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General Mateurus of the Spanian Kingdom wore a despairing expression as he listened to the rumors coming from the Empire.

—The prince, the rightful heir to the Spanian Kingdom, had been captured by the Empire.

Mateurus knew all too well who he was.

How could he not know?

The last letter from the royal palace contained the king’s command to protect him.

‘I was certain… he had escaped safely.’

Had the Empire’s pursuit force caught up that quickly?

However, without knowing the details, all he could feel was frustration.

‘An army of twenty thousand has become useless.’

Now that they knew the prince was in the enemy’s hands, they couldn’t make any rash moves.

He might be the last royal member who could carry on the Spanian Kingdom’s lineage.

Even if they managed to reclaim the kingdom, if the royal family was wiped out, there would be nothing left but an empty shell.

But at that moment—

“General.”

“…Ah, they’re coming.”

General Mateurus saw the troops of the Baroque Kingdom approaching from afar.

The Baroque Kingdom had readily agreed to the Spanian Kingdom’s request for an alliance, even though they might soon face the fate of a fallen nation.

Suppressing his complicated emotions, Mateurus went to meet the commander of the Baroque Kingdom.

“I am Supreme Commander Mateurus. Thank you so much for responding to our call.”

“I am Riselotte, commander of the reinforcements. How is the situation?”

Riselotte, who had brought the reinforcements of the 6th Corps, asked Mateurus.

Mateurus looked toward Sragan with a hardened expression and spoke.

“They’ve started doing something insane. They’re killing all the civilians in the city and throwing their bodies outside… piling them up.”

“…What?”

Riselotte’s face instantly turned cold.

When she looked towards the walls of Sragan—

“Those mad bastards…!”

Just as Mateurus had said, an enormous pile of bodies was stacked under the wall.

As if they were trying to show off.

Riselotte, looking at the scene, asked Mateurus.

“The walls are quite high. Is there a way to get inside?”

“We’ve already set up catapults. But…”

Mateurus’s expression turned extremely grave.

Riselotte frowned slightly as she asked.

“Is there a problem?”

“Right now… they say the Empire has captured the prince who escaped.”

“What do you mean…?”

Mateurus briefly explained the situation.

He mentioned that most of the royal family had been massacred, and that in the midst of it, they had managed to get the prince out.

Riselotte’s expression grew serious upon hearing this.

“In that case…”

“We need to gather more information for now. I’m really… sorry.”

“Hmm… I understand. While I comprehend the situation, we can’t afford to waste much time.”

“Yes.”

The weather was soon going to turn cold.

Moreover, it would be challenging to continuously supply food for the ten thousand soldiers.

The time they could stay here was at most fifteen days.

The battle had to be concluded within that time.

Swoosh.

Looking toward Sragan, Riselotte spoke to Mateurus.

“But we must be thorough with our defense and vigilance. Given their nature, they won’t just sit quietly inside the fortress.”

“…Yes, of course.”

Knowing the Empire, they wouldn’t just defend passively.

‘They’ve already bared their teeth ferociously. They won’t be satisfied with just holding their ground…’

They would undoubtedly launch an attack in some form to demonstrate their might.

Especially since they had captured the prince of the Spanian Kingdom, they would expect a passive response from this side.

‘They certainly won’t just leave things as they are.’

And there was another, more significant issue.

‘An Aura Master…’

The current commander of the Empire inside Sragan was an Aura Master.

There was a considerable difference between a mere Aura user and an Aura Master.

Just as there is a gap between those who have trained in swordsmanship for 23 years and those who have practiced for over 10 years.

An Aura Master is a monster capable of butchering at least twenty to thirty soldiers with a single Aura Blade.

“Who is the Aura Master in there?”

“…Piaren Tail. He’s the Knight Commander of the Rose Knights.”

“Piaren Tail.”

Riselotte frowned at Mateurus’s words.

Piaren was well-known, infamous, even, for being a mad slaughterer.

Although rumors said he possessed quite an attractive appearance, he was notorious for his brutal nature, to the point where even within the Empire, he was somewhat isolated.

He was known to swing his sword like a madman in battle, regardless of friend or foe.

‘If he were to lead the soldiers out…’

Unless they dug traps and completely surrounded him, a half-hearted frontal assault would be out of the question.

Neither Riselotte nor Mateurus were equipped with the skills to handle someone who wielded Aura.

“Then we’ll wait for now. We’ll rest, so please confirm as quickly as possible.”

“Thank you.”

Riselotte slightly bowed her head and returned to where the soldiers were.

And then—

“Commander!”

“What is it?”

“The Caion unit has joined us, and their captain has requested an audience.”

“Let him come.”

With Riselotte’s permission, Damian approached her.

He was holding a small child in his arms.

“Glory to the kingdom!”

“Hmm, so you’re the captain of the Caion unit?”

“Sergeant Damian! Reporting to the commander.”

“But who is that child?”

He wouldn’t have brought a child just because he had time on his hands.

Riselotte asked with a puzzled look. Damian replied,

“He is the prince of the Spanian Kingdom. We rescued him while he was fleeing and being attacked by the Empire’s pursuit force.”

“What did you say?”

Riselotte’s eyes widened with shock.

Hadn’t she just been discussing the Spanian Kingdom’s prince with Mateurus a moment ago?

