59 The Power of a Grandmaster

"Grandmaster."

"An elusive title that only a few hundred people will ever hold at a time, this includes those who hide themselves from the world, afraid to draw the attention of the powerful."

"The power of these individuals can vary. Some grandmasters are so powerful and skilled that even two other grandmasters working together to kill him will fall to their blade."

"Having one in your service, whether public or not, is the mark of a powerful noble house."

"For the power of these figures in the world is so potent…."

"That it could even affect the fate of nations."

"Let alone the fate of one noble house."

Kodjis Kendari, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Nathia 

….

"Did you really think you could use this tactic to suppress me, Scorpius? Are you stupid!? I thought you would be smarter than that!?"

"You do know who Lucius created it with, right?"

"Using a formation against its creator…."

"Is the height of idiocy!" 

Leon said with disdain to his old comrade, recognising the style of his old friend from the officer he had just fought, bringing his horse to face the Imperial Guard Vice Commander, who looked almost identical to the other black and red imperial guards behind him. The accurate sword swings and bulwark-like defence could only belong to one person he knows, Scorpius, the royal knight captain who had protected Lucius alongside him. 

It was then that an arrow pierced into the head of Leon's horse, killing it instantly. The large man being thrown from it immediately used his body to cushion the fall of Railius, who was cradled in his arms. 

"Young master, are you all right?"

Leon said affectionately to the small 10-year-old boy in his arms, disregarding his own battered body that complained due to taking the impact from being slammed to the ground so hard. Getting confirmation from Railius and helping the small boy up, he looked upon the battlefield, and the grandmaster saw that one of the other master fighters had shot his horse while he was distracted and charged towards him the three of them forming a triangle around Leon. 

Leon's spear deflected the second shot this master-level fighter fired, who then quickly grabbed a glaive stuck into the ground and joined his other comrades in a three-pronged attack against the powerful grandmaster, worried that his comrades could not hold Leon down. 

"Vice Commander, two men are escaping with the other two children! Should we follow them?"

A Chavarian imperial guard called out to Scorpius, seeing that two Pelican Guards were escaping with two children. 

"Let them go! They are most likely decoys or not a member of House Aurellion." 

"Focus on the child with Leon. That will be the one we're after!"

"A man as overprotective as him wouldn't let his young lord out of his sight. Even after ten years, this part of him will not change!"

Scorpius said coldly, knowing the personality of his opponent and preparing for the hard fight to come. A grandmaster is far more problematic to deal with than a skilled master fighter. He thought that no matter how skilled Leon was, if he were outnumbered 3-1, then it would be an easy victory, but unfortunately, Leon was a grandmaster, and grandmasters are more than capable of taking on 3 master-level fighters as long as they have some experience in combat. 

How could Leon, someone who had fought in wars for the first half of his life, be inexperienced in combat? Such a fleeting hope was impossible! 

'Just the fact that he can easily break through master suppression with a master fighter backing it up demonstrates the stark difference in skill.'

'Why does Leon have to be such a problematic opponent? Then again, even generals had lost in a one-on-one to him, so it is not too surprising.' 

Scorpius thought to himself, cursing Leon in his heart while surrounding the grandmaster of loyalty alongside the other two master fighters and the imperial guards who tried to suppress him earlier, having the others take down the remaining Pelican Guards. But the vice commander of the imperial guard was also gaining respect for grandmasters as they genuinely are terrifying existences. It is no wonder that Drusus, a grandmaster strategist, could destroy the Kingdoms of Nadron and Pluerus with his terrifyingly intricate strategies.

Leon no longer held back, using magic to shoot his pelican pommelled dagger at the Chavarian knights around him, catching a few by surprise and forcing others to protect themselves with magic while Scorpius tried to get the grandmaster to stand down. The flying dagger slit the throat of many an unsuspecting imperial guard, its usual red glow absent to help it blend into the battlefield more, helping to save many Pelican Guards who were outnumbered and fighting hard from death.

"Leon I don't want to fight you so I'm going to ask for a favour for the time in my life...." 

Scorpius said, pausing for a second and taking a deep breath to calm himself down before making his request.

"For the empire, both we and Lucius fought for...."

"Stand aside."

Scorpius' voice was quiet but authoritative, being able to be heard despite the clanging of metal and death throes that create the symphony of a medieval battlefield, hoping that he would not have to face the grandmaster even the man's eyes were pleading with his old friend to back down. 

