C539
There were about 20,000 casualties in the imperial army and 2,000 at Sword Emperor Castle.
The Emperor"s army losses consisted of all knights and magicians, not just ordinary soldiers.
Many significant figures, including the imperial sword Johncena Ferrell, also perished, and over 90% of dragon lances and war equipment were captured or destroyed.
Most of the casualties at Sword Emperor Castle were Hairan and ordinary knights who gathered for Hairan.
People like Shuras were injured, but key figures of the Vamel Alliance and Hairan suffered few damages.
It was challenging to find mortal injuries among those above the commander level.
The overall death ratio was around 30% and 10%, respectively, and the first battle was truly an overwhelming victory for the Sword Emperor.
However, both sides suffered devastating damages.
The Emperor lost too many talents due to unjustified purges.
The empire"s prestige would not be the same, nor would the authority of the imperial family.
It wouldn"t be surprising if a new rebellion started around the Hensick or Lilitha clans.
Or they could gather around Hairan.
The cause and popularity of the empire pointed to Hairan.
Unlike the Emperor who forgot his honor, Hairan kept his promise against his unrestraint.
The promise not to kill those who flee.
Jin, Dante, and his people followed those words.
Even those who had attacked Hairan until yesterday had the desire to stand with Hairan if they could.
However, Hensick and Lilitha also suffered significant damage, and everyone knew that Zipple was behind the Emperor, so that didn"t happen.
There was no way Hairan would accept those who had aimed their swords at him just before.
Above all...
The war is not over yet.
The fact that Zipple"s new fleet is heading to Sword Emperor Castle is now known to everyone in the world, not just on the battlefield.
The sight of the fleet is being captured everywhere.
Unlike Runcandel, the Vamel Alliance and Hairan were unaware of the change in the First Magic Tower.
However, seeing the confirmed fleet"s size, it wasn"t difficult to deduce that at least Octavia Zipple, and possibly Kelliark, might come.
As Rosa said, it was best to abandon the castle and retreat.
But as she expected, Jin was not going to leave.
He couldn"t.
"Dante...."
Dante Hairan.
At that moment, he was trapped in a seal, presumably due to the influence of the White Stone, and was in a state where communication was not possible.
It"s a black seal like a shadow force.
The black power forming the seal was the murky Chaos energy that Jin had experienced many times.
Its purity was higher than any murky energy Jin had experienced so far.
Jin used to easily cut such seals with the power of shadow force and blue flames...
But this time, no matter what he did, it was useless.
The Healing Saints of the Holy Kingdom standing next to Jin showed an apologetic look.
"I"m sorry, Jin-nim. After the first round of healing, while I was away for some time taking care of other injured people..."
"Don"t say that. If the Saints weren"t there, I might have died. And this seal has nothing to do with the Saints. It"s the Vamel Alliance and Sword Emperor Castle that we should lament and thank."
"...From the beginning of the healing, it showed strangely strong resistance."
After saving Dante from Johncena Ferrell, she told him to rest until he could fight again.
In fact, Jin didn"t believe Dante could partic.i.p.ate in this war again.
Dante"s fragile body had already exceeded its limits several times.
It seemed it would take more than three days to walk properly again, and at least three months to recover enough to fight.
However, Dante recovered enough to leave the healers in just a few hours since the healing began.
It was the power of the White Stone.
Then, like a possessed person, Dante sought the deepest part of the castle.
He followed the voice of the White Stone to where his grandfather lay unconscious.
And as soon as he took out the white stone his grandfather had been holding and returned to the arena, he was sealed.
"... Saints, please continue taking care of the wounded. The Vamel Alliance and Sword Emperor Castle will not forget the grace of the Holy Kingdom."
"If it weren"t for you, we wouldn"t have been able to fulfill our mission as Saints after the Holy Kingdom Incident, sir. Please, I sincerely beg Ayula not to get hurt."
As the Saints withdrew, Murakan and Quikantel entered the arena.
"How are the knights?"
"Well, they all have the spirit never to leave Dante. d.a.m.n it, that white stone has been holding us back all the way. Neither I nor Quikantel have ever seen a seal like this."
Dante looked blurry, hidden by the seal of the murky energy, but the white stone emitted a gloomy light inside.
It looked like Dante"s heart.
"Few humans are disturbed by the fact that the White Stone really exists."
"It"s useless to say that I can"t use the same power again. It"s not that I don"t understand, but staying still like this is just suicidal...."
After Jin expressed the will of Solderet and Kallum, the mirror lost its power.
