Breeze had no time to respond to Ropheiren’s anger as Saria charged in.
One must never give space to a user of the Arlang Sword Technique.
KWAH-GANG!!!
The moment their swords met, the aftershock alone caused part of the cliff to crumble.
Breeze’s sword energy, now fully utilizing the Arlang technique, became even more formidable.
Each collision of their sword strikes left craters all around.
As Saria’s armor began to tear apart like paper, Hercules reassembled itself into pieces and covered her body.
Only then did Breeze realize that Hercules possessed an active defense system among its hidden functions.
KKAH-KAH-KAH-JAK!!!
Their distance closed to the point where they could feel each other’s breath on their skin.
Even if one were a Graduate, swinging sword energy at such close range was sheer madness.
Breeze felt the pressure.
‘I’m… being pushed back.’
Royal Guard.
The elite fighting force created by the royal family.
In terms of swordsmanship proficiency and precision, Breeze undoubtedly surpassed Saria.
However, in the realm of ‘struggle,’ Saria was far ahead of Breeze.
That relentless ability to take one step forward without hesitation amidst a storm that could rip one apart was something Breeze lacked.
PAH-JAK!!
Their swords clashed and scattered.
At the moment Breeze lost grip of his sword, he launched a guided sword aura.
The Hercules enveloping Saria peeled away, neutralizing the guided sword aura.
Saria’s knee struck Breeze’s waist.
Breeze, who had been hurled into the air, was caught by the chest plate and thrown to the ground.
Mana filled Saria’s fist, illuminating it with light.
KWAHNG!!
The instant her fist descended, Breeze’s armor shimmered and erected a shield.
Her fist grazed past, tearing through Breeze’s ear before embedding itself into the ground.
Using the armor’s propulsion, Breeze hastily rolled to the side as Jenkins and Mendes released their sword auras nearby.
KWAHNG!!
Breeze’s armor stopped functioning after blocking the sword aura.
Pulling out a dagger from his waist, Breeze muttered.
“I’ll lose.”
If Breeze had come here alone, that would have certainly been the case.
KWAH-AHNG!!!
“?!”
Saria turned her gaze.
The explosion originated from the Halo that was bombarding the mages.
The Halo, having taken a direct hit from something, sparked and crashed into the cliff.
Phoenix, which had been airborne, detected the danger too late and was swept away by a fierce flash of light before it could react.
Mouse fell from the sky after disabling both the Halo and Phoenix.
KUH-UNG!!
Mouse landed in front of Abensio and immediately drew a horizontal line with the sword in his right hand.
A dark blue sword energy was fully discharged.
CHACK!!
Most sword energies disintegrate into sword auras during discharge and fail to maintain their form.
Abensio had never seen such a perfectly intact sword energy being discharged.
Abensio’s eyes flared with bloodshot veins.
There were young misses behind him. He had to block it with his body if necessary.
Swinging his sword surrounded by sword energy, Abensio lunged forward.
PAH-JAHK!!
Abensio’s sword shattered like sand upon contact with the sword energy.
Despite this, Abensio pressed forward towards the sword energy.
At that moment, a transparent barrier unfolded in front of Abensio.
KKI-JEEG!!!
It was the shield deployed by Ropheiren.
The shield, overlaid with a spatial distortion field, violently shook the dark blue sword energy.
Unable to maintain its form, the dark blue sword energy erupted into a storm of sword auras.
Even the Seeds and Spirits attempted to defend against it, but it was futile.
KWAH-GAH-GAH-GAH-GAHNG!!
The storm of sword energy surged forth, causing the ravine area to collapse.
All those who remained standing spewed blood and fell down.
Had they failed to disperse the power of the sword energy, there would have been no bodies left to find.
Mouse coated the sword in his left hand with sword energy, seemingly preparing for a finishing blow.
Just as the sword energy was about to be discharged, Jenkins and Mendes charged in like wild dogs.
