"Haha, I told you already—who the hell wouldn’t be scared?"

One-Eye burst out laughing, gripping Beck’s hand and hauling him back up, speaking in that dialect of his with its strange trailing lilt.

"But being able to beat that fear, that’s what makes a real man. Back when I was fighting up north, I got surrounded by dozens of wolf soldiers and didn’t even blink. One slash each, sent them running with piss down their legs—"

"Here we go again... if you were really that amazing, then why are you still just a foot soldier?"

"Hey? Why don’t you believe me? The only reason I never got promoted is because—"

"All right, all right, now’s not the time for your bragging."

Beck tightened both hands around his sword hilt again and stared ahead. Even though he had steeled himself countless times already, cold sweat still slowly seeped down from his forehead.

More Kingdom soldiers emerged from the shadows, one after another, like a tide with no end in sight. And these soldiers were clearly the same as the ones they had just fought—eyes glowing red, vicious in aura, hard to kill. It was as if they had become dancers performing atop the flames; so long as the fire did not die, their dance would never stop.

"How many wolf soldiers did you say you ran into before?" Beck asked One-Eye beside him.

"...Don’t panic, don’t panic. It’s not time to panic yet."

One-Eye gave a dry cough and forced himself to sound calm.

"The war isn’t over yet, and we haven’t lost yet either. Don’t forget, we’ve still got Her Majesty the Empress. She’ll definitely have a way. You saw how impressive she was just now, didn’t you? A wall that high—boom, and it shot straight out of the ground..."

"...You think?"

At this point, probably not even the Goddess could save them, let alone the Empress...

Beck tugged at the corner of his mouth, somewhere between a smile and a sob.

"Then let’s just try to hold out. Aim for the neck or the ankles, remember that. If you can’t kill them, it’s better to just make them lose the ability to move."

"Understood, Commander Beck!"

"Don’t call me commander!"

"Haha, you’re so smart, maybe someday you really will become my commander!"

The Kingdom army came crashing toward them with earth-shaking force, and One-Eye—whose hands and feet were trembling from fear—only laughed, then took the initiative and charged straight at that tidal wave! ...

...

"Your Majesty, you must withdraw."

The slaughter of the armies was still going on. From atop the towering wall, the situation was even clearer.

Behind the fortress, those soldiers who had no terrain left to defend were still living up to the Empire’s name. Even under such ferocious assault from the enemy, they were still holding the line through sheer courage and endurance.

But anyone could see that it would not last.

Because no matter how elite or how brave the soldiers were, no army in this world could face an undead legion head-on without towering walls to defend and solid gates to shield them.

The total collapse of the defensive line was only a matter of time. This was a difference in kind. No strategy, no command, no quality of troops could make up for it.

"You really can’t solve this?"

Celicia seemed wrapped in wind and snow, her cold gaze turning toward the Church clergy accompanying the army.

"I know you uphold a principle of neutrality, but the Kingdom has clearly crossed the line with this move. Are you really going to stand by and do nothing?"

"Th-this..."

Several clergymen looked at each other. In the end, the oldest among them stepped forward with a bitter smile.

"Your Majesty, it is not that we do not wish to solve the problem. The problem is that we truly do not have the ability to solve it. In fact, from the very start of the mutation, we specifically sent people to carry out an analysis..."

The old priest stepped aside, and a tightly bound Kingdom soldier was pushed forward. His whole body was wrapped in dazzling runes, and brilliant Holy Light enveloped him, enough to purify any filth.

And yet the soldier still roared, still struggled, as if that sacred radiance were nothing more than some ordinary glaring light meant to blind a dog’s eyes.

"According to our analysis, the power in these soldiers does not come from some Evil God, nor does it come from some evil object. We have no way at all to resolve their current condition through Holy Light arts, so..."

The old priest shook his head in shame.

"Our apologies, Your Majesty. We are not capable enough. We cannot solve this problem."

"So your capabilities are simply lacking. So many believers support you, and yet all you people do is recite that damned doctrine of yours all day long! Tell me, how many of the Kingdom’s soldiers out there are believers in the Goddess?" Celicia said coldly.

"..."

The old priest lowered his head in shame and said nothing more.

"Hmph."

Celicia let out a displeased snort and looked to the other side.

"And what about you? After all this time, have you found a solution or not?"

"..."

After a long silence, Gulas, the newly appointed deputy commander of the Imperial Royal Mage Corps, stepped forward and lowered his head.

"Our deepest apologies, Your Majesty. We have only been able to determine that this appears to be a kind of magic, but as for its exact effects and how to resolve it... for now, we are powerless."

"The Empire also spends a great deal of money supporting you."

"We have failed you, failed the people, and failed even more the soldiers still fighting and bleeding on the front lines... but this magic is far too strange. Its entire structural framework lies completely outside our current system..."

Gulas also shook his head, his face ashen.

