Chapter 1471

Saving the survivors of the Ahm Kingdom was important, but the most crucial thing before them was the four people, including Prince Khrones.

It wasn't because they were important figures on the continent. Instead, they figured there were no other survivors left in the Ahm Kingdom besides them.

Well, of course, there were those who'd sided with Gargantia, but they didn’t really count as survivors per se.

That was a serious issue. The occupied capital of the Ahm Kingdom had hundreds of thousands of citizens. The fact that they all perished was nothing short of a massive disaster.

Eosha, who was walking quickly behind Evangeline, carefully inquired, “Lady, your expression doesn't look good. Are you hurt?”

Unlike the two young ladies who were whining that their legs hurt, she didn't show any sign of fatigue.

“No, no, I’m fine.” Evangeline offered a bitter smile as they moved through the underground passage of the royal palace. She informed her, “If we pass this underground cavern, it'll lead us outside.”

Prince Gulom had already given them the directions on the way in.

Even though he was a total bastard, he knew the ins and outs of the place best. Alas, that jerk triggered a trap while trying to save himself, and the bugs devoured him.

He died a gruesome death.

‘But was it really right not to save him? No. Even if we’d tried, we might've been too late, but if we’d pushed ourselves a little bit, we could’ve possibly saved him. Will his death cause someone else to suffer now too?’

That thought suddenly swirled through her mind.

Thud! Creak!!!

The tightly closed stone door finally opened. They had to wait for about ten minutes before they were finally able to slip out undetected.

Eosha held Evangeline's hand tightly and smiled. “Just tell me, Lady Evangeline. You and I are friends. You can be honest with me.”

Evangeline lowered her gaze thoughtfully before carefully speaking. She shared the story of the people from before who had sided with Gargantia, seeking revenge by using his power.

After hearing the whole story, Lady Rune Bertas was the first to react, scoffing, “What kind of scum are they?”

“You call them scum?” It was both surprising and unsurprising at the same time for her to react like that, but it also was something that Evangeline sort of expected.

Lady Bertas shot back, “Do you have sympathy for the people who tried to kill you?”

“Well, that was the only path left for them.”

“So, are you saying your own father was wrong right now? You have less family loyalty than I thought.”

“Lady Bertas, that's going too far.” Evangeline felt confused looking at her speak as if she held the upper hand.

She didn't have good memories with her. Even with the unprecedented troll Prince Gulom, she was the one she clashed with at the banquet.

Reina and Rinne both looked at her with strange eyes.

The people in black clothes who had inherited Gargantia's power had said they didn’t try to send an invitation to Evangeline, so the two realized that the Bertas family had used their influence to push her out.

Lady Bertas herself didn't even know that her father had been arrested for his involvement in an attempted coup and charged with treason.

Just then, Khrones, who had been silent, approached and cut off Lady Bertas by saying, “She has a point, m’lady.”

He naturally took Evangeline’s hand, and she then looked up at him with a surprised face.

He went on, “Your father, the Saint of Tionis, made a choice to save many people. If he hadn't stopped the war with the demon race, more people would have ended up dead.”

“I’m sure you know better that those words mean nothing to the victims.”

“That's true.” He slowly turned his head to take in the stone chamber's wall that was slowly opening. “Then I'll ask you. If you were in that situation, would you have continued the war?”

‘Of course not. Rationally, I know stopping a war is the right thing to do, but then again, I still can't help feeling bitter about the victims.’

“I probably... would’ve stopped the war.”

“Then that's all there is to it,” he declared. “If you would still make the same choice even if you could go back, don't dwell on it anymore.”

Evangeline quietly nodded. Perhaps because his words resonated more than she’d expected, her face flushed red.

She almost looked like she'd developed a crush. Lowering her gaze and bowing her head, she carefully spoke up to say, “Ummm. Prince Khrones...”

“Yes. Speak your mind.”

“I'm sorry to say this, but let go of my hand.”

“Excuse me?”

“I said, let go.” Evangeline pulled away from his dumbfounded expression and turned away indifferently.

Rune Bertas and Laura Mel shot gazes full of jealousy, but she didn't care about that at all.

