Chapter 234

Nana Nereyades walked for three days to return to her soldiers.

She was a limping wreck.

Her right hip joint was completely crushed, making it difficult to walk even with a wooden support.

A scab had formed over her burnt right face, and pus oozed from it.

Every joint in her body ached penetratingly with every step, but she did not let it show.

“My apologies for taking so long.”

Nana, who had returned covered in wounds, began to lead the soldiers with a short greeting.

No one dared to ask what had become of the others.

She roughly poured golden medicine on her own wounds and then worked without rest.

The first thing she did was to hurry the retreat, and while doing so, she meticulously examined the damage situation.

“We didn’t even cross the entire Great Mountain Range, nor did we reach the territory of the West. But fifteen hundred died….”

The number of dead was fifteen hundred, and the wounded were over four thousand.

It was because of the Earth Soldiers controlled by Aida and Shion who had become a dragon.

Looking only at the numbers, it wasn’t enough to be called a crushing defeat.

However, the fact that they had lost all their high-ranking forces struck them as fatal.

Eight-Impact General Zeronimus, deceased.

Ancient Weapon ‘Bellows’s Afterheat’, lost.

15th Legion Commander Furios Foren, deceased.

16th Legion Commander Maseus Merkus, deceased.

33rd Legion Commander Bix Bons Baretaus, deceased.

Ro-Garos Magi-Soldier Corps Commander Hotnes, deceased.

Imperial Intelligence Bureau Director Dandeus Deredom, deceased.

11th Legion’s Chief of Staff Bukenos, deceased.

Eighteen officers of Commander of a Thousand rank, deceased.

117 giant-form magi-soldiers, destroyed.

42 angel-form magi-soldiers, destroyed.

It was a disastrous situation to reflect upon.

The battle hadn’t been long, but the losses were dizzying.

From the position of having held supreme command, she wanted to bite her tongue off rather than return to the capital, Lutilium.

What kind of mess was this, following the failure on the Bururade Peninsula.

Nana was disheartened but soon collected herself.

There were soldiers she had to lead.

Their number exceeded thirty thousand, and their morale was at rock bottom.

Thanks to her sense of responsibility, Nana acted composed.

She was in enough pain to want to roll on the ground screaming, and furious enough to beat her chest with her fists, but she pretended not to be.

At Nana’s composed appearance, the remaining commanders began to regain their senses one by one.

Whatever she was like on the inside, Nana was, on the outside, a small-framed girl.

The sight of her commanding the soldiers while unable to walk properly made the frightened men ashamed.

“Legion Commander Nana.”

A man bowed his head.

He was one of the 11th Legion’s staff officers, who had come to assist Nana, taking the place of the deceased Bukenos.

“Have you checked the remaining provisions?”

“Yes. Fortunately, we were able to protect most of the provisions. We can last for more than fifty days.”

“Have you reached the Imperial Palace?”

“That is….”

The staff officer mumbled.

Nana flicked her fingers, as if telling him to speak quickly.

“…They said to wait here and rendezvous with the main army. To follow their command.”

“…Hmph. Of course.”

Nana covered her face.

So many people had died, yet there was not a single word of comfort.

Bukenos’s obituary would have been delivered too, but was Ferbias indifferent?

Those school days were so precious to Nana, but did that time really mean nothing to Ferbias?

She suddenly realized that she was the one who had misunderstood.

Ferbias Caseptus must have always been this kind of person.

She had just been overlaying her own fantasies.

Realizing this, she felt a sense of relief.

She held her burnt right face and cackled.

The staff officer trembled, frightened by the sight.

“So, when is this main army coming? Will they even come within fifty days?”

“…Actually, they say a group of cavalry is approaching from a distance.”

“Cavalry?”

Nana asked.

“The main army has already arrived?”

“No. It seems the main army sent scouts first. The cavalry is about three hundred strong.”

“They’ll be here soon?”

“Yes.”

“I should go see.”

She raised her body with difficulty.

