On the island, Herbert grinned at David before charging down the hillside. His whirling blade spun like the wind, leaving a trail of afterimages as he charged into the remaining pirates like a tiger among sheep. The blade, like a reaping scythe, swiftly sliced through the pirates in his path, splattering blood everywhere, before reaching David in a flash.
David swung his sword down casually.
The immense impact and force emanating from the greatsword caused the afterimage-like body to pause and come to a stop.
call!
The greatsword swung again, the blade sweeping towards Herbert. Herbert took a step back, spun around, flipped in the air, and landed on the ground.
"As expected of the King of Conquerors, his strength is truly formidable. Even a casual swing of his sword makes people want to retreat..."
Herbert licked his lips, lowering his voice, "You're so...I want to kill you!"
"Three-lobed spinning blades, high-speed movement, agile slashing..."
David looked Herbert up and down, his gaze finally settling on the blue iris emblem on his chest.
"The 'Knights of the Blade' from the Kingdom of Copoli?" David asked doubtfully.
These words stunned Herbert, who then burst into laughter: "How surprising! You, a new king with no bloodline whatsoever, actually know about our knightly order..."
David said, "I've heard the news. The beautiful and romantic Kingdom of Copoli was protected by a cruel and bloodthirsty knight order. However, it should have been destroyed along with the country twenty years ago. Are there any survivors?"
"They actually knew! That's right, it was destroyed. That country and the Knights were destroyed together!" Herbert sneered.
"You've lost your country and the master you serve, yet you seem quite pleased with yourself?" David shook his head. "Pathetic."
"What could a new king like you possibly know?"
Herbert said smugly, "This is freedom! I've gained freedom I've never known before. Oh, and let me tell you a secret: I was serving the kingdom's princess, the next heir, but I killed her with my own hands... at the moment the kingdom fell, I took her down! Of course, this wasn't betrayal. As a knight, I adhered to the code of chivalry towards those I served. A knight's honor is bestowed by his master. I saw through my master's thoughts and felt she was living too hard a life, so I killed her myself. This is also a matter of righteousness! Helping my master escape her suffering and taking the blame upon myself—what great loyalty that is!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a muffled thud suddenly came from before him, and a heavy aura appeared in front of Herbert. David pounced on him like a cheetah, raising his greatsword high and smashing it down with force.
Boom!!
The ground it crashed into instantly became a large crater, stirring up debris and dust.
Why are you so angry?
A light, airy voice rose from behind the smoke and dust. As the smoke and dust dissipated, Herbert stood behind and teased, "Are you angry because you were killed by your subordinate while standing on the side of a fellow master?"
"No..."
David's voice came from inside the helmet, "As a knight, I cannot forgive you. You have failed to fulfill the oath you swore to your master. Regardless of the order of knights, the oath is the same. You just said that you saw through your master's thoughts? But I remember that the princess of the Kingdom of Copoli once wished to be happy forever. I had heard of that princess whose fame spread far and wide. As a knight, not only did you not do your best to fulfill your oath and make your master happy, but you also said that you guessed your master's thoughts... Did your master ever say that she was living a tiring life? Even a single word like that?"
Herbert paused, then his face suddenly darkened.
The woman he once swore to protect never uttered a single word about how tiring her life was.
"What's the use of saying it or not? The kingdom is already in ruins. The king is sick and can no longer take care of the overall situation. The nobles no longer obey orders. The country is gradually weakening. It is no longer the country of romance and love. Otherwise, it wouldn't have had that title stolen by Dressrosa and become a country of 'love, passion and toys'. Her Highness was never happy. She lived too hard. And on the eve of the kingdom's destruction, I couldn't bear to see her continue. What's wrong with killing her with my own hands!"
"Completely wrong!"
David roared, “You have broken your knightly promise! When you became a knight, didn’t anyone tell you that your master’s wish is your knight’s mission? No matter how absurd the wish may be, as a knight, after serving your master, your mission is to fulfill your master’s wish! Your master wants to be happy forever, so the knight’s mission is to make her happy forever!”
"The nation is weakening? What does that have to do with you? You're not the nation's knight, you're the princess's knight! If your master is unhappy because the nation is weak, then your mission is to make the nation strong. If your master is unhappy because the king is seriously ill, then find a way to cure the king. If your master is unhappy because the nobles are disobedient, then replace those nobles with obedient ones! What have you accomplished?! You haven't fulfilled your mission at all. You've only lamented, you've only complained. You haven't done anything. You haven't even asked, you've only tried to guess your master's thoughts. How can you be worthy of being a knight?!"
The sudden sound caused Herbert to instinctively take a few steps back, his face turning pale.
"You are not worthy to be a knight! A true knight is the sword in his master's hand, the shield protecting his master, and the one who will do what his master says. It is not wrong to speculate on his thoughts, but you did not even ask. What right do you have to make subjective assumptions! As a fellow knight, I am ashamed of you!!"
David never tries to guess what Master Kuro means; everything he does is based on a single sentence he uttered back then.
He asked the master what his wish was.
The old man said his wish was for world peace.
That's enough. With this benchmark, we can then speculate and think, and walk the path towards fulfilling the master's wishes.
However, Herbert, a member of the once-famous 'Knights of the Blades', did not do such a thing at all.
He is a disgrace, a disgrace to knights!
David gripped his greatsword tightly and said in a deep voice, "I will kill you with my own hands, and then you will go down to the underworld and apologize to your master!"
...
At this moment, on the sea, a ship's ice sculpture was frozen there, and the sea surface beneath the ship was also frozen, forming a small ice island. Near the island, a lazy uncle wearing small sunglasses, carrying a backpack, and with penguins following behind him, stopped there on his bicycle.
"Oh dear, we've run into pirates... The pirates in the New World have become quite rampant lately. That guy Kuro has done a lot of big things. Is the Navy about to make a move?"
He glanced at the ice sculpture, sighed, stepped on the pedal, and continued driving forward.
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