was because he wasn’t certain he would win . If he had known the information, he would’ve taken risks . However, the previous situation wasn’t one where he should’ve taken the risk of fighting .

The barbarian king had crossed the border, and Vandal had moved to intercept him . It was done . As Felicia had said, Vandal wasn’t in danger yet . He needed to calm down .

“If it is General Vandal, he will do well . So, let’s wait . This isn’t a situation where we should rush . Wait until tomorrow to lead the troops . ”

This was the right move . The barbarian king hadn’t crossed the border with simply a few of his men… He had crossed with an army . In order to fight against the barbarian king, he needed more troops .

“Noona is correct . ”

Felicia sighed with relief at In-gong’s answer and turned her gaze back to the Red Wolves . The Red Wolves weren’t moving quickly, so it was likely that Paratus had already escaped .

“Tomorrow morning, the dark elves will arrive . The lycanthropes are also supposed to arrive at noon . Let us depart tomorrow afternoon as scheduled . We will hurry after meeting with the troops . Do you understand?”

In-gong nodded again at Felicia’s words . Caitlin also nodded by In-gong’s side as though she agreed . In-gong took a deep breath to calm himself and turned his gaze to Nayatra . She was also surprised by the news about the barbarian king, and there was an uneasy look in her eyes .

In-gong needed to get Nayatra first . He needed to finish his business with her .

In-gong looked at the clock on the mini-map . …It seemed like it would be a very long night .

&

By the time In-gong’s party returned to their hotel from the auction house, it was already midnight .

Half of the barbarians that attacked Takar had been caught and the rest had escaped .

Vulcanus, who had looked in briefly on the auction house, had been furious . Despite being in front of customers, he hadn’t been able to control his anger and had cursed several times .

Vulcanus was a VIP member of the dark elves, but he wasn’t part of the royal family . The reason why he wasn’t able to get any reinforcements was precisely because Takar was a self-governing territory . So, instead of revealing their identities, In-gong and Felicia had departed from the auction house with the other guests .

In-gong’s hotel was fine except for some minor damage to the exterior walls . Thanks to that, they were able to take a break .

In-gong washed and changed his clothes before calling Carack and Nayatra to his room .

“Wasn’t I supposed to tell you the story?”

Nayatra responded to In-gong’s words with a slight frown, as though it was slightly unexpected .

“This is faster than I thought . ”

“There is an urgent matter, so I want to say it . ”

If possible, he wanted to finish his business with Nayatra today . Nayatra nodded at In-gong’s words and sighed like she had been holding her breath . She straightened her posture and asked In-gong,

“Your Highness, how did you know my name?”

It was the biggest reason why she hadn’t tried to slip away when they moved from the auction house to the hotel .

However, In-gong couldn’t tell her the truth . She wouldn’t believe it even if he told her honestly .

In-gong smiled .

“I’m sorry, I can’t tell you right now . However, I would like to make a proposal to you, if you would listen?”

“What is it?”

Nayatra asked with a slightly wary look . In-gong shrugged slightly .

“I want to hire Nayatra as my subordinate . Of course, you don’t have to worry about how you will be treated . I will treat you well as a prince’s escort knight . ”

Nayatra’s eyes narrowed . Instead of trying to read Nayatra’s mind, In-gong immediately added something else,

“I will give this as a down payment . ”

In-gong pulled out a small white jewel box with red gems embedded in it from his inventory . It was just for a moment, but Nayatra’s eyes shook .

“Didn’t you show up at the auction house because you wanted this?”

Nayatra could no longer hide her agitation, and In-gong sighed with relief .

‘This is right . ’

He had seen it when he looked through the auction items . It was because this jewel box was an item that Nayatra always carried in Knight Saga . He had brought it along with Nayatra at the auction house and would be able to raise his favorability with her by giving it to her .

The relationship between Nayatra and the jewel box hadn’t been revealed in Knight Saga, but it was clear that Nayatra treasured it very much .

In-gong smiled at her, and Nayatra’s shoulders shook as she nodded . She responded with some resignation,

“That’s right, this is the only keepsake of my dead older sister . It had been taken from me forcibly during my childhood… It took me 10 years to find out where it was . ”

It was such a sad tone that In-gong’s heart tightened just by hearing it . Carack, standing by the door, made a pitiful expression like he wanted to cry .

However, In-gong was different . He was ridiculously impressed .

‘Indeed, Nayatra . ’

Her acting ability was truly abnormal . If In-gong hadn’t known the truth, he would have believed her completely .

“But Nayatra, you don’t have a dead sister, do you?”

Nayatra was an only child . It was a story he had heard many times in Knight Saga . After hearing In-gong’s words, Carack’s eyes widened with disbelief while Nayatra swallowed her saliva . She spoke with a pale face,

“I am a little scared now . Your Highness, how do you know so much about me?”

The person in front of Nayatra knew her name as well as her sibling relationship . Additionally, why had he been looking for her?

Had he been watching her for a long time?

As she thought about it some more, Nayatra got goosebumps . She was disturbed by the idea that she hadn’t known someone had been watching her .

