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Author: CleiZzEditor: Tetrax
The envoy trembled at Ian’s declaration. He must have felt unbearably insulted.
“How dare you say that to the crown prince of the empire! You will regret what you just said!”
“What regret?”
Ian smirked. Then he stretched out his sword and roared.
“All troops! Arms!”
“Ha!”
The soldiers raised their arms at Ian’s orders. Just one word. As soon as Ian ordered them to arm, everyone readied to rush.
The envoy’s face hardened at the unexpected turn of events.
“How rude. Knowing who’s in this carriage…”
“It’s all because of your crafty tongue. If you want to complain, you better do it there.”
“…!”
The envoy, with face ashen, shouted toward the empire’s troops.
“What are you looking at! Are you going to just watch their rudeness!”
Then the imperial army moved.
Clink. Clink. Clink.
They formed a square and began to slowly advance, each movement displaying the high discipline drilled into their bodies.
Seeing that, Fiosen whispered to Ian with a stiff face.
“It was by Your Highness’s order, but can we really do this? At this rate, a war will break out.”
He seemed rather worried.
It might be natural for him as a Lavaltor, who had been in charge of fending off the barbarians of the North and Cantum, to worry.
But Ian smiled.
“That’s all right. War won’t break out over this anyway.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
It was because Ian knew.
In the first place, it didn’t make sense for the crown prince to move directly over this.
‘The crown prince is under pressure at his homeland and abroad because of his own circumstances. He needs this kind of achievement to ascend the throne.’
On top of that, Cantum was fighting with another country.
It must have been troublesome to deal with Kaistein and Bahara at once.
That’s why he chose this.
A way to take on Kaistein and Bahara without spilling a single drop of blood.
‘The first thing was joining hands with the First Princess.’
It was the same in his previous life.
Cantum took advantage of the slash-and-burn village incident to devour Lavaltor and even seize the achievements of the Northern Expedition. It was all thanks to the stratagem the crown prince devised.
As part of that stratagem, he intended to go ahead with the engagement with the First Princess.
‘Well, it didn’t go as planned up to that point.’
The First Princess was also not an easy opponent. Rather, she used the crown prince to weaken the power of Lavaltor and the Second Prince and cut off his hands.
However, hiding this fact, Ian smiled coldly at the imperial army.
“This area is the Lavaltor territory. Unless they are idiots, they would have brought more troops if they really wanted to fight.”
“!”
They had a large number even now.
However, in his previous life, Cantum did not engage in an all-out war but used the slash-and-burn village incident to trap Lavaltor.
In other words, they were merely testing the waters.
Additionally, he could tell just by looking at the envoy.
“Can you see that the crown prince didn’t come out right now and only let the envoy do the talk? Even if things go south, the crown prince will blame everything on the envoy.”
It was clear that the cruel prince would do so.
And above all.
“In the first place, our Kaistein is in no way weaker than them. If so, we would have long since become a vassal state.”
“!”
Ian said to Fiosen, his golden eyes glinted.
“Don’t forget, Sir. Peace is kept by force, not by mouth. The moment we look down on them, Cantum will invade us, not Bahara.”
“…”
That was not wrong.
The Cantum Empire had invaded Kaistein since it was still a kingdom.
It was only after Eloin became king did they stop their attacks. Eloin attacked Cantum with fierce military force and regained the lost territory.
Since then, Cantum had not launched a single attack, let alone invaded.
So, Fiosen bowed his head.
He never thought he would feel intimidated by a child 10 years younger than himself.
“I will obey your will.”
“All right, then get ready for the attack right away. We must firmly show them our will.”
“At once.”
As soon as Fiosen waved, the signal soldier waiting next to him moved.
Boooo—!
It was a signal to prepare for an all-out attack.
Close to 10,000 troops began to spread as if to besiege the Labadom village. The one thousand archers borrowed from the Third Prince had their arrowheads aimed at the hearts of their enemies.
Ian didn’t stop at that.
“Ready to charge!”
“Ha!”
Likewise, a thousand cavalrymen and knights lowered their helmets. The momentum to attack immediately gushed out of their bodies. Even the horses snorted heavily in excitement.
The soldiers of the Cantum Empire stopped their advance.
‘As expected.’
The belligerent Cantum would have jumped right in on any other day.