TJEH-EHNG!!
Amidst the clamor, Saria donned Hercules once again.
Two members of the Royal Guard.
Even with all six Artifacts of Valerius combined, it would be difficult to confront them simultaneously.
While Jenkins and Mendes bought a few seconds, Breeze needed to be incapacitated.
Saria redirected all of Hercules’ power towards propulsion.
KWAHNG!!!
With an acceleration akin to an explosion, Saria shot forward like a beam of light.
At that moment, the ground trembled and a massive stone hand emerged, striking down on Saria.
This was the mages’ interference, predicting Saria’s movement.
Though Saria quickly broke through the rock, the ground beneath her surged upwards this time.
Standing atop the risen ground, Breeze began to flee from Saria.
The mages continued to manipulate the ground to hinder Saria’s acceleration or obstruct her vision with flame magic.
Although they couldn’t harm Saria, it was an efficient way to slow her down.
KWAHNG!!
Pressing down forcefully on the unruly ground, Saria accelerated towards Breeze once again.
Seeing Saria rapidly approaching, Breeze abandoned his escape.
The mages’ interference barely bought a few extra seconds. But that was enough.
“Hearing your reputation, I must say, I’m somewhat disappointed.”
KHAH-JAHK!!
Mouse, who had halted Saria’s charge, swung both of his swords simultaneously.
“Was the infamy of Locust exaggerated?”
TJEH-EHNG!!!!
Saria gritted her teeth as she was hurled back and slammed into the cliff.
The seams of Hercules covering her body creaked.
Mouse, one of the highest forces within the Royal Special Task Force, wielded the notoriously difficult Lieste School of Dissection Swordsmanship.
And Breeze, a member of the Royal Guard, joined the fray.
While Saria didn’t know the exact identities of Mouse and Breeze, she clearly recognized the futility of this battle.
Spitting blood, Saria unleashed a sword energy.
Mouse and Breeze moved simultaneously without any restraint.
KKAH-KAH-JAHK!!
Guided sword energies flew as the dissection sword was swung.
Saria fiercely swung her sword, but within three seconds, her thigh was deeply slashed.
CHEL-CHEK!
Hercules transformed into a greatsword and was swung widely.
As Breeze blocked Hercules, Mouse seized Saria from behind and aimed for her waist.
Saria discarded Hercules and swung her elbow backwards.
KWAHNG!!
Mouse’s strike, hitting the edge of her elbow, sliced through the air.
However, Saria’s elbow, upon contact with the sword energy, bent inward.
In the next instant, Mouse’s knee plunged into Saria’s solar plexus.
PPEH-YUK!!
Saria was violently slammed into the cliff.
Trickles of blood flowed from the corner of her mouth.
One limb was shattered, and her internal organs ruptured.
Though unconsciousness would have been reasonable, Saria calmly pulled out a potion bottle and drank it.
As Mouse raised his sword imbued with sword energy again, Breeze intervened.
“Enough.”
“…?”
Ignoring Mouse’s look of confusion, Breeze said,
‘Now is the time to carefully assess the situation.’
Saria’s information was missing from this mission.
Either there was significant confusion within the Royal Special Task Force’s intelligence department, or someone tampered with it.
There was no way they could overlook someone of Saria’s caliber.
Eliminating the noble daughters of a few aristocratic families and eliminating Saria Alstein were vastly different matters.
Swinging the sword carelessly here could lead to irreversible consequences.
‘The assassination mission must be postponed. After simple first aid, everyone should be secretly detained nearby… And who should I consult?’
The unfolding situation was clearly abnormal.
It was even questionable whether the operation’s results should be reported truthfully to the Royal Special Task Force.
As Breeze was deep in thought, Saria muttered.
“Behind.”
“?!’
An instinct honed over a long period twisted Breeze’s waist.
But it was a second too late.
Mouse’s sword pierced through Breeze’s chest from behind.
“Kuh-ehk!!”