‘Why is this guy suddenly holding my hand? He totally freaked me out.’

The vague, lovestruck look he gave her made her feel like she was breaking out in hives all over her body.

Soon, Rinne and Reina, who had been scouting the area, returned.

“Escape route secured.”

“Ugh. I feel so cramped in here. Let's hurry back, catch that jerk, and then go home. I can't even stream.”

Evangeline happily stretched and loosened up before taking the lead. Reina quickly moved to the front, while Rinne guarded the rear.

The two young ladies were both quick to complain once they set off.

“A-are we moving already?! My leg hurts, I can't keep going anymore...”

“Right? Teleportation magic is...”

Eosha snapped back, “This is enemy territory. Are you two out of your minds? And do you think transfer magic is some kind of joke?”

Lady Bertas glared at her, but she just continued, “What are you gonna do if I glare at you? Lady Bertas, don't you realize this isn't the time to coddle you and entertain your tantrums?”

“Eek! Ugh. When I get back, I'm telling my father about all this rudeness!”

“Go ahead, knock yourself out.”

Evangeline, who was leading the way, felt a pang of bitterness as she once again realized that the four young nobles didn’t have a full understanding of their current situation.

The daughter apparently had no idea about her father's treason.

Normally, the entire Bertas family would've been wiped out. As the treasonous duke's daughter and direct descendant, Lady Bertas, along with the duchess and the rest of the family, would've been sent to the executioner's block. There were even countries that destroyed not just three generations, but nine generations for treason.

Of course, since the establishment of the International Federation, there had been extensive debate over collective punishment, and many nations had begun abolishing it. Nonetheless, treason involving an attempt to overthrow the state was still an extremely serious crime.

The only way they could survive was to prove that Duke Bertas, Commander of the Imperial Mage Corps, had been under Gargantia's control. But she figured Pallan would handle that.

Leading the charge, Evangeline collected herself as she slowly began to see the light shining in the distance from outside.

Davey had drilled into her mind the idea that people were most likely to let their guard down right when they thought everything was over.

And, as if to match that eerie feeling—

“Get back!”

The moment Reina shouted, a black flash of light shot toward the exit as if it had been waiting, targeting everyone.

Of course, as long as it wasn't Gargantia himself, there was no problem.

“Rinne detects multiple intermediate-level liches ahead.”

The liches, seemingly deployed by Gargantia, unleashed a barrage of dark magic, seemingly unaware of what had happened inside.

Prince Khrones, who was following, flinched at Reina's words. “An i-intermediate Lich?!”

It was true that people had become far more wary of liches after the rampages of beings like First Lich Nyx. Still, the intermediate liches commonly known across the continent were little more than monsters driven by destruction, with barely any reason left and only magic at their disposal.

However, even though they were beings whose magical reason was gone, their level of threat was comparable to that of giant monsters like cyclopes or kiklopes.

There was a case in the past where an intermediate lich was discovered in a certain territory, and then, when the knight order arrived after receiving the report to subdue the lich, the territory had been turned into a hellscape.

“I'll go ahead and handle them.”

Of course, that would've been a problem under normal circumstances.

Rinne, Evangeline, and Reina. None of them would struggle against a mere intermediate lich.

Bzzt!! Bzzt!!!

Energy blades made of light rapidly condensed around Reina, as though light itself were taking shape. She lowered the stance slightly, then accelerated and shot forward in a flash of light.

At the same time, the golden flash, flickering as if it were alive, sliced and intercepted all the incoming magic. It was a super-high-speed interception that happened in the blink of an eye.

Reina didn't stop there, either. She increased her speed and headed out the exit to carve a path.

“S-she’s...”

When Eosha, following behind, spoke with a surprised face, Evangeline raised her chin and replied proudly, “Sister Reina is amazing! They used to call her the Hero of Light.”

“What? The Hero of Light?! It's my first time seeing her in person...”

“I heard she gave up her hero title and retired... but she was such a young woman...”

As a hero officially recognized across the continent for her achievements, her reputation was unmatched.

Several tremendous explosions soon echoed through the passage.

