The Monster King's Legacy - Chapter 52

Chapter 52: A Realisation Chapter 52: A Realisation ‘He has to keep his hand like that for his magic to remain in effect, I doubt he sees me as enough threat to play tricks.’ Lance thought to himself.

His sword was a one handed sword, but at this moment, he held it using both hands as the hilt allowed for it.

His physical condition was still good and he had suffered no injuries, so he was ready to attack.

‘I would think otherwise…’ “Why go through all this just to test me like this?” Lance asked, taking cautious steps as he focused on his opponent fully, ready to react to the slightest movement against him.

“Still able to keep your calm, also impressive.” The knight said, walking slowly to wards Rynne who was closest to him.

“What if I killed one of them?” He said, raising his sword as he got closer.

Lance’s brows furrowed slightly, realizing the position he had been put in, he didn’t hesitate, charging forward with a powerful thrust targeting the knight’s chest in almost perfect form.

Wielding what should be a two handed sword using just his right hand, the Knight easily deflected Lance’s thrust to the side.

Lance didn’t allow the sword stick into the ground as it normally would, instead, he put weight into it, almost as though he was expecting the deflection.

He rolled to the side, just behind the knight and began a series of attacks, showcasing speed and practiced precision with his strikes.

Lance’s attacks and strives became even stronger, producing sparks and sharp noises as their swords clashed fiercely… well, not exactly fiercely, as Lance was the only one putting real effort into his strikes.

From the knight’s perspective, he hadn’t been pressured even once, and Lance was yet to force him to take a single step backwards.

“Useless…” the knight said, accelerating his movement past a point that Lance could keep up with for a fraction of a second.

In that short span of time, it was enough for him to deliver a powerful blunt attack to Lance’s side, sending his body flying into a nearby tree where he was stopped.

“Lance!” “Lance!” “Chief!” The goblins bound up shouted as they watched in utter helplessness, unable to do anything against it.

The rest were the same.

Though they couldn’t do anything, their expressions showed exactly what their intent at that moment was.

Lance forced himself to his feet against the pain, doing so while gritting his teeth from the pain assaulting his body.

The blow he received was hard, and everyone could see that from his freely hanging left hand that was clearly broken.

Watching Lance, the Knight’s gaze narrowed for a brief moment before returning to its usual stoic expression.

As he brought himself to his feet, Lance felt energy leave his body again, dropping to one knee, and when he tried to rise back up, a sharp pain assaulted him from his side.

A brief look down told him the entire story.

Even though looking at it, he could notice the deformity in his left ribcage.

There was no doubt, several ribs, if not all the ribs on that side, had been smashed in.

Lance let go of his sword as he brought his right and to brace his ribs in response to the pain, squinting his eyes while gritting his teeth in the process.

As the knight watched, for a second, an expression of surprise flashed across his face as he watched Lance’s hand glow faintly as he touched himself, and literally seconds later, all his injuries seemed to reverse and he was healed.

Picking up his sword, Lance stood ready to attack the knight, his expression serious but calm.

To his surprise, the knight put his own sword away back into its scabbard.

As he looked at Lance, his expression remained stoic, “there’s nothing more to see.” Lance didn’t respond, but even following the knight’s words, he didn’t lower his sword either.

The knight opened his left hand before lowering it, releasing everyone from the bind.

As soon as that happened, Rynne, Rikka, Dran, and a few others charged at him with furry, but as soon as they got close a wave of visible energy like a dome emanated from the knight, pushing them all away.

“I don’t care for these goblins… no matter the species… but you, human, what is it you want?” The knight asked Lance.

After thinking for a moment, Lance responded, his sword still held up and his posture that of one ready for battle.

“Autonomy,” Lance said.

The knight listened.

“You already have that.

But, maintaining it will be up to you.

No one lost a life on both sides, consider this entire charade over.” Before the knight turned to leave, his expression tightened for a moment, before going back to his stoic face.

“You’re a clever leader, I will give you that.

But, cleverness only gets you so far.” Left without a response, Lance stood there in silence as the knight made his way through, his soldiers picking themselves up and following behind.

As they disappeared into the forest, the goblins rushed to Lance who had remained silent, his mind going through several things from this brief experience.

The goblins gathered themselves back into the camp behind their walls.

There were barely any injured goblins, so Mira didn’t have much to do except attend to Lia.

Even that didn’t last once Lance used his magic on her.

“That went better than expected,” Lia said, referring to what Lance had predicted would happen, though her tone was cautious.

Even she could see that Lance wasn’t in his usual state.

“For now,” Rynne responded, her golden eyes glinting with resolve.

“though it doesn’t seem like they’ll be coming back.” “So it seems for now.” Lance said.

… That evening, the camp buzzed with cautious optimism.

The goblins had seen their leader face the humans without backing down, and their pride in him was palpable.

But Lance felt different.

The knight’s words remained in his mind, and his utter lack of strength against such a foe brought over him an inexplicable feeling of shame and inadequacy.

More than ever, he reaslised just how lacking he was.

Comparing himself to Rynne and the other goblins wasn’t an option anymore, even they were nothing in face of such a foe.

He needed to do just more than train fighting techniques, he needed strength.

As the fires crackled and the stars appeared overhead, Lia found Lance sitting alone and came to sit beside him.

“You handled today well,” she said softly.

Her words settled in before Lance responded, hus words more blunt than usual.

“I was useless.

If they meant harm, none of us would still be here.” He said, his words sitting for a while before he spoke again. “It’s just the beginning,” he said, his voice low.

“Next time, the enemy won’t be one with such good grace.” This time, it wasn’t about his leadership, it was personal, something about he himself.

Reading the mood, Lia chose to remain silent.

She realized that there was no response could give at that moment.

Moving closer to him, she embraced him tightly and they stayed like that for a brief moment.

As she eased up, both of them lay down on the grass and spent the moment in silence.

… “So, you mean to tell me, that a group of goblins outmaneuvered you?”