Why on earth is Emperor Valdina's personal guard here when they should be facing off against their homeland at the border?
The soldiers, their faces pale, dropped their weapons.
"Why is the Valdina Imperial Family here...!"
Joachim's voice cracked unsightly.
He turned his head toward the masked man with a look of astonishment.
At that moment, the man threw off the cumbersome silver mask.
The suppressed silver hair fluttered in the wind.
With his back to the sun, the man raised his sword, aiming directly at Joachim.
"Swords of Valdina, strike!"
A cry like a lion's roar.
At the same time, silver waves began to pour down the hill like a waterfall.
Coo coo coo.
The ground shook heavily at the sound of horses' hooves.
As if the land of Karkan were finally responding to the call of its true master.
***
Nathan, Agema's vice-captain who had investigated Karkan alongside Peleus, spurred his horse on as if he were in his element.
"This is for our colleagues!"
He recalled the colleagues who had lost their lives while investigating smuggling.
There was no longer any need to hide the true skills that he had struggled to conceal here in Karkan to catch them.
"Run away! Run away!"
"Ah! Save me!"
The people of Barmia had to experience the formidable reputation of Agema as the continent's strongest cavalry through screams and bloodshed.
Although they were the elite soldiers of Barmia whom Joachim had painstakingly trained for years, they were helplessly slaughtered by Agema's charge.
"Does this make sense...?"
Joachim gnashed his teeth.
He knew the gap between Valdina and his country intellectually, but he never imagined that he would be ravaged so overwhelmingly.
The moment Joachim confirmed the familiar physique and cool blue eyes of the man running at the front who had cast off his mask, he realized.
'He... wasn't a mercenary of the Facade.'
That the one who had stolen Rosien right before his eyes, whom he had once treated as nothing more than a lowly warrior, was the young Emperor of the Valdina Empire.
The greatsword he wielded defied common sense.
Every time he swung a lump of steel as tall as a child as if it were a rapier, the shields and armor of Barmia's elite soldiers were torn apart like paper.
To Joachim's eyes, the sight looked more like a disaster than a dance.
'That... That makes no sense...'
Who called Valdina a moderate White Knight?
He thinks he finally understands why his father shuddered at the mere mention of the name Valdina.
At the same time, Joachim despaired.
'Ah, God, you showed me the way.'
Why did you send such a monster to this land?
Peleus Valdina.
In the face of that monstrous man, all the dreams and foundations Joachim had built were more futile than a sandcastle in a day.
With what arrogance did you believe you could possess this land against that man?
"Your Excellency, get out of the way! You must take cover, ugh!"
The guards, sensing defeat, led Joachim.
Joachim mounted his horse, grinding his teeth.
As long as we are alive, another opportunity will come. No matter how brilliant the sun is, it cannot remain in the sky forever.
We must preserve our lives now and plan for the future.
Whick!
However, a whip that flew like a snake snatched Joachim's ankle.
Thud!
He fell straight down from the horse.
"Your Excellency!"
His vision flickered white from the shock inflicted on his body, which was already not fully healed from injuries caused by the explosion.
A small figure filled his field of vision as he tried to regain his senses.
"Where are you going, Joachim? You must put an end to this stubborn bond."
Amber eyes shining brilliantly in the sunlight, and a cruelly relaxed smile.
The puppy that had once been miserably trampled under his feet was now mocking his downfall.
If Emperor Valdina's military might had swept away his inferiority complex like a massive tidal wave, Lou's mockery was a sharp weapon that gouged out Joachim's pride.
"You knew everything, didn't you? Did you toy with me, knowing everything?"
As if confirming that no matter how hard Joachim struggled while deceiving and trampling on the weak, his end was ultimately nothing more than being trampled like this.
Sparks flew for a moment in Joachim's eyes, as defeat and humiliation were simultaneously imprinted upon him.
The majestic figure of the Emperor approaching was imprinted in Joachim's vision.
With all his grand plans failing so miserably, he will not let these damn lovers reunite.
He will take Rosien's life as my companion on the journey.
"...I lost. Rosien."
Joachim let out a hollow laugh and raised his hands.
Clang!
He screamed as the sword fell to the floor.
"If I had known you would ruin my grand plan like this... I certainly wouldn't have let you get away when I killed your family."
"With your shallow judgment, you can't stop me even if you die and come back to life."
At Lou's firm answer, Joachim raised his head and scanned the Valdina army.
"So, was the revenge you tasted by parasitizing the strong sweet?"