When everyone escaped out to the forest, all that remained were the scattered bone fragments of truly dead liches.

“Oh my goodness. Those were intermediate liches, and there even seemed to be five or more...”

Khrones gulped and mumbled, “So this is the Hero of Light...”

His pride as the unrivaled genius took yet another hit.

A woman so young had cut down and split apart intermediate liches, monsters classified as high-ranking threats, in an instant.

“We'll move right away,” Reina declared. “Warp magic is tough, but we should be able to break through in a straight line from here and then enter.”

Reina flicked the energy blade in her hand, dismissing it. The four others, excluding Evangeline and Rinne, could only stare in stunned silence at the shattered remains of the liches.

Naturally, Khrones was the most shocked. He once again realized that the kingdom's high-ranking nobles, along with his father, King Sparta, had not declared Heins as a faction to never oppose without good reason.

‘The gap between us is overwhelming! It feels like facing an army of hundreds of thousands with nothing but a single spear.’

He had felt it since he met Lady Evangeline, but Heins's military power already far surpassed the level he could imagine.

Just moments before, the small, expressionless girl bringing up the rear had used some strange power as well. He told himself there couldn't possibly be anything even more outrageous left to surprise him.

Just as he was thinking that, he heard Rinne say, “Detection of a large amount of devil energy. Rinne evaluates the deployment of defense mode highly.”

As soon as she spoke, countless mysterious numbers rapidly flickered through her blue eyes. At the same time, particles gathered in the air, forming what looked like a shield.

BOOM!!!

An enormous number of spells, as if unleashed from an ambush, slammed into the shield only to be completely neutralized.

“An ambush I couldn't detect? Tsk. My senses are shot. I guess he really is a 9th Circle mage after all.”

“He's not just a 9th Circle mage.”

Perserque wasn’t skilled enough with magic to create an opening. Yet Gargantia's unique power made up for his shortcomings and amplified his advantages.

“True. Even a 9th Circle mage shouldn't be able to distribute their power so diversely like what I'm witnessing.”

The source of his power was a mystery.

Rinne slowly stepped out.

“Reina, Rinne suggests retreating first with Evangeline and the hostages.”

“You're staying behind?”

In response to the polite question, Rinne quietly nodded her head, then flickered the halo floating above her head. “Rinne evaluates that her specialty is most effective in large-scale combat. Rinne analyzes that Eva’s specialty should remain a hidden trump card for now. Rinne evaluates this strategy highly.”

“Sounds good.”

Countless skeleton mages, warriors, and intermediate liches emerged from the forest.

Khrones was startled by Reina's suggestion to leave Rinne behind and shouted in protest, “Wait! Are you really suggesting leaving her here alone?!”

“Yes.”

“No, that’s too dangerous! Besides, how will she break through this encirclement?! It’d be better if we all combined our strength and broke through a single point...”

He certainly had a point. What was in front of them was an overwhelming force on a completely different scale from anything they'd faced before.

The enemy had overwhelming numbers, surrounding them and even catching them in an ambush. Taking them on alone was unrealistic, and even if she could, there was no way Rinne would be able to clear a path through them.

However, Eva and Reina didn’t sympathize with his worry.

“Prince.”

“W-what is it?”

“Rinne is part of the Gourmet Research Society.”

His expression frowned at the statement. “The Gourmet Research Society? Lady, what are you talking about...”

“She's part of the biggest group of troublemakers in Heins. You have no idea how much experience someone like her has running away from my dad, do you?”

Her explanation made no sense at first. But after thinking about it for a moment, her point became clear.

The strongest person on the continent. A being who could turn a kingdom into ashes in less than a day by himself. The Gourmet Research Society was the group that constantly ran away when that individual came to catch them.

In other words, the Gourmet Research Society was a collection of monstrous individuals who could constantly stage an escape from the insanely monstrous Davey O'Rowane.

It was led by Yuria Helishana, with Rinne and Marky as the prominent members.One thing was certain about them. The three were capable of making Davey O'Rowane constantly shake his head with futility. They were absolute masters at running away from him.

Rinne's small body soon began to rise as the small wings attached to her back flapped.

