The Runesmith

“I surrender.”

“Huh?”

Roland had managed to overpower his enemy with the help of his Mana Overflow skill. With this skill, he was able to constantly restore his damaged armor while also being able to barrage Emmerson with multiple spells. Normal spells didn’t seem to work so he got a bit more creative with the shoulder-mounted cannons that he controlled with the help of his mana hand spell.

It didn’t take long for him to finally overwhelm the Knight Commander from all sides. There were just too many attacks coming from various angles. Even his defensive skills weren’t able to keep up and that orange armor was quickly peeled off. Then along with his new eye skill that allowed him to react to the attacking skills there was no way for his opponent to be victorious.

Finally, the last blow was approaching the knight’s head. He expected the haughty Emmerson that seemed to have a lot of pride to never surrender. This hammer to the face would probably knock him out but his life would not be lost. Yet before he could go through with it, the man shouted out that he didn’t want to continue, something that Roland did not expect to happen.

“You, yield?”

“I… yield…”

Roland’s momentum was broken as he halted his last attack before it connected with the man’s head. His strength was immense and produced a gust of wind that made Emmerson's helmet rattle in all directions. While he had no stipulation about harming this person or even killing him, there were a lot of people watching. To make things worse he was also in the process of gathering evidence for the validity of this battle. If he killed this noble knight after he surrendered, this would be a blemish on his honor as well as Arthur's.

In this world Knights were very prideful and worked on their own set of rules. Sanctioned duels like this had certain regulations that needed to be kept and any knight that went to the academy would have it drilled into them. Even though Roland didn’t go to one, he spent five years at an estate built up by a proper knight.

“You do realize what this means?”

His hammer which was releasing blue arcs of lightning was halted. Even this item was quickly peeling away and needed to be constantly restored by his skill. The effect that this combination was producing made him look like some kind of magnetized glowstick. As the battle was over, he could finally turn off the effect to end it.

“...”

“Fine then, the man that encroached on my property has already been dealt with. You as his superior hold some of the responsibility for his action. As the law states, you will be held captive.”

“...”

Emmerson didn’t reply but there were strict rules in the code that Knights followed. Usually, even when they dueled they would not kill themselves. There had to be some deep-rooted personal grudge between the two soldiers for something like that to occur. Instead, the losing party would be placed under house arrest or thrown into a dungeon. Then they would be ransomed off to the noble that they served under. Considering that this was a Knight Commander, Roland and Arthur would be receiving a hefty sum.

There was also a possibility of no gold arriving and the noble abandoning their knight. Then the knight that won the duel or the noble they worked under could decide on their fate. Sometimes they would just be disgraced, stripped of their title, and released back into the world. Other times, they would be sold as slaves and perhaps even killed.

‘Considering that he was this fast to surrender, he thinks that Theodore will pay up quickly. If he doesn’t then that armor he is wearing should be enough…’

After a duel was done, the knight that lost in a way belonged to the victor. Even if Theodore Valerian paid the ransom in full, Roland didn’t have to give everything back. It was normal for the knights to take something as a trophy for their victory. The oval shield was nice and the sword was as well and could allow him to focus on something else to build. The enchanted armor was not something he was that interested in as his new one had to be custom-made. This didn’t mean that he couldn’t auction it off or give it to someone that could use it later.

“Your silence is enough, My Lord, I await your order."

Roland knew well about how a proper knight should behave but this didn’t mean that it didn’t feel awkward to role-play as one. For the time being he needed to play the part as there were too many eyes on him. His hammer was moved to the side and he looked in Arthur’s direction who was still shocked. Even Mary that was standing next to him had her mouth open wide while looking at the mostly destroyed courtyard.

“T-take him away, this duel is over I pronounce Sir. Wayland’s vict…? Knight Commander Emmerson, what do you think you are doing!”

After Arthur processed the situation and realized that his side had actually won, his smile was hard to hide. Soon he was ready to pronounce the victor but suddenly he noticed something. Emmerson, who was previously kneeling down on the ground did something that no one expected, he threw a hidden dagger at Roland’s face. He then quickly grasped his large sword that had previously been smacked out of his hand and began shouting.

“You’re too naive!”

The large sword that was covered in spirit energy collided with Roland’s own shield. The blue glow that covered his body had just subsided and it seemed that Emmerson was aiming for this moment. This runic shield that had been enhanced by a protective spell was actually sliced in half by his sword. It seemed that the man was conserving some power and previously also didn’t use this sword’s enchantments to their full extent. It was some type of powerful cutting spell that just ripped through his defenses that had become exposed.