‘They definitely said he was in the Empire’s hands…’

With a stern expression, Riselotte asked Damian.

“Are you certain this person is the prince of the Spanian Kingdom?”

“Yes, he was being chased by the Empire’s pursuit forces. We also rescued and are currently treating the guards who were protecting him.”

“Where are those guards now?”

“I will guide you.”

At Damian’s words, Riselotte quickly followed him.

When they arrived at the location of the Caion unit, Riselotte saw a knight from the Spanian Kingdom lying on a stretcher.

Although he was severely injured, it seemed that the immediate danger had passed.

Riselotte, looking down at the knight on the stretcher, asked.

“Can you speak?”

“…Yes.”

His body was covered in blood-soaked bandages from his injuries, but his lips moved slightly.

Riselotte asked him.

“State your affiliation and name.”

“S… Spanian King… dom’s royal… guard captain, Yulion…”

“Yulion, is the person you were protecting truly the prince of the Spanian Kingdom?”

“Yes.”

A brief but firm reply.

Riselotte nodded.

“Bring him and the prince and follow me. We are going to the commander of the Spanian Kingdom.”

Given the circumstances, there was no need to delay; they should attack immediately.

The fact that the prince had escaped meant that the royal family inside the capital had risked their lives for this.

Moreover…

‘They are insane enough to massacre ordinary citizens like that. There’s no way the royal family would be safe.’

In this case, it was better to swiftly attack them and reclaim the capital of the Spanian Kingdom.

If this place became their base, the Empire’s forces could descend further from the north.

Step, step, step.

Riselotte walked quickly towards Mateurus.

Mateurus, who was in the middle of a meeting with his officers, looked puzzled as Riselotte approached suddenly.

“What’s the matter?”

“We have the prince who was supposed to have escaped.”

“…!?”

Mateurus’ eyes widened in surprise.

He looked as if he had misheard her, so unexpected were her words.

“Wh-What did you just say?”

“I said we have secured the prince.”

Then she glanced behind her.

By now, Damian, who was holding the prince, approached Mateurus and spoke.

“Damian, captain of the Caion unit under the 6th Corps of the Baroque Kingdom. We rescued the prince, who was being pursued by the Empire’s forces, and brought him here.”

“Ah… Ah…”

Seeing the prince in Damian’s arms, Mateurus’ body trembled.

Slowly, he bent down, kneeling on one knee before the prince and bowing his head.

“It’s a relief beyond words, Your Highness. Ahh…!”

He tried to hold back his tears, but hot drops streamed down his bowed face.

As his shoulders shook with sobs, the other generals also knelt on one knee, bowing their heads and paying their respects to the prince.

And then.

“Whew… Thank you. I will never forget this kindness.”

Mateurus, now standing, spoke to Damian.

He couldn’t understand how such a young boy could be the commander of a unit, but—

“Thanks to you, the Spanian Kingdom will not fall. Although my position is lowly, I offer my gratitude on behalf of the kingdom.”

“I merely did what I had to.”

Damian accepted Mateurus’ thanks with a slight nod.

Mateurus then called his lieutenants over after taking the prince in his arms.

“Protect the prince with your lives. From this moment on, I will not expose him to any danger.”

“Yes, understood!”

With the lieutenants’ resounding responses, Mateurus looked at Riselotte.

“Tonight, we will commence the operation.”

“The sooner, the better.”

Tonight, they would reclaim the lost capital of the Spanian Kingdom.

The two commanders nodded and began moving their armies.

* * *

Bwoooom!

The sound from outside drew Roberta’s attention.

What was this sound all of a sudden?

Seeing the hurriedly approaching Zimern, Roberta’s expression hardened.

“What’s going on?”

“The enemy forces have started to move!”

“What?”

Roberta’s face twisted with anger.

She wasn’t afraid that they were moving, but the speed of their actions was much faster than she had anticipated.

“Did you make sure to spread the rumor that we have secured the prince?”

“Yes, they all know. But… I don’t understand why they are acting so suddenly.”

“…”

Roberta frowned at Zimern’s words.

If they hadn’t confirmed the whereabouts of the prince, there would be no reason for them to move.

After all, for them, the royal family was the most important thing they had to protect.

But even so—

“They’re attacking as soon as the reinforcements from the Baroque Kingdom arrived… Could it be that they’ve secured the prince?”

“…We can’t rule out that possibility.”

After all, they had lost contact with the pursuit force entirely.

There was a chance they had encountered some of the advancing units from the Baroque Kingdom.

But Roberta stood up as if it didn’t matter.

“It’s a battle we can’t avoid. No, a battle we never intended to avoid.”

She had been waiting for an opening to strike first after observing the situation a bit more.

Even though the allied forces were the ones initiating the attack—

“What can those bastards even do?”

Roberta donned her helmet and started walking towards the castle gate.

She had been bored with the meaningless slaughter up until now.

“Now, announce it to the continent. That we will devour them all!”

And the beginning of that would be a victory in this battle.

Roberta drew her sword and shouted at the archers stationed on the wall.

“Archers, ready!”

Clack! Clack! Clack!

At Roberta’s command, the archers quickly lined up, preparing to attack.

Standing atop the wall, Roberta looked out.

“Come at m— Hmm?”

But at that moment—

Boom!

The walls began to shake as a huge boulder suddenly fell from the sky.