Chapter 340

*Creak! Creak! Creak!*

The last gate opened.

The Celtrine allied forces poured into the Imperial City like a swarm of ants.

Despair filled the faces of the Imperial City’s defenders, who had been putting up a desperate resistance.

Max raised Marius’s severed head high in the air and shouted, “Your commander is dead, and the gates are open! You have no chance of winning! Lay down your arms and surrender! I’ll spare your lives if you surrender! But if you resist, you’ll all die!”

“Ugh…”

“I-I don’t want to die.”

Some of the terrified defenders dropped their weapons and raised their hands.

And that was the beginning.

As if it were contagious, the defenders surrendered one after another, dropping their weapons and raising their hands.

They seemed to have realized that further resistance would only lead to a meaningless death.

There were no more enemies.

The Imperial City had effectively fallen.

But Max didn’t cheer.

He knew that his work wasn’t done yet.

He had to go to the Imperial Palace.

“We’re marching to the Imperial Palace!”

His voice echoed through the Imperial City, which was still shrouded in the darkness of dawn.

* * *

*Bang!*

The door burst open.

Galbraith, the Sage and the Crown Prince’s teacher, sat up in his bed.

Before he could even ask what was going on, his guard shouted in a panicked voice, “W-We’re in trouble! The gates… The gates have been breached! The enemy is invading the Imperial Palace!”

“What?!”

It was the first time in his long life that Galbraith had been this shocked.

Anyone would be, if they were woken up at the crack of dawn by a report that the gates of the Imperial City, which had never been breached in two thousand years, had fallen and that the enemy was invading.

He was so shocked that he couldn’t think straight.

“W-We have to escape!”

His guard’s urgent voice finally snapped him out of his daze.

He clenched his wrinkled fists.

“Bring me my staff!”

Yes.

‘It’s not over yet!’

The situation was dire, but it wasn’t completely hopeless.

‘The south.’

The Crown Prince’s fifty thousand soldiers and Duke Henatus’s southern army were still intact.

They could regroup in the south, in Duke Henatus’s territory, the scorching desert.

And if they could get their support…

‘Red Rain.’

It was a dangerous organization, and he didn’t want to be indebted to them.

But he had no choice in this situation.

He had to seek their help, even if it meant giving them a lot in return.

If they were defeated, it would be the end anyway. He couldn’t afford to be picky.

“Let’s go!”

He grabbed his staff.

“Yes, sir!”

His guard quickly carried him out of the room.

The Imperial Palace was in chaos.

The sounds of clashing weapons, shouts, and screams filled the air.

The guard panicked, unsure of where to go.

Galbraith calmly pointed his staff in a certain direction.

“Remember this. Follow the path I tell you. This way!”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

The guard ran in the direction Galbraith had indicated.

It was the path to the Imperial Palace’s secret passage.

A passage that only the imperial family knew about.

The Crown Prince had told Galbraith about it, just in case of an emergency.

So the enemy wouldn’t know about it.

Unless the princess, who was at Celtrine Castle, personally appeared and guided them.

They ran for a while.

The entrance to the secret passage was getting closer.

The commotion was fading away.

They were almost there.

It was then that,

“Ugh?!”

The guard suddenly stopped.

Someone was blocking their path.

“Did you steal something? Where are you going in such a hurry at this hour?”

It was Max’s voice.

That’s right.

The person blocking their path was Max Celtrine.

And Regina Erenbert, his fiancée, was standing beside him.

Just the two of them.

It might seem like they could break through, but the reality was hopeless.

Anyone who knew who they were would think the same.

“Y-You’re Max Celtrine? How did you…?”

Galbraith’s voice trembled with disbelief.

“How did I know? I don’t want to answer that. I don’t want to waste my time explaining things to a dying man.”

Max smirked.

“He can see, you know?”

Regina asked.

“He has a special eye called the ‘Mind’s Eye.’ Well, it’s useless now.”

“H-How do you know about that?!”

Galbraith was shocked.

Anyone would be, if someone else knew about a secret that only they and the Crown Prince knew.

“I told you, I don’t want to answer that. Just assume that I have a special ability, like you.”

*Shing!*

Max drew his sword.

“Aaaaaargh!”

The guard suddenly screamed and ran forward.

He was desperately trying to create an opening, even though it was a hopeless attempt.

But,

*Thwack!*

Regina’s sword, which had been drawn at some point, cleanly decapitated him.

*Thump!*

The guard’s headless body collapsed to the ground.

Galbraith, who had been on his back, also fell to the ground.

“Ugh.”

“You power-hungry sage. Die a pathetic death.”

“Y-You bastard!”

*Thwack!*

His scream of rage and resentment was cut short as his head flew off.

It was a miserable end for the Crown Prince’s second-in-command, a key figure in the civil war.

“One bad ending crushed.”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

Max grinned and walked away.

* * *

“Damn it! What are those bastards doing?!”

Marquis Safia cursed.

