"Then adding me to the equation should be enough, right?"
"Lady Crusch!"
Felix cried out in despair and anger.
"That's not enough. The entire Karsten family must be included as well," Ryou coldly stated his price.
Crusch's face turned pale, though her gaze held traces of stubbornness.
"To demand the entire Karsten family is imp—"
Before Crusch could utter the word "impossible," Ryou rudely interrupted her.
"You'd better think carefully before rejecting me. Initially, you didn't need to pay anything—but you refused me the first time. Now I'm asking for the entire Karsten family. This is your second chance. I never give anyone a third."
His gaze was icy, his meaning clear: reject him, and she might as well prepare to meet her end.
Ryou had already resolved that if Crusch truly refused, he would wait for Lugunica to fall or for the nobility to collectively surrender. Then, he would eradicate the imperial army along with any remaining aristocrats, sparing none. Though he admired Crusch's talent, he wasn't foolish enough to allow his goodwill to be rejected repeatedly.
Defy him? Then face death.
The weakness of Crusch's position—her injuries, her natural disposition as a woman, and Ryou's overbearing demeanor—were all weights pressing heavily on her mental scale. Inevitably, she wavered.
At that moment, Ryou spoke casually.
"Oh, and don't try playing clever tricks in front of me. Thinking of sacrificing yourself to become my plaything, while entrusting the Karsten family to another heir, so I'd have no way to control them? Quite the scheme you've got there. Do you think I'd resolve your crisis just for a decorative vase in return? The world doesn't work like that."
Crusch stared at Ryou in shock, utterly unprepared for her innermost thoughts—shared with no one—to be fully exposed by this man. Instinctively, she glanced at Emilia, who stood beside him.
"To subdue even the Witch of Envy… he truly is as terrifying as a demon king…"
While Ryou's words left Crusch shocked and fearful, they were also a blatant insult to her knight.
"You bastard! Don't you dare insult Lady Crusch!"
Felix, his face red with fury, placed a hand on the hilt of his sword. His delicate, youthful face flushed with anger, resembled a tempting red apple, one that might provoke a bite.
But Ryou acted immediately.
With a sudden movement, he raised his fist. Without even appearing to strike, Felix was sent flying as if punched with incredible force. With a loud crash, he broke through a wall and landed in the courtyard outside.
A stunned Crusch instinctively stood, reaching for the sword at her waist, only to grasp at air. It was then she remembered that her elegant court dress didn't allow for a weapon.
Left with no choice, she confronted him directly.
"What are you trying to do!?"
Ryou casually blew away imaginary dust from his hand before replying matter-of-factly, "Nothing much. Just disciplining your ill-mannered servant on your behalf. What, are you unhappy? Or do you think that servant is so important you'd give up everything for him, even your beloved nation?"
"I…"
Crusch collapsed back into her seat, defeated.
Meanwhile, Felix, badly injured and staggering back inside step by step, froze at the sight. He had been captivated by Crusch's selfless dedication to the nation and her unwavering righteousness. But now, finding himself weighed on the scales and discarded, something inside him shattered.
"It's easy for me to crush the imperial army," Ryou said.
"You must sign a contract as the acting queen, transferring the throne to Emilia. Additionally, the Karsten family must obey my orders for the next twenty years."
Hearing a timeframe that, while long, offered a glimmer of hope, Crusch visibly relaxed. Ryoug noticed her expression, but inwardly, he smirked.
"Foolish woman. Forget twenty years—ten is more than enough for me to complete all my plans. By then, not just the Karsten family, but the entire aristocracy will be eliminated. You'll simply become my… plaything, to be used until death."
Through his probing, Ryou had pinpointed Crusch's limits. As long as Lugunica could be saved, she was willing to sacrifice the entire Karsten family.
Though Ryou's terms seemed lenient compared to Crusch's bottom line, he had no intention of letting her off easily. Overwhelming pressure risked rebellion, but leaving a faint glimmer of hope made manipulation far easier.
With Ryou appearing to compromise, both parties quickly reached an agreement. Crusch personally signed the contract, sealing it with the Karsten family crest and the royal insignia.
Thus, Emilia officially gained the legal right to ascend the throne, protected by law. Ryou was 100% certain that once he defeated the imperial army, the surviving nobility would try every trick to backtrack or shirk responsibility. But that didn't matter. With justice on his side and absolute power at his disposal, crushing such foolish nobles would be all too easy.
Having secured his prize, Ryou wasted no time. Under Crusch's hopeful gaze, he mentally sent a message to Semiramis.
"Semiramis, you may proceed."
The Empress's lazy voice echoed in his mind.
"Ara, Master. Have you already tamed that little kitty? Shall I… train her for you~?"
For some reason, Ryou's mind instantly conjured an image of Semiramis, fully naked, lounging lazily on a bed. Her massive chest flattened beneath her, while her enchanting face bore an amorous smile.