It wasn’t easy to move because of her shattered hip joint.

The staff officer extended a hand to help, but Nana coldly refused.

She would rather crawl than walk with help.

When she went outside the barracks, she saw a cloud of dust in the distance.

Three hundred cavalry were approaching.

In the center was a carriage pulled by six horses.

“…….”

Nana, who was watching the approaching cavalry, broke her crutch with her grip strength and threw it away.

Then she straightened her injured leg and stood proudly.

A pain that felt like it would twist her limbs followed, though she didn’t let it show.

Whatever she felt inside, she looked very imposing on the outside.

She thought that perhaps her grandfather, Niko, had been like this.

Niko was human, so he must have been in pain.

But he must have lived, forcing a composed smile and straightening his back.

As he did so, he must have forgotten even how to be in pain, and lived with a calloused heart.

And she, too, would now live such a life.

Nana’s face was resolute.

The half of her face that was burnt looked rather gallant.

She greeted the three hundred cavalry like that.

“Who is the commander?”

The one riding in the carriage pulled by six horses was a huge man.

He approached, leading the cavalry, and asked Nana.

The girl answered without hesitation.

“I am.”

“General Zeronimus?”

“He was killed in action.”

“Mm.”

The huge man let out a groan.

The man did not state his rank or name, but Nana had already recognized him.

Therefore, she respectfully bowed her head.

“Did you confirm General Zeronimus’s body?”

“I was not able to do so.”

“And you couldn’t retrieve the Ancient Weapon either?”

“…No.”

“Hmm.”

The man looked down at Nana Nereyades.

Her right foot was trembling.

It was because even though she tried hard to stand gallantly on two feet, she could not endure all the pain of her shattered hip joint.

The man stroked his chin as he looked at the girl burdened with a burnt right face, a shattered right hip, and countless wounds.

“The loss of troops was greater than I thought. Finding you has put my mind at ease, Legion Commander Nana.”

“…What did I do?”

“Your expression is good.”

“…My expression?”

Nana tilted her head, and the man laughed heartily.

“I never thought you’d be able to make an expression like that.”

“What kind of expression am I making?”

“You have the face of a general. Like your grandfather.”

“……Is that so. I’m glad to hear that.”

“Until now, you always had a spiteful face. Mistaking your obsession with my brother Ferbias… no, His Majesty, for loyalty.”

“…….”

Nana did not reply, and the man continued.

“I’ll need to hear what happened beyond the gate… but treatment comes first.”

“I am fine.”

“No. That is arrogance. Receive treatment, Legion Commander Nana.”

He jutted his chin toward the back.

A boy with dark circles under his eyes appeared.

“Kateka, escort Legion Commander Nana and treat her with all due respect.”

“…Yes, brother….”

Nana’s expression was still resolute.

Kateka Keshulei led such a Nana away.

“Mm. You’ve done well, Legion Commander Nana.”

The man was huge.

He looked two heads taller than others.

Despite being born of noble blood, he did not shy away from the battlefield, and as a result, he became a general ranked among the top three in the military.

“From now on, I, the Three-Mi Grand General, Secundus Debius, will take command.”

***

The Three Heroes returned triumphantly.

Their faces were as follows.

The White Lord, Obro Denoebang.

The Widow Queen of Schmeizen, Aida.

Shion of Merion.

With just the three of them, they performed the feat of forcing the retreat of the Cordis Empire’s thirty-eight thousand troops.

The entire West, which had trembled in fear, now cheered enthusiastically, extolling their names.

They made songs of the Three Heroes, and everyone, regardless of rank, sang them.

The Dawn Brotherhood’s Seventeen Elders were no different.

The Archbishop of the Original Ladder Church, the King of Maesh, Grand Duke Pret of West-Erta, and even the pinnacle of the Dawn Brotherhood, Elder Hika Hireium, did not spare their praise for the Three Heroes.

The reactions of the three, called heroes, were each different.

“…A day like this, comes again.”

Obro Denoebang was bewildered.

