Chapter 158
Chapter 158
The final trump card held in reserve until the very last moment.
The time acceleration of Lux, preserved until the brink of defeat, was unleashed at the perfect moment.
Perhaps it was excessive self-satisfaction to think that even the convincingly hollow expression—as if committing suicide—had played its part.
"Ghk... ghhk..."
Jordan's serpentine eyes, spitting blood as they glared down at him, held only two emotions: resentment and fury.
'And rightfully so.'
His enemy, presumed exhausted, had suddenly moved three times faster. Moreover, the moment their blades clashed, Jordan could never have anticipated that part of his own aura would be severed.
And through that severed gap in his aura, the attack that followed—shattering his already cracked treasured sword before lodging itself in his throat—was beyond anything he could have imagined.
In truth, even Logan hadn't anticipated such fortune in that strike.
'Luck was on my side. Hah...'
It was a miraculous strike born from the harmony of time acceleration, Flame Severing, and sheer luck.
But his moment of relief, wiping his chest in satisfaction, was brief.
Seeing his surrounded forces beginning to take attacks, Logan hastily decapitated Jordan completely, ensuring the kill.
And then—
"D-don't come near! D-do you know who I—?!"
Schlick.
The head of the worthless worm spouting such undeserving words was severed in one stroke.
Impaling the severed head on his sword tip, Logan raised it high and shouted:
"The Princes are all dead! Cease fighting!!"
The cry echoed across the battlefield, swiftly bringing about a drastic change.
"The Grand Prince has done it!"
"He killed the Prince!"
"We've won! We've won!"
The elite MacLaine forces, barely holding out against the fully encircled siege, were the first to react to Logan's voice.
Roaring at the top of their lungs, lest the enemy fail to hear.
Next, the Walterheim Knights, confirming the deaths of their liege and prince, began dropping their swords one by one, faces blank with shock.
"This can't be..."
"How could His Excellency...?"
The moment the core forces that had orchestrated the encirclement and rallied the army relinquished their weapons, the surrounding soldiers likewise ceased their attacks, looking around in confusion, struggling to comprehend the situation.
"W-what's happening? Why aren't we fighting?"
"They say the war is... over?"
"What nonsense is this?!"
Though some resisted, centered around the Second Prince's main camp, soldiers began lowering their weapons one after another, and the offensive soon halted.
The most visibly affected were the barons and viscounts who had been rallying their troops on the frontlines against the MacLaine and Esperanza Knights.
"What's the point of fighting now...?"
"There's no meaning. I surrender."
"Well, we were only following our lord's orders anyway."
This had been a civil war fought to make their prince king.
But that prince was dead.
Without any hidden refuge, the princes—protected at all times by the superhumans at their faction's pinnacle—had fallen.
Moreover, Jordan Walterheim, the superhuman guarding the Second Prince and the faction's leader, had been defeated and killed by someone unforeseen.
Thus, only one option remained for them.
"House Fractal Baronage no longer wishes to continue fighting!"
"House Lohen Viscounty likewise!"
"House Anthony Baronage also lowers its banner!"
Though not the head or torso of the faction, these forces—its limbs—followed their masters' orders and sheathed their weapons.
Banners representing each house were lowered as retreating soldiers emerged in droves.
Then, at Juan Douglas's shout, even the First Prince's forces—who had been blindly pursuing MacLaine—began regaining their senses.
"The Ducal House has fallen too, hasn't it?"
"The war is..."
"What happens now?"
Murmurs spread.
The battlefield's frenzy began subsiding rapidly.
Yet some refused to stop fighting.
"Hah... This is absurd..."
Since the irreversible had already occurred, it was better for his rivals to suffer alongside him than for him to suffer alone.
Though he'd never imagined those rivals would not just suffer but perish entirely.
This was a catastrophe far beyond Juan Douglas's wildest nightmares.
'Everything is ruined.'
His face, twisted in devastation, gradually became expressionless.
They say when rage surpasses its limit, one grows eerily calm.
He'd never imagined he'd experience this firsthand.
'All of this is because of that bastard.'
That brat in the distance, shouting while holding the Second Prince's head.
That single weasel had ruined everything.
Beneath his expressionless mask, his simmering fury focused solely on one man.
All his dreams had shattered beyond repair, with no way to undo it.
If so, shouldn't he at least take vengeance on the one who'd wrought this irreversible situation?
'No matter what it takes, I will kill you, Logan MacLaine.'
The moment that thought crystallized, Juan Douglas ceased channeling mana against the Sword Duke.
Then, as if surrendering to fate, he raised both hands.
"I surrender, Sword Duke."
"What?!"
"Your Excellency!!"
Luther and Wycken, who'd been frantically pressing the Sword Duke, screamed in protest.
Engaged against the kingdom's strongest, they hadn't even grasped the shifting tides of battle.
This sudden betrayal from their ally felt no different.
"Wise choice, Juan."
The Sword Duke's pale complexion and the blood trickling from his lips hinted that even for him, this battle had been grueling. But now, freed from the mage's restraints, his power was terrifying.
Kwa-rrrrumble!
With a thunderous boom, the Sword Duke vanished in a flash, reappearing behind the two superhumans just as their screams echoed.
"Argh! G-guhk!"
"Ghhh... Damn... th-this...!"
