The Blood-Soaked Warning of the Three Heroes
Kyle shook his head side to side, eyes wide with a mix of horror and confusion. Those things weren't human. How could anyone call them human?
He turned and made his way back to his older brother and sister, who stood covered in blood. The sight of their gore-slicked forms sent chills down his spine, but what truly terrified him was the wooden staff clutched in their hands.
*Brother, go fetch the rings. Work on your upper body a bit.* The words almost slipped out. He couldn't bring himself to say them.
Thinking back to the rings that had been neatly packed away in the carriage, Kyle shuddered violently.
"What should we do, brother? If we just leave them here, they should simply disappear on their own."
"Death is no punishment. You feel the same way, don't you?"
"True enough. Calling this atrocity's end just death... it's far too calm."
"..."
Beside them, the conversation continued in the same horrifying vein.
Just as he was about to turn and sit quietly in the corner, his family lay bloodied right in front of him. He couldn't stand by and do nothing.
"Big brother. Big sister."
"The little one is here."
"Kyle's here? Did you see what sister just did? Whoosh! Slam!"
Kyle could only recall one thing: the two roiders' final desperate strike had been shattered by his staff. Not a sword, not a spear—only these two wielded that ringless staff. Still, the John Nassen family didn't avoid weapons altogether, yet why they chose to fight with one was something Kyle simply couldn't understand.
*...No. Maybe striking with bare hands is worse.*
He remembered the baron of the John Nassen line pressing down on an ogre's thick hide with a hammer until it tore.
His older brother would grunt and strain just enough to rip through the same monster's leather.
That was the kind of father who would pierce the hide of a monster like paper.
Perhaps the name "Dagon" was just a shortened form of "giving out the tough hide."
"Kyaaah!"
"Gaaah!"
Meanwhile, Lea had taken action. She dragged the Grosh and Bernaudot who lay crumpled on the ground and jabbed at them with her fingers.
A few precise pokes caused their eyes to roll back, and both immediately collapsed into unconsciousness.
"...You didn't kill them, right, sis?"
"Why kill? If we leave them like this, they'll have to live with the responsibility of their own actions and the price they pay for them."
"Then..."
"If we leave them here, they'll collapse and die right away, Kyle. Most of their mana circuits have already been severed. It's just that these bodies were tough enough for it to work—otherwise even that wouldn't have been possible."
It was the same method Kyle had used on the academy attackers back then.
If he had to use an analogy, it was like cutting the fuse before the explosion even started.
The only difference was that Lea had sliced only the mana circuits, while Kyle had cut the nerves as well.
"Why..."
He turned around to see Mathieu approaching slowly, leaning on his sword like a cane.
Only barely keeping his balance, the honorable knight continued speaking in a voice full of disbelief.
"Why did you spare my life?"
He was the clear representative of the enemy nation, and a formidable warrior at that—a major obstacle.
After all the fighting and subduing, why spare them? Mathieu's reaction was one of pure incomprehension.
"Don't worry. We're only sparing your lives."
The contempt in his eyes had vanished completely. Lea smiled again, warm and genuine.
Mathieu had made the right choice, fought brilliantly—hence the John Nassen courtesy displayed toward him.
Even as an enemy, showing respect to the strong never changed.
"We've severed every single mana circuit they've been developing and expanding over the years. In other words, these men lying here aren't even as strong as the roiders they defeated."
"...That's..."
"Consequences of their actions. Those who tried to steal power through foolish methods are now facing the end. They'll spend the rest of their lives living in humiliation and regret, unable to forget the past."
Lea laughed as she spoke. A bright, beautiful, and utterly terrifying laugh.
Mathieu found that smile of hers incredibly frightening.
It felt as though a dragon had its jaws wide open right in front of him, roaring with vicious intent.
"Of course, there's still hope left."
At that moment, Lia quietly chimed in. It looked like he was worried Lea might misunderstand.
"Even if the paths are cut off, if they make an effort to heal, they can be mended again. Even a broken body can be restored through training. Of course, their own effort is most important, but we won't betray that effort. That's the price and responsibility we leave for them."
Lia spoke as he slowly turned his head.
Far in the distance, the coalition's main forces were in chaos.
They had only just realized the result of the battle on this side.
Some were bewildered, others furious, and some resigned to despair.
Suddenly, a commotion broke out from one spot.
"By the looks of it, they're trying to use that medicine too."
Lia's voice was ice-cold.
Though they were covered in wounds and blood, it wasn't fatal injuries.
If anything, the red stains on their bodies made them look even more terrifying than before.
