"Ugh..."

"Professor Gracie, are you conscious?"

Gracie slowly opened her eyes in response to my question.

"Where is this..."

She regained consciousness while tossing and turning.

"...Huh? Rudy Astria?"

I was surprised to see Gracie opening her eyes wide.

Then, she looked around.

"Did I fall asleep while writing a paper? I think I had a strange dream... Something about Aryandor standing in front of me..."

"It's not a dream. You're fine, considering you're talking nonsense."

"Eh?"

Cromwell let out a sigh of relief seeing Gracie like this.

"Good. You're alright."

Astina looked at us with a dumbfounded expression.

"...You call this being alright?"

Gracie widened her eyes at Astina standing in front of her.

"If this isn't a dream... No, why is Astina here...?"

Cromwell slowly began to speak.

"Astina just arrived. The Royal Army came to check on your condition briefly."

"The Royal Army has arrived... But how did I..."

Gracie had received a severe sword wound in the middle of the battlefield.

Right in front of Aryandor, the enemy leader, no less.

In a normal situation, she wouldn't have been able to retreat and would have faced death.

Gracie looked puzzled, as if none of this made sense to her.

"I had a talk with Aryandor."

"Did you make some kind of contract? How did you..."

"I don't know. It was Aryandor who made that proposal."

We couldn't understand it either.

About a day had passed since that battle.

The Academy managed to fend off the enemy without losing any soldiers, allowing them to catch their breath.

However, many questions remained.

Clearly, the battle would have been advantageous for the rebels.

Yet, they didn't push on.

They even gave the Royal Army time to join forces with the Academy.

"Let's withdraw now. Professor Gracie should rest as well."

"Are you leaving?"

Gracie tried to get up at Astina's words.

"Ouch!"

She immediately clutched her stomach and fell back onto the bed.

"Are you okay?"

"Ugh..."

Cromwell then spoke to Gracie.

"Gracie, you can rest. You're not in a condition to get up."

"But..."

"It's okay. You've done what you could. You can rest now."

Gracie bit her lip and nodded at Cromwell's words.

Leaving Gracie behind, we left the tent where she was staying.

Astina looked around and asked Cromwell.

"What's the situation now?"

"It's practically impossible to lose now. The Royal Army has arrived, and we're hearing news of victories from the Empire's outskirts."

The nobles who had rebelled at the Empire's outskirts were being dealt with decisively by Ian's forces.

"It won't be long before Ian can join us on this front."

"With Rudy here, Aryandor's time magic shouldn't be a big problem either."

Cromwell pointed at me, standing next to him.

"What the hell are they thinking?"

"I have no idea. It would be comforting to think of them as a ragtag bunch, but they must have some sort of plan."

Cromwell pointed towards the direction where the rebels had set their formation.

The rebels, positioned a distance away from the canyon, did not make a single move.

Even though the main force of the rebels had not yet arrived, their lack of movement was strange.

"It feels like they're waiting for the Royal Army."

Cromwell nodded in agreement.

"Indeed. Though I have no clue what they're thinking."

Cromwell and Astina fell into silence, lost in thought. I opened my mouth towards the two of them.

"Let's focus on doing our best for now. Just in case, let's also keep an eye on our rear."

The sanctuary Haruna showed us.

We needed to be cautious about that place, just in case.

After all, that was the bastard's target.

"Understood. For now, I'll inform the professors about the rear. We'll decide on our next steps once the battle starts. If Aryandor does not show up on the battlefield, Rudy and the troops will focus more on that side. If he does, we'll concentrate on the front."

"Understood."

"Aryandor was with the main force?"

I frowned and looked at Astina.

"Yes, Aryandor never left that spot."

"Are you saying there are two Aryandors?"

"I don't know. What we saw could have been a double or perhaps an illusion created by magic."

It was hard to believe it was just an illusion.

Surely, the Royal Army would have used magic to verify the authenticity of Aryandor's presence, monitoring him closely.

They could have set up the main force as an illusion and attacked from another location.

Now that I think about it, it was a bit strange.

If Aryandor moved from the main force to the vanguard, how?

Even using magic, it's impossible to announce every move during battle.

Especially since there was no one at that location capable of using such magic.

Only an army made up of undead was there.

"Using a double for oneself..."

If they had placed a double in the main force to execute some plan, they should have done it long ago.

But Aryandor didn't do that.

Instead, they backed off.

"There's no way to find out anything now..."

"Let's do what we can, as I said earlier. What's the use of worrying about something we can't find the answer to?"

I smiled, and Astina let out a chuckle.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's do what we have to do."

Astina and I said this as we walked above the canyon.

"Aryandor was?"

"Yes."

Compared to the Royal Army, the rebels, who joined the vanguard late, were organizing their ranks.

Meanwhile, Daemon went to find Venderwood, who was resting.

Venderwood had not healed all his wounds, but he had managed to pull himself together.

"Aryandor was with me the whole time. But what do you mean by that?"

"I saw him use time magic and wield a sword."

"Does that mean the Aryandor outside is a fake?"

At Venderwood's words, Daemon ran his hand through his hair.

To this, Venderwood calmly responded.

"I'm just telling you what I saw."

With that, Daemon had nothing to say.

Venderwood was always a stoic person.

He's someone who completely trusts Aryandor without any doubt.

If ordered to die, he would die; if ordered to live, he would live.

Being a slave originally, that mentality was deeply ingrained in him.

"Putting that aside, how are you feeling? Can you fight?"

"I can't fight properly, but I can still move."

"The upcoming battle will be all-out. Can you hold your ground there?"

"I will."

Daemon closed his mouth at the response 'I will' instead of 'I can'.

Venderwood's condition was not normal.

Although Daemon didn't particularly like Venderwood, it was a fact that his strength was beneficial to the rebels.

Losing such a force right before a total war would be devastating.

"I've never asked you for anything, but I'll ask you this one thing."

Daemon reached out his hand to Venderwood, who was sitting.

"Will you fight... until the end?"

Venderwood stared at Daemon's hand, then grabbed it and stood up.

"There's no need to ask that. Just command, and I will act."

"Thank you."

There were many questions about Aryandor, but now they were facing a major battle.

No matter how suspicious Aryandor was, facing the Royal Army was the priority.

In that sense, Venderwood's words were incredibly reassuring.

"Daemon."

At that moment, Aryandor entered the tent where Venderwood and Daemon were.

Aryandor was fully dressed in full plate armor, ready for battle.

"Let's start moving now."

"Understood."

As they stepped outside the tent, countless soldiers, armed and ready, were waiting.

Undead and many people.

It's unknown how many of these people will survive.

The force might be insufficient to break through the canyon guarded by the Academy.

Yet, they had to go.

Only by breaking through there could they win.

Despite his doubts about Aryandor, he was still the only key that could lead them to victory.

If he reaches the Academy, they can win, so they had no choice but to move forward.

Daemon looked at Aryandor.

They had fought and won many battles together, defeating corrupt nobles and rescuing the oppressed people under them.

So, this time too.

He would willingly sacrifice his own life if needed.

He hoped to bring victory to the people in front of them.

"Aryandor. Shall we go?"

Daemon did not ask about what Venderwood had said.

What's the point of asking now?

They hadn't talked about it on the way here either.

They had decided to trust and follow Aryandor for this battle.

So, there was no need to raise any objections.

"Yes, then."

Aryandor put on the helmet set beside him.

Then he walked forward, through the soldiers.

"Let's go."