The Silver Moon Palace had long since been reduced to ruins, its structure pulverized time and again by the clash of mana and Douqi.
In the end, it was nothing more than a flat stretch of land, barren of even a single pebble.
THUD!
Forcing one’s blood to surge for power always comes with a price.
After trading one hundred blows alone against Gaius, Kieran, and Gareth—all 8th-rank warriors—his body finally reached its limit.
The Douqi inside him scattered like a startled flock of birds, shredding his already ravaged internal organs.
Just as Gaius prepared his next strike, Aaron could only barely brace himself, blocking the blow with his weapon in a desperate, last-ditch effort.
With no strength left to resist, he was launched backward like a missile, crashing into the Elven army, only for those heartless puppets to toss him back toward the imperial envoys.
“Mr. Aaron!!!”
Hiberton rushed forward to check on him, only to find his armor soaked crimson with blood.
His face was so covered in gore that his features were indistinguishable.
If not for the faint rise and fall of his chest, he would have seemed like a corpse.
But it was no different from being dead.
If Aaron lost, it meant they were all going to die.
Yet no one blamed him; everyone could see that he had poured every ounce of his strength into the fight.
If anyone were to be blamed, it could only be the cruelty and treachery of the enemy.
The imperial envoys and the guard army coldly stated the outcome.
At that moment, the priest Aidan stepped forward, ignoring how the blood stained his holy white robes, and knelt to begin his healing work.
“Cough, cough… cough, cough, cough!!!”
As a 7th-tier Magic User specialized in healing, he prevented Aaron’s injuries from becoming instantly fatal.
Under his care, Aaron showed signs of recovery, but as he opened his mouth, it wasn’t words that came out first, but gobs of blood mixed with bits of flesh.
He opened his heavy eyelids and saw Aidan wasting his precious mana on him.
A slight smirk touched his lips, revealing teeth also stained with blood.
“I’m done for, you can’t save me.”
“As a healer, I must always try to save lives.”
Aidan lowered his gaze, his face bearing an aura of compassionate sorrow.
“As long as there is a chance for survival, I cannot give up.”
“Heh! You’re quite stubborn! I like that, cough…”
After coughing up more blood, Aaron shifted his gaze to Hiberton and shakily raised an arm to give a thumbs up.
“Young Master, you were great too! Not a bit worse than your father or your brother!”
In an instant, Hiberton’s tears breached the dam.
He knew this was effectively Aaron’s final testament, and therefore, it must be the truth.
He never imagined he would hear those words for the first time in his life only when the man was on the verge of death.
‘It’s all my fault! Why was I so arrogant back then!’
Hiberton slapped his own face twice, hard, leaving Aaron momentarily bewildered.
“Heh, Aaron, what kind of look is that? Is this the Blood-Bathed Lion I once knew? Why act like you’re saying your last words? Where is that wild spirit you had on the battlefield? Why aren’t you showing it now? Hahahahahaha!!!!”
Gaius had known Aaron for a long time.
Before Winnidith launched her magic revolution, the Kingdom’s Seventh Legion, led by Gaius, and Aaron’s Silver Lion Squad had crossed paths on the battlefield many times.
The Seventh Legion lost more often than it won.
Whether it was the commander or the overall strength of the legion, the Seventh Legion could not compare to the Silver Lion Squad.
That was when the grudge between Gaius and Aaron first began.
However, after the magic revolution, the Empire’s national power quickly surpassed the Alendine Kingdom.
Both sides signed a non-aggression treaty to halt hostilities, and Aaron was recalled to the Imperial Capital to protect the growth of Winnidith.
Aaron ignored him.
He was merely a clown who acted smug after winning a fight with a numerical advantage.
Even saying a single word to him felt like an insult to himself.
Seeing that Aaron remained unresponsive, Gaius grew bored and moved to finish him off.
“Stop.”
Before he could strike, a short blade suddenly blocked his path.
It was Gareth.
