"Nolan really is impressive now!" Finlay exclaimed with a bright smile as she followed behind the red-haired Demigod.
"I heard he's already hunted down a Demigod. The Golden-Blooded one, Godrick!"
Hearing this, Leda quickly glanced up at Finlay, but said nothing.
She knew very well that not everyone could be as close to Demigods as Finlay was.
To build that kind of relationship with a Demigod, the most basic requirement was the standing to look one in the eye.
Finlay had brought the Haligtree Army back from the Altus Plateau while surrounded by the allied armies of the feudal lords. It was an extraordinary feat, one that had shown the world the valor of the Haligtree's mightiest knight.
Leda asked herself honestly whether she could have done something so absurd, and the answer was no.
What Malenia had done in Leyndell had truly drawn everyone's anger. The commanders of several great armies had all been badly wounded because of her reckless and irresponsible actions.
The entire Altus Plateau had nearly fallen because of it.
Among those champions who used valor and mercy as their weapons and strode across the world, who would not want to cut off the head of the sinner who had nearly caused such a catastrophe?
It was said that traces of Scarlet Rot still remained in the Royal Palace of Leyndell, and because of that, Malenia had become a demon-like figure in the eyes of the people of that land.
The grievously guilty Valkyrie raised her head to look at the sky, without the slightest hint of remorse on her face.
That great battle had ended anticlimactically. In the end, the only ones truly injured were the Demigods and champions who had been close to the battlefield. Perhaps only if an irreversible tragedy had truly happened would she have felt regret.
Besides, Malenia understood that she only needed to be a blade, and a blade was cold. It had no need for tenderness.
She only needed to know where to strike, then be stained red with blood. She did not need to know whether the things she cut open felt pain.
Malenia always told herself that, so she simply gazed at the bright stars above, standing cold and sharp before the knights with her eyes lowered.
"Godrick's death was inevitable. Even without Nolan, he would have died at someone else's hands. Weakness is the original sin," Malenia said.
"Your Highness is right. As long as that Great Rune was still in his frail hands, death would always be at his side," Finlay said, scratching her head.
She did not argue with the judgment that Godrick was weak. She also could not imagine how Godrick could possibly win in this war between feudal lords.
Godrick being eliminated from this war was exactly what everyone had expected.
"But he should have died much earlier at the hands of my knight," Malenia said lightly, as if it were nothing difficult, but as simple as breathing.
"The Crucible Knight... The champions who followed Lord Godfrey into battle really are something. I didn't expect such a powerful warrior to be following His Highness," Finlay said with a shrug.
She was confident that, with her strength, she could cut that Crucible Knight down. The problem was that he refused to fight her to the death, and the most shameless part was that the man could fly.
It was far too hard for someone on the ground to chase something flying in the sky.
"You should have been punished for failing your mission, but considering your great merit in the Battle of Leyndell, your merits and faults will cancel each other out." Malenia walked on without looking back.
For the rest of the way, Finlay and Leda silently followed behind Malenia, watching as the Valkyrie climbed the city wall and looked down over the entire Holy City.
Her elder brother and sister were gone, and that man was gone as well. This city was the last thing left by her side.
Of course, it was not only a lonely city. There were also the knights and soldiers behind her, and the people below, all looking up at the Valkyrie's bearing.
"They're here," Malenia said softly. "Prepare for battle."
Finlay and Leda exchanged a glance, then raised their heads and followed the Demigod's gaze, quickly looking toward the far reaches of the sky.
A group of massive winged creatures soared through the air. Finlay reached for her war spear and scythe.
She wore no helmet. Her bright red hair and golden armor set each other off, and her hawk-like eyes looked into the distance.
The whole world suddenly seemed vast and empty. Aside from the dense rush of wind and the sound of waves striking toward them, there was nothing else.
Those sounds echoed by her ears, so clear that it felt almost unfamiliar, yet the vision shrouded in darkness made everything seem unreal.
"Flying Dragons? Has Borealis gone over to Leyndell?" Leda narrowed her eyes and stared.
"It isn't him. These Flying Dragons are too small. That dragon isn't among them," Finlay said with a frown.
There were not many Flying Dragons Finlay remembered, but Borealis happened to be one of them.
The legend of that creature single-handedly fighting the entire race of giants was widely known across the Consecrated Snowfield, and he was also one of the potential threats to the Haligtree in the surrounding region.
After all, in most people's eyes, Flying Dragons were just beasts with some intelligence. Who knew whether one of them might lose its mind one day and come rampaging through the Haligtree?
Malenia noticed an extremely faint speck of firelight. It was so dim that, at first glance, it could easily be mistaken for a firefly.
But if it looked like a firefly from across the sea, then up close it had to be some kind of bright light source.
Like a Bonfire in the wild. Nolan seemed to have said that Bonfires could even bring people back to life.
At that thought, Malenia could not help giving a self-mocking smile. How could a Bonfire bring someone back to life? That man really did love lying, and the stupidest part was that she still remembered it even now.
In the vast night sky above the sea, that firelight slowly rose, like a swaying candle or a lonely lamp.
It looked so solitary as it climbed upward without pause.
Yet it did not seem lonely after all. Behind it, thousands upon thousands of flames rose from the darkness over the sea.
Sparks rode the wind into the high sky, and after reaching a certain height, they hung suspended there.
The clouds were still heavy, but the sky looked as if a river of stars had fallen from above. Beneath that starry river stood the man gazing into the distance, his white armor flawless as a polished mirror.
"...Now that's an entrance," Finlay murmured, slowly letting go.
Her heart began to race, not because of his appearance, but because of his presence.
That man's aura filled the sea and sky. Standing in the dark of night, he was like the rising sun.
Nolan. It really was Nolan.
She did not have Nolan's ruthless eye, the kind that could see through another person's strength or weakness at a glance.
But that presence, the kind that made people want to look up at him, did not require any special insight to feel. That man had always been like this, catching people's hearts without even meaning to.
Nolan's lips curved faintly as he looked down over Elphael, as though the scattered lights below were more beautiful than the sky full of open flame.
Behind him, thousands of soldiers traveled alongside Flying Dragons. Scorching red light flowed across heavy armor and scales. The King had returned with thousands of troops at his back.
That army drew closer, and on the high walls of Elphael, the Haligtree Knights had already finished forming ranks.
Soldiers held torches and set up heavy ballistae, their bolts aimed at the sky. A single heavy bolt was enough to shoot down a Flying Dragon.
Behind them stood a spear-throwing formation made up of knights. In their hands, war spears and long spears were no different from heavy crossbows.
"Now he finally looks a little like a Lord," Malenia said softly.
What did it matter if he had the right presence before? Without strength, he was only a clown on a stage for others to laugh at. The one who cut off the heads of traitors with a sword was the true Lord.
"Open the gates. Let them in."
Malenia took one last look at that man, and at the little girl on his back waving to her, then turned straight toward the city gates, her steps growing faster and faster.