“You are a disgrace to the Valerian Knights!”

“Shut up! I refuse to be defeated by a wretch that works for a bastard! Valerian Knights, to me!”

Roland found himself on the defensive and Emmerson was not letting up. If he decided to go this far then his intent was obvious. The knight's honor would be put in question if this event got outside so it was probably that he would silence everyone here, permanently. This was not even a duel anymore as he had shouted at the soldiers that were watching and now even they were going to get involved.

It was clear that the Knight Commander attributed his loss to his Mana Overflow skill that had gone into a cooldown period. Roland had to at least give it to this person as he had identified the type of skill he was using. Whenever a timed skill was ended or canceled by the user it would go into a cooldown period that would usually take at least an hour. It was the same for him and Emmerson saw this as the chance for his victory.

Without Mana Overflow Roland could not sustain all of the spell effects that he previously did. His reserves were deep but now he even had more people to contend with. The Valerian Knights answered the call of their Commander. It seemed they were aiming to kill the only real obstacle in this whole fight and silence anyone stupid enough to announce their leader’s loss in the sacred duel.

“Cease this instant if you all don’t want to die!”

Roland’s voice echoed through the entire area and caused everyone that was not tier 3 and above to stop. Even Emmerson was surprised by the strange red aura that was being projected. He couldn’t stop though, Roland’s shield was already broken and his whole left side was open for an attack. Only his hand was left to protect it but it was not an obstacle he couldn’t go through. The enchantment on his blade was activated and along with his blade skills that were enhanced with spirit energy, he would take out his enemy.

“Huh? How could this be?”

Emmerson was truly surprised by the hand that actually grasped his blade while it was flying forward at supersonic speeds. The sound barrier being broken produced a loud banging sound but even then his sword didn’t draw any blood. Instead, it was being suppressed by some type of chaotic magical glow that looked similar to a regular mana shield.

“Your plan wasn’t bad but you made one mistake, that wasn’t my only trump card…”

Perhaps if he had gone with the High Lord class then this battle would have become a lot more troublesome but as it stood now, he just couldn’t see himself losing. The Overlord class came with one very specific skill that was more than he ever expected of getting. Overlord’s Might had been activated and his body quickly went through a massive transformation.

The change was mostly visible in the difference to his mana and its pattern. It shifted from a blue color into a pulsating red one. Controlling it was not any harder but it made short work of this armor that he was wearing. Even as he was holding Emmerson’s sword back, his whole gauntlet was melting away.

This was the main reason that he didn’t really want to use this skill. It changed his mana into something that the runes he created couldn’t handle. Yet even when his armor plate was melting away it didn’t matter as much as the boost he was getting was tremendous. He didn’t need to use anything flashy, his physical capabilities along with the newly gained Eyes of Mana skill were enough.

His right hand blurred along with the hammer that it was holding. Emmerson raised his shield to defend himself. The enchantment that was on the shield was fully activated but before the imminent collision, it flickered out of existence. The Knight Commander was left stupefied by this strange occurrence but did not have time to figure out the reason behind it. When the runic hammer collided with the oval shield a massive dent was created.

“Argh…”

The large man’s body was tossed to the side as he was unable to disperse the kinetic force anymore. His frame flew up into the air like a rag doll and the protective skill that covered his whole body was instantly shattered. However, this was not yet over, while Emmerson was flying to one side his opponent was there to greet him. With the increase in all stats, he was now able to move faster, hit harder, and perceive the world in slow motion.

Emmerson found himself getting pummeled into submission by someone he considered lesser than himself. The soldiers that were on the sides could not believe that their powerful Knight Commander that had just given them the order to attack was getting turned into a punching bag.

It was a one-sided beating that didn’t involve that many hits. The difference between stats had become so severe that Roland didn’t really need to follow the flow of mana anymore. He could just comfortably dodge any attempts at retaliation as he had already gotten used to all of the skills. There was nothing more that his opponent could surprise him with and soon his mangled body was flying through the air.

A lone fountain stood on the side of the courtyard and it became the Knight Commander’s resting place. His whole body crashed right onto it and remained motionless while the water mixed with his blood. The man that everyone considered a monster had been soundly defeated and was now left with a body with broken bones, his life quickly fading away.

