WE SHOULD REACH DEIRMAR IN TWO DAYS.
GOOD.
IT'S TAKEN A DAMN LONG TIME.
WE'VE BEEN DELAYED BY A WHOLE MONTH.
STILL, THIS MUCH IS WITHIN MY EXPECTATIONS.
TAKE A GOOD LOOK, ISHTVAN.
RICH SOIL INSTEAD OF A BARREN WASTELAND.
FRESH BREEZES INSTEAD OF HARSH SANDSTORMS.
THESE ARE THE THINGS WE MUST SEIZE.
YES, FATHER.
GODIN.
THERE IS MUCH FOR YOU TO GO AND RETRIEVE...
AND SOMETHING YOU MUST CUT OFF FOR GOOD.
THAT POSSIBILITY BLOSSOMED BECAUSE OF YOU.
SO CRUSH IT WITH YOUR OWN HANDS.
...YES, COUNT.
!
... YES.
SUMMER IS WHEN THE CUCKOO SHOULD SING.
THE TIES FORMED THAT DAY HAVE COME FULL CIRCLE.
AND NOW WE FACE EACH OTHER ONCE MORE.
DESPITE ALL OUR EFFORTS TO SABOTAGE THEM...
REMARKABLY FEW SEEM TO HAVE DESERTED.
FIVE THOUSAND AGAINST THIRTEEN HUNDRED...
OUR SOLDIERS ARE GROWING UNEASY.
ANYONE WOULD STRUGGLE TO KEEP THEIR COMPOSURE...
AT THE SIGHT OF SUCH AN ARMY.
IT'S A GOOD THING WE RAISED MORALE BEFOREHAND.
NATURALLY, YOU DID IT WITH ALL THIS IN MIND, DIDN'T YOU?
I... SUPPOSE SO?
I HEAR YOU'VE BEEN PAYING YOUR RESPECTS TO THE BARONESS THESE PAST FEW DAYS.
OH, YES.
WELL DONE.
THE BARONESS IS THE COMMANDER IN THIS WAR, EVEN IF ONLY IN NAME.
IT'S IMPORTANT TO BOLSTER HER STANDING.
A KNIGHT OF BAYEZID WHO DOESN'T MIND BOWING TO THEIR RULER.
THAT SIMPLE GESTURE ALONE WILL BRING GREAT COMFORT TO DEIRMAR'S SOLDIERS.
YOU DO WELL ON YOUR OWN NOW, WITHOUT NEEDING TO BE TOLD.
YOU EVEN HANDLE SOPHISTICATED POLITICAL MANEUVERS WITH EASE.
AH...
WELL, YES...
THAT WAS JUST LUCK.
VLAD IS LADY ALICIA'S KNIGHT.
SO FROM NOW ON, YOU WILL VISIT ALICIA OFTEN.
YOU WILL VISIT ALICIA MORE OFTEN THAN LORD JOSEPH.
I ONLY PAID MY RESPECTS BECAUSE I SOMEHOW FELT I SHOULD.
TAKE A GOOD LOOK, VLAD.
THIS IS THE SECTOR YOU'LL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR.
WE'VE REINFORCED THE WALLS, BUT THEY WERE SMALL TO BEGIN WITH.
THEY'LL BE VULNERABLE TO SIEGE ENGINES.
...THE FIGHTING WILL BE FIERCE,
AND YOUR JUDGMENT WILL MATTER MORE THAN EVER.
WHICH SIDE IS GIVING GROUND IN THE COUNTLESS CLASHES, WHERE THE LINES ARE BEING BREACHED-
FROM NOW ON, ALL THOSE JUDGMENTS ARE YOURS TO MAKE.
IN OTHER WORDS, THIS SECTOR IS YOURS TO COMMAND NOW.
ALWAYS KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THE ENEMY KNIGHTS.
LIKE YOU, THEY CAN TURN THE TIDE AT ANY MOMENT.
I'LL KEEP THAT IN MIND.
GOOD. INSPECT YOUR ASSIGNED SECTORS.
REQUEST ANY SUPPLIES YOU NEED FROM VORDAN.
YES, LORD JOSEPH.
YOU'RE DISMISSED.
OH, AND VLA...
HE ALREADY...
...SEEMS TO BE LOOKING FOR THAT KNIGHT.
THERE'S NO NEED TO DISTURB HIM.
...WILL THOSE TWO FIGHT?
IF HE GETS THE CHANCE...
