"Enemy attack!"
A deep horn sounded through White Heron Castle. Every knight hurriedly donned his armor and surged onto the walls to observe the enemy and defend the castle.
Count Egret, having hastily changed into his armor, also climbed to the castle walls and gazed at the mixed knight order galloping through the dusk—the elite knights of Coral Island wore silver helmets and silver armor, the elite knights of Red Crab Island wore golden helmets and golden armor, while the elite knights of Golden Island wore gray helmets and gray armor. Even the colors of their warhorses varied.
Though it was clearly a mixed knight order, Count Egret's body still tightened. At the very front of the order flew a banner held high, snapping loudly in the wind—a long red banner embroidered with a blooming black tulip.
That emblem was etched deeply into his memory.
Three days ago, the Roaring Knight Order had been routed beneath that very banner.
"It's him, it's him, it's him..." Count Egret's chest rose and fell, accompanied by a faint tremble. He recalled that earthshaking battle. The Raging Wave Marquis had wielded the strength of an entire knight order, only to be forcibly turned around and defeated by an absurdly young Sapphire knight.
The Raging Wave Marquis was his lord, one of the Eagle Kingdom's higher-ranking landed marquises.
Thus, he knew full well just how powerful the Raging Wave Marquis was. He had followed the marquis since his youth, and in the blink of an eye had reached middle age. More than once, he had witnessed the splendor of a Domain Knight, especially during the great campaigns on the frontier. Even the renowned Bearskin Wearer, the Stone Marquis, ranked slightly below the Raging Wave Marquis.
He had always believed that unless a dragon rider took