Nayatra had the nickname of ‘ice’, so it was rare for her to show emotion . In-gong felt a little embarrassed after seeing her pale face .

He said with an awkward smile,

“I’m sorry, I can’t tell you that now either . But if you accept my proposal, I will let you know in the future . ”

It was a slight threat . It wasn’t easy to share inner workings with someone who had such professions . Furthermore, In-gong was a prince of the Demon King’s Palace . Even though it was a plain proposal, it was hard to refuse .

‘A complete villain . ’

However, he couldn’t do anything else . There was a lack of time, and there was no way to explain convincingly as to how he knew the truth . His task was to secure her as a subordinate .

Nayatra shrugged and hesitated to answer . Then Carack added,

“It is better to agree . ”

It was advice based on what he had been through . However, it was seen as a threat .

Nayatra, who was careful around Carack ever since the neck hitting incident, made a disgusted expression and bit her lip . She looked straight at In-gong with a determined expression and said,

“Okay, I’ll be Your Highness’ escort knight . But Your Highness, can you really make an unknown person like me your escort knight?”

In-gong nodded and responded,

“I know about Nayatra . ”

It was the truth .

Nayatra didn’t know how to respond to In-gong’s words . Her confusion was quite cute .

In-gong added something else,

“Isn’t collecting information Nayatra’s specialty? Although you will be my escort knight, your job will be more on the side of information gathering . It is the right place for you . ”

Nayatra was no longer surprised . She shrugged and spoke in a voice filled with resignation,

“I understand . I didn’t expect this to happen at the night market, but it can’t be helped . I will join Your Highness . ”

In-gong jerked at the words ‘night market’, but it was only for a moment . He turned a bit red and rose from his seat .

“Good, then I will appoint you as my knight . Kneel down . ”

Nayatra frowned at In-gong’s words and asked carefully,

“Is it a magic spell?”

She was worried about it being similar to a slave contract . In-gong answered with a calm face,

“I am a prince of the Demon King’s Castle . It can’t just be through words . Carack went through the same process, so don’t worry so much . Nayatra, I won’t harm you . ”

He smiled at the end, but Nayatra’s expression didn’t brighten . In-gong would have made a similar look if he were in the same situation as Nayatra .

“I would like to believe Your Highness . ”

It seemed like she was half asking a question . In-gong replied in a serious tone,

“Please trust me . I won’t harm you . ”

Nayatra smiled and then wiped all expression from her face . She went down on one knee in front of In-gong and bowed her head . In-gong pulled a dwarf sword from his inventory and moved it over both of her shoulders . He invoked The King’s Knights like he had done with Carack and Karma .

“Nayatra, I appoint you as my knight . ”

It was a declaration that contained magic . The white power of Conquest rose and enveloped Nayatra .

“Ohh . ”

Carack exclaimed unknowingly with admiration . Covered in a white light, Nayatra closed her eyes and In-gong did as well . In the darkness, In-gong was facing a woman with white hair and red and blue eyes .

‘Punishment, obedience, governance . ’

The white woman said with a gentle smile . Her eyes were warm as she looked at In-gong . In-gong nodded . There were many things he wanted to talk about with the white woman, but he instinctively knew that it wasn’t the time .

In-gong opened his eyes and saw Nayatra shaking in fear and ecstasy . He injected the power of Conquest through the sword above her shoulder .

Nayatra flinched but didn’t resist . She accepted In-gong’s Conquest . She became a new King’s Knight .

That wasn’t all . The present ceremony held more meaning than that .

[The level of Conquest has risen . ]

[The level of The King’s Knights has risen . ]

[The maximum number of people in the The King’s Knights has increased from three to five . ]

[The level of Conquest Knight has risen . ]

[The King’s Knights: Conquest Coat of Arms Lv1 has been acquired . ]

Letters made of white light rose in succession .

Naturally, In-gong triggered Conquest Coat of Arms . At that moment, a white coat of arms formed on Carack and Nayatra’s forehead . The same thing was probably happening to Karma, who was standing outside the room .

Nayatra opened her eyes slowly . Rather than with fear, she was looking up at In-gong with eyes full of envy and wonder .

In-gong put away the sword and reached out a hand to Nayatra .

Nayatra didn’t reject this time . She accepted In-gong’s hand with a small smile .

&

Zephyr raised his head, and he looked toward the southeast for some reason .

He felt a strange feeling of loss .

“Why?”

He asked but didn’t receive an answer .

Conquest, War, Death and Famine…

Zephyr shook his head . Then he turned his red gaze away from the southeast and back to the north .

&

The demon king watched the night sky .

However, he wasn’t looking at the dark blue sky or the myriad of stars .

It was at this moment that…

The demon king knew . His intuition was good .

Fate had changed . There was a change in the flow . If fate was a flowing river, there was only a small change in the current . Even so, it was a clear change . The demon king didn’t miss this fact .

He wondered what the cause was . How could fate be twisted?

The demon king gazed at the night sky . He remembered the face of Semita Ignus, the 5th Queen who was no longer in this world .