“Hahaha! I’m alive! I’m alive!”

“I am innocent! Please believe me!”

“Fuck off! I was here first!!”

The situation inside Justitia was truly a cauldron of chaos.

Those who received a “not guilty” verdict rejoiced at the ring of light that appeared above their heads, while those who didn’t clamored to get the proof as quickly as possible.

Of course, not everyone was swept up in this situation.

“Everyone, come to your senses! Those bastards are playing tricks on us right now!”

“Arbitrarily passing judgment and throwing out pardons as if it’s mercy! Do you really think this is right?”

“In the end, isn’t this just a ploy to extort money?”

“Don’t be a sucker! How many people are in this city? If we all rush them together, what can the lord or guards do!?”

There were certainly those who were dissatisfied with Justitia’s coercive and one-sided attitude and tried to respond to it.

However, their voices did not become mainstream.

Slash!

“Kuhek!”

“O’ Scale, pass judgment on those who refuse to be tried.”

When emerald trajectories embroidered the air and red blood gushed forth, any voices of dissent had no choice but to be silenced.

After all, those with severed necks could not speak.

“Too cruel…”

Adelaide, seeing this sight, couldn’t continue speaking.

Although she had seen simple fights and bloodshed many times before, what was unfolding before her eyes was closer to a massacre than a struggle.

All resistance trying to confront the guards with force was crushed without a trace before the emerald energy.

Just as Adelaide, unable to watch anymore, was about to grasp her sword and step forward, people wearing masks similar to Adelaide’s approached her.

“I understand how you feel, but not now—wait.”

Adelaide, who was about to call out Maris’ name unconsciously, quickly closed her mouth after seeing the gestures of those around her.

She had been cautioned several times not to call each other’s real names during the operation, but she momentarily forgot due to the shock of what was happening before her eyes.

Maris, as if understanding Adelaide’s state, lightly patted her shoulder and said, “The operation failed. My thoughts were shallow. If I had known it would be like this, I shouldn’t have involved you.”

Adelaide shook her head.

“No, I’m not just involved. I did this together because I wanted compensation, too.”

“Hmm.”

Maris hesitated to speak.

Although her expression couldn’t be seen due to the mask, it was a strange reaction that seemed both admiring and disappointed.

If it were the usual Adelaide, she might have been flustered, thinking she had offended the other party, but not now.

Adelaide looked at Maris and the people gathered around and said, “Tell me what needs to be done.”

“…I can’t treat you like a child anymore. We’re going to strike the lord. I wanted to avoid direct confrontation if possible, but given how the other side has acted, we have to strike back.”

“Are you going to cut him down?”

“The goal is to subdue him and make him spill information about this situation, but it won’t be easy. If it’s not feasible, just do it.”

To minimize unnecessary conflicts, the movement to the square was done via building rooftops.

It wasn’t easy to move between buildings of varying heights and shapes separated by wide gaps, but as they were the elites of Lennart, not a single person fell behind.

And finally, the square in the city center came into view.

Contrary to expectations that it would be incredibly crowded, the square was surprisingly sparse.

More precisely, while people were swarming around the square, they couldn’t approach beyond the soldiers standing guard surrounding the emerald scale.

The lord stood in front of the scale—his face so utterly peaceful, it was hard to believe he was the one who had caused this situation.

Thud!

Jumping over the heads of the crowd gathered like a donut ring, ten shadows rushed into the square.

“Stop them! Intruders!”

The soldiers guarding the square stood in the way of the Lennart side personnel.

Emerald energy rose high, and in response, golden mana enveloped the weapons of the Lion Duke’s bloodline.

Swoosh!

Flashes crossed, and the Lennart swords one-sidedly cut down the guards.

It couldn’t be helped. The ten in the execution team were outstanding elites even within the family.

If their attacks were blocked by weapons wielded by mere domain guards, it would truly be a disgrace.

The golden sword strikes cut off the soldiers’ necks without a single exception.

The only issue?

Clang!

Despite clearly striking the neck with a sword, not only did blood not gush out, but their swords were repelled.

Disbelief and doubt filled the eyes of the bloodline members, while conviction and faith rose in the eyes of the guards.

Basanio, a member of the Justitia guard, surrendered himself to the sense of omnipotence boiling deep within his body and shouted, “Oh, Great One in the heavens!”

Fellow guards, also full of morale, responded to Basanio.

“He protects us!”

“Defeat the evil ones!”

“For the holy land of Justitia!”

“Kuheouk!”

“…?”

When something strange interjected itself into the self-indulgent lines they were all shouting, Basanio’s gaze momentarily slid sideways.

There was a fellow soldier rolling on the ground with his body bent into a shape.

And beside him, a particularly small masked figure grasping a large two-handed sword rushed straight towards him—

– Thud!

With an impact heavy enough to be felt through the air, Basanio’s body flew through the air.

At the sight that looked as if he had been hit by a carriage running at full speed, the guards’ gazes wavered.

It was a gap that should never have been shown during battle, especially in front of the Lion Duke’s bloodline.

No matter how intensely they were protected by power, the basic structure of the human body didn’t change.

Shaking the brain through the jaw, striking behind the knees to lose balance, using the force of counterattacks to slam them to the ground—the guards rolled on the ground before numerous techniques.

“N-no! Stop them!”

“Protect the lord!”

After that, a fierce melee unfolded.

The number of guards protecting the square was about 50.

A difference in numbers of about 5 times wouldn’t normally be a problem for the Lion Duke’s bloodline, but the issue was the emerald light surrounding the guards’ bodies.

