The first ray of dawn slowly filtered in from the east, finally revealing the scene within the battlefield to everyone's eyes.
The once pristine white snow was now completely stained crimson by fresh blood, and the stain continued to expand at an extreme speed. After all...
The blood from the corpses had not yet run dry.
The surrounding soldiers under the Prince's name, despite wearing heavy armor, felt as if their bodies were frozen solid. They were utterly unable to shift their gaze from the center of the battlefield, simply because a young girl stood there...
A beautiful woman naturally attracts the attention of countless men, but that sentiment clearly did not apply here. After all, the woman in the center of the battlefield had just accomplished a staggering feat.
With only a pair of swords and her own strength, she had completely crushed the sixty-thousand-strong army sent by the nobles to intercept and kill Prince Numa Seika!
As the sun rose, the surrounding soldiers discovered an even more terrifying fact...
There was no blood on her body!
On a battlefield, whether killing or being killed, one would more or less be left with some blood—whether their own or a splash from the enemy. There would always be "traces" of combat.
But Hysilens was entirely different. Relying on her superlative combat techniques, after slaughtering sixty thousand enemy troops with absolute power, there wasn't a single bloodstain on her besides the scarlet hue on the edges of her blades!
"What a beautiful and powerful person..."
After a soldier sighed in admiration, the weapon in his hand slowly fell to the ground, letting out a crisp clang that was exceptionally distinct in the silence of the snowy field.
This sound snapped the others out of their daze. They began to lower their weapons and raise their hands...
Of course, they did not do this to surrender, but to cheer!
If not for this powerful girl, every single one of them would likely have lost their lives last night; they never would have seen this morning's sun.
Thus, the soldiers used every ounce of strength in their bodies to cheer for the victory of the battle.
Whether it was the army under Numa Seika or the thousand-strong force brought by Hysilens, everyone wore expressions of excitement.
However, among these people, only three did not smile...
Merraid.
Taeko.
Chelsea.
As former partners of the Imperial Revolutionary Army and now captives of Cerydra, the faces of these three held nothing but gravity.
"Sister Merraid..."
"What is it?"
The silent Taeko suddenly spoke, immediately drawing the attention of Chelsea and Merraid. The girl kept her head low, her eyes revealing endless confusion.
"Among the people you know, is there anyone as strong as Hysilens? If the Revolutionary Army faced her, could they win?"
These words were like a heavy hammer smashing into Merraid's heart. The moment the question was asked, countless figures flashed through Merraid's mind.
There were members of the Revolutionary Army, people from the Empire, and countless experts who had appeared across the continent... finally, her thoughts stopped on the faces of a select few.
"Yes!"
Merraid nodded vigorously, as if using the action to tell Taeko and Chelsea that she had already thought of people who could deal with her.
"Whether it is the Empire or the Revolutionary Army, there are powerful Teigu users! If those Teigu users take action, even someone as strong as Hysilens... would not escape unscathed!"
Merraid originally wanted to say 'even someone as strong as Hysilens would definitely die,' but when the words reached her lips, she found herself unable to spit them out. In the end, she could only settle for 'not escape unscathed.'
"Hysilens isn't a Teigu user. If she becomes one, is there any possibility left of us defeating her?"
As Taeko posed the question again, Merraid fell into a rare silence. Her previous statement was predicated on the condition that Hysilens did not possess a Teigu.
What if Hysilens also became a Teigu user?
Perhaps only the legendary Ultimate Teigu could fight her then!
[...]
Despite having such thoughts, Merraid did not dare to speak them aloud. She herself could not imagine what a fight between two entities beyond her comprehension would look like. She could only meet the question with silence.
Kacha—!
Just then, a sound suddenly reached everyone's ears, immediately drawing the attention of all the soldiers. It was the sound of the castle gates opening.
Several figures slowly walked out of the castle. Once she saw the three people leading the way, Merraid immediately understood Cerydra's method.
'So that's how it is...'
'Is this your plan, Cerydra?'
On the other side.
After a "wonderful" night, Esdeath had successfully used her old methods of dealing with Danger Beasts to turn this Northern Prince, Numa Seika, into a puppet willing to follow their orders.
Although his end was also quite miserable, he had at least escaped the fate of being kicked to death like in the original work. This could be considered a change of destiny, right?
'You act as my puppet, and I let you live. Such a deal is very fair,' Cerydra thought.
As for whether Numa Seika would secretly resist... Haha!
Who do you think you're worrying about?
Before Cerydra became the famous Empress of Okhema, she was just an ordinary little girl begging for scraps. She wasn't even of the Chrysos Heir.
Yet Cerydra traded eternal childhood for the Golden Blood. She utilized those ambitious nobles, gaining power step by step, and eventually turned the tables on the powerful ministers to become a generational Empress!
If one were to use historical figures as metaphors, Zhu Yuanzhang and Yuwen Yong would be the most appropriate.
Zhu Yuanzhang: The commoner Emperor who had experience begging as a child, tempering a spirit capable of enduring hardship, and winning the world through hard work.
Yuwen Yong: The puppet Emperor who went from being installed by powerful ministers to assassinating them, possessing such high-level methods that he eventually held sole power.
In terms of enduring hardship and political maneuvering, how could Numa Seika possibly compare to Cerydra?
Furthermore, the current Cerydra had completed another evolution, becoming the historically famous Imperator!
Even if Numa Seika's methods were formidable, he would ultimately only become a plaything in Cerydra's hands until the day arrived for her to depose the Emperor and establish herself...
Cerydra wasn't worried in the slightest about being threatened. To her, Numa Seika—who could be called the "Little Spear King of the North" and was no weaker on the battlefield than veteran soldiers or generals—was just "alright."
So, to prevent Numa Seika's spirit from completely collapsing, Cerydra still left him a sliver of hope... though that hope was no different from despair.
'Now is not yet the time to declare myself Empress, so let me enjoy this for a while...'
'The joy of controlling the Son of Heaven to command the nobles!"