Every time Jin injected shadow force, the function gradually returned, but it was too slow.
It couldn"t be used again in the war.
Jin could understand the hearts of the knights.
Jin didn"t trust leaving Dante like this right now.
Boing-!
They heard Mort"s scream from behind.
Talaris had only transported Jin and his group with Mort"s help, but she had not officially partic.i.p.ated in the Sword Emperor Castle battle yet.
In the first place, she had come to fulfill her mission as the Hidden Palace Master, not as reinforcement for Jin, so she hadn"t introduced herself to anyone except Jin and his companions.
As soon as she appeared, Jin tightened his heart.
It was because there was no response if Dante tried to use the white stone and if Talaris presented herself to fulfill her mission as the Hidden Palace Master.
It"s because it now seems that Dante has been sealed for attempting to use the White Stone.
"Talaris-nim, Dante...."
"I know what worries you, son-in-law."
Talaris knew what the seal of the white stones was made of.
It remains in the records of the hidden palace.
"This is the barrier that comes from rejecting chaos. Your friend, Ron"s grandson, is fighting against chaos within himself right now. So there is still no reason for me to fulfill my mission."
Jin felt relieved, but the word "still" bothered him.
The barrier created by rejecting Chaos...
If Dante is defeated in the fight against Chaos and uses that power, Madame Talaris will not a.s.sist Sword Emperor Castle.
The hidden palace a.s.sumes that the white stone is the object of h.e.l.luram.
And h.e.l.luram was a disaster in itself.
In any era and any s.p.a.ce, the power of the witch brought great disaster to humanity the moment it manifested. Always, without a single failure.
"Son-in-law."
"Yes, Talaris-nim."
"In my opinion, this war may not be just a war between the Empire and Sword Emperor Castle, and between Zipple and Runcandel."
It"s a problem for all of humanity.
Talaris interpreted the White Stone in this way.
A myriad of ice formed in Talaris"s hand.
At the same time, she condensed tremendous energy in the blade of the myriad of ice and threw it at the seal.
However, not even with her strike did a small crack appear in the white stone seal.
Rather, Talaris recoiled as if bounced back and caught her breath.
"...It"s a seal that can resist even the absolute power of the myriad of ice. Do you know what that means?"
It means there is chaos that I cannot handle even."
Talaris continued.
"Hey, Hidden Palace Master. Is it that much?"
"It"s not an exaggeration, brave knight. Right now, I can"t imagine which of these and the other dangers our Hidden Palace is hiding will be more problematic for the world...."
Elona Zipple.
Most of Talaris"s and Full Ice"s powers are used to maintain the seal of Elona Zipple.
She was considering whether to block the White Stone, even if Elona"s seal were partially damaged.
"I a.s.sumed it would be something considerable, seeing that Zipple is restless, but I didn"t expect it to be this much."
"Dante... Can he come back?"
"If I told you he couldn"t come back, would you leave him behind?"
Talaris had seen similar cases in secret records.
Even in that record, humans exposed to Chaos became monsters.
Jin also knew of the existence of a Chaos-infused monster named Smarion Proch.
Dante may have already crossed the point of no return.
"It"s not like that."
"I guess we can only hope that both Dante and your father and younger sister endure the acquired chaos. Somehow... Maybe it"s good that Zipple"s main force is on the way, and Runcandel is waiting nearby. If the Chaos of the White Stone awakens, they will have no choice but to fight against it, like it or not. If it"s not them and us, no one can stop it anyway."
Great forces are fighting for supremacy in the world.
Therefore, just like during the Holy Kingdom War, when an incident that could destroy the entire world occurred, it was natural to resolve it first.
"It will be the same for you and your comrades. At best, Chaos won"t awaken until the end. Then the situation will end with a war or negotiations between the giant forces."
At that moment....
The White Stone inside the seal began to emit an even gloomier light.
The shape of the light looked like a human mouth laughing at someone.
"...To be honest, I don"t think it"s very likely. The situation is not good in many ways."
If the war or negotiations continue without Chaos awakening, Hairan will perish in one way or another.
Conversely, the same happened when Chaos awakened.
Even if everyone on the battlefield fought against Chaos, Hairan could not avoid destruction.
In that case, it would be Dante who awakens Chaos.
"Well, first, I will go see Ron. If even that guy awakens, I"m sure there will be a bit of hope for Sword Emperor Castle."
Talaris, who opened the dimensional door, looked at the castle from inside...
And Jin looked at Dante beyond the seal.
Thus, the two could only fervently wish that their friends would awaken.
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