Chapter 234

The Ones Who Appeared
Alicetia’s Point of View
I thought I was going to die. I had maintained the Great Emperor for about two hours, roughly speaking.

I lay on the ground, my whole body screaming in pain.

If the magic furnace hadn't destroyed the Great Emperor, I would’ve continued rampaging until I died. Just as planned, I was saved.

"Now all that’s left is to escape."

"You think I’ll let you!?"

"Huh?"

You again? I don’t even know your name. So you're still alive, huh?

But looking closely, your right arm is charred... Ah, it just crumbled off. You’re covered in burns—wounds bad enough that it’s only a matter of time before you die.

"Die quietly, invader."

Feeling sluggish, I used Quick Draw to pull out some salt from my Treasury and threw it. Begone, evil spirit.

"GUOOOOOO!! Don’t throw salt on my wounds, you bitch!!"

"First of all, who the hell even are you? And your sister just blew up, you okay with that?"

She exploded earlier. Serves you right.

"Tch, like I care about some useless bitch. Not even blood-related anyway. And if you mean that girl’s brother, I killed him right in front of her.

Funny, right? She thought I was her brother. I made her believe that. I’m the one who did it."

"I’ll take that."

As we talked, he poured a potion on his crumbling right arm. And just like that, it regenerated.

I turned part of my armor into tendrils and stole the rest of the potion.

"The hell do you think you’re doing!?"

"Nice potion. I’ll make better use of it."

I did try making a regeneration potion myself once, but the one I created has a 1 in 27 chance of growing the wrong body part. Like, you try to regrow an arm and get a leg instead. It won’t grow a head, obviously. Well, even if it does, just cut it off and use it again.

Alright, I’ll take this back and mass-produce it. It’s wasted on some sick freak like you.

He kicked me in the stomach. Assaulting a helpless little girl, huh? You’ve got some nerve. Not that I feel pain anymore anyway.

"Don’t get cocky... You piece of shit. Starting today, you belong to me."

"Farewell."

From various parts of my armor, legs sprouted and I darted away.

Visually, they looked like spider legs. Now, time to escape this battlefield. I don’t have time to waste on perverts.

But the man cloaked himself in fighting spirit, moved ahead of me, and slashed at the spider legs with his sword.

"Always making creepy shit. I’m not letting you get away. You’re gonna pay for wrecking my pieces."

"Ugh... grgh..."

He grabbed me by the neck and lifted me up. Seriously, stop, my head’s gonna come off.

"I will never obey you."

"We’ll see about that."

His eyes gleamed with something sinister.

---

Arland Army’s Point of View
While Alicetia rampaged across the battlefield, the Arland soldiers holed up in the fortress clenched their teeth.

They were under orders not to leave the fortress.

"Sir! We must deploy! Are you planning to abandon Her Highness!?"

A subordinate cried out, trying to persuade Albert. But Albert shook his head with a pained expression.

The Royal Army had received a standby order from the Royal Authority’s acting regent. It was a royal decree—they couldn’t disobey. And Albert knew what Alicetia intended to do. If they deployed, the soldiers would be wiped out in the magic furnace’s critical blast.

The morale inside the fortress was higher than Alicetia had imagined. They had enough magical medical tools and food.

Supplies were being delivered from the sky via large airships that dropped containers. Those containers were even stacked to solve the housing shortage.

In truth, until Alicetia arrived, the Royal Army had been relatively comfortable.

Inside the fortress, soldiers dined on fresh vegetables, soft bread, and thick steaks. Meanwhile, the Empire troops had only dried vegetables, hard jerky, and thin salty soup. Decent by continental standards, but the delicious smells wafting from the fortress had been infuriating for them.

With their wounds healed and bellies full, morale stayed high. The protective barrier of the fortress gave them peace of mind, and the inside was so cheerful it hardly felt like a siege.

"No. This is Her Highness’s decree. We cannot disobey."

"But—!"

Before the subordinate could protest further, an alarm blared throughout the fortress.

"… It’s here. Pull the soldiers from the walls. Everyone, prepare for impact."

Following Albert’s command, the troops retreated from the walls and dropped to the ground. Everyone in the fortress was under his command and obeyed. A thunderous roar rang out.

Even with the protective barrier, the explosion couldn’t be ignored. The sound of the barrier creaking echoed like it was crying out. Albert prayed in his heart that it would hold. If the barrier broke here, Alicetia’s sacrifice would be in vain. Magicians used support magic while lying low to reinforce the barrier.