"Here's my second proposal. To the Three Heroes of the Coalition—our demand is this. Inform the Empire of our will... gah. Transmit the Empire's will, and immediately cease hostilities. If you refuse to speak, and if they attempt to use that medicine and bring about irreversible results like these men..."
**CRACK!**
He slammed the staff into the ground. **CRACK!** The floor split with a loud crack.
The long wooden staff sank deep, nearly half its length disappearing into the stone.
No further words were needed. Physical force alone conveyed the message.
"Big brother."
Mathieu, barely holding on, looked like he might faint from the strain.
Kyle carefully approached Lia and voiced his opinion.
"If we do that much, Mathieu will surely understand."
"...The little one is correct."
Lia took a step back, using honorifics instead of threats.
Thanks to this, Mathieu, who had been crushed by the pressure, finally nodded.
"We can't hold this position much longer. I told the Empire's army to wait exactly one hour. Until then, no messenger—"
You know what happens if no one comes, right? Lea said with a sweet smile.
Mathieu had no choice but to nod frantically.
Strong fighters who had pushed their mana to the brink with enhancement potions.
Men who controlled them all with just one staff.
There was no time to argue about time constraints or unreasonable conditions.
*No matter what it takes, I have to persuade them. Even if it means suppressing every hardliner!*
To inflict fatal damage on the Empire, even if the Coalition lost, make them stagger like they themselves had. If that happened, internal voices within the Empire might turn against them and cause fractures.
The hardliners kept using that logic to fan the flames of revenge and hatred.
Many had crossed that line and created this situation.
But now he understood just how unrealistic those arguments really were.
*These men are being led by the Emperor of the Empire. Fatal damage? The Coalition itself would be completely erased from this land by those three! Not just people would die—people who could literally erase everything that exists on this earth from existence!*
This wasn't betrayal of the Coalition, nor reverence of the Empire.
It was simply choosing the only path that allowed them to survive.
Even in battle, resistance had to be measured against the opponent.
Charging forward against orcs took courage, but what about against dragons?
No. Facing something like that was simply wise, and the most natural thing in the world.
"Within one hour, we'll push them all back behind us. Please wait."
Despite his body still not fully recovered from the earlier fight with Kyle, Mathieu moved quickly.
*
"Lord Mathieu!"
Only after reaching the front lines of the Coalition's main force did the coalition leaders greet him.
Questions flew—where were the other two heroes?—but Mathieu ignored them completely.
The important issue wasn't them right now.
"Instruct your forces to fall back immediately and transmit an unconditional surrender to the Empire."
"What?"
"What nonsense is this?! Surrender to the Empire?!"
"I'd rather fight and die! Even in death, I'll take one of those Empire bastards with me!"
The hardliners' voices were always louder than those of the moderates.
A few moderates were present among the leaders, but what could be heard were nothing but the hardliners' voices.
"No way," "We'll fight to the end against the Empire"—all of it was the same.
Listening to these absurd words, Mathieu felt his head pounding.
Two of the Three Heroes had already been captured by the enemy, and the last had been humiliated to this state.
Even those two had pushed their mana to the brink with enhancement potions and still been thoroughly defeated.
How could they still be saying such ridiculous things about fighting?
"To survive, you must surrender unconditionally here. The Empire's army isn't the problem, everyone."
"Didn't I just say it? There will be no surrender to the Empire! We'll fight and die!"
"Let's assume that's you. What about the others? Saying things like 'We'll push over fifty thousand people into the slaughterhouse'—are you trying to say that?"
"The Empire will have to bear the same level of damage! We have this!"
One of the leaders pulled out a mana explosion potion that had already been stabilized.
Seeing it, an enormous wave of disgust and rage rose in Mathieu, and he could no longer hold back.
The Three Heroes had fought even after pushing their limits with enhancement potions and still been defeated, and now these people were talking about the same thing!
**Srring—**
The sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath rang out as the leader's wrist was cleanly severed.
"Aaahhhhh!!"
"L-Lord Mathieu! W-What are you doing!!"
Caught off guard by the sudden situation, the coalition leaders panicked.
It was the first time Mathieu had lost his composure.
He roared at them from the front.
"You fools! Do you not understand what you see before you?! All three of the Three Heroes have been defeated! Two of them were already at their limits with mana enhancement and still lost! The Empire's army isn't the problem right now! There are three massive monsters out there that no human can fight!! What? You want to fight them? Do you think that means you can resist?! You idiots!! Those monsters are coming here precisely because of this!! With just one finger, they'd cut off your necks!"
In that moment, the most gentle, most rational, and most courteous of the Three Heroes—Mathieu Philibert—erupted in every curse and howl imaginable.