“Why hesitate? Why so many thoughts?”
Breeze emitted a boiling sound.
He let his guard down thinking Mouse was an ally, and due to his armor’s function stopping during combat, he was easily struck.
Mouse muttered while twisting his sword.
“The picture we have now isn’t bad.”
This entire event was orchestrated to strip the crown prince of his position.
To dethrone the crown prince, solid justification was required.
Already, numerous people aligned with the crown prince, including his maternal relatives.
If handled poorly, it would provoke the pro-crown prince faction, intensifying political strife.
Political disputes within the royal family would exacerbate chaos and result in countless innocent casualties.
Therefore, a strong justification was needed, one that no one dared to contest, to bring down the crown prince.
Both the Royal Guard and Saria Alstein clashed head-on due to the crown prince’s overreach, resulting in their mutual deaths.
With this scenario, the crown prince would surely be stripped of his position without any chance to defend himself.
Though the royal family’s authority might temporarily wane, the emperor was willing to endure such damage.
“Kuh-ehk…”
Breeze gasped for breath, gripping the sword protruding from his chest.
“You… Have you betrayed the empire?”
“My apologies.”
Mouse conveyed the truth with respect and sympathy for the knight loyal to the empire.
“It’s His Majesty’s command. His Majesty has forsaken the crown prince.”
“…!”
The tension in Breeze’s body slowly dissipated after hearing the truth.
Understanding the full story was not difficult after learning the truth.
“Damn…”
Resignation settled on Breeze’s face.
The extremely disheartened Breeze muttered, forgetting his pain.
“From the start… I chose the wrong side.”
That damn reckless crown prince.
If only he had behaved properly from the beginning.
Worried about his family remaining in the house, Breeze lost consciousness.
POOF!!
Half of Breeze’s upper body exploded like a balloon.
This was Mouse’s measure to avoid suspicion due to the sword mark left on the chest.
Lifting Breeze’s sword, Mouse approached Saria.
After swallowing an entire potion bottle, Saria rose to her feet.
Watching her final desperate attempt, Mouse sighed.
“Accept it.”
Whenever the power structure is reorganized, there will always be bloodshed, big or small.
It’s akin to a natural disaster. If fate deals you such misfortune, you must humbly offer your neck.
“No matter how aggrieved or angry you are, isn’t that the fate of underlings?”
“SHUT UP!!!”
Ropheiren shouted.
Underneath Ropheiren, Alesya was panting heavily.
Holding her hand over the scar engraved on Alesya’s abdomen, Ropheiren gnashed his teeth.
“You bastards…! Do you know who we serve…!!!”
“I, I represent the will of the empire.”
Whoever your master may be, it’s none of my concern.
Imbued with this meaning, Mouse’s mockery drove Ropheiren into a frenzy.
“SHUT UP!! Shut up, you filth!! We…! We…!! We…?”
Realizing something suddenly, Ropheiren’s distorted face froze.
Feeling a chill from his knees touching the ground,
A cold wind brushed against his hair.
Tracing its source, Ropheiren’s eyes stopped at the collapsed cliff.
Slowly, Ropheiren’s lips curled into a grin.
“Uh-hee-hee-hee… Uh-heh-heh…”
A bone-chilling thrill ran up his spine.
A delusional sense of omnipotence shook his heart.
Ultimately unable to control his emotions, Ropheiren began laughing hysterically like a demon.
“Uh-ha-ha-ha-ha!! Uh-ha-ha-ha!!!”
“Has fear driven you mad?”
Shaking his head, Mouse raised his sword.
At that moment, Ropheiren’s laughter abruptly ceased.
“Prostrate yourselves, filth.”
KUH-OONG!!
The collapsed cliff trembled again.
The gazes of all who remained conscious turned towards the cliff, where frost began to form.
Spreading his arms wide, Ropheiren whispered.
“The pinnacle of imperial history has returned.”
KWAHNG!!
