Xiuying quietly retrieved the snake half of the Holy Reingolian Medallion from her father and closed his eyes. Although his life was a series of ups and downs, he died with a smile. Despite his mistakes, Xiuying would treasure him in her memories. In the end, he was her father! After this, Uncle Qiang and her sister were the only ones left in her family. And there was much to do. Xiuying had a feeling that the Second Great Kingdom War was a mere prelude. The status quo of the world was about to change!
Meanwhile, as Ming promised, General Illion and the other commanders were brought to where the prisoners of war were held. That said, there was only a handful of captives from Lord Korogin's battle. Lord Korogin was obviously one, with Sir Winstin another. Emperor Lianghu had specifically instructed the Four Cardinals to capture them. He could let anyone else die, but he could not let these two go. Before Lianghu died, he believed they were the main culprits behind his wife's demise! The other prisoners were less of a big name, but equally as influential. Among them were General Gordon, Ten Dawn Nassandra and Tengon, as well as high-ranking commanders or nobility.
As it turns out, Nassandra and Tengon had not perished, as Freon believed! This was not a surprise. The Xingyuu Empire's army witnessed firsthand how powerful the Ten Dawns could be. Used well, Torrential Blizzard could easily become a trump card! In the entire known world, the Zino Kingdom was the only place where such skilled Arcanists existed. This was one of the main reasons why the empire invaded Aereon six years prior to the present. It was to prevent the emergence of an unknown threat! Though their invasion was a massive success, little progress was made in the development of a true heritage for Arcania. Without knowing the correct theory, how could anyone master Arcania so easily? Therefore, the empire was intent on extracting crucial information from the Ten Dawns!
Unfortunately, things were not as simple as they believed. The final spell the two performed, that large-scale ruse of a spell, inflicted devastating injuries. One of Tengon's arms was grey and anemic-looking, cracked and bent in odd angles, and deformed to an extreme degree. It was permanently crippled and ruined beyond repair. The damage was so severe that it went beyond the surface. The bones, tendons, blood vessels… even the Channels that facilitate the movement of Magical Energy were destroyed. Suffice to say, there might be no one who could heal such immense damage. Worse yet, it would be incredibly difficult for him to use Arcania again.
In contrast, Nassandra had it slightly better. She fell unconscious at the key moment, forcing the bulk of the backlash onto her partner. Still, she did not get away scot-free. Even now, she was unconscious. Her body was covered in a multitude of magical injuries, formed when the Magical Energy in her body rampaged out of control. Most Arcanists were already physically weak, adding to the fact that Nassandra was a young child, her injuries were that much more severe. Without a specialist to heal her, she would be unable to wake up. That was the curse of Arcania!
General Illion walked over to where Lord Korogin and Sir Winstin were held after arranging special care for the two Ten Dawns. They were sitting on the ground awkwardly, lacking the strength to even stand or sit erect. It was hard to reconcile the image of the once lofty rulers of the Alzar Kingdom and the Royal Guard to this. Illion's men hurriedly undid their restraints. Korogin was unresponsive, but Winstin stared at Illion. It was not as if he did not want to speak. He could not. He was too weak to even do that! Illion understood at once and ordered for water to wet their throats. It was too dangerous to move them before they recovered. Their frail bodies might give up like that.
Once Sir Winstin received the water, it was like rain arriving after a long drought. His complexion strengthened greatly. Although he was advanced in his years, he maintained his vigor and vitality. To stay at the peak of Perception Realm, despite serving as a guard for over twenty years, was immensely impressive! His bountiful lifeforce allowed him to maintain his peak performance and fight as the Leader of the Royal Guards! The first thing he asked was about what happened. General Illion smiled wryly but explained everything. Unfortunately, he could explain what happened, but not why. The series of events was too bizarre for him to begin to understand. He hoped Sir Winstin could enlighten him.
Sir Winstin fell silent. He believed that he was one of the few people that knew Elizabeth the best. He knew both of her parents, witnessed her birth, and helped her settle on New Havens. Through Lady Christina, both he and Lord Korogin received regular reports on her. Therefore, he was very familiar with her upbringing. However, there was nothing that could be attributed to mastering a large-scale destruction spell! New Havens might be shrouded in mysteries, but there was a huge difference between that and unknowingly becoming a Ten Dawn-level power. It almost made Sir Winstin wonder if this was the same Elizabeth he knew.
However, he could ponder it no longer. Lord Korogin started coughing violently and his spirit weakened further. All the water he drank came spewing back out. Sir Winstin and General Illion were gloomy. It did not take a physician to realize the problem. Lord Korogin was far… far too weak. His body was giving up! That made sense, considering his already poor health prior to coming here. Do not forget, he worked every day and night, pouring over the problems of the realm, with barely a break in sight. He had to keep the Alzar Kingdom from falling into ruin! One could not begin to imagine the weight of his responsibilities.
This final journey was meant to be his final flare before burning out. He hoped to secure the Alzar Kingdom's future by gambling it all! However, the result was for all to see. He fell into the emperor's trap and his army was annihilated. Out of the thousands of soldiers, there were only a handful of survivors. How could that not devastate his fighting spirit? How could that not affect him at all? He was not perfect. He was human! He wanted to win as much as the next person! His defeat was deeply traumatizing to him. For someone to carry the weight of the kingdom on his shoulders, to fall at this crucial step… Perhaps no one could understand how he felt. That grief and regret was enough to drown a million men!
Adding onto that the severe torture that Emperor Lianghu inflicted, then it became no surprise at all that he was dying. It was ironic. He persevered to this moment because he wanted to spite the emperor. He did not want to give his enemy the satisfaction of winning. It was a small battle, but one important for him. He did not want the emperor to have the last laugh! That was the pride of Lord Korogin Highguard, the Master of Strategy, the face of the Alzar Kingdom! When he saw Elizabeth and General Illion arrive, like the last light was being extinguished, he was mortified. He wanted to scream and shout for them to run, run far away. Then… the battle started.
Suffering in those fifteen minutes, Lord Korogin was truly on the verge of insanity. Time crawled disgustingly slowly. Every sound of battle made him descend further into despondency. So, when General Illion appeared in front of him and explained everything, it was like a mountain was lifted off Lord Korogin's chest. The light finally shone on his darkened world and color returned! Through the twists and turns of fate, somehow… the end he hoped for was achieved! The tension drained from his body and he felt at peace. In this situation, how could his body not fail? He was willingly dying!