Leon merely got into a ready stance putting himself between them and the child they were aiming to destroy to show his unwavering view on the matter. 

Seeing this, Scorpius got a bit angry at Leon for his loyalty which came at the expense of the empire that had finally given peace and prosperity to millions of people. 

"Is the future of our empire we fought for! Lucius fought for…." 

"Not worth the destruction of a single noble house?"

The Chavarain vice commander asked in a cold tone while he circled Leon, the sword in his hand shining in the sun as the grandmaster replied in a stern, determined voice. 

"You will never stop at one loyal house!"

"No one would want to serve an empire which treats loyal subjects like the grass beneath their feet."

"It is not House Aurellion that has let down the empire and the imperial family!"

"It is the empire and this imperial family filled with a lust for power that has let down House Aurellion!" 

"So to protect my old friend's bloodline, I'll take you all on!"

Leon said calmly and in a flash, charged at Scorpius, the middle-aged man's eyes glowing with a red long-forgotten vicious light as the vice commander's sword barely deflected his lightning-fast spear. In seconds, Scorpius could feel himself being overwhelmed by Leon's skill which only increased when he was defending a member of House Aurellion. 

The other two masters tried to attack the now defenceless Railius, only for Leon to appear instantly like a shadow and fight them off, effectively fighting a 3 v 1 while protecting Railius. Unfortunately, it took a lot of effort and focus to maintain the status quo even when Leon managed to injure one of the three masters, his spear sticking into the warrior's shoulder, which was then preceded by a kick which sent the man flying away 20 meters did not lessen the pressure as the imperial guard constantly tried to attack Railius while he was busy forcing Leon to deal with them. 

"While I still have breath within my body!"

"NO ONE WILL TOUCH THE HEIR OF AURELLION!"

Leon roared as the master-level fighter was replaced with the black armoured imperial guards who had no regard for their lives while trying to take the life of the 10-year-old child a few times. Leon even had to take some of the hits himself, his customised armour helping him to stay alive as cuts began to litter the veteran man's body after ten years away from the battlefield.

As time passed, bodies began to slowly appear around the grandmaster who fought this way and that, desperately trying to keep his young master from harm his determination helped to keep the adrenaline pumping, allowing him to ignore any weakness that his injuries may give him, his grandmaster title effect allowing him to fight at an astronomically high level for an extensive period.

'Not even the imperial guard commander fights at that level!'

Scorpius thought to himself as fear which had not appeared in years, began to take hold of his heart, but the disciplined man quickly extinguished it, drawing on his loyalty and devotion to the empire, 

Seeing their young master and grand commander in danger, the Pelican Guard fought with more ferocity. With the master fighters distracted by Leon, these loyal men began to make some progress, trying to break through to protect their young master, who would be vulnerable.

"BREAK THROUGH!"

Nathos, a vice commander in the Pelican Guards, roared as he and the last 100 bloody Pelican Guards charged into the fray, their skilful swordplay piercing through the Imperial Guards as Nathos' steel sword cut a captain in two bisected him with a single slash, he then proceeded like a one-man army to take down one black armoured imperial guard after another. 

"PROTECT OUR YOUNG LORD!"

"PROTECT OUR YOUNG LORD!"

"CHARGE!"

The loyal Pelican Guard roared as some selflessly sacrificed themselves to allow even a few to protect Railius, enabling Leon to focus on dealing with the enemies without being burdened with the protection of Railius.

Around these loyal men of House Aurellion were the corpses of countless Chavarian soldiers. Some had javelins sticking out of them, while others were headless or had lost various limbs. The brutality of the combat would make any civilian vomit, but these war veterans had long become desensitised to these sorts of horrific sights. 

Piercing through the Chavarain lines like a spear, only around 60 of these men made it to Railius, who was being protected by a panting and bleeding Leon. The loyal soldiers focused on only pushing through at one point regardless of the casualties they suffered, the Pelican Gaurd's mental fortitude surprising everyone who watched. 

"Grand Commander, there is no need to hold back now! We will protect the young lord!"

Nathos shouted, parrying a blow that came for his head before disarming his attacker with a flourish of his sword and stabbing it into the man's heart. 

'We will definitely pay back our debt to our lord's son!'

'The first person to see us as human.'

'The man who looks after our families and rules wisely.'

'And saved us from the clutches of tyranny!'

