The splendid burst of light resulting from the collision of golden and crimson radiance captured the attention of everyone on the battlefield, but the sound that signaled the end was much quieter than expected.
Crack.
However, the impact of that small popping sound forced all onlookers to widen their eyes in disbelief.
Thud.
“Cough.”
As the Sword Master let out a faint groan and dropped to his knees,
Whoosh.
A stream of blood gushed forth from the wound etched into his abdomen.
It wasn’t simply a penetrating wound.
Strange waves that destroyed aura itself were spreading throughout his body, and a peculiar sense of powerlessness left him unable to move even a fingertip on command.Cough.
“Cr-… How could this…”
Thud.
“Master…”
Watching his master cough up blood and collapse, Logan bit his lip with a pained expression.
Logan’s state, staggering and covered in blood as if he’d been brutally slashed, was far from good.
It wasn’t just due to the feeling of exhaustion from releasing his special power.
Added to his worn body was the psychological burden of having stricken his master with the blade, a weight on his soul.
But now, with everyone’s eyes drawn to him on the battlefield, Logan didn’t allow the guilt to make him forget what he had to do.
Clamping his teeth tightly, Logan straightened up and met the gaze of everyone looking at him with his burning red eyes.
In a battlefield that had become as still as if time had stopped,
“The war is over.”
With those quiet words from Logan, the silence on the battlefield was shattered.
Clang.
As Luis dropped his sword from his hand, signaling the start, the Esperanza Knights collectively fell to their knees.
“Dammit!”
A similar scene unfolded among the Wickencally forces that had been overwhelmingly pushed back by Luther. With not a hint of resistance in such an improbably peaceful surrender, onlookers from the Maclaine forces were left astonished.
“By the will of our lord, we surrender to Maclaine! Drop your swords!”
The words of Luis Hayon, on his knees, marked the end of the war.
“May I have the honor of attending to our lord?”
Looking at the fallen Sword Master with reddened eyes, Luis asked Logan carefully, who then heavily nodded in agreement.
Extracting the highest-quality potion he had prepared for himself from his bosom, Logan handed it over.
“This should help sustain you until you receive healing from a priest. Take him away quickly.”
“Thank you, Sir Logan.”
Luis immediately applied half of the potion to the abdominal wound and swallowed the rest.
Yet, despite the measures taken, Logan clenched his teeth, looking at his master’s face showing no signs of recovery.
Whether the master would survive even if he reached the temple in time was uncertain.
But there was nothing else to be done.
In a final battle where no quarter was given, had there been any room to spare, it might have been him lying on the ground.
That’s why that last moment troubled him even more.
Whether the master’s final strike was drained of strength or had stopped on its own, it was impossible to tell.
‘Master…’
The heartbreaking sentiment held Luis’s steps back once more.
“Why did you surrender so easily?”
As the Esperanza forces surrendered immediately after Luis’s shout, the Royal Guards and the armies of other nobles, though few in number, also lost their will to fight. The rapid surrender declarations, almost as if prearranged, meant the war that could have dragged on was concluded swiftly with minimal loss.
And the reason was clear.
“Our lord had instructed us to surrender immediately in case of his defeat, to offer full cooperation to Maclaine, and to avoid senseless sacrifices…”
Words similar to what he himself had left behind for his father.
Though their paths differed and collided, his father held the same sentiment.
That’s why Logan sighed deeper, and that complicated, sorrowful sentiment inevitably shifted to a grudge against the foolish king who had brought about this situation.
Snap.
“Gather the elite of Maclaine and Esperanza Knights! We make for the royal palace at once!”
“Logan?!”
“Father, please take care of the aftermath of the battlefield.”
Whine.
“I must conclude this war by taking the king.”
The light of fury blazed in Logan’s eyes.
Soon, more than 1,200 knights followed Logan toward the royal palace.
The war had ended in Maclaine’s victory. The subdued Esperanza Knights had aligned with Maclaine and were now heading for the royal palace.
Rumors outpaced speech.
People were surprised not only by how swiftly the war ended but also by the fact that the battle between the two powerful houses that divided the kingdom ended with so little sacrifice.
And everyone who heard the news started predicting one future:
– The king is finished. Now the era of Maclaine will begin.
That speculation quickly became reality.
Just three days after the war ended,
When Logan arrived at the royal palace leading the knights, it was the frightened residents of the capital who greeted him, seething with anger.
Thud thud thud thud.
“Clear the way!!”
“Scream!”
“The army!”
“Lie down!”
Residents who didn’t even think to run fell prostrate on the spot.
Logan didn’t spare them a glance, continuing his charge down the main road.
‘He’s here!’
The beautiful palace of Granphia, enough to earn praise with a mere glance.
However, even its splendid and ancient beauty failed to quell the burning rage within Logan’s heart.
Rather, it seemed to stoke his anger.