“I have no idea what you're talking about! We should all combine our strength now and...”

“Activate Sephirothization.” As her clear, emotionless electronic voice echoed, no one could hear Khrones anymore.

The four former hostages, including him, stared blankly up at Rinne floating in the sky.

Clink! Clink!!

The halo changed into a form with geometric patterns.

At the same time, the divided rings began to rotate, some turning left and others right as they spun out of sync. As they gradually radiated light, the small wings on her back also began to shine brilliantly, as if resonating with the halo.

Not long after, she created an immense explosion of light, as if engulfed in a giant glow. The light grew so intense that even the skeletons and liches closing in to surround them came to a halt. Even as undead, they instinctively stopped despite the fact they were normally unaffected by light.

When the light faded, what hung in the sky was astonishing.

Rinne looked like an angel that had descended to the mortal world. She wore a pure white outfit and six pairs of wings, with eyes cold yet somehow hollow. She held her spear in one hand and raised the other hand high.

Boom! Boom! BOOM!!!

Pillars of light fell from all directions centered around her, and beings made of light appeared within them.

Her species and her origin—the White Wings.

It was an excessively over-the-top display of power against mere skeleton warriors, mages, and intermediate liches, but Rinne unleashed her power without hesitation.

She counted the number of foes closing in around her.

Roughly fifty thousand or more.

It was one of the results of turning all the capital's citizens into undead.

Soon, ultra-high-heat energy began to gather within her World Destabilizing Spear. At the same time, every White Wing that had appeared beside her began building up tremendous power in perfect unison.

Although she still seemed unable to fully awaken her race or wield the full power she once had, this was more than enough.

That was only natural. After all, she'd become a golem, so there was only so much of that power she could inherit.

Rinne didn't even hesitate to declare, “Elder Brain, Rinne gives orders. Single point concentration.”

Bzzt. Whummm!!!

An immense flash of pure white light then flew toward where she had her spear pointed.

The undead caught in the trajectory were incinerated into ashes.

“Let's go!”

“What... What in the world is that girl’s identity?”

Seeing how Rinne had the situation under control, Evangeline and Reina immediately started running with the four people.

“We can't afford to take it easy now. Lady Eosha, can you run?”

The young lady nodded firmly, and Evangeline picked up Lady Laura Mel and began to run quickly alongside her.

“Kyaa!”

Following suit, Reina lifted Lady Rune Berta, using her wings of light to wrap around her, and ran off quickly.

“Were you curious about what Rinne is?”

Evangeline answered, running through the gap she had created.

Rinne staying behind was not a pointless choice. In fact, countless more undead, along with all sorts of other grotesque creatures, began closing in on them, relentlessly pursuing them as they broke through the encirclement and fled.

“Rinne is...” Evangeline paused for a moment and let out a small laugh. The Rinne there was not Neltarid's confidant from ten thousand years ago or the extermination unit that killed the priestess Freyja.

She continued, “She's an original member of the Heins Gourmet Research Society.”

Hearing that concise answer, Reina, who was running ahead, let out a stifled laugh.

BOOM!!

As if on cue, enormous pillars of light fell from the back. It was an excessive use of power, but drawing enough attention for the next plan was a good thing.

Khrones now looked half out of his mind. Of course, Evangeline didn't quite understand his reaction.

After all that effort, they broke through the encirclement and finally succeeded in returning to the allied forces’ encampment.

“Eva!”

“Mom!”

Evangeline hugged Perserque and looked up. “I saved everyone. Though... I couldn't save that damn troll.”

At her words, she turned her head, noticed Prince Gulom's absence, and gave a bitter smile.

Yet, she didn't scold her. Instead, she asked, “Have all the hostages been rescued?”

“Yes, everyone is here now.”

“I see.”

When she answered the man who appeared to be the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, he drew his sword.

“All forces!! The waiting is over. We're not going to live forever anyway! Draw your swords!!”

All the allied troops that had been in a standoff began advancing toward the Ahm Kingdom's royal castle.

Expecting Gargantia to go on a rampage at any moment, Illyna stood ready to charge in.

However, unlike before, he merely prepared for the siege and didn’t show himself one bit.