Nathos thought, wanting to repay his lord for keeping him safe and his family prosperous throughout the many years of war. He still remembered that time 10 years ago at the Battle of Brunag where his lord Lucius saved his and Darius' lives and fought alongside his men to the end. 

"Pelican Guards, protect the young lord with your lives!"

A great roar then emerged from the remaining loyal Pelican Guards stunning the Chavarian Imperial troops for a second, who, instead of seeing despair, saw a group of determined men ready to sacrifice their lives for the survival of the noble house they served the atmosphere suffocating them.

By now, the master fighter who was kicked away from Leon returned, making him fight a 3v1, but without needing to defend Railius, the grandmaster managed much better against his enemies and, despite a few cuts on his body, still bleeding the fight become much more even. 

Dodging Scorpius' swing coming from the left, Leon blocked another axe strike coming from the right with his steel spear, sending a fireball towards the man at point-blank range, forcing the other master-level fighter attacking him to cast a magical shield to protect himself and distancing him enough for Leon to stab him in the chest and lift him off his feet and lifted him off his feet bringing the surprised man over his head and slamming him into the ground behind him. 

The unnamed master-level fighter let out a groan of pain as Leon twisted his spear and took it out, ducking a sword swing that came from behind, aimed at his neck, and using his fist to punch Scorpius away. 

'One.'

Leon thought calmly to himself, seeming to be in a trance-like state while he fought Scorpius and the other master fighter, who were shocked at Leon's display of martial prowess. 

After another 10 minutes of fighting, Leon gained more and more of the upper hand. The Grandmaster of Loyalties' swift killing of the master fighter made a big difference, especially in small-scale battles, as the skill of the individual is, in most cases, more important than the skill of a group, as one grandmaster can easily take on 500 expert level fighters who have no formation or way of suppressing him. 

After knocking the second master fighter onto the ground, Leon followed up by throwing his spear into the man's throat, the wooden shaft sticking out from the ground, while quickly drawing his sword and parrying a sword strike that came from behind.

Scorpius and Leon's cold eyes met, their steel swords shining like beacons in the sun, the tension stifling the soldiers around them. 

"Losing your spear to kill off 2 master-level fighters, eh Leon?"

"Seems the next battle will be much more even!"

Scorpius said, continuing a barrage of strikes against the Aurellion grandmaster, who matched each one. However, the skill difference between master and grandmaster was no longer present as Leon's spear remained in the lifeless body of the second master-level fighter killed by Leon's skilful spear.

While Leon was dealing with the master fighters where no other lower levelled ones dared to interfere in the tense high-level confrontation between the 4 skilled warriors, the Pelican Guards' numbers slowly dwindled while they protected Railius with dogged determination. 

Railius felt a strong hand pull him to one side as a steel sword came inches from cutting into his tiny body while another stabbed the attacker, making his newly lifeless body fall to the bloodied ground. 

'Since when was I a bloody ragdoll for people to drag at will!"

Railius complained to himself as he could not count the number of times he had been pulled this way and that by his protectors deciding that he never wanted to play a child in a battle ever again. 

You were utterly helpless, unlike when Reginald played Lucius, he did not have the stats, skills or physical attributes to try any risks. He wondered why he was even playing as a child if all he could do was watch and not interfere much with the quest. 

'System, why am I even here? Could you not have ended the event after showing me the inheritance system instead of forcing me to live the life of a ragdoll!'

Railius complained towards the system.

'No, there are many lessons to be learnt in this event. It is a shame that you seem unable to learn them.'

'If this continues, then it is likely that in the long term, your dynasty will be exterminated.'

'I will give you a hint. What we want you to learn is how insignificant one man is and can be.'

'We want you to learn how fragile a dynasty or nation can be if it relies on one man to keep it together.'

'For no living being lasts forever. Even the elves only live 3 times longer than humans.'

'What makes a dynasty truly powerful and long-lasting is not the power of one man but the collective power of all those who support and are a part of it.'

'For all living beings die eventually. Even if players can inhabit the body of their heirs, they may be children or lacking in some aspect, making them useless in a situation like this.'

'So unless you can guarantee your heir will have the same skill and respect as your previous ruler, you may find it harder when transitioning from one ruler of your dynasty to another.' 

'So tell me Reginald Coulan….'

'Are you confident that your heir will always have the same skills and respect as the previous ruler?'