How could this happen... Up until yesterday, I was living a relatively peaceful life, but in the span of a single day, I'm now standing among soldiers ready to be sent to the battlefield. Seriously, am I really that unlucky enough to have a potential early death?

Letting out a sigh as I stood with Ector and Merlin after we were teleported by the succubus to the castle throne room of the fortress where a war council was happening, we were quickly accosted by a distressed old man who quickly knelt before Merlin upon our arrival.

"Oh, lady Merlin and... oh, is that you, sir Ector?! It brings me great relief to see both of you here! If you are present, does that mean that our lord will be sending us reinforcements?!"

"Yes, of course, huh... What's your name again?" Merlin said as she looked at the old man kneeling in front of her for a few seconds before she just shrugged her shoulders. "Well, that's not important. Anyway, you are indeed correct as our dear lord Uther is currently sending some of his troops over here as we speak, so you don't have to worry about that."

"Oh thank goodne-"

"But, given the distance between this place and Londinium, I really doubt that they will arrive in time given that the Saxons are already at your doorstep."

In an instant, the old man's hopeful expression suddenly changed into a horrified one as he registered Merlin's words who gave him a wide smile, as if she was having fun playing around with his emotions.

She really has a bad hobby.

"My lord! A problem has occurred!" A guard shouted as he ran into the room in distress. "The enemy is in sight and their number greatly exceeds ours!"

Hearing this, the old man immediately stood up before he jumped on the guard, grabbing him by the shoulders.

"You must be joking?!"

"No, my lord! And according to our scouts, they even possess ballistas, battering rams and siege towers at their disposal! It will be only a matter of minutes until they reach our walls!"

As soon as the guard finished his sentence, the old man let go of him before he collapsed on his knees, his face utterly pale with a poor look on his face.

"This can't be happening… Sir Ector, Lady Merlin, please, I don't care how you do it, but help us!"

"Of course, this is why we're here in the first place." Ector said before he turned to the guard who straightened up at his gaze. "I want you to tell me everything about this fortress's defenses, our numbers, weapons, everything."

"Yes, sir!"

As I watched Ector interrogate the guard with a series of questions, I felt someone hug me from behind with two soft mounds being posed on the top of my head.

"So, how are you feeling about fighting for the first time on a battlefield? Excited? Scared?"

"Right now, I'm more annoyed at you than anything for both involving me in this mess and the lies you told to Uther." Though it was me who asked to accompany Ector, so in the end, it is also partly my fault.

"They're not really lies, you know. While it was quite hard for me to predict your future by reading the stars, I sincerely believe in what I said. Also, I have a little piece of advice, do not hold back once you're outside in the field."

"You seem sure that I will join the fight." I said, making Merlin laugh as she held me tighter in her hold.

"Because you will. As you heard earlier, the enemy forces outnumber this fortress's and let me tell you this, this fortress's army is mainly composed of farmers so I doubt they would be really useful in a fight against trained soldiers. And they even possess siege weapons, so it would be a breeze for them to break into the fortress if they reached the walls and stormed inside, killing everyone in sight, soldiers and civilians alike. Wouldn't it be a shame if they all died because you wanted to hide your secrets, holding back your powers?"

I couldn't say anything, nor refute her words. And although I couldn't see her face, her breasts blocking my view, I knew that she was looking at me, sporting her infuriating smile.

"Now, I can't help but feel that it was you who orchestrated this attack just to see my powers."

"To say I orchestrated it would be false. That attack was going to happen anyway with the town being partially destroyed the moment Uther's troops reached this place, so it would be better to say that I took advantage of the situation." I couldn't help but be a little offended by her reply.

"If you saw it coming, then why didn't you warn Uther of it? If you had, then we could have avoided this situation or even taken countermeasures. There's the lives of the people living in this fortress at stake, you know?"

"But then, it wouldn't be interesting!"

Without thinking, I immediately slapped Merlin's breasts that were on the top of my head out of irritation, which only made her moan before she hugged me tighter.

"Oh, you little perv, you should know better than slapping a woman's breasts like that."

"If you don't want me to punch you, just shut up for a moment."

Feeling a headache coming, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm myself.

Damn it... I knew that her mindset isn't the same as a human's since she pretty much does things for her own amusement, shit and giggles, but to think that she would think that apathetic about other people's lives. Even the male Merlin, despite being a huge troll, was still a better person with some humanity in him.

And knowing that she'll be part of my life from now on just makes me sad and anxious about my future. Well, I think I'll just leave her to Arthur when the time comes. I'm sure that the little king will be more interesting than I once he grows up, or that she will eventually lose interest in me. I've been often told that I was boring so... yeah, I can see it happen. Really, just thinking about it makes me depressed.

"Kay!"

"Yes, sir!" When I heard Ector call for me, I opened my eyes before turning to him to see the old man staring at me with a frown.