He stared at Gaius with his sharp, lupine eyes and said slowly.
“He is a true warrior and the most fitting offering the Young Master can give to the War God. You are not to touch him.”
Huh???!!!
With a lifelong nemesis standing right in front of him, how could Gaius just give up like that?
But the moment he saw the Douqi flickering along the short blade, his brain instantly cooled down.
“Hmph, in that case, I will leave him to you!”
Now was not the time to provoke a conflict with the Orc tribes.
For the sake of the bigger picture, Gaius chose to set aside his personal grievances.
“Oh~ that won’t do. Isn’t Mr. Aaron the enemy you’ve always wanted to kill with your own hands, Uncle Gaius? How could you just give him away to someone else? I won’t allow that~”
Gareth’s fur stood on end; he sensed something dangerous had arrived.
He stared vigilantly at the woman appearing surrounded by attendants.
The moment she surfaced, the air was filled with a sickly sweet scent.
He knew this scent all too well.
“It’s poison!”
The snake-woman leaped to Gaius’s side, introducing the newcomer.
“This woman carries the same toxins as our tribe. Those who smell it for too long become puppets under her command.”
Gareth looked at the attendants surrounding the woman and realized they truly had lost all vitality; their movements were rigid, just like the slaves controlled by the Shadow Snake Tribe.
“Hehe~ Mr. Gareth, is that way you’re staring at me? Have you taken a liking to me?”
The woman was incredibly beautiful, full of life, and radiated a charm that seemed to seep from her very bones.
Even the female snake-warriors felt their hearts tremble, to say nothing of Fogo, who had been raised to polish his martial arts and had never encountered a normal woman.
He looked as if he wanted to pry his eyes out and glue them to her.
Gareth felt his own heart begin to race, but he managed to maintain control over his body.
He knew who she was now, but even if she was an ally, she could not steal the Young Master’s offering!
“Heh.”
Seeing Gareth’s gaze become vicious once more, the woman knew her status alone wouldn’t make him yield.
But it didn’t matter; she hadn’t intended to rely on that anyway.
“Of course, to compensate for your side’s loss, I will find you a replacement for Mr. Aaron.”
The woman pursed her red lips and smiled maliciously.
“He is also an 8th-rank warrior, with strength on par with Mr. Aaron. What do you think of this condition?”
Exchanging an 8th-rank warrior?
Gareth hesitated.
It was true; the Young Master’s ritual only required him to kill an 8th-rank warrior personally, not necessarily Aaron himself.
He simply didn’t want a respectable warrior to die at the hands of others.
Especially not at the hands of Gaius, whom he despised.
But if it meant maintaining the alliance, it was a price he could accept.
“I hope you find a replacement for the Young Master soon, or I will come for those around you.”
Gareth threatened, but the woman only laughed even more brightly.
“Of course.”
Her reaction made Gareth’s brow twitch.
‘A lunatic.’
He cursed in his heart.
Wanting to avoid watching Aaron meet such an end, he prepared to leave with his men.
But as they departed, he noticed the Young Master was staring unblinkingly at the woman.
“Hehe~”
The woman noticed Fogo’s gaze and gave him a flirtatious wink, immediately making the young virgin blush profusely.
‘What a disaster!!!’
As Gareth pulled Fogo away, he decided he would have to introduce the boy to the company of women once they returned.
The Young Master could like anyone, but not this woman!!!
Seeing the Orc tribes depart, the woman turned her gaze toward the imperial side.
Unexpectedly, she performed a graceful curtsy.
“We meet again, everyone. I hope you still recognize me.”
‘Huh? Who is this?’
Hiberton was utterly bewildered.
Given this woman’s presence, he would never have forgotten her if he had met her before!
And when did the Alendine mission have a woman of such high status?
Seeing their confused expressions, the alluring beauty in red smiled charmingly, ignoring the men lost in her gaze as she curtsied again.
“Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am the Princess of the Alendine Kingdom. You may call me…”
“Olivier.”