467.
The city was burning.
This place was the Tibbon Barony, located on the outskirts of the Kanel Kingdom’s territory.
Among these, it was a city in the outer area.
It used to be a fairly large agricultural city.
But as the turmoil worsened, the fire of war eventually reached here.
The city and villages were burning.
The places that had been people’s homes were turning into piles of ashes.
The Petimon Kingdom army threw torches they’d been holding into homes, spreading the fire.
A knight from Petimon, who was riding a horse and commanding the soldiers, pointed his sword at the outside refugee convoy.
“Behold, proud soldiers of Petimon! There are the wicked remnants of Kanel! Do not let even one of them escape—attack them!”
At the loud command of the knight at the forefront, the soldiers startled.
Watching their hesitant reactions, the knight barked.
“What are you doing! Why aren’t you chasing after them immediately?”
“Lord, truly, those are not the remnants of Kanel—they’re only refugees!”
Initially, there was no way remnants of the Kanel Kingdom’s army could have been here.
The Kanel Kingdom had suffered a defeat in the recent full-scale war against the Petimon Kingdom, retreating their soldiers significantly.
While the Kanel Kingdom regrouped its forces, the Petimon Kingdom was occupying Kanel’s lands.
No battle should have occurred.
Even the low-ranking soldiers knew this fact.
“Foolish ones! The moment they seize weapons in their hands, they become the army of evil threatening our proud Petimon!”
A person who seemed to be the captain of the knights shouted at the soldiers.
His eyes bloodshot, he spat while shouting.
“By the name of His Majesty! Uproot evil! Stand for justice! That is your mission—glorious soldiers of the Petimon Kingdom! Annihilate them all!”
“But, my lord! There are elderly and children among them…”
At the sight of the soldier attempting to reason, the captain’s eyes twitched.
“Are you daring to defy my orders?”
The knight-captain dismounted and approached the soldier.
“It’s no act of defiance.”
Puck—!
“Kgh?”
The knight-captain’s sword plunged into the soldier’s abdomen.
Coughing up bl**d and trembling, the soldier fell down.
“Living under the grace of His Majesty and yet not knowing it—ignorant men.”
Repulsion rose in the captain’s eyes.
“Those who have betrayed His Majesty’s grace are no longer part of the great Petimon Kingdom army—you are traitors. Knights!”
Swish—!
With the sinister voice of the knight captain, the Petimon knights unsheathed their swords.
Seeing this, the soldiers’ faces turned pale.
“Execute these unrighteous traitors!”
“Glory to His Majesty, the Great King!”
“Justice is with us!”
The knights, emitting aura, prepared to slaughter their own soldiers.
“Uuaaaahk!”
“I, please don’t!”
Terrified, the soldiers fled.
Even though they held weapons, they had no intention of fighting back against the knights.
They knew too well how futile it was to face knights wielding aura.
The knight captain sneered at the soldiers running in fear.
“You who lived under His Majesty’s name shall meet d*ath with dignity rather than d*e like this. Indeed, there’s no saving foolish trash like you.”
The knight captain adjusted his grip on the sword, aiming it at a fallen soldier.
“You, d*e.”
At the moment he swung his sword to cut him down—
Shh—!
“The people in need of saving are you bastards.”
A hand grabbed the knight captain’s sword as it came out.
Opening his eyes wide, the knight captain looked at the person who had caught his hand.
An icy red gaze stared back at him.
“What are you doing? Are you an agent of the Kanel Kingdom?”
The knight captain swung his sword wildly and shouted.
But the sword held by Leo didn’t budge.
‘What kind of power is this!’
While staring wide-eyed at Leo’s incomprehensible strength, the knight captain summoned his aura.
“I’ll sever your hands!”
Auric energy erupted explosively from the sword with that proclamation.
Smiling smugly at this, the knight captain’s face quickly filled with shock.
Still firmly held by Leo’s grip, the sword didn’t move an inch.
Leo tightened his grip.
Crack!
“Cugh?!”
Auric explosion burst from the sword.
With it, the sword and aura fragments flew in all directions.
While the fragments failed to harm Leo, the knight captain’s body was torn apart like a rag doll.
As the knights who intended to slaughter their own soldiers observed the scene, Lil revealed her presence.
