As Rayne was about to land a killing blow, Prince Alonzo shouted from above, "Stop!!"
Rayne stopped due to the shout. When Prince Alonzo saw Rayne's dagger was still aiming at Therribus, he uttered, "Stop! Killing the crown prince is a grave sin. You will receive heavy punishment. Just detain him!"
Therribus' army tried to go their lord, but attacks from above immediately rained down on them again when they moved.
"Nobody, move!" Rayne bellowed, still holding Therribus.
Everyone stopped. Polom's health was critical already. Robin was also not in a good shape, he was staring at Rayne. He didn't dare take another step. It was very easy for Rayne to take the crown prince's life at this time.
"You have lost! We will take Therribus captive. Lay down your arms! Or we will end all of you here," Alonzo warned.
Therribus' army turned to Therribus who was still held by Rayne.
Therribus, who heard that, laughed instead, "Hahaha. You are no prince, Alonzo! And certainly not worthy of being a king. You showing mercy just goes to show that you don't have the mettle to sit on the throne!"
"I never want the throne!" Alonzo uttered. "Brother, stop this madness! Our people are dying needlessly due to this conflict."
"Hmph! What I do, I do it for the sake of this kingdom. A little boy like you won't understand the burden of leading a country. You don't have what it takes to make the difficult choices. You can't even see the true enemies that stand right beside you! You let these invaders run freely in our world, you are the one that should stop your madness!"
"What enemies? You are just letting your fear of the unknown control you!"
"And you let your ignorance blind you from seeing the face of danger!"
Jack, who stood beside Alonzo, said, "Your Highness… Where I came from, we have many evil people. The evilest ones all have one thing in common. They believe they are doing the right thing, that the sufferings and the casualties they caused are all necessary for the greater good. There is no point arguing with such people. Their point of view is so different that you might as well speak two different languages."
"I… I still have to try," Prince Alonzo said.
Therribus laughed again. "Do you think you can detain me, Alonzo? My followers will fight till their last breath to free me. You won't hold me for long!"
"What he says makes sense, your highness," Jack said to Alonzo. "If you don't end this here. This civil war will continue."
"I… I can't… He is my flesh and blood…," Alonzo uttered.
Jack saw Alonzo's undecided expression, but then he realized Alonzo was also just a teenager. The same as him. He never had a sibling. But he imagined if he did, even one as awful as Therribus, would he be able to order a death sentence for that sibling?
"Hahaha! You are worthless," Therribus mocked. "It is my destiny to be the king. This is just a hiccup in my ascend to the throne. I will… Urgh!"
Everyone turned to Therribus after hearing his groan, expecting Rayne to have decided to ignore Alonzo's order. Yet, Rayne wasn't moving. He was similarly displaying a surprised expression. Beside him, Red Death had appeared delivering a backstab to Therribus.
She had used Vanish to turn invisible before jumping down and using Rogue's skill, Finishing Blow. Aside from the increased damage from the skill, the stab was also boosted by Backstab skill and ambush bonus. The resulting damage took out Therribus' already low HP.
"This is for Rhemos!" Red Death uttered.
"Brother!" Alonzo shouted.
"Your Highness!" Therribus' soldiers lunged forward after seeing their prince's fallen body.
"Stay back!" Serpent Boss uttered and shot his rifle. The others also started shooting again, killing a score of Therribus' army.
Robin, who was the fastest, managed to get to Therribus first. He checked the body, confirming the crown prince to be gone already.
"You murderer!" Robin shouted in rage. He fired an arrow at Red Death, but the arrow was cut mid-flight. Rayne was standing in front of Red Death, protecting her.
Robin turned to his comrades. Only a few were left. Polom, who was in critical health, didn't join the others when they lunged. But they would all be annihilated if they didn't surrender.
Robin looked at Therribus who was laying on the ground under his feet. He gritted his teeth and shouted, "Stop! We surrender!"
Jeanny heard the declaration and ordered everyone to stop attacking.
Once things calmed down, Jeanny demanded Therribus' surviving army to move away, close to the still-burning forest.
Jack summoned Pandora again and said to Alonzo, "Your Highness, do you wish to go down there?"
"Yes…," Alonzo replied.
Jack carried him down to where Therribus' body was. Alonzo knelt beside the body and stayed silent for a long while. Jack went over to where the remnant of Therribus' army was standing and take Samuel's body. Therribus' army remained still and didn't do anything to Jack. They gave him hateful glares, though.
Jack carried Samuel's body to where Alonzo and Therribus were. He watched Alonzo's mournful expression and then looked at Samuel's body. He asked Peniel in his mind, 'Is there no healer in the army with a Resurrection spell like Laurent?'