For him, the arrow of blame had followed him ever since the ‘Night of Inversion’, that is, for 11 years.

It had even turned him into a dirty drunkard, like a Hairy mushroom.

“…I’m still a drunkard, but people welcome me like this, it’s true… I can’t bear it without drinking.”

Was it resentment? Or perhaps joy.

He wanted to protect the people, even while finding them fickle for changing their attitudes so quickly, and he felt sheepish yet pleased that they praised him.

Obro Denoebang realized anew, that even if the public abandoned him once more, he wanted to protect them.

“Shion, it is all thanks to you. You remember my promise. My life is yours, forever.”

And Obro Denoebang swears he will follow me.

Without even knowing what secrets I held.

But even if he knew, nothing would change.

Obro Denoebang, even as a drunkard, was not a man to break an oath once made.

“Hmph. Whatever people say.”

The Widow Queen Aida returned to her palace, as if it was no big deal.

It was to spend time with her recovered husband, Yulan.

She never cared about the public’s gaze.

That was why she had been called a madwoman and been an object of fear for a long time.

And she was still a little mad even now.

However, she intended to listen to my words.

It was because I was the one who had returned Yulan to her, saved Schmeizen from ruin, and defeated the Demon King Pāpīyān.

And I, Shion Pollinglight,

while receiving endless praise and admiration,

was agonizing alone.

“…It hurts….”

I was alone in a dark room.

I pushed everyone away and crouched, crawling on the floor.

There was light outside.

People waiting for me, those who held good will, delicious alcohol and food, sweet compliments—it was full of them.

That was why I couldn’t go out.

I was afraid I would lose the flame in my heart if I did.

“…Damn it, it hurts….”

I scratched furiously under the bandages.

The skin was black and dead.

The black scales were gradually climbing up my body.

This is what the ‘Dragon of Six Horns’ is.

The more I use it, the more it encroaches on me.

I had defeated eighteen men of Commander of a Thousand rank and five men of Legion Commander rank, and now I was paying the price.

“…It was the same back then, but the sixth pain… I just can’t get used to it….”

“That’s why you shouldn’t have overdone it.”

“…Am I hearing things?”

I raised my head.

It was because I heard a voice that shouldn’t be heard in the dark room.

I looked at the jade-colored eyes.

“I’m sure I ordered you to leave, Amethus.”

“I left.”

Amethus said bluntly.

“As you said, I left and went all the way to the Hanchamus Islands. But there was no order not to come back, so I set up a hideout for Shadi and Serena and came straight back.”

“…Did I not tell you not to come back?”

“Truthfully, I would have come back even if you had.”

“…….”

I was at a loss for words.

My blue pupils trembled faintly.

Amethus knelt before me.

There were only two men in this room.

No one was listening to their story.

Therefore, Amethus bowed his head deeply, ever more deeply.

“Your Highness Zionis.”

“…….”

“The promise from 7 years ago, the day to destroy the Empire, is approaching. You cannot do it all alone.”

The jade-eyed man said without hesitation.

“Please rely on me.”

“…I, still, do not trust.”

“Then you just have to use me. Like you have until now.”

“…….”

I closed my eyes gently.

The damn pain still hadn’t subsided and was tormenting me.

“Shadi… What did Shadi Shandor say? What did she say when you left her, after she just woke up after 7 years…?”

“She was worried about you, Your Highness.”

“……Absurd. She’s never even met me.”

“That’s what I’m saying. She’s a truly good woman, isn’t she?”

“……No, Serena is a better woman.”

Amethus let out a small laugh.

Only then did I smile too.

“Amethus.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“This is the happiness you kicked away. Don’t regret it.”

“Do you regret it, Your Highness?”

“Not a chance.”

“Then I do not regret it either.”

“Let’s go.”

I raised my body.

My face was deathly pale.

Cold sweat was beading.

But my eyes, those blue eyes, had not been extinguished even once and were blazing.

“Let’s destroy the Empire.”

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