It was a series of footsteps that sounded like the Earth was roaring.
One by one, the fairies of the Tusk Clan, amidst such earth-shaking tremors, transformed into wild beasts sprinting with a terrifying speed, leaving behind clouds of dust that shot towards the sky.
They looked similar to the Tusk Clan fairies of Tintagel Village, each with a wolf-like appearance, differing only by the color of their body fur and individual variations in grooming.
They bore no weapons and wore no armor, dressed only in the simplest of light attire, which made them resemble a pack of wild wolf-people.
However, their scant attire was not because the Tusk Clan was impoverished, nor was it due to a lack of military supplies from the Fairy Country.
On the contrary, they were this way because they were full of confidence in their own physical strength, hence they believed that they needed no weapons or armor to reign supreme on the battlefield.
They were the queen’s execution squad, the elite of the Tusk Clan, and also the army of the nation.
At this moment, they were exploiting their speed, far greater than that of ordinary life forms, wantonly rushing towards Tintagel Village while stirring up wild winds, dust, and ground tremors.
At the very front of this brigade of Tusk Clan fairies, there was one who stood out.
He, too, was a Tusk Clan fairy with a wolf-like appearance, but he was dressed in an exceptionally proper suit, and his fur was groomed very neatly, giving him the air of a prince among the wild beast horde.
Though a prince, a beast is, after all, a beast. No matter how good the clothes or how gentlemanly the appearance, it couldn’t disguise the fact that he was a non-human being.
Therefore, this beast prince, with a speed that even other Tusk Clan fairies couldn’t match, dashed ahead on his own at the front.
Suddenly, within the execution squad, a fairy of the Tusk Clan spoke up.
"Something seems off about the village ahead!"
Hearing the Scout’s report, the fairy gentleman running at the forefront — Woodworth — immediately narrowed his beastly eyes.
"Firelight?" Woodworth murmured, asking, "What’s going on?"
Naturally, no one would answer him.
Woodworth clicked his tongue in irritation, unconsciously baring his teeth, then hurried to retract his threatening demeanor as if remembering his standing.
Although a fairy of the Tusk Clan, as one of the queen’s most loyal subjects, Woodworth had long decided not to let others see him as nothing but an uncouth savage.
For this reason, Woodworth was willing to hide his bestial nature and true self, behaving like those upper-class fairies who know decorum, not wanting to be seen as a mere Tusk Clan fairy with strength but an empty head.
No matter where he was, he must maintain his composure; that was the demeanor expected of a loyal servant to the queen.
As Woodworth pondered this, the composure that had just started to rise in his heart was shattered the next second.
"Lord Woodworth! There’s a situation!"
The unabashedly loud shout from his subordinate nearly caused Woodworth, who had been reminding himself to be a gentleman, to falter.
Woodworth voiced his annoyance.
"Up there!" Completely oblivious to the fact that his master was growing angry, the Tusk Clan fairy pointed to the sky and yelled, "Something is coming!"
At that proclamation, all the fairies lifted their heads to look at the sky.
With this look, they immediately saw a streak of light.
Within the faint sound of air being split, a figure emerged from the light, flying at high speed before stopping mid-air.
Seeing this, Woodworth couldn’t help but exclaim, his voice filled with surprise and hostility.
It couldn’t be helped.
The person Woodworth called out was a rival competing for the position of the strongest in the Fairy Country, someone he viewed as a thorn in his side, someone he not only wanted to utterly defeat but also to trample underfoot, mock, and abuse at will.
The reason Woodworth called out his opponent’s name to the figure in the sky was that the person was a famous Sky Knight of the Fairy Country, the only Elf Knight among all the knights capable of dominating the sky, freely flying through it.
But the newcomer was certainly not Lancelot.
"That’s not Sir Lancelot!"
A sharp-eyed Tusk Clan fairy observed the full visage of the other.
And at that instant, the figure from the sky descended.
The clear sound of feet hitting the ground echoed as the other landed, blocking the execution squad’s path.
Another girl was thrown down from the figure’s hands, landing heavily on her behind on the ground and crying out in pain.
Seeing someone blocking the path, and like that detestable Lancelot, coming from the sky, Woodworth instinctively grew wary, calling out to his troops behind him.
In an instant, all the Tusk Clan fairies, who had been sprinting at stunning speeds, came to a stop, letting the trailing dust and wind slowly settle.
An ineffable silence began to spread all around.
Woodworth, with his wolf-like eyes, stared at the unexpected guest obstructing their way.
The young man suddenly smiled.
"Just a human passing by," he introduced himself in this enigmatic manner.