NO, HE'LL MAKE A CHANCE IF HE HAS TO.
I SEE.
EVEN AS A LOWLY BACK-ALLEY BOY, HE SAID HE WOULD SHATTER THE MOON OF THE WEST.
WHAT WAS ONCE A FAINT POSSIBILITY HAS BECOME A REAL PROSPECT.
CAN HE WIN?
NOT YET.
IT'S A GOOD THING I STATIONED HIM ON THE FLANK.
I MUST KEEP THOSE TWO WELL APART.
I HOPE THINGS GO AS PLANNED, BUT...
HE'S A MAJOR WILD CARD HIMSELF.
JAGER.
SUMMON AGEH AND THE WARRIORS OF THE BUDAAT TRIBE.
IT'S TIME TO GIVE GAIDAR ANOTHER WILD CARD TO DEAL WITH.
MAKE WAY!
THE IRON DUKE, TIMUR BARANOFF!
WELCOME, YOUR GRACE.
WHAT BRINGS YOU ALL THIS WAY?
THIS EXPEDITION SEEMED TO BE DRAGGING ON, SO I CAME IN PERSON.
IT SEEMS IT WAS TOO MUCH FOR THE DRAGON KILLER KNIGHTS AFTER ALL.
NOW THAT I THINK OF IT, I SHOULD HAVE COME SOONER.
HAS THIS EXPEDITION BEEN GOING ON FOR HALF A YEAR ALREADY?
HAHA!
I'M HUMBLED THAT YOU WOULD WORRY ABOUT A JUNIOR AS INEPT AS ME.
AS IT HAPPENS, I WAS ABOUT TO REPORT THAT WE WOULD BE LEAVING SOON.
...LEAVING?
OUR MISSION IS COMPLETE, SO IT'S TIME TO MOVE ON.
WE WERE FORTUNATE.
IT WAS NO EASY BATTLE,
BUT GOD WAS INDEED WATCHING OVER US.
RECOGNIZE HIM?
HERE IS BARON UTHMAN,
ALONG WITH HIS WIFE AND KNIGHTS.
AH, I CAN SEE THE BARON'S SON OVER THERE, TOO.
WHAT...
GAAH
INDEED...
"THE KNIGHT AMONG KNIGHTS."
"THE GUARDIAN OF THE OATH."
HE DIDN'T EARN THE FEARSOME NAME "RULER OF THE NORTH" FOR NOTHING.
...PLEASE CALM YOURSELF, YOUR GRACE.
BARON UTHMAN CONFESSED HIS SINS IN HIS FINAL MOMENTS.
"APSILON."
THIS IS A NARCOTIC.
APPARENTLY, BARON UTHMAN INTENDED TO USE APSILON TO SICKEN THE NORTH.
HE SAID A SINISTER BEING HAD DEMANDED IT.
NOW THEN...
DO YOU KNOW WHO WAS THE FIRST IN THE NORTH TO RECEIVE THESE TEA LEAVES?
I'M TOLD IT WAS COUNTESS OKSANA OF BAYEZID.
ONE CANNOT FAULT HER CONCERN FOR HER SICKLY SON, BUT...
IT DOES SEEM SUSPICIOUS, DOESN'T IT?
THE DRAGONBLOOD DUKE HAS ORDERED US TO UNCOVER THE TRUTH OF THIS MATTER.
THEREFORE,
THE DRAGON KILLER KNIGHTS WILL WITHDRAW FROM MOSHIAM.
WE WILL HEAD FOR ESTURMAI, THE CAPITAL OF BAYEZID.
SO THIS IS IT.
THAT'S WHAT THE OLD DRAGON TRULY WANTS.
HAND OVER THE DRAGON'S FRAGMENT AT ONCE.
OTHERWISE,
I WILL SHATTER THAT NORTH OF YOURS.
The Stellar Swordmaster Chapter 143 follows Vlad as war closes in on Deirmar and he is given command of a vulnerable wall sector. An invading force nears Deirmar after a month's delay while Vlad is praised for honoring Baroness Alicia and ordered to visit her often. Lord Joseph warns him the reinforced walls will face fierce fighting and enemy knights, then plots to keep Vlad apart from a rival knight while summoning tribal warriors. Elsewhere Timur Baranoff confronts the Dragon Killer Knights over Baron Uthman's death and Apsilon tea linked to Countess Oksana, demanding the dragon's fragment or he will shatter the North.