A Struggle That Ended Before It Began

"Clip-clop, clip-clop~"

"Hm? Is that... our third brother? What is that? A flying pumpkin?"

Caesar, Remington, and Sheryl had already arrived atop the fortress walls ahead of time. The three stared in surprise at Isaac, who was flying toward them in a Pumpkin Carriage.

Sheryl, the most knowledgeable of the three, narrowed her eyes. "It should be the Pumpkin Carriage from his story—the legend he possesses, or an accessory of that legend."

"That Pumpkin Carriage can fly?" Caesar turned to Sheryl in surprise. He had read that story; it was quite well written. But the Pumpkin Carriage in it did not seem nearly this miraculous, did it?

"There is always a gap between legend and reality." Sheryl shook her head. "The Pumpkin Carriage in the story is merely an outward form. Its essence is that Cinderella must attend the prince's banquet on time. To achieve that goal, let alone a carriage, spatial travel and crossing time would not be a problem."

"It's that powerful?!" Remington's eyes widened slightly.

"Of course. Why else do you think Legendary Wizards can leave behind so many unbelievable legends?" Sheryl retorted.

As the core power of a Legendary Wizard, legends were naturally not so simple.

While they were talking, Isaac had already flown the Pumpkin Carriage onto the wall. As the purple smoke dispersed, Isaac strode out of it carrying a small pumpkin.

"Big Brother, what's going on? How did the Black Orcs suddenly launch an attack?"

"We don't know yet, but don't worry. It's only a small Black Orc unit, a little over a hundred riders. They should just be scouts."

Hearing Caesar's words, Isaac let out a sigh of relief. A little over a hundred—then it was fine...

Isaac first cast an Arcane Shield on himself, then stepped forward a little to inspect the attacking Black Orcs.

Unlike the beast girls in the anime Isaac had watched in his previous life, who possessed only some animal traits, Orcs were generally like beasts that walked upright, except that most of them had five fingers.

Black Orcs, meanwhile, were even more brutal creatures. They lived in the wilderness and did not engage in production. Most of the time, they drank blood and ate raw meat like monsters. When they could not hunt monsters, they sometimes filled their bellies with stolen bread.

On the wilderness, Black Orcs lived in tribes, and the species of Black Orc differed from tribe to tribe.

Most of the time, the various Black Orc tribes fought separately. Only on rare occasions did they temporarily gather together for action.

Such as winter raids!

The ones who had arrived beneath Solomon Fortress were Black Orcs from the Black Lizard Tribe. They resembled upright lizards, with pointed heads and spears in hand. Some of their leaders wore tattered leather armor and iron swords at their waists.

Their combat strength was quite good. Even the weakest were at the level of Quasi-Knights, and there were more than a dozen Knights among them.

They rode Gale Wind Wolves, the most common monsters in the wilderness. Their upper limit was merely Tier 1 monsters, and their potential was utterly mediocre. Not a single one of these hundred-odd Gale Wind Wolves had reached Tier 1.

With that lineup, calling them mere cannon fodder would be giving them too much credit.

At least, that was the case against the all-elite Solomon Fortress.

"With strength like that, how did they get here?" Isaac pulled back the head he had poked out and asked doubtfully.

"I'm curious too, but it doesn't matter. They won't be going back anyway." Caesar shrugged indifferently.

"Mm." Isaac nodded noncommittally, then said eagerly, "How about letting me try? I've studied magic for so long, but I've never fought seriously before."

"Next time." Caesar rubbed Isaac's head and cast a seemingly casual glance at Remington from the corner of his eye. Smiling, he said, "Leave these to me. They've seen the walls. We can't let them take that information back."

With that, Caesar turned around. Nearly tangible golden flames erupted from his body. With a soft shout, he transformed into a streak of golden light and leaped from the twenty- to thirty-meter-high wall, charging alone with sword in hand toward the hundred-man formation of the Black Lizard Tribe!

"Gasp!!!" Seeing the golden flames around Caesar, Isaac sucked in a sharp breath. "Divine Power?! Big Brother has become a High Knight?!"

"Not quite." Sheryl shook her head. "He still has some hesitation regarding his choice of authority, but it will be soon."

"Gasp!!" Isaac sucked in another breath. Then a question rose in his mind. If that was the case, why was Caesar so eager to reveal his strength?

With a great battle imminent, would it not be better to hide such a powerful force?

But soon, Isaac's peripheral vision happened to catch his second brother's grim expression, and he understood everything at once...

Why had Big Brother revealed his power now? Why had these Black Orcs reached the walls so easily...

Everything became clear...

But...

Isaac glanced at his second brother's ugly expression. He knew this would not end here. Colluding with Black Orcs was no small crime. Even if Remington was a noble, even if he was a Grand Knight, he absolutely would not get away with it!

Once it was confirmed, his life would be over!

That was why Caesar had acted so urgently. He wanted to personally erase every possible piece of evidence. As long as Remington's mistake was wiped away beforehand, it would be as if he had never made one.

Of course, Caesar did not actually need to reveal his Knight Divine Power for that. His other purpose was to make Remington give up.

The moment Knight Divine Power was revealed, it meant there was no one left in the territory who could compete with him for that position.

High Knights had two paths. One was the path of absorbing Faith Power, like gods and Legendary Wizards. Only a very small number of nobles with territories could take it. After all, only a Viscount Territory had enough Faith Power to sustain a High Knight, so only the lord of a territory could walk this path.

Although Solomon Territory was still only a Viscount Territory, its actual area was already close to that of an Earl Territory. In theory, it could support three High Knights on the faith path, but if one wished to go further, it could actually support only two High Knights.

Their father, the current Viscount Solomon, already occupied one spot. The remaining one was naturally reserved for the future lord.

And judging from Caesar, who was slaughtering enemies below the wall while wrapped in golden flames, he had clearly begun walking this path long ago.

In other words, the matter of succession had actually been settled long ago...

Looking at his second brother's grim expression, Isaac sighed inwardly for him. So why did he insist on competing with Caesar?

Honestly, Big Brother Caesar was truly outstanding—a natural commander. Even as a transmigrator, Isaac had felt the urge to bow and pledge allegiance when he was young. His personal charisma was genuinely remarkable.

So even if there had been nothing wrong with his body, he most likely would not have gone up against Big Brother Caesar. That would have been far too foolish.