“Hmph!”
A golden aura shot out toward the firmly closed palace gates, which had received nothing but praise, devastating them completely.
Crash!
Amidst the shattered and scattered gate debris, Logan’s voice bellowed out enough to fill the entire palace grounds.
“Seize the palace and cut down all who resist! Capture the king and Cleo, and all the new state chancellors!”
“Yes!”
With Logan’s roar, the knights poured into the palace, unopposed.
***
“So this is how it ends…”
At the base of the palace spire,
The king, perched atop the highest point of the capital, saw the banners shaped like flames in the distance, approaching the city.
Below them, knights clad in armor bearing the same emblem led the procession, followed by knights in eagle-emblazoned gear.
“The forces sent to fight have unified in the end…”
A hollow laugh escaped him.
The gamble placed on the Sword Master’s loyalty had failed, ultimately.
“It’s not too late to escape, Your Majesty. Logan Maclaine…”
The voice of Cleo, always a pillar of support, reached his ears.
“Escape to where?”
King Rogers I’s voice had already lost its vigor.
“?”
“Where would I run to and what would I do?”
“Your Majesty should plan for the future. There’s sanctuary in the royal tower…”
“It’s over. Hiding won’t change a thing. The Sword Master’s, no, his loyalty was my last card to play. With that move failing, my fate is sealed.”
“Your Majesty! How can you say that…”
As Cleo bowed with a somber expression,
“Your efforts have always been appreciated. Don’t risk your life over this, leave now.”
“Your Majesty! How could I… Let us go together to the royal tower as I mentioned…”
“No. It’s done. What would be the point of surviving in disgrace?”
The king turned his head away in refusal to engage in further questioning.
He saw the royal gates shattering before him—an omen of his own fate.
He laughed again, hollowly.
“I shall die as a king. So you should find your own way to live.”
“Your Majesty.”
“Logan Maclaine will leave nothing linked to me untouched. Flee if you wish to live.”
The last remaining loyal servant by his side,
That’s how the king chose to remember Cleo.
Cleo bit his lip as he bowed deeply, hesitating to speak again several times.
His gaze lingered on the wine cup that the king kept sipping.
After watching for a long while, Cleo finally descended the stairs, deeply bowing to the king’s back, and then hurried away, seemingly resolute in his decision.
***
“Search every nook of the annex!”
“First unit, to the king’s office and bedroom!”
“There’s one of the new state chancellors!”
Trudging.
Amid the voices of knights echoing throughout the palace, Logan headed straight for the royal hall.
The imposing and grand entrance doors, left unguarded, swung ajar. Their neglected appearance brought a bitter taste to Logan’s mouth.
It was déjà vu, a sensation brought on by experiences from his past life.
‘Does the end of a fallen country always look like this?’
It felt like he was reenacting the tragedies made by the imperial army in his past life.
Gazing upon the grand but desolate entrance of the royal hall, Logan found himself forced to pause.
But soon, he bit his lip again and clenched his fist with renewed determination.
‘No, it is to avoid creating that ruined country.’
The original plans had gone awry, but Logan was resolved to take control and start over. This setback would serve as a platform for greater leaps.
Refocused, Logan quickened his stride again and reviewed what had to be done.
The most crucial task was unmistakable.
‘I don’t care about the others, but I must capture Cleo. What happened in that underground prison wasn’t just the act of a traitor. It was endangering the king and the consequences…’
Their opposition.
And those who prospered from their conflicts were clear.
‘The Empire.’
The magnanimity the emperor had shown suggested he would exert pressure through force but wouldn’t engage in plotting from the shadows.
Yet, given the current situation, suspicion was unavoidable.
‘It could be a ruse, or maybe it’s not the emperor but… the Second Prince.’
The suspicious communication from the Second Prince just before the war.
Of course, there was no evidence linking him to Cleo.
If there are no other possibilities…
‘Then even the most far-fetched conclusion must be the truth.’
Additionally, the timing of the king’s downfall felt too orderly.
It coincided with Cleo’s appearance at the king’s side.
‘The loss of the king’s fine intellect that my master praised cannot be seen as a normal change. Clearly, he has been meddling in something.’
Reviewing the information Damian provided just before the war, Logan reached a provisional conclusion.
“Even if he’s fled, I’ll catch him, even if it means chasing him to the ends of the earth.”
Another surge of anger quickened Logan’s steps.
Three days had passed, a considerable window for escape.
Logan had never expected to arrest the king or Cleo directly in the palace.
The display of force was symbolic, demonstrating that the control of the nation was now firmly in his hands.
His intent was to capture those who had fled.
But then…
Boom!
An unexpected sound echoed from within the open gates of the hall.
“At last you have arrived, Logan Maclaine.”
It was the voice of the king, echoing powerfully from the highest seat in the royal hall.
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