But they faltered upon seeing their side’s combat readiness?
Ian’s eyes flashed and he commanded Fiosen.
“I’ll give you an ultimatum. Sir, please stand by me. If the other side does not have courtesy, we will not have it either.”
“Yes!”
Ian spurred his horse forward. He approached the center of the confrontation between the two countries and shouted right in front of the envoy.
“If you want a fight, I will accept it! However, don’t forget who started the fight first. This is the land of Kaistein. No one can demand courtesy from the owner of the land!”
“…That!”
The envoy’s face couldn’t have gotten any redder.
He looked like he had been greatly humiliated by the seventh prince of a mere kingdom. However, a single word led to this division. If he made another mistake here, he would really lose his head.
Nevertheless, the envoy could not stand Ian’s expression full of mockery.
It’s simply dumbfounding that Kaistein sent such a kid away.
“General! Are you going to just watch the crown prince be insulted?”
He shouted at the knight of the empire waiting behind him.
He looked like he was ready to fight.
Seeing that, Ian raised one hand with a frown.
Ziiiiik!
The archers on Ian’s side began to draw their bows. The atmosphere was so tense that even the soldiers could not breathe well, as if a war would break out at any second.
But Ian did not hesitate.
‘Winning a war is a must.’
It was the teaching of his previous life.
‘As long as the crown prince doesn’t die anyway.’
While the enemy tried to protect the crown prince, he would start cutting them down by half.
It would be nothing for the Cantum Empire to lose this much force. On the contrary, they could simply blame it all on the envoy who caused the problem.
Furthermore, Kaistein didn’t mind fighting Cantum. They couldn’t attack Kaistein over Bahara anyway.
Rather, he intended not to miss this opportunity to gain the upper hand in the investigation.
But right then.
Rattle.
“Stop there.”
Someone came out of the carriage.
A handsome man with black hair and a bright smile plastered on his face.
It was the crown prince of Cantum.
The envoy bowed in surprise.
“Your Highness, how can you show your face to such people?”
He would take care of this on his own, so he asked him to stay inside.
The crown prince smiled at him.
And then.
Slash!
He severed the envoy’s neck with his sword.
“!?”
Fiosen, whose mind had been full of the thoughts of war, flinched.
His whole body stiffened, unable to process this situation. In an instant, the battle atmosphere cooled down.
Even the soldiers of Cantum flinched.
The prince’s face was soaked with the envoy’s blood. He immediately snatched a horse, rode it, and stepped forward.
“I’m sorry. I think I made a mistake here.”
Then he smiled.
***
Drip drip.
Blood dripped from his face. Regardless, the crown prince nonchalantly swept the blood.
“Y… Your Highness…”
The soldiers froze.
The knights were no exception. Some seemed to keep their composure with a hard face.
Still, they could not hide their trembling eyes.
Except for only one person.
‘Interesting.’
The crown prince narrowed his brow at someone. What he looked at was none other than the Seventh Prince Ian.
The look in his eyes had not changed one bit.
However, the crown prince hid his interest and opened his mouth.
“A vassal’s mistake is a monarch’s fault. I will apologize first.”
Then he bowed his head lightly.
And not only the soldiers on the imperial side but also on the Kaistein side were taken by surprise by the crown prince’s behavior.
‘To the prince.’
‘Unbelievable, the crown prince of the Cantum Empire bowed to the Seventh Prince first.’
This could never have occurred in their wildest imagination.
In fact, Ian’s knights were as dumbfounded by the sudden development.
Yet, contrary to their thoughts that he would be flustered, Ian waved his hand as if it were nothing.
“Servants interpreting the lord’s will and acting as they please is always a problem. I’ll gladly accept your sincere apology, Crown Prince of Cantum.”
“!?”
At that moment, even the knights failed to manage their expressions.
‘That…’
The soldiers froze as well.
They were dumbstruck to see Ian not only accepting the prince’s apology so rudely but also speaking informally.
The pressure of an impending war about to erupt at the drop of a hat was so heavy it felt like crushing the neck.
However, the crown prince, who was speechless for a moment, frowned.
It wasn’t simply because of Ian’s informal speech and sarcasm.
‘This guy. Does he know?’
The fact that they couldn’t abandon Kaistein here.
‘Kaistein is an important strategic point.’
