Volume 7 Chapter 4 Part 10

「I’ll admit that you’ve gotten stronger after all the training you did. So fight bravely! 」

Mirza yelled, breathing heavily.

「You are weaker than you were when we first fought each other. 」

「What?! 」

Mirza’s face contorted in anger once again.

「It’s because the power of your Crest has declined. 」

It was obvious that Theo had no intention of provoking Milza with that statement. In the past, Milza held a Crest with power equivalent to that of a Viscount rank without sharing it with anyone else. That is because before he started serving Marine Kraische after he joined the Factory Alliance, he was only using the power of his Crest to increase his own strength.

Some time has passed since then, which means that naturally, the power of Milza’s Crest should have increased as well.

However, since he had to agree to join the peerage system in order to rule over the conquered Artuk properly, he had to distribute the power of his Crest among the many of his subordinates, who became his subordinate Lords. If only he didn’t do that, he would’ve still had the full power of his Crest to back him up, and with it, he would’ve been much stronger than he was when he fought against Theo in that sparring match in Halusia.

On the other hand, the power of Theo’s Crest has increased to an extent that cannot even begin to be compared to when he was just a Knight serving under Vilar Constance.

「If you want it so badly, then we can continue fighting, but I can see that you’re already starting to breathe hard. Your Crest might’ve helped you maintain your physical strength longer than usual, but you are about to reach your limit. 」

「STOP TALKING ANS START FIGHTING ALREADY!!! 」
Milza launched a series of frightening attacks in an attempt to deny Theo’s words. However, Theo managed to overcome all of them simply by staying calm.

「I don’t want to say that I won…but you’ve lost. None of your subordinates are able to fight anymore, and we’ve already captured your contracted Mage as well. 」

「Terius?! 」

Milza panicked and looked around. When he turned back, he saw Terius Willian covered in wounds and being held down against the ground by Emma and Luna.

Most of the other Dartanian warriors have been defeated, and the rest that didn’t die have thrown away their weapons and surrendered themselves to Theo’s forces.

「Theo! 」

Just then, the voice of Lassic David, King of Servis, rang out across the entire area.

「Earl of Sistina! 」

And right next to Lassic was the figure of Serge Constance, the Earl of Regalia. The two of them were pursuing Dartania’s army from the rear. The fact that they appeared here must mean that they managed to defeat the Dartanian army or that they suppressed them.

「Taking this bastard on in a duel… you’re crazy, you know that? 」

Lassic grinned, probably because he knew that the battle has already been won by them.

「I… I will never… lose… to you…!!! 」

However, the moment Milza said that, he stumbled and fell to the ground, and when he tried to get back up, he just couldn’t do it. All of his strength was completely exhausted at this point. His limbs were twitching and his whole body was sweating profusely, and his pupils were also dilated.

Theo slowly approached Milza and thrust the point of his sword against Milzar’s throat.

「You’re the one who asked for this, so let me ask you this to complete the procedure of the duel. Which is it going to be? Your Crest, or your life? 」

Theo called out to Milza without any emotion in his voice whatsoever.

「I will never beg for my life…! 」

「I see. 」

Theo then thrust his sword through Milza’s throat. Blood splashed and bubbles of blood gush from his mouth.

「Lord Milza! 」

The cries of the captured Dartanian warriors echoed around Theo’s camp

After a while, Milza’s Crest got shattered and a Chaos Core appeared in its place.

Theo bowed solemnly to it and then absorbed the Chaos Core into his own Crest.

「And so, the Crest of Earl Vilar Constance has finally been reclaimed. 」

Theo muttered, looking up at the sky blankly for a moment.

「That was wonderful, Lord Theo! 」

Everyone present saluted Theo.

「For now, let’s occupy Castle Unicorn. We have to prepare for an attack, because The Heavy Knights of Waldrind should still be on their way here. 」

Theo said with a worried face. After defeating Milza, he must be feeling an awful lot of emotions right now.

「If you keeps this momentum of yours up and defeat Marine Kraische next, then you should have a realistic chance of becoming an Emperor! 」

Lasik said excitedly, as if he had forgotten that he was a leader of the Artuk Treaty.

「I have no such ambitions. And the purpose of the Artuk Treaty was to defeat Milza and Dartania, so if I’m going to fight more, it’s not going to be to invade anyone, but to end the Great War. 」

「Ah, no, that’s not what I… 」

Even so, Lassic seemed a little disappointed.

「Lady Marine isn’t coming. 」

At that time, the Mage Terius Willian spoke up.

「Why? 」
Siluca finally came to her senses and looked at her former collegue.

「Ever since we came rushing in here, I left the resonance for Lord Aubest’s magic wand. It means that Lord Aubest has heard everything about what happened here. 」

Terius answered, giving Siluca a defiant look.

「Even though he hated Mages, Milza still trusted you with that… 」

「Don’t say that! Because of my wrong judgment, Lord Milza is now dead! 」

「In the end, yes, that’s how it is. 」

Siluca nodded. She could understand his regret.

「However, even I have made mistakes in judgment many times. I have pushed Lord Theo into a corner more than once. However, the path Lord Theo is walking on has always been perilous, but he must walk down this path, because it leads towards the future. 」

No matter how much a Mage racks their brain to come up with a plan, things won’t always go well. Siluca herself didn’t want to admit it, but in the end it all comes down to luck. And Theo had it.

「That’s right… I can no longer walk down Lord Milza’s path together with him… 」

Terius hanged his head in disappointment. Then he continued, staring at the ground.

「Can you give me some poison? I must have dropped mine somewhere. 」

「My adoptive father would probably want to pay ransom for you, since you’re part of Waldrind’s Magic Division. 」

Siluca said it, knowing what’s the result was going to be.

「At least let me choose the way I’ll die. 」

「……Understood. 」

Siluca looked back at Helga and nodded at her.

「There is something easy and something painful, which one do you choose? 」

Helga asked as she walked up to Terius.

「Is the easy one the poison that you were supposed to take back during the battle for Castle Unicorn? 」

「It is that one indeed. Should you decide to take it, you’ll be able to die relatively easily. It will still take some time for it to actually take effect though. 」

Helga answered as she extended her hand with a small vial of green liquid in it to Terius. He accepted it from her gratefully and didn’t think twice about downing its contents all at once. And just as Helga told him, the poison started taking effect moments later, causing Terius to fall down onto his stomach, where he lost consciousness soon after, never to wake up again.

Siluca bowed to him silently and then turned around. As she did that, Theo was right in front of her. Siluca was surprised to see him there to say the least, because she didn’t expect him to also be present, but as soon as she saw him, every emotion that she was bottling inside of herself until now came flooding out. She knew that she was now in public where everyone could see her, but she didn’t care about that anymore. She simply hugged Theo, and then she started crying loudly.

Theo gently put a hand on her head and stroked it.

「I’m… so glad… that you’re alive… but please, don’t ever, ever dare to do that again, you hear me?! 」

Siluca managed to squeeze out a weak voice out of her throat.

「Yes, I hear you loud and clear. Don’t worry, I will never do something like that again, because there’s no one else that I want to defeat right now. 」

Siluca then nodded weakly and turned away from Theo, keeping her head down so that he wouldn’t see her crying.

「Alright, let us be on our way then. 」

Theo put his hand on Siluca’s back and began to walk slowly together with her, beyond where the appearance of a magnificent Castle Unicorn was sprawling out before them.