“To think a knight on the battlefield would harm his subordinates—aren’t you ashamed?”
Lil’s cry caused the lead knight to swing his spear.
“Whoever you are, to dare block our way like this—I see, you’re seeking d*ath!”
Auric energy flowed into the spear as he shouted.
Whoosh—!
However, before the spear could reach Lil, she had pulled out a battle hammer and swung it, sending the knight flying.
Shi—!
“Cugh?!”
With a single strike from the battle axe, the knight’s body soared through the air before crashing onto the ground.
“Sent here by the Kanel Kingdom, eh!”
Lil casually looked at ten knights surrounding her with their aura-infused weapons.
Raising her battle hammer high above her head, Lil struck the ground.
BOOM!
A wall of earth erupted and swallowed the knights whole.
“Kraaaah!”
The knights’ final cries echoed across the battlefield.
Moments later, the knights emerged from the ground, their faces peeping out like moles.
Carrying her battle hammer over her shoulder, Lil spoke to them.
“Be grateful that I am here as a student from Lumeran. If I were present under the family crest, I’d have crushed each and every one of your heads.”
Terrified by Lil’s dark tone, the knights trembled in fear.
Witnessing this, Leo took out a potion from his robe and treated the wounded soldier’s abdomen.
Approaching the knight captain, Leo said,
“I have a question.”
“You aren’t Kanel’s—what are you really?”
As the knight captain roared in response, Leo replied with disdain,
“Can’t you tell by this uniform?”
Annoyed, Leo gave a curt answer.
Startled, the knight captain ground his teeth.
“Lumeran!? Lumeran should maintain neutrality! Ha! Wicked Kanel has dragged Lumeran into this! How shameful! You, who claim to aim to become heroes, dare to side with evil!”
The knight captain went berserk, eyes wide open.
Leo narrowed his eyes at this.
‘There’s no reasoning with him.’
“To the great King! Justice shall be with the Petimon Kingdom!”
With a crazed expression, the knight captain kept ranting.
“The Justice Guild will exterminate you…”
Shh—!
In irritation, Leo stomped on the knight captain’s head.
‘Justice Guild?’
The last words spoken by the knight as he fainted made Leo narrow his eyes.
Justice Guild.
Leo also knew this guild.
The Hero Guild, to be specific.
It was among the top-tier human hero guilds, ranked third after Twlight and Imperial.
‘Has the Justice Guild become involved in this war?’
As Leo pondered, the sound of hooves shaking the ground approached.
Looking up, knights with a familiar crest waving on their flags galloped at full speed.
Checking his mission brief, Leo recognized it.
‘The family emblem of the Tibbon House.’
These were knights belonging to Baron Relgen Tibbon, who had filed the mission with Lumeran.
“Whoa!”
The young knight leading them mounted something other than a horse: a griffin.
A knight riding a familiar: unmistakably a high-ranking knight.
Confirming Leo and Lil’s outfits, the young knight wore a baffled expression.
“Lumeran school uniforms? What would students from Lumeran be doing here?”
Showing him the mission brief at this, Leo explained.
“We’re students sent from Lumeran to investigate the tomb-raiding at the Hero’s Graveyard. We would like to meet the contractor, Baron Relgen Tibbon.”
At this, the young knight dismounted from the griffin and stood before Leo.
“Thank you for accepting the mission. However, there is no contractor.”
“What do you mean?”
Lil, who stood beside Leo, tilted her head.
“My grandfather passed away a month ago. The current Baron Tibbon is not Relgen, but me, Aysim Tibbon.”
Removing his helmet and wearing a wry smile, Baron Aysim spoke awkwardly.
“Thank you for answering the mission brief, but you have come at a very difficult time, students from Lumeran.”
Upon hearing Baron Aysim, Lil wore a serious expression.
Baron Aysim continued,
“Could you please explain the situation?”
At this, Aysim nodded.
“Understood. First, I think we should confine the knights and soldiers from the Petimon Kingdom. I’ll explain the situation afterwards.”
At this, Lil wore a serious expression.
“It seems the matter is far worse than we thought, Leo.”
“…”
“Leo? Is something wrong?”
“Yeah.”
After staring up at the sky for a moment beside Lil, Leo clicked his tongue.
