"Kill... kill... kill!"
A loud chant echoed through a city square. The crowd of citizens, knights, and nobles had gathered. In front of them, on a stage, a guillotine had been set up. "Clink... clink... clink..." A young, handsome prisoner with short black hair, who looked well-dressed like a nobleman, was being led up the stage, his hands and head in stocks, by what appeared to be prison guards.
The young man was brought to the guillotine, which still had traces of blood on its blade and stock. "Thud," a guard kicked the young man's legs, forcing him to kneel in front of the guillotine. A royal official stepped onto the stage and unrolled a scroll in his hand.
"Today we will witness the execution by guillotine of Duke Maxwell von Ravencrow of the Phanteos Kingdom, who surrendered as part of a ceasefire agreement with our kingdom. However... our king did not agree to a ceasefire with the Phanteos Kingdom and chose to continue the war because our kingdom is clearly stronger than theirs! Long live King Lexius III Henry Caldeon!" the royal official shouted.
"Uoooh! Long live King Lexius III!" the citizens, knights, and nobles in the square yelled.
Facing death, Maxwell, who was usually called Max, smirked and looked at the crowd in front of him.
"Hey... why are you laughing?" the executioner asked, seeing him.
"It's nothing. Just get on with it. I don't have much time for this. I've already wasted enough time being held in your prison for two days," Max replied.
Hearing Max's words, the executioner laughed loudly from behind his black mask, which only showed his eyes and mouth. He immediately signaled to the two guards standing next to Max, who immediately released Max's stocks, made him lower his head, and put his neck into the guillotine.
"Clang," the guillotine gate was closed. The executioner got ready to pull the lever and waited for the signal from the royal official. Before giving the signal, the official walked forward and leaned down slightly to look at Max with a cruel smile.
"My sincerest apologies, Duke Maxwell, your sacrifice was in vain. Please witness the defeat of your kingdom from up there," the official said, taunting him.
"Yeah, yeah... hurry up. I have a dinner date with my fiancée tonight," Max said nonchalantly.
"Huh... still arrogant. You'll be having dinner in hell tonight," the royal official said.
The official stood up again and stepped back a little, then nodded, giving the signal to the executioner. Without delay, "click," the executioner pulled the lever. "Swoooosh," the guillotine blade came down quickly and "thud," Maxwell's head rolled into the basket in front of the guillotine.
"Uoooooh!" A roar of cheers came from the citizens, knights, and nobles who witnessed the death of their enemy.
The royal official, the executioner, and the royal family, who were watching from the palace balcony, looked very relieved. Music began to play, and the citizens started to dance. Max's death was celebrated as a victory because Max was known as a knight general of the Phanteos Kingdom. But in the middle of the celebration, when no one was looking toward the guillotine, "slip," Max's head floated out of the basket. His skin became pale gray and his eyes were red.
A wide smile appeared on his face. Soon after, "tap," two hands caught Max's head from behind. "Clap," the two hands reattached Max's head to his body. Max immediately ripped off his clothes. All the skin on his body turned gray like a corpse, and black tattoos covered his entire body. "Boom," black fire burned on both of his hands.
He turned and looked toward the palace balcony. Then he put his hands together and shaped them into a sniper rifle. He immediately aimed at the king sitting on the balcony, who didn't notice Max aiming the rifle at him. "Bang," Max shot. A bullet shaped like a raven and burning with black fire shot past the buildings and "pyaaaash," the bullet exploded, blowing off King Lexius III's head, and the shrapnel killed the queen, the crown prince, and his wife.
"Click," Max cocked the sniper rifle, then turned to look at the crowd, smiling and shouldering his long rifle.
"Hey!" Max yelled.
Seeing Max standing on the stage in a horrifying form like a tattooed zombie and smiling widely, the music immediately stopped, and the citizens panicked. The knights immediately surrounded the stage. But Max just pointed his thumb back toward the palace with a wide smile. The knights' and nobles' faces immediately turned pale as if they had seen something terrifying at the palace. The royal official immediately fell to his knees, seeing the king's missing head and blood splattered everywhere.
"K-King..." the royal official said, his face pale with fear and disbelief.
"Haah... my purpose in coming here was not to seek peace... do you know about the Trojan horse?" Max asked.
"Tro... Trojan horse?" the royal official asked with a trembling voice.
"Ah, that's right. There are no Trojan horses in this world. Well... I came here with the intention of taking out your king while you were all distracted, thinking I was one of the nobles of the kingdom of Phanteos. It's a shame I'm just a mercenary, get it? Now the capital is surrounded by my forces, so you'd better surrender if you want to live," Max replied.
Seeing Max's confidence, and hearing "ding... ding... ding," the sound of the bells at the guard tower ringing, signaling that enemy forces were attacking, the knights looked at each other. "Clang... clang... clang," they immediately dropped their weapons and raised their hands in the air. The royal official prostrated himself and sobbed, while the executioner quietly ran away from the stage, leaving behind his trademark axe.
Soon after, Max's forces entered the city and gathered the citizens back in the square. Max put his rifle away, turning it into black fire that entered the black feather tattoos on his wrists. A female knight in full armor from Max's army got onto the stage and gave Max a cloak. Then she took off her helmet. Her blonde hair was in a bun, and her face was very beautiful with a sharp nose and green eyes.
"The entire city is under our control, General. This kingdom has fallen," the knight said.
"Good. Good job, Commander Maya," Max replied, putting his hand on Maya's shoulder.
Max walked down the stage stairs. His skin returned to normal, his eyes, which had been red, turned back to blue, and the fire like raven feathers on his wrists became black fire and then disappeared into the tattoos on his wrists. "Yawn," Max yawned widely as he continued to walk.
"Where are you going, General?" Maya asked, following Max, confused.
"Home. To bed," Max replied casually.
"Haah... you have to report this victory to the king or we don't get paid!" Maya said.
"Ah... you report it. I want to sleep. I have a dinner date with my fiancée tonight," Max replied.
"Haaaaah... I am your fiancée, Generaaaaal!" Maya said, annoyed.
"Oh... right. In that case, give the job to someone else. Sorry, honey," Max said nonchalantly.
"Grrr... you're always like this, Max, you lazy bastard," Maya replied, annoyed, still following Max.
That day, the Phanteos Kingdom successfully defeated the Caldeon Kingdom and made the Caldeon Kingdom part of the Phanteos Kingdom. The two had been neighbors and constantly fought over borders. With the Caldeon Kingdom's territory now a part of the Phanteos Kingdom.
The Phanteos Kingdom became the third largest kingdom on the continent of Valadia. It was all thanks to General Maxwell's "Trojan horse" tactic, the great general who was known for being carefree and always running away from his mercenary duties.
But who was Maxwell, really? This is the story of a carefree general who just wants to live alone but always wins in war. This story begins before Maxwell was taken to his current world.