Book 3: Chapter 86 (1/2)

It didn’t take long for the army to reach the castle walls despite the solid ground turning into a liquid slush underneath them. Any attacks were repelled by the mages’ barriers, so they managed to preserve their strength as well. Ralph stared up at the castle walls. Now that the castle lay right before him, he realized just how large it actually was. Even if he craned his neck back, he couldn’t see the top of the wall. If dragons had castles, then the castle would have to be at least this big to house them. Could the castle be housing a dragon? Ralph bit his lower lip and kicked his legs a few times, flinging muck off of them. He looked behind himself, awaiting orders from above. Lord Briffault was in discussion with the rest of the commanders, but it didn’t seem like they’d come up with a plan any time soon.

“We should scale the walls,” the infantry commander said, glaring at Lord Briffault.

Lord Briffault shook his head. “And what if the wall were to fall over and crush our men? That wall is so large that it seems like half our army could fit on it. Can we afford to lose half our army?”

“If your only argument against my plan is that something impossible might happen, then that’s no argument at all,” the infantry commander said. “The castle walls will fall over? Nonsense! Castle walls are meant to be impenetrable. Why would it possibly fall over?”

“The ground isn’t meant to move either,” Lord Briffault said. He pointed up at the sky. “And suns aren’t meant to attack people. If someone purposely made the wall collapse, then—”

“Then it works out,” another man, the cavalry commander, said. The army didn’t have a cavalry, but it felt wrong to strip a man of his previous authority based on minor details like that. “If the castle walls don’t fall, our men will have entered. If the castle walls do fall, then we have another way in that doesn’t involve climbing the walls.”

“Wait, hold on a second,” the infantry commander said. “The gate is opening.”

“Huh?” Lord Briffault and the cavalry commander turned around. The metal of the castle was rising, and a lone man dressed in golden armor strode outside. He had a metal helmet, but a prominent mustache seemed to pass through the material as if it didn’t exist.

“I am Sir Edward,” the golden man said. “To proceed beyond this point, you’ll have to defeat me in a one-on-one duel!”

Ralph scratched his head. Was this the owner of the soul, or was it another man occupying another man’s soul? How would something like that happen in the first place? Ralph froze as a chill ran down his spine. Wasn’t he also another man inside of this man’s soul? What if … he became stuck here like this golden soldier? He couldn’t let that happen. “I’ll duel you!” Ralph shouted and stepped forward. His hands tightened on his short spear and shield.

“A challenger appears,” Sir Edward said and drew his sword. “Excellent, lad. State your name and station. I am Sir Edward Baron, head of the Baron household, Marquis of the Baron territory.”

Ralph pursed his lips. “I am Ralph.”

Sir Edward paused. A moment later, he pointed his sword at Ralph. “And your surname? And your title of nobility?”

“…I am Ralph,” Ralph said again.