Prologue: The Final Moments of a Certain Knight

It was a tale from long, long ago. Strewn on a vast plain were tens of thousands of corpses and countless swords, spears, and war banners that stood from the ground like gravestones. In the dead center of that battlefield was the sight of a knight and king leaning on one another.

“It’s all right, Arthur...my lord.”

“S-Sir Sid?” The king’s blade was pierced deeply into the knight’s chest. However, the knight smiled as he gazed at the king who took his life, while the king gazed in tears at the knight whose life he took.

“Heh... Don’t worry about me.” With blood trailing from the corner of his mouth, the knight gave another carefree smile. “I’m your knight, and you’re my king. It was only natural it would end this way.”

Then, as the knight looked up at the sky above the red, sun-scorched battlefield, he said, “I have no regrets. For all of the trouble I’ve caused, this death...it suits me.” After he spoke, he lost strength and slumped.

The king desperately caught the knight in his arms and cried out, “Sid! Sid! How? How could this happen?!”

Gradually, life drained from the knight’s body, and almost as if to try and stop it, the king clung furiously to him. “Don’t leave me! What will I do? What will I do without you?”

As Arthur wept like a lost child, Sid raised his trembling hand and stroked the king’s face.

“It’s all right. My sword and my spirit shall always be with you. Because,” he paused, “I am your knight.”

The king fell into shocked silence.

“Even if death were to try and tear apart my fealty and our friendship...I will forever...be your...” The knight’s final words were left unspoken, and the hand that caressed the king’s face dropped lifelessly to the ground.

“Sir Sid?” By the time the king realized it, the knight was already dead in his arms. Peace and content graced the late knight’s face. “Sir Sid... Sid... Sid!”

At that moment, memories ran through Arthur’s mind—the days he had spent adventuring with the knight and the glory that would never return.

Why had it come to this? Was there no other way? Then, as if to purge himself of the overflowing sadness, pain, and anguish...

“Ahhhh!”

As the sun set, the king’s soul-piercing wail echoed throughout the battlefield.

Nearly a millennium ago, there was once a brilliant age of legend when kings, lords, and knights—renowned heroes—rivaled one another. In that glorious age of long ago, there was a knight named Sid. He served under the banner of the rightful holy king, Arthur. He was praised as the strongest knight of the legendary age, with countless military exploits and unparalleled valor. However, his true nature was cruel and inhumane. He was considered a man without a shred of chivalry, and in the epic poems and tales passed down throughout the ages, he was almost always made the villain. He was a barbaric knight and vicious scoundrel who tormented the people with his mischief, ran about the battlefield without a care for others, and killed as he wished. He was called Sir Sid “The Barbarian.” However, it is said that the end of this arrogant and evil knight was brought about by his own lord, the Holy King Arthur, in the name of justice.

Then, time passed, eras changed, and the glorious old days of the legendary era came to an end. With the passage of time, the heroes disappeared, and their spectacular tales of adventure faded away. In time, they only existed in stories. And then...