Ryou admitted he was tempted. Ever since their intimate relationship began, Semiramis had frequently included him in her training of Elsa, leading to even more creative scenarios. If Crusch, with her Valkyrie-like presence, were added to the mix… who knows what new possibilities could be unlocked?
...
On the grasslands within the borders of Lugunica.
Looking down from above, it was unclear when the verdant green of the grasslands gradually turned crimson and black, the colors of blood and iron. As the camera zoomed in, it revealed an immense army, so vast that its end could not be seen."
The green grassland was steadily overwhelmed by the army's colors. This army wore armor of crimson and black, and at the forefront of their formation, the iron-blooded cross banner of the imperial royal family fluttered in the wind.
Each soldier wore an expression of unwavering confidence, their morale high, their battle spirit burning intensely. Their boots had trampled across plains, mountains, swamps, and hills. For them, Lugunica was merely the starting point of their conquest. Soon, they would march into this kingdom's capital and desecrate everything it held dear.
The mercenaries of the Kararagi Federation, devoid of faith and honor, were no match for them. The brainless barbarians of Gusteko would likewise fall beneath the empire's iron hooves. They firmly believed in their invincibility—that the empire would rule the world.
As this formidable imperial army advanced towards Lugunica's royal capital with a destructive stride, a radiant, rainbow-colored beam of light suddenly shot forth from the horizon. The beam was so dazzling that it stole much of the brilliance from the sun itself. It was so immense that it resembled a colossal sword piercing the heavens.
Many soldiers instinctively looked up at this strange phenomenon in the sky. However, the Imperial Army's commander, Grand Marshal Kurgan, was the first to sense something amiss. His sharp instincts told him that the beam carried energy capable of destroying the world.
"Magician Corps! Defend!" he shouted with all his might.
The response was instant and precise—a testament to the discipline of the empire's most elite troops. The Magician Corps, 5,000 strong, began chanting defensive magic in unison. Moments before the beam descended, a translucent, rainbow-colored barrier stood firmly in its path. This was the ultimate defensive spell, cast through the combined efforts of the 5,000 magicians.
Seeing his magician corps act so swiftly, Grand Marshal Kurgan smiled with satisfaction. A strong, disciplined, and invincible army had always been the foundation of the empire's undefeated expansion over centuries. He could already guess it was some desperate, unorthodox trick by Lugunica.
"These lowly, cowardly Lugunica fools have clearly been shown too much mercy by me."
Kurgan's eyes gleamed with a ferocious light. He was already contemplating whether to massacre Lugunica's capital for three days or five after its fall.
As for the possibility that the Magician Corps might fail to withstand the beam?
Unthinkable.
Just five days ago, the Magician Corps had stood against continuous bombardment from hundreds of Lugunica's magic cannons. A single earthquake spell from them had collapsed fortress walls 15 meters high and 10 meters thick, annihilating Lugunica's 20,000-strong army. Against such overwhelming power, even Lugunica's divine protector, the divine dragon had failed to defeat them. The Magician Corps could even challenge the fabled Witch of Envy herself. Their ultimate defensive magic, Heavenly Moat, was said to be capable of withstanding a divine strike.
Yet in the next moment, when the beam collided with Heavenly Moat, Kurgan could hardly believe his eyes.
A faint sound of shattering glass echoed as the ultimate defense, cast by 5,000 magicians, broke apart in less than a second under the beam's force. The backlash from the spell struck the magicians brutally.
Thousands of magicians simultaneously spat blood. Some suffered such severe backlash that their heads exploded, spraying crimson and white matter in all directions. A blood-red mist formed over the magician corps.
Kurgan's heart turned cold.
Before he could react, the beam pierced the center of the army. Soldiers caught in its radiance vanished without a sound. The beam spread rapidly, consuming all in its path. Soldiers and objects disintegrated silently, as though they had never existed.
The sight broke the morale of the outermost troops. Overcome with terror, they abandoned thoughts of glory and fled. The beam, however, expanded faster than they could run, consuming them like snow melting under the sun.
"It's over."
Kurgan watched in despair as the beam devoured the empire's finest army.
"Marshal, retreat at once!"
The guards at his side tried to pull him away, desperate to escape this calamity.
But Kurgan raised a hand to stop them.
With his power, he could escape before the beam reached him.
But what meaning would that have?
"You go. I have failed the emperor's trust and cannot face him again. But you are young—the empire's future needs you."
With a long sigh, Kurgan remained. His guards refused to leave.
Thus, in this battle, the empire's 250,000-strong army was struck by a super long-range light cannon on the grassland. Fewer than one in ten survived. Grand Marshal Kurgan and 500 of his personal guards perished.
This force represented nearly 80% of the empire's elite troops. For the next decade, the empire lacked the strength to invade Lugunica again.