"I know it's a little soon for you, but I want you to join the soldiers in defending the walls. If we want to survive and hold on until the reinforcement reaches this place, we'll need all the help we can gather, even yours as well." I could only nod in response, starting to feel a bit heavy from the tasks that were given to me, as well from the potential outcome should I fail to accomplish it.

I suppose there's no way I can get myself out of this... This will be the first time I'll be killing people. Can I really do it? Alright, let's think rationally.

This is war. If I don't kill my enemies, they'll kill me. Better kill than be killed. Is it wrong to kill, perhaps. But thinking about it, killing was always part of my life, being present under different forms. Harvesting crops, vegetables and fruits as they are also alive. Hunting animals for game, butchering them. Even small and insignificant actions like killing insects and bugs because I simply hate them, I do that regularly without beating an eye. If I can kill animals and things from nature, then what's so different about killing humans? Because I don't see any difference.

Then, I should be able to kill a human just like how I can squash a bug. And they're the one who came attacking this fortress, to kill, so they should also be prepared to be killed themselves. So don't feel remorse or you'll die. Don't feel pity or you'll die. Don't grant them sympathy or you'll die. Just kill. Kill your enemies just as you crush insects.

No emotions. Nothing.

...Alright, I'm ready.

As I committed myself to participate in the fight, I clenched my fists and nodded at Ector who gave me one in return before he headed out towards the exit.

"But, sir! He's only a child, what can he do when he's so young?!"

"Don't worry, my son is stronger than he looks. I'm sure he'll be fine. Anyway, let's head out and regroup our defense."

And just as Ector replied to the guard who gave me a worried glance, I just shook my head, gesturing him to not worry about me before I freed myself from Merlin's grasp and followed my father outside.

As he joined the fortress's defense and took command, Ector couldn't help but to be worried about his son, Kay, who was standing with other soldiers with a bow in his hand.

Although it was true that Kay possessed immense talent in swordsmanship, far beyond anything he had seen in his entire life, it didn't dispel the worries he had on his mind since his son had barely any experience on a battlefield, let alone in a real fight. However, he did have the feeling that his son is more capable than he let on. The only thing he could do right now is to believe in the instinct he polished after many years of fighting.

Shaking his head, he focused his mind into the battlefield in front of his eyes before he shouted out his orders.

"Don't let them come closer to the gates! I want anybody who can use a bow to shoot down anyone that approaches them! As for the others, use the castle towers' ballistas to take down the siege towers approaching!"

"Yes, sir!"

As he looked over the field, he was a little relieved about the terrain as the fortress was built along a large river, making it part of the fortress's natural defenses so they didn't have to disperse their defense on many fronts.

"As long as we can hold on until our lord arrives..." He mumbled before he frowned when he heard something being destroyed on the western front. He looked in the direction to see a hole being opened in the wall on the western side.

"What's going on over there?!" Ector shouted as he saw one of the fortress's soldiers running in his direction.

"Sir, we couldn't stop the advances of their battering rams with our arrows!"

"Darn it! How can this happen? Tell everybody on that side to prepare themselves to fight!" As he started to shout, Ector widened his eyes when he heard a huge noise coming from beyond the western wall, making him anxious.

"I'm going to take a look over there! Hold on your position until reinforcements arrive no matter what!"

Not waiting for the guards to answer, Ector ran as quick as he could to the western wall, his sword in his hand. And when he arrived, he was shocked to see Kay standing near the hole, standing on the corpse of several Saxons soldiers with a translucent blue sword in his hand and wearing a white cape over a black armor he had never seen before.

"What happened here..." He muttered as he looked around to see the fortress's soldiers, all shockingly staring at Kay who simply laid his gaze on the wall where a group of Saxons started to enter through.

And then, in the blink of an eye, Ector could only widen his eyes in disbelief when a multitude of swords appeared out of thin air, all similar to the one he held in his hand, before they all flew in the direction of the invaders, impaling them all in a matter of seconds.

'Since when could he do this?' Ector thought before he blinked in shock when Kay suddenly started running in the direction of the hole as fast as a raging horse, going outside of the fortress, which prompted him to follow after him.

"Wait!" He ran as fast as he could, but once he reached the hole, he widened his eyes when he saw Kay just slaughtering every soldier that stood in his way with his swordsmanship alone in the middle of a storm of glowing swords that pierced all that tried to approach him. Not even siege weapons were except from the destruction brought by Kay as he single-handedly took down a siege tower by unleashing a beam of light with his sword in hand.

'Was that magecraft? To think that he could even use that. I knew he was talented but... this is beyond my expectation.' Ector thought as he watched the carnage happening before his eyes.

"He can't be human..."

"A monster... That child is a monster..."

Ector widened his eyes when he started to hear voices coming from behind him, making him turn around to see all the guards looking at the scene before their eyes with frightened expressions. He then frowned as he registered the words they said about his son, however, he couldn't refute any of them.

After all, the sight of seeing his son going through a horde of enemies and slashing them with his sword, as if dancing, sent chills down his spine.

'If this is what he can do right now, then I can't help but fear what he can become in the future...'