"In the short term, we truly have no solution."

"..."

Celicia closed her eyes in disappointment.

"Your Majesty, you must withdraw."

Count Tern stepped forward again and cut in at just the right moment.

"What method the Kingdom used is no longer important. What matters now is Your Majesty’s safety. Beneath the fortress, we have a secret underground passage prepared long ago. You may leave through there."

"You want me to abandon my people? My soldiers?"

"It is not abandonment. It is for the greater good."

Count Tern spoke with grief and sincerity.

"I know such a course is difficult for Your Majesty to accept, but it is the correct one. This fortress of Notasia can no longer be held. This may be one of our great defeats, and the Empire will be placed at a strategic disadvantage... but I believe that with Your Majesty’s abilities, even such adversity can only be temporary.

"But that depends on your remaining safe and unharmed."

"..."

"Your Majesty."

"..."

"Your Majesty, time is short. You cannot hesitate any longer."

"..."

"Your Majesty!"

"Enough!"

Celicia suddenly opened her eyes.

"Count Tern, let me think."

"Yes." Count Tern stopped pressing and stepped back.

Celicia, meanwhile, walked to the edge of the wall, facing the ever more murderous smoke and cries below.

The night was deep, and ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ dawn had not yet arrived.

She saw countless warriors of the Empire resisting to the death. Even without walls or fortifications, the defensive line they had forged with flesh and blood was still astonishingly strong.

But no matter how sturdy a wall was, it could not withstand a tide that never ceased. The line behind the fortress being shattered was only a matter of time, and... soon. So soon that they would never hold out long enough for any reinforcements to arrive—not even that fabricated army of one hundred thousand.

When that time came, this fortress of Notasia would fall completely, with no other possible outcome.

She had to admit that Aurier’s two moves had indeed struck her where she was hardest pressed to answer.

"What are you going to do?"

The shadows writhed, and a seductive, graceful figure appeared in a corner of the wall. Arms folded across her chest, Anna tilted her face and studied the current emperor of the Empire.

"This kind of hesitation really isn’t your style."

"..."

Celicia fell silent as she gazed into the distance. After a moment, she finally asked:

"Do you think... if I do something bad, he’ll hate me for it?"

"Oh my, being this sentimental doesn’t sound like your style either."

Anna tilted her little head and thought for a moment.

"But if we’re talking about doing bad things... that man has done plenty of bad things too. For example, just recently he went and seduced another little wildcat. Would you forgive him for that?"

"No."

"Oh my, my, at a time like this, could you not be such a tsundere, my dear little sister?"

"Shut up. Who’s your sister?"

"..."

Anna spread her hands, then made a zipping motion across her lips with one slender finger.

Though a terrifying chill still radiated from Celicia, within that coldness, at the edge of her mouth, in a place no one but him would ever notice, something tender was slowly melting free.

That was right. No matter what cruel, terrible thing she did, he would definitely forgive her. In that case, what did she still have to hesitate over?

"Kill—!"

Celicia lowered her gaze. Amid the night and smoke, she saw two tiny figures, as small as ants, charging recklessly of their own accord toward the Kingdom’s battle line.

It was only one corner of the battlefield, incapable of changing the course of the larger situation in any way, and yet it was like a single spark that completely ignited the blazing fire in Celicia’s eyes.

"Count Tern."

Celicia turned abruptly.

"Yes," Count Tern responded.

"You..."

Celicia stared at the old man. This old man with graying hair, an old man who could soon have returned to his homeland and lived out his years in peace.

As a great noble holding the rank of count, Count Tern had preserved himself through Belrand’s successive purges of the nobility, and had remained by Celicia’s side. Naturally, he was an unwavering royalist, one of the crucial supports that had allowed Celicia to stabilize the Empire’s political situation so quickly.

He was loyal, steady, capable, and rigorous in his conduct... aside from being just a little too rigid and long-winded—enough that any emperor he served probably would not like him very much—he truly was an excellent minister.

A minister worthy of being entrusted with a great responsibility.

So...

"You should die, Count Tern," Celicia said cruelly.

"Wha—"

Count Tern, who had been waiting for her order, froze in instant shock. Startled, he looked up at the emperor who had suddenly spoken such horrifying words.

At first he thought it might be some new jest between ruler and subject. But all he saw was a beautiful face that seemed eternally cold.

Shock, fear, confusion, thought... and then understanding.

In that brief instant, no one knew what Count Tern had thought, or what he had realized.

Only that, when the first newborn ray of dawn shone across the side of his face, his expression had already returned completely to its usual calm.

"This is for the Empire?" Count Tern asked.

"Yes. For the Empire," Celicia answered.

"I see..."

Count Tern suddenly smiled, and his graying beard trembled with it.

Bathed in the dawn light, he placed one hand over his chest and offered Celicia a perfectly impeccable noble salute...

"Then... it is my honor, Your Majesty."