While two monsters fought outside the capital, the city of Ars itself was not exactly in a state of calm.
In the corridors of the Silver Palace, the North Emperor, Auber Corvette, ran at high speed while carrying his own burden in his arms.
His body moved nimbly, dodging columns and servants that appeared occasionally, never slowing his pace for a moment.
And that burden did not stop complaining for a single second.
"Stop swinging me around like that!" the voice shouted. "Where did you learn to carry people? And why are you running so fast?!"
Auber did not dare stop for an instant.
As soon as he left the Hall, all he heard were shockwaves and explosions echoing in the distance. He could hardly imagine what kind of battle had broken out after he left.
Then his instincts reacted.
Auber threw a knife instantly in an apparently empty direction.
At the same moment, a grayish dark shape appeared, blocking the knife to the side with ease.
Only then did Auber see her.
In a quick movement, he threw Darius to the side, making him fall clumsily to the floor, and drew two blades — one short and one long — immediately taking a combat stance.
The Minister shouted:
"Auber, you bastard! Why did you stop?! You must help me get out of the palace now!"
But, ignoring him completely, Auber laughed.
"Lady Black Wolf…" he said. "How have you been these years?"
In front of him stood Ghislaine, walking slowly toward him.
She was serious. She wore a black, tight and light armor that covered only the important parts of the body, without restricting her mobility.
Her green Magic Power Eye shone in the corridor due to the lack of light, further emphasizing her intimidating presence.
She stopped.
She wiped her face, removing a smear of blood, and then shook Hiramune, flinging off the blood that was still running down the blade. Her eyes moved first to Darius, then to Auber.
Then she spoke:
"Peacock Sword, Auber Corvette. Rygar asked me to try to recruit you if seen. Although you are protecting this pig, you can still be absolved if you kill him with your own hands and become subordinate to Rygar."
Auber's expression turned somber.
Darius immediately began to shout at her:
"Who do you think you are, you bitch?! You're just a filthy bitch from that dirty forest! Auber, cut her to pieces right now!"
Auber continued to watch Ghislaine cautiously, ignoring Darius, who was truly spitting like a pig as he yelled.
Ghislaine ignored Darius completely and spoke to Auber again:
"Keep in mind that I do not have the power to subjugate you without killing you, as Rygar could. If we fight, one of us may die."
She adjusted Hiramune's stance, planting the sword more firmly.
Auber thought for a few seconds before trying, hesitantly:
"Miss Ghislaine… for our old friendship… and for the short tutelage that Lord Rygar had with me… couldn't you let me take this guy this time?"
Ghislaine remained impassive.
"That offer I made you is already out of consideration for our 'friendship.' I hope you consider it wisely. I have a particular grudge against Darius, whom you are protecting. Killing him is a personal vengeance, besides being a mission."
She continued:
"The King of Asura was already killed by this sword even before we came here. Most of the nobles from that hall are also gone. The only one left, at this point, must be Darius."
Auber was shocked.
"Y-you killed the King?!" he stammered. "And most of the nobles?! What are you trying to do, start a war against Asura?!"
Ghislaine frowned.
"Many questions. I don't have time for that…" she said. "But, if you want to know, Rygar told me there will be no war if the two sides are not more or less equal. Asura can no longer compete with the Kingdom of Gaia, so they will not fight."
She concluded:
"So decide now. Fight or surrender."
She seemed ready to attack.
Cold sweat ran down Auber's forehead, while Darius continued to shout incessantly at his side. At that moment, Auber made a decision in his mind.
He would test Ghislaine's strength. If he could escape easily, that would be ideal. But if she were much stronger than him, Auber would surrender and kill Darius without hesitation.
At the moment he decided this, his muscles tensed.
He was ready to throw smoke bombs by surprise—
But, in the next moment, all he saw was a blood-colored flash.
His world spun as he felt his consciousness fade, his head cut off at the base.
As soon as he felt the intent to fight, Ghislaine unleashed a decisive strike, killing both Darius and Auber.
She looked for a second longer at the two bodies on the floor. Both were significant to her, in some way.