An empire located east of Kaistein beyond Cantum. Dwelling in the south, right facing Cantum, they were the very culprit who had relegated the Kaistein Empire to a kingdom in the past.
And that place was attacking the Cantum Empire.
Their goal might be Kaistein on the surface, but they must have aimed to unify the Kingdom of Swordsmen by swallowing up Cantum.
That’s why he was trying to absorb Kaistein stealthily.
Using the incident in this slash-and-burn village, he intended to devour Lavaltor with it.
So, it’s not yet time to strike Kaistein here.
But somehow that little boy seemed to know the confidential information that even the First Princess, whom he had a secret agreement with, did not know.
The crown prince smiled.
‘As expected, coming here is the answer.’
He remembered the fortune teller’s prophecy.
“You shall meet a fated person where your footsteps will lead you, not at the promised meeting, Prince.”
“And he will make you an emperor who will be recorded in history.”
Thus, he poked around a little.
“As I’ve heard, you’re very bold, Ian Kaistein. Are you the Dragon’s Contractor?”
Ian exceeded his expectations. He had to kill Count Roheim, whom he put up as the spokesman, with his own hands.
Well, it was partly for the plan.
‘Either way, I’ll make you my person.’
However, Ian smirked as if he could see through his little tricks.
“As rumor has it, you have no mercy in your hands. No matter how little the mistakes he made, you kill your subject so mercilessly.”
“Merciless? I showed him mercy. If a war breaks out because of his forked tongue, it won’t end with his throat only.”
The crown prince smiled at Ian, but the more he looked at him, the more he found it unpleasant.
He had always been the one looking down from above.
So, he could tell for sure.
‘This guy… He’s looking down at me.’
Ian’s eyes were somewhat getting on his nerves.
Feeling displeased, the crown prince let out a fishy smile.
“There’s a saying, ‘If a man pulls out a knife, at least cut a radish.’”
“!?”
A thick murderous intent exploded.
The knights immediately grabbed the sword hilt out of nervousness as if to protect Ian.
Unexpectedly, however, the prince pointed to the Labadom village.
“How about this, my friend? We compete on who will solve the disappearance case first.”
“What? What is that all of a sudden?”
“Soldiers on each side are already fired up, but allies can’t fight each other. So let’s see which one is superior. Why? Are you not confident?”
It was ridiculous.
Fiosen, who was listening next to Ian, even scrunched his face and said.
“Cantum came a week before us.”
But they proposed a bet on it.
However, the crown prince shot back with a sharp gaze.
“The lords are talking to each other, but the knight is being impudent. I think you need to teach your knight manners.“
At those words, Ian’s eyes flashed, warning him not to cross the line.
“It’s also a virtue of a knight to tell their lord what he doesn’t know. I don’t think it’s your place to worry about my knight. More than that, I’m bothered about something.”
“Bothered?”
Ian continued with a taunting smile.
“There must be a prize for the bet. I’m just wondering if there’s anything you can give me.”
“There’s a good one.”
The crown prince pointed to himself.
“How about the loser addressing the victor as older brother and being polite? In addition, the younger brother should show the appropriate courtesy he should have to his older brother in front of everyone.”
“By courtesy, do you mean Cantum’s deep bow until knees and head touch the ground?”
“Yes. So, what do you say? Do you accept it?”
In other words, it was a humiliation with honor on the line.
However, Ian tilted his head.
“That’s it? The prize is too plain for a bet.”
Too plain.
The knights were sweating profusely.
The crown prince’s eyes lit up at Ian’s remarks.
“Then, how about this? The loser pledges allegiance to the victor.”
“!?”
Ian asked with a smile.
“You don’t think you’re going to lose, huh? Can you keep that word?”
If Ian won, the crown prince must pledge allegiance to him. But that was close to impossible. There was no way the heir to the empire would swear allegiance to the seventh prince of a kingdom.
But the crown prince smiled mischievously.
“I will bet on all the knights and soldiers in this place. I don’t lie. Or, if you so wish, shall I bet on His Majesty’s knees?”
Of course it’s a joke.
As the crown prince was about to giggle.
Ian beamed more brightly than ever.
“That’s great. I really want to see it.”
No, that’s about as much as he’d like to ask.
The eyes of the two people, each thinking of victory, clashed in the air.
