“That should do it.”

“Let’s go. I’ll accompany you to the VIP seats.”

“I can go alone.”

“It’s more complicated than you think. There are lots of people. It would be troublesome if you get lost.”

“Am I a child?”

Alicia complained softly as she followed Eric.

Alicia, who had always been depended upon by family and those around her, had never been treated like a child anywhere before.

It was troubling how her heart seemed to tingle every time Eric did this, a feeling she couldn’t put into words.

“Why?”

At Eric’s question, Alicia denied anything was wrong with a shake of her head.

“Let’s go.”

When Eric reached out his hand, Alicia naturally quickened her steps to hold it.

As soon as Eric opened the tent door, Alren’s face appeared before their eyes.

“Ah, you startled me. Why are you standing so close?”

“You didn’t come out, so.”

At Alren’s giggling response, Eric glared at him irritably.

“What’s the matter?”

“What do you mean?”

“What’s so funny?”

“Heh heh heh. Our Commander was a man too, after all. Moreover, daringly right here.”

“What nonsense are you talking about, suddenly. Are you affected by the heat?”

“Ah, I heard everything! Thankfully it was me. Don’t worry, my lips are sealed.”

Alren pretended to zip his lips and laughed again.

Eric furrowed his brow as if he didn’t like the look on Alren’s face.

“Why are you acting like it’s some big secret? I didn’t say anything worth hiding.”

“Oh, senior, it’s not about what you said, but something worth hiding.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

Avoiding Eric’s death glare, Alren quickly composed himself and extended a formal greeting to Alicia.

“Then, sisterinlaw, I’ll see you later. Commander, please hurry. We are running out of time.”

“Darn him.”

As Alren hurriedly moved away from the two of them, laughing cheekily, Eric clicked his tongue in annoyance.

Then Alicia, who had been holding back her laughter, gently grasped Eric’s arm.

“Eric. You should go too. Be careful not to get hurt.”

“I’ll see you later.”

“Yes.”

Eric, who seemed reluctant, patted Alicia’s hand that was holding his arm, and turned to leave with Alren.

Alicia watched as they went, seeing Alren almost get hit in the process and then suddenly take off running. Only then, following the subordinate that Eric had assigned to her, did she move.

It was the most dazzling moment of the joint training.

As the finale, countless dazzling fireworks exploded, and confetti scattered in the sky. At that moment, an even louder noise echoed through the square.

The spire standing at the entrance of the square began to crumble with a grating sound.

“Aaargh!”

“Aaaah!!”

Screams could be heard from every direction.

“Edward! Come over here.”
Alicia hastily grabbed Edward’s hand.

“What in the world is happening?”

“My lady, we need to get away quickly!”

Duke Gloster, palefaced, aided his duchess to rise from the VIP seats.

“What is that?”

Being led by Alicia’s hand towards the exit, Edward, with a surprised expression, pointed towards the collapsed spire.

The Emperor, too, from his royal seat, was shocked as he was moving to evacuate with the Empress and saw the direction of the spire.

“No way…!”

“Your Majesty, you must leave quickly!”

Urged by a royal guard, the Emperor reluctantly began to move.

However, the Emperor’s face was drained of color.

As the dust settled from the falling spire, a slowmoving figure began to emerge. It was larger than a lion, covered in fur, with sharp teeth protruding from its red eyes and mouth.

“It’s a monster!!”

People near the spire began to scream.

In their scramble to escape, people were falling and colliding with one another. Screams and shouts continuously echoed.

Alicia too, urged the duke and duchess, and hurriedly exited the VIP seats.

While doing so, she momentarily glanced back at the plaza.

She could see the knights moving around in several groups.

And somewhere within that, Eric would be fighting the monsters.

‘Eric…!’

“Sister, hurry!”

“Ah, yes. Let’s go.”

First, she had to escape from here and bring Edward and his parents to a safe place.

Only then would she have a chance to see Eric later.

“Do not break the ranks! Remember what you have trained for!”

Eric shouted the command, gripping his sword tightly, slicing through the rushing monster.

Its fur was tough and not easy to pierce with a single strike of the sword, the shock of the impact was no small matter to the hand that held the sword.

‘The average knight would have a hard time dealing with it alone.’

Eric frowned, cutting down another monster.

“Knight Eric!”

“What is it?”

“It seems the monster didn’t just appear here.”

Edinbur pointed across the spectator stands.

People who had run outside the square were now rushing back inside.

“Where the hell did they suddenly come from?”

“Were there any recent reports of a magician’s traces?”

While conversing, both men took down the monsters charging at them from all directions.

The monster collapsed, splattering black blood.

“Have you seen any other types of monsters?”

“No. They were all of this kind.”

“Then it seems there is only one magician involved.”

“I suppose that’s a bit of a relief.”

Even while conversing, the two continued to cut down the approaching monsters with their swords.

As the corpses of the monsters began to pile up next to them, the knights who had been hesitating out of fear began to grip their swords again.

“Let’s go!!”

With a shout, they started to attack the monsters, following Eric and Edinbur.

Having defeated another monster, Eric looked at his subordinates and smiled faintly.

The monster was a first, of course, it was also Eric’s first time, but there was a sense of reward for not sparing his strength from the start for the morale of the knights.

“Sister.”

“Shh. Be quiet.”

Alicia blocked Edward and stepped forward, whispering softly.

Behind Edward, the duchess seemed too terrified to speak, and the duke was supporting his wife to prevent her from collapsing.

And in front of Alicia, the monster was growling, looking at her.

The monster staring at Alicia had glowing red eyes, and saliva flowed through the sharp teeth in its opened mouth. It licked its mouth with a dark red tongue, savoring the taste.