How much time had passed? Albert felt the overwhelming energy trying to tear through the barrier begin to fade. He led his men to the high watchtower, which stood taller than the fortress walls.

“... This, this is...”

“What... what is this... Oh God...”

Roughly two hours had passed since the golden and black giant—Alicetia’s Emperor Form—had rampaged. The Imperial Army had fallen into chaos. But this...

“Reporting in! More than half of the Imperial Army has been incinerated! They’re fleeing in a panic!”

“Pathetic... With this much damage, they have no choice but to run. But Her Highness... is that her!?”

The Emperor Form had lost its upper half completely. But since the lower half remained, Alicetia was still alive. However, she clearly couldn’t fight anymore. Albert knew her limits.

The giant began to crumble. It had previously regenerated from all attacks, but now it disintegrated. She no longer had the strength to rebuild it.

Albert squinted. Alicetia lay on the ground, and a man approached her. They struggled briefly—but she was captured.

(I cannot abandon Her Highness any further.)

He was relieved she’d survived. But if Alicetia were taken now, the kingdom’s citizens would storm the Empire in fury.

Albert resolved himself to die. He had decided to defy a royal decree.

“All troops, move—”

Before he could give the order, a soldier shouted.

“Reinforcements! Reinforcements are coming from underground!”

“Reinforcements!? Impossible! Where would the kingdom even find that kind of force? What’s their banner—who do they belong to!?”

“That’s... the royal banner... no, impossible. That banner... it can’t be...”

“What banner is it!?”

Albert pushed the man aside and looked for himself—and froze.

A blood-stained royal flag.

The kingdom’s military and royal flags share similar designs. But this one was unmistakably the royal standard. And currently, no one should be able to carry it—Draconia, Gilbert, and Alicetia were all incapacitated. Even Sylvia couldn’t fight.

Only one person in history ever stained that sacred flag with blood.

Cynthiana’s blood-soaked banner.

Black mist gushed from the earth, coalescing into soldiers. Looking closely, their armor was clearly outdated—past versions of kingdom armor. But some wore current gear too.

“Isn’t that Viscount Yulz!?”

“Impossible, he died in the last war!”

“No doubt! He saved me once. That’s Viscount Yulz!”

The dead soldiers of the kingdom rose from the ground like a tide.

They roared. Though voiceless, their cries echoed in the souls of all present.

—"Gather to the royal banner. Once more, we fight for the kingdom."

In the battlefield where the Imperial Army fled, Cynthiana appeared, leading a legion of heroic spirits.

Alicetia’s preparations had borne fruit.

The forbidden spell she used was a newly classified necromancy—Heroic Spirit Summon.

Normally, the dead move on to heaven or hell. What she summoned were lingering remnants of the dead’s souls—not the people themselves.

This battlefield was soaked in resentment. Ever since the Multispecies Federation fell, this land had been the battleground between Arland and the Granzur Empire.

Many had died here. Though the Arland Church had purified it many times, the angered souls remained. To them, Alicetia pleaded: lend me your strength one more time.

They agreed.

There are three requirements for Heroic Spirit Summon: consent from the soul remnants, vessels, and a suitable environment for activity.

Vessels were easy—Alicetia already had the magic to materialize mana into form. The environment was tougher. Without vast mana in the area, she couldn’t power the spell. Arlandians typically lacked the capacity.

This was solved when the mana reactor exploded, flooding the surroundings with magical energy.

Everything went according to Alicetia’s plan. The only mishap was that Cynthiana’s soul remnant absorbed all the excess mana.

Cynthiana manifested, gathering far more power than necessary.

She led the veterans who fought by her side to the end.

She looked like a more mature Alicetia. She hadn’t aged in appearance—bathing in the Divine Dragon’s blood had frozen her surface age.

She saw the Imperial Army and smiled. Her vessel contained vast magical power—surpassing what she had in life.

Cynthiana was powerful, but in life lacked abundant mana. That flaw no longer existed.

About thirty old soldiers rushed to her and knelt, their shoulders trembling. They had survived that battlefield with her and died with “Grandpa”—the man known as Kirkton of the Spear Sky. Now, they had returned to their lord’s side.

Cynthiana shed tears and rested a hand on each of their shoulders, filled with tender affection. She had forced them to keep fighting, even though they had survived. She’d bound them to the battlefield.

But now, it would end. This battle would cleanse their lingering regrets.

They would take the Imperial Army down with them.

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