Thud.
Though two aura users fell in an instant, Juan wasn't surprised.
He knew that unbelievable feat was the Sword Duke's proudest secret technique.
'That already vicious technique has grown even more monstrous. What a terrifying old beast.'
He gritted his teeth, but there was some solace.
Neither Luther nor Wycken seemed fatally wounded—just unconscious from heavy blows.
The certainty that the Sword Duke sought to capture, not kill, eased his mind slightly.
'First, we'll be taken prisoner. Then, that bastard...'
His gaze flicked to the distant redhead, and his buried fury surged anew.
Suppressing it, Juan turned to face the approaching Sword Duke.
"Guarantee only our survival and minimal rights. I acknowledge the victor's full authority."
"Expected as much. But..."
"...?"
The Sword Duke's smirk felt ominous.
"You've always been transparent, Juan. 'Freezing Archmage,' my ass. Quit the act and speak plainly."
"What nonsense—?!"
As Juan tried to protest—
Schlick.
A sharp slicing sound, and suddenly, the world seemed to tilt.
Before he could process what that meant—
Thud.
His headless body collapsed, a fountain of blood gushing forth.
The archmage who hadn't even cast a spell couldn't perceive the Sword Duke's movement.
Thus ended the so-called Freezing Archmage—one of the kingdom's most powerful nobles—in utter futility.
Watching this, the Sword Duke wore a bitter smile as he observed his disciple organizing the battlefield in the distance.
"I never planned to spare you or Jordan anyway. See you in hell, Juan."
Had Juan heard those words, his resentment would have deepened.
Fortunately, the mage's soul had already departed his frail body.
Not only superhumans refused to cease fighting.
"Fight to the last! What are you doing?! Move!"
Julio Tritan, Northern Border Lord, bellowed at his troops.
Nearby, Famille Chernov, Northwestern Border Lord, likewise roared furiously.
"Who said to stop?! Fight! Destroy those MacLaine bastards!"
As key instigators of the Second Prince faction's civil war, surrender promised them no mercy.
Their only option was to struggle to the bitter end.
The same held for the First Prince faction's border lords causing disturbances in the south.
Naturally, Logan had no intention of idly watching their flailing.
"Seize the instigators of this civil war! Those who capture them will be honored as meritorious subjects!"
His booming shout further destabilized the allied faction forces.
Amidst this, some border lords—grasping the hopeless situation—fled with only their closest knights, sparking a new dynamic.
"The border lords are fleeing! After them!"
Hesitant allied faction troops—formerly under the border lords' command—began pursuing their erstwhile masters.
Moreover—
"MacLaine forces, capture the fleeing border lords!"
"Esperanza Knights, execute the instigators!"
Under Logan and the Sword Duke's orders—the two leaders who'd ended the civil war—a new encirclement formed rapidly east and west.
"Get them!"
"They're the ones who sought to ruin the kingdom!"
"Eliminate them all!"
The loyal knights accompanying the fleeing border lords numbered barely a hundred.
Against the MacLaine or Esperanza Knights, they stood no chance.
Most border lords were captured and summarily executed on the spot.
But not all met such powerless ends.
"Count Luchen Talos of the Second Prince faction has vanished without a trace. His subordinate knights' whereabouts are also unknown."
"A presumed contingent of Count Kairan Ulvs of the First Prince faction escaped past the Esperanza Knights using repeating crossbows for cover."
Tch.
Logan clicked his tongue at the reports.
But his next words were resolute.
"Well, there's little those two can do now. At best, they'll flee abroad. Let's wrap up here."
"Friendly and enemy forces are now mostly sorted."
At Logan's words, the Sword Duke nodded with visible relief.
Despite countless casualties, the surviving enemy forces from both factions still numbered nearly 60,000.
Considering the combined might of House Esperanza and MacLaine barely reached 20,000, this left the bizarre outcome where the defeated remnants tripled the victors' strength.
Thus, identifying allies and confiscating the defeated army's weapons took considerable time—yet it never felt tedious.
For this process proved the tedious war was finally ending.
'Thank goodness. Truly a relief.'
As the Sword Duke sighed in relief, Logan unexpectedly spoke.
"Master. I'll head to the capital first. I leave the aftermath to you."
"What?"
"The remaining faction forces in Gran must be dealt with. If they've already fled, so be it—but if they remain, who knows what schemes they might attempt."
"Those left in the capital would just be bureaucrats, no?"
"Some escaped us here, so it's best to prepare for contingencies. You're far better suited than I to handle matters here swiftly."
With two captured superhumans present, the Sword Duke's presence was essential.
"...Hmm. Very well."
Most military strength—especially the knight orders—of the two escaped border lords had been captured here.
Even if they schemed, it posed little concern, but the Sword Duke indulged his disciple's prudence.
'Better to conclusively eliminate all lingering doubts than leave loose ends.'
Yet as he nodded—
"The war isn't over yet! MacLaine Knights! All mounted crossbow units except the wounded—assemble!"
Watching Logan swiftly gather only his elite mobile forces before galloping off, unease prickled at him.
For some reason, his disciple's departing figure seemed brimming with killing intent.
'That boy... surely not...'
Just in case, the Sword Duke resolved to conclude the war's aftermath as swiftly as possible.