He had already resigned himself to their fate, but he couldn’t help but curse at the sight of their incompetence.

The ten thousand reinforcements from Celtrine had arrived a few days ago.

He hadn’t been happy about the number.

Only ten thousand?

It didn’t feel like they were sincere.

He could understand that they had been forced to send reinforcements by the princess’s order.

But,

The truly infuriating part was what happened next.

Those bastards, who were supposed to be reinforcements, were completely useless.

They would pretend to fight from behind, but they would flee as soon as they saw the enemy’s shadow.

It would have been understandable if it had happened once or twice.

Or even three times…

But they were constantly retreating, as if it were their sole mission.

It had gotten to the point where the enemy was ignoring them and focusing on attacking the castle.

They were of no help whatsoever.

Were they really reinforcements?

Were they really?!

He would have been less angry if they hadn’t come at all.

It was as if they were deliberately trying to drive him insane.

“Ugh, those bastards!”

Even Emily couldn’t help but curse.

“I’ll kill them! I’ll kill every single one of them! I swear I will!”

*Thump! Thump! Thump!*

Ethan, the human ogre, stomped his feet on the ground, vowing to kill (?) his allies in a fit of rage.

To the Safia family, the Celtrine family was now their sworn enemy.

“M-Marquis! The enemy is attacking again!”

A messenger rushed in, delivering the same news he delivered every day.

“Aaaaaargh! I won’t forgive you, Celtrine!”

“Those bastards! Do they enjoy watching us die?!”

“I’m not dying alone! Let’s all die together, you bastards!”

The Safia family seemed to be more angry at Celtrine than at the enemy.

Their long and arduous day had begun again.

* * *

“They’re more resilient than I thought.”

*Crack!*

Duke Henatus cracked his knuckles.

The western army, weakened by their defeat in the field battle, was on the defensive.

The southern army was relentlessly attacking Lambert Castle, their last stronghold.

Day and night, without rest.

The ten thousand reinforcements from Celtrine had been a minor nuisance, but they hadn’t been a problem.

They had just pretended to fight and then retreated.

It was actually a good thing.

Duke Henatus knew that their actions would only demoralize the defenders.

The problem was,

That Lambert Castle was holding out, despite being on the verge of collapse.

They couldn’t afford to waste any more time.

They were running low on supplies, and the Celtrine allied forces’ main force, which had been defeated at the Imperial City, might turn around and head towards them.

They had to conquer Lambert Castle before that happened.

“The enemy is at their limit, Father. They’ll collapse soon.”

Justino said confidently.

He had been fighting on the front lines, and he could sense the enemy’s dwindling morale.

They were fighting desperately, using every ounce of their strength.

But it wouldn’t last.

If it did, there would be no such thing as a limit.

“Hmm, if you say so, they must be close to their limit. Good. Three days. We’ll launch a relentless assault for the next three days, day and night, and conquer Lambert Castle.”

Duke Henatus was determined to end this.

It seemed unlikely that Lambert Castle could withstand their assault for much longer.

But then,

“Y-Your Excellency! Your Excellency!”

A messenger rushed in, his voice filled with urgency.

“What is it?”

Duke Henatus, sensing that something was wrong, stood up.

Justino’s face also hardened.

“T-The Imperial City…!”

“The Imperial City?”

Why was he suddenly mentioning the Imperial City?

The Imperial City was an impenetrable fortress.

The only news that could come from there was news of victory.

Duke Henatus was confused.

But then,

“T-The Imperial City has fallen! It’s been conquered by the enemy!”

*Thump.*

The southern army’s world came crashing down.

* * *

*Squeeze!*

“G-Gah…”

A strong hand tightened around the messenger’s throat.

Foam bubbled from his mouth as his eyes bulged.

And finally,

*Crack!*

His neck snapped.

It was a miserable death.

And a meaningless one.

He had been killed for simply delivering bad news.

Crown Prince Adolf, who had killed him,

“Aaaaaargh! Max Celtrine, you son of a bitch! I swear I’ll tear you limb from limb!”

*Crash! Bang!*

He smashed everything around him in a fit of rage, cursing Max.

No one dared to stop him.

They just watched silently, waiting for him to calm down.

After a while,

*Thud!*

He plunged a dagger into the map.

Where Celtrine Castle was located.

It showed how deep his hatred for Celtrine ran.

“…It’s not over yet. It’s not over. There’s still a chance to win. A chance to kill him. I will.”

His eyes gleamed with madness.

But his mind seemed to have regained its composure.

His voice was cold and calm.

“Prepare to retreat.”

“Where to…?”

“The south. We’re going to the south. Inform Duke Henatus immediately.”

The Crown Prince was thinking the same thing as his teacher, Galbraith.

They knew that the south was their only hope.

And one more thing.

‘I’ll mobilize Red Rain.’

He was determined to win this civil war, no matter the cost.

He was determined to kill Max.

The civil war was entering its final stage.