‘Someone’s been watching us from a distance.’
Leo’s extrasensory perception detected a gaze.
“It seems something’s happening.”
“Do you all know the history of the northeastern continent?”
“Yes. After the fall of the Tairim Empire 1,000 years ago, the kingdoms that rose from its ashes have continued in a state of constant conflict.”
The Tairim Empire.
It was the empire of heroes located in the northeast of the continent.
Tairim was the most powerful nation of mankind since the Era of Heroes.
The founder of Tairim was from the same era as the Heroes of the Cataclysm.
More precisely, from a generation before the Heroes of the Cataclysm, there was a hero named Tamus, known in the Hero Record as the ‘Knight of the Abyss’.
But people know another, more famous nickname for him:
The Hero Emperor.
He was the strongest hero of the time, leading countless heroes under his command.
During the lifetime of Tamus, the Tairim Empire was known as the Hero Empire, where countless heroes gathered under his banner.
‘Well, he was something back then, but now he’s become a laughingstock.’
After the resurrection of the Piece of Erebus, Knight of the Abyss Tamus declared war against Erebus.
However, the Hero Legion of Tairim met with defeat—not against Erebus, but against the Demon Queen’s and the Giant King’s armies.
Although it ended in defeat, Tairim persisted and remained strong.
When the Rebirth of Catastrophe had ended, the empire continued to exist for 2000 more years.
This indicated how powerful Tairim had been.
However, after that first battle, the Knight of the Abyss and the Tairim Empire refrained from stepping onto the battlefield to preserve their power.
Future generations ridicule them for precisely this reason.
Still, Tairim was the greatest kingdom in history, leaving behind a vast legacy.
On the basis of this legacy, many heroes were born in the northeastern part of the continent, even after the empire dissolved into multiple kingdoms.
But over a long period of warfare, this region had seen its hero lineage fade away.
Reflecting on the history of the northeastern continent, Leo asked,
“The northeast has been embroiled in long conflicts, but I know there has always been an unspoken limit they do not cross—is that correct?”
More accurately, they haven’t been able to cross that line.
While the kingdoms claim to be direct successors of Tairim and fight over its heritage, the last 1000 years of conflict has meant that bl**d-soaked massacres have ceased to happen.
In fact, they have lost the very basis required for such wars.
For a thousand years, they have harbored mutual hatred and pointed blades at each other, yet their strength has been utterly depleted.
Due to lingering resentment, the warfare hasn’t stopped.
However, the nations in the northeastern region all know that an all-out slaughter would lead to mutual destruction.
What started happening instead were conflicts where if the situation became slightly unfavorable, one side retreated, and the winning side never pursued further—just taking over the land, a kind of “land-grabbing game.”
To people in other regions, some even referred to it as a ‘mock war.’
At Leo’s question, Aysim let out a deep sigh.
“About a month ago, the situation in this area started changing.”
At this, Lil appeared curious.
“Could some external force be involved?”
“Yes.”
Upon hearing this answer, Leo crossed his arms.
“Is this perhaps related to the Justice Guild?”
“Correct.”
“Your Majesty, once again your mighty soldiers have brought news of victory today! Your territories expand with this.”
“Indeed.”
Watching the female bow her head and speak, King Petimon of Petimon Kingdom smiled slyly.
“What does Knight Jerome believe the reason for the victory of my army is?”
Petimon’s king directed this question to the man standing beside him.
“Is the reason for the success of your majesty’s army not obvious?”
Knight Jerome grinned.
“The reason being, Your Majesty, is that justice is on your side. As the true legitimate successor of Tairim, this land naturally belongs to you.”
“Hoohoohoo! Hahahahaha! Hearing Sir Jerome’s words always fills me with joy!”
Witnessing the king’s robust laughter, Jerome Cardium, the head of Justice Guild, said,
“Many heroes will soon be born among Your Majesty’s subordinates.”
“Is that true?”
Petimon’s King smiled brightly.
Seeing this, Jerome nodded.
“Of course. Real wars are the birthplace of heroes.”
![[TS] The Protagonist is Conquered](https://i3.wp.com/novelhitam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/1743806812-5548-TS-The-Protagonist-is-Conquered.png?resize=85,105 "[TS] The Protagonist is Conquered")