Mainly Darius, who had been primarily responsible for the death of her former lord, Sauros.
She felt a little lighter after paying that old debt.
"Huh? Rygar perhaps mentioned something about making Darius have a slow and painful death? Well, it must not have been that important, he's dead."
She did not linger.
There was still much to be done.
Expanding her senses with touki, she moved toward her next target.
---
A few minutes earlier, the Banquet Hall had collapsed in a matter of moments, mainly due to the fight between Rygar and Orsted.
Columns fell, the ceiling gave way and the ground shook violently, forcing everyone still there to retreat hastily.
Amid the chaos, Sándor managed to get away carrying Princess Ariel under his protection, advancing through the destroyed corridors until finally meeting with Rudeus, Timothy and Luke.
Luke was visibly euphoric, his eyes wide as he looked around.
"What is happening?!" he exclaimed. "The Beast God really invaded the Silver Palace?!"
Timothy was already in a defensive position, alert to any strange movement around. Rudeus, on the other hand, could only think about Orsted's fight.
Others might not know, but he did. The Dragon God would not kill the Beast God, even though he was stronger than him.
That fight was completely disadvantageous for Orsted, since he would be constantly spending mana. With his absurdly slow mana regeneration, that could hinder many future plans.
Thinking about that, Rudeus could only come to one conclusion.
He should help him in the fight; it was the only option to contain the damage.
He would need the Magic Armor for that.
Ariel looked around, still trying to get her bearings, and asked:
"Where are Derrick and Sylphy?"
Rudeus answered promptly:
"I didn't see where Derrick ended up, but Sylphy was on Lord Perugius's side when we separated. So she should be safe."
Sylphy's safety had been Rudeus's first priority when Rygar invaded the Hall. However, in the widespread chaos, Sylphy ended up with Perugius — which meant she should be safe.
Or at least that was what he thought. In any case, that reassured him.
Sara was not participating in the banquet, so, in theory, she should be even safer than Sylphy.
When Rudeus turned his attention back to the group, he noticed Sándor's grave expression. He set Ariel carefully on the ground — the princess still seemed a little dazed — and spoke directly to her:
"Princess Ariel, the situation is critical. The Beast God killed Prince Grabell and appears to have hostile intentions toward all the nobles of the Kingdom of Asura. I recommend retreating from the capital immediately. We don't know how many they came in. If all the generals of the Kingdom of Gaia are here, we are in an extremely bad situation."
Rudeus looked at Ariel. Depending on her decision, he would have to act against her orders.
Timothy seemed focused on something else, attentive to the surroundings, while Luke spoke in an anguished tone:
"Lady Ariel, we cannot leave the nobles behind like this! We have many allies among them! We cannot rule over a dead people! Besides, they are invaders — the Kingdom can unite against a common enemy!"
He was visibly agitated.
Sándor frowned.
"I won't deny Lord Luke's words," he said. "But at least the Princess must be evacuated from the capital at this exact moment."
He then looked directly at Luke.
"Surely the Guardian Knight does not want to keep her in this battlefield, right?"
Luke made an ugly face, clearly about to retort.
Ariel interrupted them:
"That's enough!"
She took a deep breath, regaining calm and composure, and then looked at Rudeus.
"Lord Rudeus, what do you think of our situation?"
Rudeus read between the lines. Ariel was asking about Orsted's attitude. She wanted to know if he could defeat the Beast God and then come to their aid.
But Rudeus was not confident about that.
He shook his head as he spoke:
"You must leave the capital, Princess. But I believe we should stay and stop the Generals of the Iron Legion. With the Beast God contained, they are threatening, but nothing we cannot handle."
Ariel thought for a moment.
"All right. Lord Sándor, I will ask you then to accompany me leaving the capital. Lord Rudeus, Timothy and Luke, I count on you to protect the nobles and bring Derrick and Sylphy back. But avoid direct contact with the Beast God, in any case. Also, notify Lord Perugius of our retreat, if you have the chance."
The three nodded.
Shortly after, the two groups separated.
Rudeus felt the urge to summon his Magic Armor immediately, but restrained himself.
He knew how much that thing consumed his mana — and had no idea if he could keep it active for the necessary time if he used it now.
