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The strike he had delivered contained the essence of decades worth of effort, but Joshua had duplicated it perfectly by watching it once, and the results were astonishing.

“Have you just cut the flow of vital force?” Tremblin asked.

“Precisely.”

“I focused my mana in my eyes, but I couldn’t see any vital flow, perhaps because it’s a divine relic…”

“I’m not talking about the shield. You should look at the flow of divine power around the shield.”

“Hmm? You’re saying…?”

“It may have substance, but it’s not the real Aegis. That’s just an imitation produced by his authority,” Joshua explained.

Tremblin examined the fragments of Aegis scattered on the ground and marveled as they collapsed into dust and disappeared.

“It’s said that you never stop learning, but I never knew I would learn something at this age. Hahaha.” Tremblin guffawed.

They were formally an emperor and his subject, but Tremblin watched Joshua with warm, gentle eyes as if he were Tremblin’s actual grandson.

Unsurprisingly, the sight of it made Raphael blow his top.

“You bastards…!”

“Before you get angry, why don’t you pick up your hand first?” Joshua suggested. “I’m sorry; I know you went through a lot of trouble reattaching it. Since I have trouble controlling this new power, please be understanding.”

“Joshua Sanders!” Raphael yelled hysterically.

Icarus analyzed the situation so far and concluded that this was the appropriate time to come forward, protected by the trustworthy guards named Valmont and Lilith.

“As Second Queen Consort of the Avalon Empire, I advise the paladins of Hubalt to surrender—

Raphael angrily rounded on her.

“Watch your mouth, you lowly wretch!” he growled. The fact that the Second Avalon Queen Consort was a commoner was well known to the entire continent. As Raphael had been born noble, he found the existence of Icarus abhorrent.

“...your lives will be spared,” Icarus continued.

“You’re one crazy woman. You still don’t know what is happening to your country—”

“Your name is Raphael, am I correct?” Icarus asked. She brushed her hair back and strode confidently right into the center of the battle, never flinching away from her bizarre staredown with the Paladin.

“…Your Majesty, it’s too dangerous to come any closer,” Valmont warned her.

“It’s fine.”

“But…”

Despite Valmont’s concern, Icarus took three more steps before she stopped.

“Do you want to make a bet with me?” she asked Raphael.

“What?” Raphael frowned.

“I’m going to give you three reasons why all of you should surrender—and I assure you that you and the other paladins of Hubalt will lose the will to fight after I’m finished,” Icarus declared with such confidence that Raphael flinched.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes dangerously. “Raphael, cover your ears. She’s trying to manipulate you.”

“What do you mean she’s manipulating me?”

“She’s trying to provoke you into doing what she wants. You’re not interested in foreign affairs, so you may not know her reputation very well, but she’s the Heaven’s Mind, and it’s her specialty.”

“…Gabriel, you’ve sparked my curiosity.” Raphael curled up one end of his mouth as he picked up his hand.

“…Mgh!” Raphael groaned in pain. Unlike before, he had trouble reattaching his hand; even the super healing ability of a Great Angel didn’t work.

“What is… What have you done, Joshua Sanders?!” Raphael screamed.

“First: the undefeated Joshua Sanders is in Avalon, so Hubalt has no chance of winning,” Icarus stated. “Second: your only hope is already a lost cause. Your operation to conquer Arcadia has failed.”

“What? What the hell are you saying?”

“Don’t you want to know why it took so long for me to show up here?”

Raphael smirked. “It’s obvious… You don’t know a thing about martial arts, wretch, so you must have been busy hiding in your rathole.”

The paladins of Hubalt immediately burst into laughter; Raphael’s attempt to change the mood was successful.

Nevertheless, Icarus was still smiling. “Isn’t that strange?”

“What’s strange? Why a rat like you changed your mind and crawled out of your hole?”

“No—there are so many intruders inside the Palace, but there’s no one else here other than our Imperial Knights.”

Gabriel’s eyebrow rose; however, Raphael didn’t think that it was a big deal.

“It’s obvious,” Raphael scoffed. “Avalon is still in the middle of the civil war, but your emperor is an idiot and hosted this festival anyway. Obviously, there’s no way you have more soldiers to mobilize.”

“You may find this hard to believe, but the civil war in Avalon is almost at an end. After failing their coup, the rebel remnants have become fugitives, and two out of four rebel leaders are already dead.”

“Are you bluffing now?” Raphael smiled crookedly.

Gabriel tapped Raphael’s shoulder and shook his head. “…No, itt makes sense.”

“Why are you joining in on this nonsense, Gabriel?”

“This is the residence of the Imperial Family, but the number of Imperial Knights here right now is less than their known numbers. On top of that, I can’t see a single soldier around here.”

“That’s why I said that Avalon can’t afford to protect their Palace right now,” Raphael grumbled.

