The sword Suzaku held at this moment was called the Commander's Sword, a special sword custom-made by the Seventh Expeditionary Force and issued to officers of Myriarch rank and above. The reason this sword was special was because it was not meant for killing enemies, but for killing one's own people!
This sword was forged from high-strength refined steel, making it extremely sharp but with very low durability; it would easily break upon colliding with enemy swords on the battlefield. However, this sword could easily tear through the black scale armor worn by the Seventh Expeditionary Force, which even some Imperial artifacts found difficult to break, because this sword was made precisely for that purpose.
"Thud."
Suzaku cleanly pulled out the Overseer's Sword from Xuela's heart, and an uncontrollable gush of blood erupted, its heat melting and staining the snow on the ground red, and also splattering onto Suzaku's pitch-black battle armor.
However, the battle armor, crafted from cold, sturdy Qilin armor plates, remained spotless; the droplets of blood that splattered on it slid down the edges of the armor due to gravity, dripping onto the ground.
Just like Suzaku's heart.
At this moment, Suzaku's eyes held no trace of sigh or pity for the girl lying on the ground, on the verge of death; she merely observed the dying person with a cold gaze, and unhurriedly took the inverted cross military emblem from Xuela's chest.
"You did not comprehend and remember the true meaning of the inverted cross; you are still seeking a righteous cause for war, and such a naive and innocent dream of military honor will sooner or later bring harm to everyone around you.
For questioning the Legion Commander's orders with such naive thoughts, you might as well die here."
Then, Suzaku stood up, waved the Overseer's Sword in her hand, and loudly declared to the warriors of the Seventh Expeditionary Force's First Myriad Cavalry Team who were gathered and waiting:
"Xuela, Vice Cavalry Commander of the Seventh Expeditionary Force's First Myriad Cavalry Team, questioned and delayed the execution of the Legion Commander's military order, violating the three iron laws of the Seventh Expeditionary Force.
She has now been executed by me.
Notify the entire army, and let this be a warning!"
"Yes!!!"
Just then, a heavenly cold current struck the last tent of the Foreign People, instantly freezing it completely, and then a figure plummeting from high altitude descended from the sky.
The frozen tent, along with the foreign civilians inside, shattered and scattered into the north wind, disappearing from the world as if they had never existed.
"Legion Commander!"
Rin's figure appeared from the swirling ice shards, with two children always by her side.
Rin's gaze fell upon Xuela, who was lying in the snow; the girl was already dead.
"I apologize, Legion Commander, it is due to my lax supervision that such an incident occurred.
Fortunately, this unstable element was removed before disaster struck."
"It has nothing to do with you, Suzaku; the Seventh Expeditionary Force has never forcibly twisted anyone's will."
Rin waved her hand, signaling to Suzaku, who was kneeling to apologize, that it was fine.
Rin had a clear understanding of everything that had just happened from the air.
Such a situation was not at all unexpected for Rin.
When a butcher's knife is raised against a weak group, it is also an internal interrogation for the powerful side.
At such times, whether one possesses a heart strong enough to control the body's power becomes particularly clear.
However, Xuela was clearly not in such a situation; she acted entirely because of her own choices.
She chose to join the Seventh Expeditionary Force for some reason of her own, and now she died because of her principles; that's all.
No one was wrong; it's just that she wasn't suited for this place.
"Suzaku, take your people and continue advancing to the next target.
We'll meet again before Ice Mountain City."
"As you command."
Suzaku mounted her horse and led the First Myriad Cavalry Team to the next target, continuing to advance north amidst thunderous roars.
After Suzaku and her people left, Rin and the two children remained, looking at Xuela's body.
Rin couldn't help but sigh a little in her heart; after all, she was a good girl and a good subordinate.
"It's just a pity that those with different paths cannot walk together."
Rin shook her head slightly, murmuring softly with a hint of regret.
At this point, Rin focused more of her attention on Najenda's and Esdeath's reactions.