With wounds covering his entire body and a face drenched in fatigue, he now seemed to have completely lost all will. However, it was the final performance he had prepared.
"But I'm alone!"
With a bitter shout, a sharp dagger shot out of his sleeve.
It was a cunning surprise attack aimed at Lou's heart.
Clang-!
As the piece of iron screamed, a silver radiance shot up.
“Joachim.”
Along with Lou's cold voice ringing in his ears, a burning pain rose in Joachim's shoulder.
"I told you. I’d end it with my own hands."
He slowly lowered his head.
While the dagger aimed at Lou lay broken on the floor, a silver beam of light extending from her hand was piercing Joachim's shoulder.
A beam of light materialized in the form of a sharp, piercing blade.
He couldn't believe it.
"Aura... Did you awaken?"
This insignificant girl?
A nobody like you, who once feared me like a mangy dog...?
"Thanks to you."
A stream of pure silver rippled along Lou's dagger.
She stood in a realm he could not reach despite his lifelong yearning, looking down at him.
"Ah..."
Joachim staggered.
The humiliation he felt now upon seeing Lou's aura dragged him even lower than when he had seen the Emperor's military might.
At that moment, a shadow fell in front of him.
The white horse carrying Peleus stopped in front of Joachim.
Tuk. Tu tuk.
Something rolled to Joachim's feet with a delayed noise.
On a familiar finger that was still pale, worn on the joint was the King of Barmia's signet ring.
"The King of Barmia conveyed his sincere apologies for this rash invasion."
A chilling voice pierced the square.
"That can't be—"
At the same time as Joachim’s denial, the scroll thrown at his feet unfolded.
[Joachim Lanz is expelled from the House of Barmia and stripped of all titles.]
It contained a pathetic confession that the root cause of everything was Joachim Lanz.
The King of Barmia blamed his son for all the sins and chose the survival of the kingdom.
He sacrificed his most beloved son to stop Valdina's advance, along with a single finger he had cherished his entire life.
Before the ugly truth about the plot to take the lives of his brother and niece could even be exposed, Joachim was already abandoned by both his family and his country.
"N-no way... haha, haha!"
Joachim burst into laughter.
Unlike before, it was a hollow laugh deeply imbued with pure despair and self-mockery.
Did I struggle so fiercely all this time just to end it like this?
While the glory of a brilliant victory would adorn the future of that young lover, he was destined to be erased even in name and fade into the shadows of history.
That miserable realization pierced Joachim's heart.
However, Lou had no intention of giving him time to get lost in thought.
"Go to hell, Joachim Lanz."
Along with a quiet voice, a silver beam of light, spreading explosively, cut down Joachim.
His body collapsed helplessly to the floor.
The brilliantly ambitious man who sought to stain an era with blood met a futile end at the fingertips of a woman he had looked down upon.
***
The center of the square where Joachim had collapsed was enveloped in a bizarre silence.
The metallic scent of fresh blood soaking the floor spread faintly.
The soldiers of Barmia, forced to kneel together, trembled like aspen trees as they witnessed their master's miserable end right before their eyes.
If even the high-ranking nobleman, the governor, had ended up in such a state, the fate awaiting the defeated soldiers themselves was obvious without a doubt.
Breaking the silence, Peleus gave an order from atop his warhorse.
"Gather all the healers in the castle. I command you as the Emperor of Valdina. Treat the wounded with top priority."
It was the moment when the nightmare of the Karkan territory finally came to an end after continuing for several days.
"Long live Your Majesty the Emperor!"
"Long live Valdina!"
With joy as if they had been pulled out of the brink of death, the people of Karkan, who had been terrified just moments ago, burst into cheers.
"Get lost, you Barmian bastards!"
Eric looked up at the Emperor with blank eyes.
To think that the client from the beautiful and cool harbor was actually the owner of this Valdina.
Eric, who had been waiting for execution just moments ago, suddenly found himself in the same situation as the Barmian soldiers.
However, there was no time to feel the joy of survival.
He looked at Lou, who had stopped in front of Joachim's corpse with an anxious face.
Normally, there is no way he would have missed hearing his own voice calling her time and time again.
He looked dazed in front of the spreading pool of blood.
There was no sense of victory on the face of the one whose revenge was over.
Eric thought Lou's face was like an empty cart that had come to a stop, having lost all direction.
Far from subsiding, the silver aura enveloping her entire body surged like ownerless waves, menacingly pushing away the surroundings.
Even the knights who were about to approach hesitated at the fierce aura.
It felt as if you rashly touched it, it would shatter into pieces the moment you did.
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