“At least fifty thousand soldiers are stationed in Arcadia; it’s very strange for none of them to show up here.” Gabriel turned to look at Icarus since she was the one who could answer his question. “You said your second reason is that the army stationed in Arcadia set up a defense in advance?”

Icarus shook her head. “No, that’s not the reason. Well, even if I said yes, you two would laugh at me because you’re too prideful.”

“Then what?”

“Hubalt will have no choice but to withdraw their army.”

“What are you talking about…?” Gabriel muttered.

“Third: all of our available troops are headed to the border of Hubalt.”

Gabriel’s eyes grew wider with every word.

“...What?” Raphael was so dumbfounded that he forgot the pain in his wrist.

“As you already know, the entire continent’s focus is on us, Avalon, and Hubalt ambushed us right in our capital. Yet, if the heartland of Hubalt is invaded and put under threat… what would the other leaders think?” Icarus asked.

“Ugh…!”

“They won’t have to bother tiptoeing around Hubalt anymore, so they’re going to join us. You were feared as the most powerful nation on the continent, but today we prove that you’re nothing.” The paladins’ faces were despondent, in contrast to the bright smile on Icarus’ face. She chuckled. “Do you get it now? You, Hubalt, are the ones who’ve fallen into a trap. You tried to conquer Arcadia in one fell swoop by sending in the Four Paladins and the best and brightest of your country, but you’re reaping what you sow.”

“Ohhhhh!”

The cheers came from, naturally, the Imperial Knights.

“…She’s definitely gotten way better,” Joshua said with a proud grin.

“…How arrogant of you. What are you going to do if we don’t withdraw our army?” Raphael asked.

Icarus tilted her head. “So you want to die together?”

“Why not?”

“That’s what I would call bluffing. Hubalt already has the upper hand, so you have no reason to do that. Besides, didn’t I already tell you?” Icarus glanced to the side, her smile deepening. Everyone was leaning toward her, eagerly awaiting her next words. “Even if you don’t withdraw your army, you won’t be able to win because the undefeated Martial God stands with our knights right now.”

“Yeahhhhhhhhhh!”

A fresh round of ecstatic cheers echoed throughout the entire Palace.

* * *

Explosions rattled Arcadia; Hubalt’s surprise invasion of Arcadia finally began.

“Y-Your Grace!”

All hell broke loose in the inns where the foreign dignitaries were staying.

“Those lunatics… I really can’t believe Hubalt actually started a war.”

“What do you think happened to the Palace?”

“This is not the time to worry about others. Hubalt split their army in two, but I can’t see any of Avalon’s troops except for a skeleton crew, even on the castle walls.”

“Th-Then…?”

“There is a high chance that Hubalt’s crazy stunt will end in success.”

All countries except for the Thran and Tetra Kingdoms still remained as observers. Some people may blame them for being opportunists, but this was diplomacy. Nobles had to prioritize the safety and benefit of their countries because numerous citizens’ lives depended on them.

* * *

Meanwhile, Carmen was frowning.

“…Something about this is very strange. Despite delegations being sent from all around the continent, there are only around one thousand soldiers guarding Arcadia. What is he up to?”

Her plan was to reorganize her army. The southern rebel army had already joined the government, and the western rebel army had been eradicated. There were remnants of the eastern rebel army, but they were just fugitives now. In contrast to them, the northern rebel army was still intact, but she couldn’t bring them into Arcadia without being detected.

“I told them to find a spot nearby to lay low, so it’ll take them two days at most to get here,” Carmen quietly mumbled.

She gritted her teeth. She had lost, indisputably. Her cherished greatsword was split asunder, and she had been forced to her knees in front of people from all across the continent. However, she was hardly about to give up now.

“I don’t care if you acted out of sympathy. You’ll regret this, Joshua Sanders…!”

“Does complaining on your own like that make you feel better?”

“Who is it?!”

“Is it like shouting into a wishing well?” her mysterious guest asked mockingly.

Carmen spun around with her teeth clenched and saw a muscular, two-meter-tall man standing there.

“Who ar—!” Carmen choked on her shout when she recognized the man. “Bel! How are you here…!”

“I was going to sit back and wait, but I really wanted to know more about Joshua Sanders.”

“What?”

“Carmen von Agnus, you’re related to him by blood, aren’t you?” Bel asked, despite knowing that the topic would anger Carmen more than anything else.

Instantly, Carmen began to radiate murderous energy. “How dare you…!”

“Anyhow, I need you to become one with me now.”

“What nonsense are you talking about?!?

Ignoring the thick murderous energy spreading toward him, Bel strode forward.

“I’m the only human who can use the power of dragons without having manifested an authority.”

“Power… of dragons…?”

“Don’t you want to know why?” Bel stood right in front of Carmen and smiled wickedly down at her. “Let me tell you how.”

Namu\'s Thoughts

Hmmm… Bye-bye, Carmen?