'Resurrection spell is very rare. Laurent has it because he used to be a prominent member of the Church of Creation,' Peniel explained. 'Perhaps there are a few in the army who has that spell, but I doubt they are here in this war.'
'Can't we call Laurent here?'
'His resurrection spell has a three-hour cooldown. By the time his spell is off-cooldown, it has passed the one-hour limit that Samuel can be resurrected. I'm assuming it is Samuel that you want to resurrect?'
'Yes…,' Jack sighed.
Jack laid Samuel's body down gently. They didn't start off in the best way, but this old warrior had proven to be an honorable fighter and a loyal follower. It was a pity that he couldn't be saved.
While Jack was lamenting Samuel's fate, Alonzo stood up and said to Red Death. "You have committed a grave sin of murdering a prince."
Hearing that, Jack came to her defense. "Your highness, this is war. You shouldn't hold her responsible."
"Therribus was captured already. She assaulted a powerless man!" Alonzo uttered.
"She fought for you in this war, Your Highness," Jack reminded.
"She did… But it can't absolve her from her crime. She will be banished! She will be escorted to this kingdom's border and will no longer be welcomed here. If she does, she will be hunted and put in prison."
"Your Highness…!" Jack shouted, attempting to argue, but a hand grabbed his shoulder. He turned and saw it was Jeanny.
He received a message from her then. 'The prince is actually doing her a favor. If she stays in this country, she will be a target by Therribus' loyalists who seek revenge.'
"But…," Jack didn't think it was fair. Maybe Red Death had dealt the finishing blow to Therribus to take revenge for Rhemos, but her action had also helped Alonzo remove his predicament. Sparing the crown prince would inevitably prolong this civil war. It was unreasonable for Red Death to suffer for an action that had brought peace back to this kingdom.
Red Death, however, didn't appear dissatisfied by the verdict. "I accept," she said.
Jack came to her. "Are you sure? You can join our guild. You will be safe in our guild headquarters. You can teleport to any country and come back anytime you want."
"I said already, I ain't going to join your guild," Red Death said. "I intend to leave anyway. I'm going to search for Black Death. Only after finding her that I will return and sort out Death Associates guild."
Jack sighed. "Where will you be going then?"
"Someplace where my gui… my ex-guild has not yet accessed till now. Either Hydrudond Dominion, Liguritudum Realm, or the Republic of Palgrost."
"My guild has access to all those countries."
Red Death gave Jack an annoyed stare, to which Jack just shrugged.
"Have you tried the Missing Outworlders Coordination Center?" Jack asked. "They probably have info about this Black Death you are searching for."
"I have. They don't have info about a person resembling her description," Red Death replied.
"By the way, what loots did you get from Therribus?" Jack asked.
Red death didn't answer his question.
"Take care of yourself, okay?" Jack said. "I don't have any more recall plates, but if you need help, just holler. I will come running."
"Do you think I need a hero?"
"Uh… I guess not," Jack scratched his head.
"Don't worry, I will look after her," Rayne said. Then to Red Death, she said, "My lady, do you mind if I become your companion?"
Jack and Red Death turned to him with surprised expressions.
"My lord, Rhemos, respected you a great deal. So am I. I am in your debt for exacting his vengeance when I hesitated for fearing the consequences."
"I will be depending on you then," Red Death said.
"Damn, girl. You get yourself a rare elite companion that is higher level than mine," Jack complimented.
He checked his status window to check Arlcard's situation. The vampire was still alive and still fighting. Arlcard had increased in level again. This time by two levels to level 58. All the enemies killed during the war as well as the partial exp from killing Garland must have given him lots of exp points. But even then, he still lost to Rayne who was a level 65 rare elite.
The battle at fort Garadhor was still ongoing. Jeanny had sent a message to The Man in the front line to inform commander Quintus that Therribus had fallen. Commander Quintus had his troops shout the news. Therribus' army didn't believe, of course, but it still lowered their morale. They looked at the burning forest in the distance. Some even broke away from the battle to head to that forest.
Since Therribus had been defeated and Alonzo was safe. Armstrong gave the command for the army to fight defensively. They tried breaking away from the enemies to minimize casualties, at the same time also marching to the burning forest.
"You are the one that leaked the information about the siege weapons, aren't you?" Jack asked Rayne.
Rayne nodded. "Prince Rhemos gave me his last order before he dies. He asked me to pretend to submit to prince Therribus and worked in the shadow against him. That if he couldn't be the king, then Therribus shouldn't be allowed to, either. Now that I have carried out the order, my duty is fulfilled. I'm no longer part of the Themisphere kingdom. I will go where I wish from now on."