Najenda's face clearly showed her sorrow; she and Xuela had been quite close back in Legion City, one could say they were kindred spirits.
Esdeath, on the other hand, showed more disdain; in her opinion, this woman's actions were utterly brainless and ignorant stupidity.
To violate a prohibition for the sake of the enemy, not dying on the battlefield fighting the enemy, but dying by her own people's sword for breaking a prohibition—what else was it but foolishness?
"Mama, what Xuela did, is it truly unforgivable, a matter of life and death?"
"Idiot Najenda, this foolish woman violated the rules Mama set.
Wanting to spare the enemy's life is absolutely not enough to atone for her death."
Najenda couldn't help but question Rin, but Esdeath started arguing with her first.
"Xuela was just upholding her duty and principles as a soldier.
As an Imperial soldier, she did nothing wrong!
What are you, a wild child who understands nothing, yelling about!"
"Najenda, you baka!
I don't understand what you mean by soldier's principles and duties, but I know that as Mama's subordinate, she didn't follow the rules Mama set.
If she can't even do that, then what's the point of talking about duty and principles?
If she wanted to defy Mama, she should at least have endured until she could one day defeat Mama.
Dying like an idiot under Mama's rules after shouting a few slogans—what is that if not foolishness?"
"No, no! That's not it at all..."
"You are, Najenda, baka, baka, baka..."
Rin watched the two children argue.
Rin didn't smile; she seemed to see the vastly different futures of the two children.
Even though Najenda was born and raised by Rin's side, she still longed for the purest soldier's spirit: the selflessness of a soldier, the duty of a soldier, the honor of a soldier.
These elements of a soldier, originally absent from the Seventh Expeditionary Force, somehow rubbed off on Najenda and began to sprout and grow within her.
As for Esdeath, who was born into the Barutes Tribe, she thrived in the Seventh Expeditionary Force's atmosphere of the strong preying on the weak and the powerful reigning supreme.
Her obedience and admiration for Rin's thoughts, views, and decisions reached an unparalleled degree, and every day she measured herself against Rin's every move, every word, vowing to become as strong as Rin.
At this moment, the two children, arguing and bickering incessantly, were like the two sides of a soldier's stance, light and shadow.
One fought for others, the other fought for herself.
Who was right and who was wrong, who could say?
In a trance, Rin seemed to see the scene of the two children growing up, going their separate ways, and eventually standing opposite each other, swords drawn.
Ah, no matter what, at this moment, as their mother, I should support the paths they choose.
No matter what the future holds, I will only respond with support, just as my mother supported my stubbornness back then...
Just as the two Little Ones were about to escalate from arguing to fighting, Rin suddenly reached out and simultaneously held down both Little Ones' hair.
With their little heads pressed down, they couldn't say a word or move.
"You two are always arguing.
Xuela is dead; in the face of death, any right or wrong, good or bad, no longer has meaning."
"Then Mama, who do you think is right between us?"
Little Esdeath, who was the most competitive, blurted out to Rin impatiently, and Rin smiled slightly, ruffled her hair, and said:
"So-called right and wrong are the most boring things in this world.
Right and wrong, good and bad, depend solely on the perspective of an existence.
A million people have a million standards of right and wrong; some are similar, some are opposite.
If you ask what is right, then as long as it is the answer you firmly believe in, it will definitely be right for you."
Rin subtly activated the power of the Essence of the Demon, and ice instantly froze Xuela's body, then shattered it into dust, scattering it between heaven and earth.
Xuela, who died for violating the Seventh Expeditionary Force's prohibitions, could not be brought back to Legion City to be buried with her family in the Seventh Expeditionary Force's cemetery.
Since she died protecting these innocent Northern Nomads, let her remain here and be with them forever.
In fact, perhaps Rin should be grateful for Xuela's appearance, because her death revealed the stances and paths of Najenda and Esdeath so clearly to Rin for the first time.
What dazzling sparks they would ignite in the future, Rin was vaguely looking forward to it...
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