Two forces collided: a blue sword energy and a silver-colored mana.

It was the power of Aryandor and Rudy clashing.

Astina watched the scene.

"Rudy's power..."

Rudy's mana pierced through Aryandor's sword energy. It was much stronger than Aryandor's attack.

"Has he grown this much in a month? No..."

Even though Rudy's power had increased, such strength seemed impossible.

His opponent was Aryandor. Astina, having seen his power firsthand, sensed something was off. Rudy's newfound strength couldn't possibly overwhelm Aryandor to this extent.

"Is Aryandor's power weaker?"

Not only had Rudy become stronger, but Aryandor's power also seemed weaker from before.

Astina wasn't the only one feeling this way.

"Aryandor?"

Daemon too was shocked by the scene.

Aryandor was being overpowered by Rudy, which made no sense.

Rudy was dangerous not because he could beat Aryandor but because he could block Aryandor's time magic.

Everyone thought Aryandor was originally the stronger one. This situation was abnormal.

Aryandor's power was weaker than usual, despite him sustaining no injuries for a month. There was no reason for his power to suddenly decline.

Was he deliberately holding back? That too made no sense.

Taking Rudy's attack head-on would harm both the soldiers around and Aryandor himself.

Ignoring the attack just to save some strength was foolish.

"What's happening here..."

Daemon, bewildered, snapped back to reality.

"We need to block the attack."

If Aryandor's attack failed, Rudy's would engulf the surroundings, harming both the soldiers and Aryandor.

Daemon reached out, attempting to manipulate mana, when a man burst forth from behind Aryandor.

"Royal swordsmanship, Half Moon."

The man, wielding a large greatsword, pushed back Rudy's attack. It was Venderwood.

After blocking Rudy's attack, Venderwood approached Aryandor.

"Aryandor, are you alright?"

"Yes, thanks to you."

Rudy landed and looked at Venderwood and Aryandor.

"?"

Rudy tilted his head, confused.

Everyone felt something was off, but Rudy, who had launched the attack, felt it most acutely.

His attack wasn't that strong. Aryandor should have easily countered it.

In previous fights with Aryandor, Rudy felt like he was up against an insurmountable wall. Despite attempting attacks and counters with powerful techniques, Rudy never felt he could win.

But this Aryandor was different.

He was just ordinary.

I couldn't feel Aryandor's unique aura.

Rudy thought of something.

Two Aryandors.

It was a conversation he had with Astina.

"How could Aryandor be in two places at once, with both the advance party and the main force?"

Then, Aryandor drew his sword.

"Royal swordsmanship, Full Moon."

Rudy clenched his fist.

Aryandor's golden sword energy flew toward him. It was weak.

"Ah!"

Rudy exploded with mana, pushing away Aryandor's sword energy, and charged in.

"Block him!"

As Rudy rushed toward Aryandor, the surrounding soldiers tried to stop him.

"Priscilla, Behemoth."

"A summon!"

"Block him! We have to stop him!"

As the soldiers moved, Rudy spoke again.

"Behemoth, return to your original size."

"Puu~."

Boom─

"Ah...?"

"What is that?"

With Rudy's words, Behemoth's body grew larger.

Its body was big enough to rival that of an original dragon.

A giant elephant appeared on the battlefield.

"Run away!"

"No! Block it! We must block it!"

The soldiers were in total disarray, unable to even think of stopping Rudy.

In that chaos, Rudy only looked at Aryandor.

"Ah..."

Rudy again filled his hand with mana and looked ahead.

As he was about to punch Aryandor, Venderwood appeared by Aryandor's side.

"Move."

"You can't get through."

After a brief exchange, Rudy manipulated mana.

"Spatial Severance."

"!"

Spatial Severance was a technique that required casting time.

It was an easy technique to avoid.

But the Spatial Severance happening right in front of them now was unavoidable.

Several rifts formed around Venderwood.

Under normal circumstances, Venderwood could have avoided them, but his injuries were too severe to escape this attack.

"Cough..."

Rudy quickly overcame Venderwood and headed toward Aryandor behind him.

"Aryandor."

"Come on, then."

Aryandor, standing behind, smiled and directed his sword at Rudy.

Aryandor's sword energy and Rudy's punch swung at each other.