Clang!

The irrationality of striking bare skin, not even armor, with a mana-infused sword only to have the sword bounce back.

By putting all the momentum of their body and honing sword energy to the extreme, it was somewhat possible to cut through cloth, but even this wasn’t easy.

Big attacks required big movements, and big movements inevitably created big openings.

If the opponent were a stationary scarecrow it might be different, but continuously unleashing “full-power attacks” while surrounded by multiple enemies trying to kill one with swords was quite a high-difficulty task.

Moreover, the opponents weren’t just hard.

“Hrup!”

A soldier who lost balance due to the Lennart side’s intricate swordsmanship thrust out his spear even as his posture crumbled.

A strike from a sloppy posture, without proper power or speed behind it.

Shuk!

But the moment that attack touched the bloodline member’s thigh, the flesh split open and blood gushed out in an instant, completely ignoring the leather armor overlaid with mana.

The bloodline member who received the attack immediately readjusted their posture and struck the opponent’s wrist to make them drop the spear, but the wound that had once appeared did not disappear.

Maris von Lennart frowned.

In terms of combat technique, the guards were no match for them.

Weapon skills, physical abilities, mana handling techniques, cooperation with allies—everything was superior on the Lennart side.

The problem was that light.

That emerald energy was making everything go awry.

The guards who could have been subdued with a single strike normally now required several full-power attacks, and even a graze from an opponent’s attack that they should have been able to receive leisurely now meant preparing for a fatal wound.

The skill of the Justitia guards is at best mid to upper-middle level compared to the imperial army. They’ve been enhanced to the point where they can engage in close combat with our bloodline?

It was a fact that went beyond strangeness to give a hint of chilliness.

If this were possible without any conditions and unlimited, it meant the Kingdom of Heaven could transform even nearby bandit groups into top-tier armies.

However, the name Lennart was no empty title.

While facing overwhelming offensive and defensive power, they knocked down the guards one by one, opening a path towards the lord.

Thud!

Among them, Adelaide’s performance was particularly outstanding.

It wasn’t that she was particularly stronger than the other bloodline members…

Rather, in terms of technique alone, she was somewhat lacking compared to the bloodline members gathered here.

Yet, there were two reasons why she could perform well.

One was the overwhelming brute strength bestowed by the Belt of Amaryllis.

The defensive power brought by the emerald light was undoubtedly powerful, but the power of each of Adelaide’s strikes were no less ferocious.

And the other was her ability to dodge, which was marvelous to the point of being miraculous.

Even amidst the relentless barrage of multiple attacks, the way she avoided them all without even looking seemed almost like a dance.

While feeling reassured by such an Adelaide as an ally, the Lennart side people couldn’t help but inwardly question.

Such ability couldn’t be cultivated without tremendous amounts of actual combat or brutal training close to actual combat, so where on earth did she learn it?

“Kuhek!”

In what felt like a very long time, but in reality was not even a few minutes, the guards’ formation began to crumble.

Just when it seemed like the path to the lord would open if they pushed a little more, the lord, who had been silent all along, stepped forward.

“To think you would try to deny a fair and just judgment, your sins are truly heavy.”

A faint white light began to leak from the lord.

At first, it was just light enveloping the lord’s body, but when the lord injected it into the scale, a dramatic reaction occurred.

Flash!

The lord’s holy power and the scale’s emerald energy blended together, amplifying its size dozens of times.

“Executioners. Be not afraid. The righteous law of heaven shall be with you.”

When the energy that spread out like ripples touched their bodies, the guards’ wounds healed rapidly.

Not only those who were fighting originally, but even the soldiers who had collapsed on the ground began to rise one by one.

“Oh, ooh!”

“What the…”

The guards’ faces were dyed with cheers, while the faces hidden behind masks of the bloodline members twisted as if they had bitten into a bug.

It couldn’t be helped, as after struggling to whittle down the enemy forces, they were back to square one.

Anguish filled Maris’ eyes.

Should we retreat?

The bloodline members still had strength left.

While there were minor injuries, not a single person had fallen, and they still had stamina and mana left.

The problem was that if the opponent kept recovering the soldiers like this, there was no answer for them.

Even if they wanted to ignore the soldiers and aim directly for the lord, it was impossible as the soldiers blocked the way with madness gleaming in their eyes.

A war of attrition where the opponent’s limits were unknown.

While they could still retreat now, even that might become unclear later.

Is it right to keep charging into a fight without even knowing the exact odds of winning? Isn’t it better to retreat while we still have strength and reassess the situation?

But even if we retreat now, do we have any other breakthrough measures? If we can’t capture the lord, won’t we just be slowly eaten away while trapped in the city?

As Maris was agonizing between these two different propositions, it happened.

“Huh?”

Adelaide, who had been fighting well until now, suddenly became distracted and froze blankly.

The guards rushed in, seizing this gap.

Just as other bloodline members were about to move to protect Adelaide, something fell into the square.

No, it plunged down.

Thud!

A sound like the creepy rupturing noise that occurred during a fall from height, but amplified several times, rang out.

A large sack used for storing grains rolled on the ground and then went limp.

As everyone was frozen by this sudden strange occurrence.

The sack wriggled, and then something popped out from inside.

Pure white.

It was a hand so white it seemed devoid of any blood.

Next was green hair, and then clothing that was modest but slightly insufficient to completely hide a striking figure was revealed.

And finally.

The woman who fully revealed herself looked around at those staring at her with astonished eyes and said, “Oh my, everyone’s gathered. Is there some kind of party?”

***

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