Advancing through the destroyed corridors, they finally began to hear voices and calls for help. Cutting sounds echoed, followed by screams and bodies falling.
The Palace was in pieces at that point, and the invaders clearly had no intention of keeping discreet or preserving the structure.
Luke suddenly advanced upon recognizing one of the voices.
"DAD!" he shouted. "WHERE ARE YOU?!"
Timothy sensed something was wrong and spoke immediately:
"Don't advance blindly, you idiot!"
He advanced to help, but he and Rudeus reacted at the same time upon feeling a new danger — Rudeus perceived it thanks to his Foresight Eye.
He raised an Earth Wall while retreating quickly, and Timothy leapt nimbly out of the trajectory.
In the next instant, a huge Ebony Wolf appeared with a brutal leap, landing between the two and destroying the earth wall with its claws, growling fiercely.
Luke barely had time to look back.
Before he could react, he tasted something sweet in his mouth.
His body fell forward, split in two at the waist.
Dead.
Rudeus and Timothy could barely make out the red figure before they heard a voice speak to them:
"Oh, Timothy! Long time no see!"
The voice continued, amused:
"Skoll almost got you this time, huh? Wait… if I kill you now, I become the new Sword God?! That sounds cool!"
The red-haired woman emanated the murderous intent of a tigress, momentarily interrupting her massacre.
It was Eris.
Rudeus froze upon seeing the long red hair blowing in the wind that swept through the destroyed corridors.
She wore the characteristic black, tight and light armor of the Iron Legion, with her abdomen exposed, made so as not to restrict movement.
There were fresh bloodstains on both her sword and armor, some still dripping slowly.
That was not only Luke's blood — it was clear she had already killed others before finding them.
Rudeus possessed some privileged information about other timelines, things he had learned directly from Orsted.
He knew that Eris Boreas Greyrat should have been Ariel's bodyguard… and even marry Luke!
But there, before his eyes, Eris Adoldia had cut Luke in two as if he were merely a minor character.
He barely had time to process the irony of the situation before the tigress's attention turned completely to him.
Eris looked directly at Rudeus. The excited expression on her face disappeared little by little, giving way to an assassin's smile that formed slowly, almost with pleasure.
"Hehe!" she laughed. "Rudeus Greyrat! Remember me?!"
Rudeus rarely felt fear of any opponent since he had faced the Dragon God in battle. Still, that smile awakened a bad feeling in him.
It was as if in that instant he were only a rabbit before a lion. For a brief moment, he almost forgot his long combat experience. But he soon recovered.
Before he could answer, Timothy spoke, pulling some of Eris's attention toward himself.
"That's right, Eris. If you kill me, you can become the Sword God…" he said calmly. "But do you have that capacity?"
Timothy showed no fear.
He had heard of Eris's rise in strength, but still trusted himself. In fact, he had always hoped his own son would come to take his place one day.
If he were killed by someone much more powerful than him, it would be a good death.
And Timothy knew that Jino had grown a lot during his time in the Kingdom of Gaia.
But he did not expect to meet Eris first.
Eris replied with a wild smile, tightening her grip on the sword's hilt.
"Well… if I don't try, how will I know…?"
Timothy smiled back.
Eris was, without a doubt, a true swordswoman of the Sword God Style.
At that moment, Rudeus heard another explosion echo outside the capital. His thoughts returned immediately to the fight between Orsted and Rygar.
Every second that passed meant more mana being drained from the Dragon God.
He spoke impatiently:
"Timothy, hold Eris and the wolf for a while!"
Without waiting for an answer, he retreated, already preparing the summoning of his Magic Armor. He could not care less about the mana consumption at that point.
The less time Orsted fought, the less mana he would have in the future — and that would be problematic.
But as soon as Rudeus withdrew, Eris reacted instantly.
She threw a short blade in his direction with a movement, her expression becoming slightly more serious.
Timothy advanced at the same instant to intercept her, while Skoll leaped toward Rudeus, its claws tearing the ground.
Rudeus's headache increased at that moment.
His opponents were not willing to give him time.
-----
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