Boom!!!

The collision of sword energy and mana caused an explosion.

The sand on the ground was blown away, creating a dust storm.

As visibility was obscured, Rudy spoke.

"Lich."

Clink, clink.

Suddenly, the sound of chains.

Behind Aryandor, a demon wrapped in chains and holding a giant scythe appeared.

The demon quickly moved the chains.

The chains moved towards Aryandor, attempting to bind him.

"Swing the White Sword."

The sword swung as if it split into dozens of blades.

The sword energy, enveloped in dozens of swords, cut through all the chains surrounding Aryandor, who then looked at Rudy in front of him.

"Royal swordsmanship..."

And as he was about to swing his sword,

Rudy asked,

"Who are you?"

As soon as Aryandor heard Rudy's words, he swung his sword.

"Quick Blade."

Aryandor's swiftly moving sword grazed Rudy's cheek.

Seeing this, Aryandor, with a sneer, said to Rudy,

"Do you not even know who's standing in front of you?"

Rudy gestured towards Aryandor with his chin.

"Take a look at your legs and tell me."

Aryandor looked down.

The armor around Aryandor's legs was slightly damaged.

That part of the leg...

Should have been where Aryandor's prosthetic leg was, yet there was a perfectly intact leg there.

"When did it get broken?"

"Well, I guess you don't need to answer that."

Rudy turned around and shouted loudly,

"Astina!!!"

Startled by the sudden shout, Astina's eyes widened.

Before she could respond, Rudy shouted again,

"It's a trap!!!"

"What?"

As Rudy shouted, Aryandor charged at him.

At the same time, he said,

"Help Venderwood."

"Understood."

Simultaneously, two people rushed at Rudy.

Seeing this, Astina moved quickly.

"Help Rudy!"

Astina shouted as she tried to move.

But someone moved before her.

"Rudy Astria!!"

Cromwell flew down from above towards Rudy.

"Gravity."

Cromwell pressed down both Aryandor and Venderwood at the same time.

"Ugh..."

"Go, Rudy. I'll take care of this."

Rudy nodded to Cromwell, who had come to his aid.

"Please."

Rudy left Cromwell in charge and retreated.

"Rudy! What's happening?"

"I must go ahead."

"What do you mean? Where are you going?"

"To the Academy. I need to go to the Academy."

"What?"

Astina looked at Rudy with surprise, then clenched her mouth tightly.

"Alright. I understand."

Astina nodded without asking for any explanations.

There was no reason to hold him back when he was so insistent.

"Then we'll take care of things here."

"Are you sure you can?"

"Who do you think I am?"

Astina said with a smile.

It was a more reassuring smile than ever before.

"Thank you."

"Thankful? Please."

Rudy said as he hugged Astina.

"Ru, Rudy?"

Astina's eyes widened in surprise at the sudden embrace on the battlefield.

"What is this? This is war..."

Rudy released Astina, who was stammering with laughter, from his embrace.

Astina, her face flushed red, couldn't hide her flustered expression and blankly stared at Rudy.

"I'll see you after this is all over. Take care. I won't let it go if you get hurt."

Leaving Astina behind, Rudy immediately moved on.

"..."

Astina blankly looked in the direction Rudy disappeared to and then smiled warmly.

"Don't you get hurt either."

Muttering to herself, Astina turned around.

Behind her were countless troops.

Astina reached out to the sky.

From her hand, a small flame burst forth and exploded in the sky, signaling like a flare.

It was part of the plan prepared by Cromwell and Astina.

They were meant to be the last resort, but she decided to call them a bit early.

After sending the signal, Astina stepped forward.

"Then, I should make my move too."

Bang!

A firework exploded in the distance.

Someone was watching it.

"Isn't it a bit early?"

"Problems happen in war all the time."

"Why should I, a princess, have to follow orders?"

"In a war, there are no princesses. Just individuals."

"You're talking back a lot more than usual?"

"..."

"Fine. Let's just do as we're told."

The woman who spoke was Rie Von Ristonia, the Empire's first princess.

And the man following her was Locke Lucarion, the guardian of the north from the Lucarion family.

"Let's go!"

At Rie's command, the soldiers behind her moved to follow her.