The whole courtyard was filled with silence. The sound of parts of the fountain dropping down could be heard as no one dared to raise their voice. They were all busy looking at the man covered in a haze of red light. No one knew what was about to happen, their lives were all at risk but they could not see themselves getting away from that glowing monster.

“Do I have to repeat myself? All of you, lower your weapons and surrender… unless you want to end up as that honorless cur you call your commander.”

Roland raised his voice at the knights gathered here. They were trained to follow the orders of their commander so he couldn’t put the whole blame on them. After he was taken out there was no reason for more bloodshed. Luckily power was something that they feared, the whole battle left them shocked and unable to continue. Soon the first sword was thrown to the ground and followed by many after. The duel was finally over and Knight Commander Emmerson’s actions would soon become known to everyone.

‘Is he actually dead?’

His fist had rained on the man’s body and dented the enchanted armor that he finally disabled. Right before his hammer collided with the shield he had finally managed to figure it out. Then it was as easy as activating his rune authority that also worked on lesser magic languages.

The whole set was something that enhanced Emmerson’s main stats. It mostly just boosted his skills by using similar effects. It took him a bit longer than he anticipated to analyze it as the items were a third type that he didn’t have much time to study. Usually, magical items either came with charges or were activated by a set amount of mana. His were a bit different as they were based on limited charges that could restore themselves with time, something only greater enchantments could do. After he figured out the type it became a lot easier and finally, he was able to make use of his authority over enchantments.

‘It’s a shame… this armor wasn’t bad, only the sword is usable now.’

Roland strutted over to where Emmerson landed. His frame was still giving off a reddish tint that he hoped everyone would interpret as some type of Aura skill. There were similar-looking skills so he expected the intelligence agencies to go with that theory. After yanking his body up he was greeted by a swollen face and broken jaw of the Knight Commander.

‘Damn, tier 3’s are really something, he is still alive.’

Even though the man was fully passed out and his body had been folded in several places, his HP was still not at zero. Probably thanks to the advanced internal organs he was somewhat able to survive.

“You are a disgrace to the Valerian household, I should kill you right now but you need to pay for your transgression against Lord Arthur Valerian.”

Roland gazed at Arthur that looked as if his soul was about to leave his body. It took a side poke from Mary that was on the side for him to finally realize that everything was over. Soon he was giving out orders as it was proper for the leader.

“Throw that man into the dungeon, restrain all of them!”

Even though the quality of the Valerian Knights that arrived with Emmerson was higher, Arthur’s men outnumbered them four to one. Now that Roland was the victor they had no way of getting out of this predicament in one piece. They needed to surrender and wait for their lord Theodore Valerian to respond. Just like Emmerson they had worth and could be bought back. The damages that were done to the city and courtyard would need to be reimbursed by the losing side.

“I don’t believe it, you actually did it.”

“I only did my duty as your loyal knight, my Lord.”

Arthur looked a bit taken aback by how Roland was still acting. They had moved a bit to the side but the man still continued his chivalrous roleplay as if he intended to continue with it for longer.

“Could you stop talking like that…”

“What is it, does the lord dislike this sort of treatment? Hm, was It not convincing enough, should I have bowed a few more times?”

“That’s more like it but could you perhaps start explaining yourself.”

“I see, well look at this.”

“This is?”

Roland’s right hand was devoid of his usual knightly gauntlet as it had been trashed in the last part of his battle. Instead on his left side, he presented a small hologram. On it Arthur could see Emmerson’s treachery that had been recorded.

“It’s a recording of the duel, I had to play it up a bit but with this, no one will be able to deny that Emmerson was the one responsible for everything.”

“Wayland… you’re a genius!”

Arthur’s smile could not be hidden as he looked at the magical recording. Roland had set this whole place up with runic turrets and golemic cameras. The former were actually able to store a limited amount of footage which he had been recording ever since his arrival here. It could be easily proven that the recording was not tempered if they went to court. With this, no one could accuse his side of throwing the first stone, everything they did here was justified.

Finally, this event was behind him but while it ended this was only the start. Now that Roland had proclaimed himself as Arthur’s head knight his life would be changing. More duels like this were a possibility but after word reached of Emmerson’s loss he didn’t expect that many willing commander-rank knights coming forward.

Even though he was probably not going to get challenged too soon, it was a possibility. The runic armor that had served him during his tier 2 days had been mostly destroyed. It was an essential component of his safety and needed to be quickly replaced by a higher-tier variant. Considering that Arthur didn’t have multiple Knight Commanders like his brothers, he needed to be ready.