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Volume 4 Chapter 4 Part 5

Marine narrowed her eyes. The flash continued for a while. Even after it disappeared, the Earl Artuk still held his greatsword beside him, and the knights of the Royal Guard who held the Crest-infused heavy crossbows shining brilliantly let out a roar and tried to charge the next round of crossbow bolts…

「Wait! 」

But Marine made them stop. Passing through the ranks of her soldiers, she marched on towards Vilar.

「But, Princess! 」

Surprised, the Royal Guards shouted.

「Don’t worry.」

Marine calmed her royal guards.

「The Earl of Artuk no longer has the strength to fight. However, it seems that we still have something to talk about. 」

The Earl of Artuk didn’t say a word, but Marine thought she could hear the voice of his heart. She approached him, stopped at around five steps away from him, and bowed quietly.

「Lord Vilar… 」

…and called out to her cousin.

「Hey there… 」

Vilar thrust his greatsword into the ground and outstretched his arms towards Marine, who was initially hesitant, but finally she took a few more steps and accepted his embrace, and the two shared a short hug. If it hadn’t been for the betrayal of Richuan, the predecessor of the Constance family, the two would have become close cousins.

「Let me hand over the blood of Kraische and my Crest to you… 」

Villar whispered in a hoarse voice.

「I accept it. 」

Marine answered sternly.

「I hope you follow the path you believe in, but I’m praying that Lord Alexis and you will finally be united, and that you will find true happiness… 」

After saying that, Villar smiled and quietly collapsed.

Marine knew that the Earl of Artuk was already dead at this point. She knelt down in front of him in silence, and closed his eyes which were still open.

「My cousin, I gave up on my happiness a long time ago. 」

After she got up again, Marine called out to the corpse of the Earl of Artuk.

At that moment, the Crest that was still shining on the right hand of the Earl of Artuk shattered itself into a myriad of particles of light, putting an end to Vilar Constance’s final moments.

* * *

Laura stood in the throne room by the throne whose master was gone. A last-ditch effort was put up in the defense of the castle, but the soldiers defending it were overwhelmed by a large army of Waldrind, Dartania, and the Nords, and they had no other choice but to fall down to the might of the combined force that has invaded the castle.

Even so, the Lords and soldiers of Artuk continued to fight in the corridors and rooms of the castle until the last sparks of their lives were burned out. The wounded soldiers have all been gathered in the throne room, and Helga the Spiral who specialized in Life Magic was placed in charge of treating them.

While keeping her eyes tightly closed, Laura was holding her magic wand in her right hand, and a vial of medicine in her left hand after she just finished a conversation with Siluca through their magic wands.

Her Lord, Theo Cornero, had nearly conquered Veltava now and was said to have joined forces with Lassic David, who had occupied Ozer. Vilar Constance, the Earl of Artuk might be gone, but those two will definitely take care of the rest for him.

The sounds of battle could no longer be heard. Laura prayed for the repose of the fallen Lords and their soldiers.

Before long, several footsteps echoed across the corridors, and the three Lords appeared in the throne room: Marine Kraische, the Margrave of Waldrind, Milza Kuches, the Viceroy of Dartania and Ulrika, daughter of Erik the Ocean King, Marquis of Nord. After them, soldiers from the three countries entered the throne room one after another.

「I am Laura Hadley, the last Head Mage of Vilar Constance, Earl of Artuk. 」

Laura opened her eyes, straightened herself, and called out to the three Lords.

「This castle and its throne may be surrendered to you, but that does not mean that Artuk itself has been defeated. The independent Lords of the provinces will hide themselves in the forests and mountains and resist you at every opportunity until all your efforts will be thwarted. Glory to Artuk! 」

After declaring so, Laura uncorked the vial and stirred the medicine inside before downing the vial’s contents in one go. In the next moment, she felt her chest tighten and her vision rapidly grew darker.

(It’s really painful, isn’t it…)

Laura pressed her hand against her chest, leaned against the throne, and fell to the ground

A magic wand and a vial of medicine fall out of her hands when she stopped moving.

「You’ve done well… 」

Seeing that, Helga called out to Laura before getting up

「I am Helga Piarosa, a Mage specializing in Life Magic. If at all possible, would you let me continue treating the wounded? You can bring your own wounded here if you want, and I will make sure to treat them all equally. 」

「I will allow it. 」

Marine said indifferently. The battle was over now, so no more lives will be taken.

「I appreciate it. 」

After Helga bowed to Marine, she resumed treating the wounded.

「How many casualties are we talking about here? 」

Marine asked with a cold voice.

「If we combine the casualties of all three armies, they may reach 5,000, or even 10,000 people at least. 」

Milza replied sullenly. Dartania lost most of her fleet, and that loss was an immeasurable one.

「How dare they resist us this much? 」
Ulrika sighed.

The Nord warriors whom she led to battle also suffered heavy casualties. And it is not that she was underestimating the enemy. She was just genuinely surprised that she was forced to make so many sacrifices on her part.

「Leave this castle to Lord Milza. I want him to use this as a base of operations to subdue all of Artuk, and in order to do so, he will follow the peerage system of Elam for a while… 」

「I understand. 」

When Marine spoke to Milza directly, he agreed with her.

「We have to reorganize our army… 」

Marine was muttering her plans to herself. She wanted to continue going southwards and conquer the countries that followed Artuk, but right now her army was in no condition to continue the fight.

「We defeated Vilar Constance, Earl of Artuk and took his castle. But we also lost our vassal territories, Ozer and Veltava. 」

What’s more, the ones who stole Veltava and Ozer were Theo Cornero and Lassic David, who made them swallow that bitter pill in the Battle of Selvis. She thought that if the Earl of Artuk would be defeated, his allied nations would surrender without him to act as their leader, but the situation was still unclear.

「It is said that Kurt Gallas, Earl of Leclerc, is invading in the north. Father ordered me to bring back reinforcements as soon as possible. 」

Ulrika looked at Marine.

「Let’s go back to Waldrind and hold a Lord’s Conference then. We must announce our victory in this battle and review our strategy for the upcoming battle. 」

Marine left the throne room with a stern look on her face. Without Marine, Ulrika lost the will and interest to continue staying there. The only one who was left in the throne room looking at the throne that once belonged to Vilar was Milza.

「This is good… 」

Milza muttered to himself as he looked over the agonizing wounded.

「Those without ambition are removed, and the weak perish. Well, looks like the time has finally come. 」

* * *

August 29, 2013 of the Continental Calendar.

Vilar Constance, the Earl of Artuk died in battle.

When that piece of news was brought to the Fantasia Union’s Lord’s Conference, the heavy air filled the entire meeting hall.

「I think I should be the one to negotiate with the Factory Alliance in the future. 」

Bernard Durham, Marquis of Dowson solemnly declared. He was filled with self-confidence that no one would object to that now, but then Alexis Ducet, the Marquis of Halusia and the leader of the Fantasia Union voiced his disapproval for that idea.

「With the loss of Lord Vilar, there can no longer be any negotiations with the Factory Alliance… 」

Alexis had a distressed look on his face.

Marquis Dowson stared at the young leader in surprise.

「If they could even defeat the Earl of Artuk, the Alliance will certainly agree to negotiations. If we stop trying to reach out to them now, we will have no choice but to fight the Alliance! 」