PreviousNext
Author: CleiZzEditor: Tetrax
The envoy trembled at Ian’s declaration. He must have felt unbearably insulted.
“How dare you say that to the crown prince of the empire! You will regret what you just said!”
“What regret?”
Ian smirked. Then he stretched out his sword and roared.
“All troops! Arms!”
“Ha!”
The soldiers raised their arms at Ian’s orders. Just one word. As soon as Ian ordered them to arm, everyone readied to rush.
The envoy’s face hardened at the unexpected turn of events.
“How rude. Knowing who’s in this carriage…”
“It’s all because of your crafty tongue. If you want to complain, you better do it there.”
“…!”
The envoy, with face ashen, shouted toward the empire’s troops.
“What are you looking at! Are you going to just watch their rudeness!”
Then the imperial army moved.
Clink. Clink. Clink.
They formed a square and began to slowly advance, each movement displaying the high discipline drilled into their bodies.
Seeing that, Fiosen whispered to Ian with a stiff face.
“It was by Your Highness’s order, but can we really do this? At this rate, a war will break out.”
He seemed rather worried.
It might be natural for him as a Lavaltor, who had been in charge of fending off the barbarians of the North and Cantum, to worry.
But Ian smiled.
“That’s all right. War won’t break out over this anyway.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
It was because Ian knew.
In the first place, it didn’t make sense for the crown prince to move directly over this.
‘The crown prince is under pressure at his homeland and abroad because of his own circumstances. He needs this kind of achievement to ascend the throne.’
On top of that, Cantum was fighting with another country.
It must have been troublesome to deal with Kaistein and Bahara at once.
That’s why he chose this.
A way to take on Kaistein and Bahara without spilling a single drop of blood.
‘The first thing was joining hands with the First Princess.’
It was the same in his previous life.
Cantum took advantage of the slash-and-burn village incident to devour Lavaltor and even seize the achievements of the Northern Expedition. It was all thanks to the stratagem the crown prince devised.
As part of that stratagem, he intended to go ahead with the engagement with the First Princess.
‘Well, it didn’t go as planned up to that point.’
The First Princess was also not an easy opponent. Rather, she used the crown prince to weaken the power of Lavaltor and the Second Prince and cut off his hands.
However, hiding this fact, Ian smiled coldly at the imperial army.
“This area is the Lavaltor territory. Unless they are idiots, they would have brought more troops if they really wanted to fight.”
“!”
They had a large number even now.
However, in his previous life, Cantum did not engage in an all-out war but used the slash-and-burn village incident to trap Lavaltor.
In other words, they were merely testing the waters.
Additionally, he could tell just by looking at the envoy.
“Can you see that the crown prince didn’t come out right now and only let the envoy do the talk? Even if things go south, the crown prince will blame everything on the envoy.”
It was clear that the cruel prince would do so.
And above all.
“In the first place, our Kaistein is in no way weaker than them. If so, we would have long since become a vassal state.”
“!”
Ian said to Fiosen, his golden eyes glinted.
“Don’t forget, Sir. Peace is kept by force, not by mouth. The moment we look down on them, Cantum will invade us, not Bahara.”
“…”
That was not wrong.
The Cantum Empire had invaded Kaistein since it was still a kingdom.
It was only after Eloin became king did they stop their attacks. Eloin attacked Cantum with fierce military force and regained the lost territory.
Since then, Cantum had not launched a single attack, let alone invaded.
So, Fiosen bowed his head.
He never thought he would feel intimidated by a child 10 years younger than himself.
“I will obey your will.”
“All right, then get ready for the attack right away. We must firmly show them our will.”
“At once.”
As soon as Fiosen waved, the signal soldier waiting next to him moved.
Boooo—!
It was a signal to prepare for an all-out attack.
Close to 10,000 troops began to spread as if to besiege the Labadom village. The one thousand archers borrowed from the Third Prince had their arrowheads aimed at the hearts of their enemies.
Ian didn’t stop at that.
“Ready to charge!”
“Ha!”
Likewise, a thousand cavalrymen and knights lowered their helmets. The momentum to attack immediately gushed out of their bodies. Even the horses snorted heavily in excitement.
The soldiers of the Cantum Empire stopped their advance.
‘As expected.’
The belligerent Cantum would have jumped right in on any other day.
But they faltered upon seeing their side’s combat readiness?
Ian’s eyes flashed and he commanded Fiosen.
“I’ll give you an ultimatum. Sir, please stand by me. If the other side does not have courtesy, we will not have it either.”
“Yes!”
Ian spurred his horse forward. He approached the center of the confrontation between the two countries and shouted right in front of the envoy.
“If you want a fight, I will accept it! However, don’t forget who started the fight first. This is the land of Kaistein. No one can demand courtesy from the owner of the land!”
“…That!”
The envoy’s face couldn’t have gotten any redder.
He looked like he had been greatly humiliated by the seventh prince of a mere kingdom. However, a single word led to this division. If he made another mistake here, he would really lose his head.
Nevertheless, the envoy could not stand Ian’s expression full of mockery.
It’s simply dumbfounding that Kaistein sent such a kid away.
“General! Are you going to just watch the crown prince be insulted?”
He shouted at the knight of the empire waiting behind him.
He looked like he was ready to fight.
Seeing that, Ian raised one hand with a frown.
Ziiiiik!
The archers on Ian’s side began to draw their bows. The atmosphere was so tense that even the soldiers could not breathe well, as if a war would break out at any second.
But Ian did not hesitate.
‘Winning a war is a must.’
It was the teaching of his previous life.
‘As long as the crown prince doesn’t die anyway.’
While the enemy tried to protect the crown prince, he would start cutting them down by half.
It would be nothing for the Cantum Empire to lose this much force. On the contrary, they could simply blame it all on the envoy who caused the problem.
Furthermore, Kaistein didn’t mind fighting Cantum. They couldn’t attack Kaistein over Bahara anyway.
Rather, he intended not to miss this opportunity to gain the upper hand in the investigation.
But right then.
Rattle.
“Stop there.”
Someone came out of the carriage.
A handsome man with black hair and a bright smile plastered on his face.
It was the crown prince of Cantum.
The envoy bowed in surprise.
“Your Highness, how can you show your face to such people?”
He would take care of this on his own, so he asked him to stay inside.
The crown prince smiled at him.
And then.
Slash!
He severed the envoy’s neck with his sword.
“!?”
Fiosen, whose mind had been full of the thoughts of war, flinched.
His whole body stiffened, unable to process this situation. In an instant, the battle atmosphere cooled down.
Even the soldiers of Cantum flinched.
The prince’s face was soaked with the envoy’s blood. He immediately snatched a horse, rode it, and stepped forward.
“I’m sorry. I think I made a mistake here.”
Then he smiled.
***
Drip drip.
Blood dripped from his face. Regardless, the crown prince nonchalantly swept the blood.
“Y… Your Highness…”
The soldiers froze.
The knights were no exception. Some seemed to keep their composure with a hard face.
Still, they could not hide their trembling eyes.
Except for only one person.
‘Interesting.’
The crown prince narrowed his brow at someone. What he looked at was none other than the Seventh Prince Ian.
The look in his eyes had not changed one bit.
However, the crown prince hid his interest and opened his mouth.
“A vassal’s mistake is a monarch’s fault. I will apologize first.”
Then he bowed his head lightly.
And not only the soldiers on the imperial side but also on the Kaistein side were taken by surprise by the crown prince’s behavior.
‘To the prince.’
‘Unbelievable, the crown prince of the Cantum Empire bowed to the Seventh Prince first.’
This could never have occurred in their wildest imagination.
In fact, Ian’s knights were as dumbfounded by the sudden development.
Yet, contrary to their thoughts that he would be flustered, Ian waved his hand as if it were nothing.
“Servants interpreting the lord’s will and acting as they please is always a problem. I’ll gladly accept your sincere apology, Crown Prince of Cantum.”
“!?”
At that moment, even the knights failed to manage their expressions.
‘That…’
The soldiers froze as well.
They were dumbstruck to see Ian not only accepting the prince’s apology so rudely but also speaking informally.
The pressure of an impending war about to erupt at the drop of a hat was so heavy it felt like crushing the neck.
However, the crown prince, who was speechless for a moment, frowned.
It wasn’t simply because of Ian’s informal speech and sarcasm.
‘This guy. Does he know?’
The fact that they couldn’t abandon Kaistein here.
‘Kaistein is an important strategic point.’
An empire located east of Kaistein beyond Cantum. Dwelling in the south, right facing Cantum, they were the very culprit who had relegated the Kaistein Empire to a kingdom in the past.
And that place was attacking the Cantum Empire.
Their goal might be Kaistein on the surface, but they must have aimed to unify the Kingdom of Swordsmen by swallowing up Cantum.
That’s why he was trying to absorb Kaistein stealthily.
Using the incident in this slash-and-burn village, he intended to devour Lavaltor with it.
So, it’s not yet time to strike Kaistein here.
But somehow that little boy seemed to know the confidential information that even the First Princess, whom he had a secret agreement with, did not know.
The crown prince smiled.
‘As expected, coming here is the answer.’
He remembered the fortune teller’s prophecy.
“You shall meet a fated person where your footsteps will lead you, not at the promised meeting, Prince.”
“And he will make you an emperor who will be recorded in history.”
Thus, he poked around a little.
“As I’ve heard, you’re very bold, Ian Kaistein. Are you the Dragon’s Contractor?”
Ian exceeded his expectations. He had to kill Count Roheim, whom he put up as the spokesman, with his own hands.
Well, it was partly for the plan.
‘Either way, I’ll make you my person.’
However, Ian smirked as if he could see through his little tricks.
“As rumor has it, you have no mercy in your hands. No matter how little the mistakes he made, you kill your subject so mercilessly.”
“Merciless? I showed him mercy. If a war breaks out because of his forked tongue, it won’t end with his throat only.”
The crown prince smiled at Ian, but the more he looked at him, the more he found it unpleasant.
He had always been the one looking down from above.
So, he could tell for sure.
‘This guy… He’s looking down at me.’
Ian’s eyes were somewhat getting on his nerves.
Feeling displeased, the crown prince let out a fishy smile.
“There’s a saying, ‘If a man pulls out a knife, at least cut a radish.’”
“!?”
A thick murderous intent exploded.
The knights immediately grabbed the sword hilt out of nervousness as if to protect Ian.
Unexpectedly, however, the prince pointed to the Labadom village.
“How about this, my friend? We compete on who will solve the disappearance case first.”
“What? What is that all of a sudden?”
“Soldiers on each side are already fired up, but allies can’t fight each other. So let’s see which one is superior. Why? Are you not confident?”
It was ridiculous.
Fiosen, who was listening next to Ian, even scrunched his face and said.
“Cantum came a week before us.”
But they proposed a bet on it.
However, the crown prince shot back with a sharp gaze.
“The lords are talking to each other, but the knight is being impudent. I think you need to teach your knight manners.“
At those words, Ian’s eyes flashed, warning him not to cross the line.
“It’s also a virtue of a knight to tell their lord what he doesn’t know. I don’t think it’s your place to worry about my knight. More than that, I’m bothered about something.”
“Bothered?”
Ian continued with a taunting smile.
“There must be a prize for the bet. I’m just wondering if there’s anything you can give me.”
“There’s a good one.”
The crown prince pointed to himself.
“How about the loser addressing the victor as older brother and being polite? In addition, the younger brother should show the appropriate courtesy he should have to his older brother in front of everyone.”
“By courtesy, do you mean Cantum’s deep bow until knees and head touch the ground?”
“Yes. So, what do you say? Do you accept it?”
In other words, it was a humiliation with honor on the line.
However, Ian tilted his head.
“That’s it? The prize is too plain for a bet.”
Too plain.
The knights were sweating profusely.
The crown prince’s eyes lit up at Ian’s remarks.
“Then, how about this? The loser pledges allegiance to the victor.”
“!?”
Ian asked with a smile.
“You don’t think you’re going to lose, huh? Can you keep that word?”
If Ian won, the crown prince must pledge allegiance to him. But that was close to impossible. There was no way the heir to the empire would swear allegiance to the seventh prince of a kingdom.
But the crown prince smiled mischievously.
“I will bet on all the knights and soldiers in this place. I don’t lie. Or, if you so wish, shall I bet on His Majesty’s knees?”
Of course it’s a joke.
As the crown prince was about to giggle.
Ian beamed more brightly than ever.
“That’s great. I really want to see it.”
No, that’s about as much as he’d like to ask.
The eyes of the two people, each thinking of victory, clashed in the air.
