In the southern part of Riselen, every warp gate in the large city of Serandia had been destroyed.
In the end, the entire army, including the Titans, was nothing more than a distraction.
Ellen Artorius.
Saviolin Turner.
If the forces led by these two were deployed alone, they would be annihilated within the monstrous waves. Due to the countless factors like magic blocking, including spatial movement, quick deployment and escape through magic became increasingly impossible.
Thus, others had to draw the attention of the monsters.
Weaker ones, those who could be replenished even if they died, would become the bait.
In a cruel dichotomy, those who became bait held the attention of the monsters, which even Ellen or Saviolin Turner struggled to handle. They broke through the weakened monster encirclement and destroyed the warp gates with swift operations.
In the end, both the bait and the core forces faced unimaginable dangers.
Of course, the battle did not end with the destruction of all the warp gates.
They had to eradicate the monsters that had already appeared, securing the safety of the surrounding areas before the occupation of Serandia could be considered complete.
There was no rest for powerful individual fighters like Ellen.
Even after all the warp gates in Serandia had been destroyed, they had to leave to clear the monsters swarming around Serandia.
After a long and arduous march, they faced a dreadful battle and ultimately achieved victory.
However, those who had fought the toughest battles still could not rest.
The sounds of monsters' cries and the smoke from burning their corpses still filled various parts of Serandia.
Casualties were inevitable in war. However, the Holy Knight Order, which had gathered all of humanity's remaining strength, was also enlisted.
During and after battles, clergy members had no time to rest, as they were constantly treating the injured.
Those with the power to heal wounds, like Adriana, had to tend to the wounded without rest, even after battles. The Holy Knights could not only heal themselves but also others who were injured.
However, not all wounds could be healed.
To heal those whose lives were critically endangered, a priest capable of performing miracles was needed, and there were not many of them.
Having the power of regeneration and healing did not mean that they could use their powers as if they were omnipotent.
Countless people died in the infirmary.
Priests had no time to lament their lack of power before moving on to tend to other injured soldiers, not even having enough time to properly close the eyes of the deceased.
"Ludwig!"
"..."
"What on earth happened?!"
Members of the Royal Class began to gather.
"Your arm...!"
"..."
Seeing Ludwig's right arm wrapped in bandages where it should have been, Christina stifled her tears and began to sob.
The snake's poison was lethal.
It slowly petrified Ludwig's arm.
Treatment was delayed for Ludwig, and his arm had to be amputated to prevent the poison from spreading and endangering his life.
However, what was important to Ludwig was not that.
Someone was missing from this place.
Though it was impossible to know who would not return safely, there was someone they knew would not return.
There was still time to deliver the news that no one knew yet.
"Delphin... she's dead..."
"What...?"
Upon hearing Ludwig's words, those gathered fell silent.
A moment of shock.
Then, silence.
"No... it can't be..."
"He died... trying to protect me and Scarlet..."
Ludwig mumbled in a daze.
The snake's venom was lethal. Before finding a priest, Ludwig realized that if the poison spread from his arm to his neck, it would mean death.
So Ludwig cut off his arm.
With his own hands.
Carrying the unconscious Scarlett, Ludwig retreated to the rear of the battlefield in search of priests, his arm severed by his own doing.
Unable to even take revenge on the monster that had killed Delphin Izzard.
He had no choice but to turn away, tears streaming down his face, as the monster devoured Delphin's fallen body and rampaged through the battlefield.
He couldn't lose Scarlett too, so Ludwig retreated.
No, he fled.
Scarlett sat huddled in a corner of a tent, her hands covering her face, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Because of me... because of me..."
The Royal Class students, witnessing the inconsolable Scarlett and the absent-minded Ludwig, couldn't help but cry as well.
Crying people.
And Ludwig, unable to cry, stood still, gazing blankly at the ground.
Scarlett had appeared to save Ludwig when he was in danger.
Consequently, Scarlett fell into danger, and Delphin saved her.
Ludwig had rushed in to save Scarlett, who had fallen in the middle of the battlefield.
In the end, Delphin, who had ventured too deep into the battlefield for support, lost her life to a monster's surprise attack.
He couldn't even fight back.
Because he was weak.
It was all because of weakness.
"It's... all my fault for being weak..." Ludwig muttered blankly.
"It's all my fault... for being weak..."
Ludwig, having lost his right arm, stared blankly into the void.
There were priests who could perform miracles to reattach severed limbs, but none who could restore lost body parts.
Thus, those who became physically disabled could not be healed.
Having lost his right arm, Ludwig could no longer fight.
He could force himself to fight using only his left hand, but it would be drastically different from before.
A tremendous number of deaths had occurred, including those from the Temple, just as many others had died.
The 20,000 deaths might not have been a significant loss compared to the hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the alliance.
However, the fights ahead would only grow more daunting.
Nobody could predict how many more would die in the battles to come.
Although the damage had been reduced thanks to unexpected help, in the end, not everyone could survive.
There were bound to be casualties among the elite Royal Class students, just as Ludwig had lost an arm and others from the Temple had died.
The scale of the battle was just that large.
Those who had corpses left behind were fortunate because at least they could have a funeral.
No matter how much time passed, some would never return.
Accepting their deaths calmly was the reality they had to face.
In a medical tent reserved for the relatively important, Redina stared down at the unconscious patient by the bedside, her face pale.
The teacher who had once taught magic-related courses in the Temple, including magic sensing and strengthening, looked at Redina and asked in surprise.
"Did you not know...?"
"No... I had no idea..."
"It seems Cayer didn't tell you on purpose."
"..."
All Redina could do was stare blankly at Cayer's ashen-white face.
In the aftermath of the battle, the garrison was engulfed by an atmosphere of victory and grim death, and this tent was no exception.
How much time had passed?
"Ugh..."
"..."
As Cayer raised his eyebrows and regained consciousness, Redina bit her lip.
Cayer had suddenly lost consciousness, and seeing his condition upon waking, he seemed to realize what had happened, his expression growing tense.
"Did...did I pass out?"
"Yes."
"Ah, I did my best, but... Why now, of all times... I didn't want this to happen..."
Cayer had expected Redina, who was always nagging and pushing him, to lose her temper and create a fuss as usual, so his face turned pale.
That's how it had always been.
Moreover, he had lost consciousness during a crucial battle and failed to properly use the Arc Crystal.
In fact, after sending Cayer to the medical doctor, Redina had used up all the remaining energy of the Arc Crystal, rendering her unable to help any further in the battle.
Naturally, there was nothing to say.
If he hadn't passed out, who knew how many more lives could have been saved.
Cayer, too, thought that he was pathetic for passing out, and that Redina was justified in being angry.
Yet Redina's expression was unusually stern.
Cayer cautiously swallowed his saliva, wondering what she would say.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"...What?"
Redina was angry.
But this time, it was a little different.
"Teacher said that you would die if you pushed yourself too hard."
"..."
Cayer could not help but close his mouth at those words.
However, Redina stared at Cayer and spoke.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Though he possessed a vast pool of mana and an extraordinary recovery rate, there were limits.
And Redina, who could use up even the most immense power in an instant, was no exception.
Cayer had collapsed from exhaustion several times. But Redina hadn't realized that it had been at the cost of his life force.
She was oblivious to the fact that her constant scolding, demands, and violent behavior had been consuming Cayer's life.
"Did you...really want to make me...such a terrible person? All you had to do was say something. No matter how insane I've been to you, if I knew you were doing all that...would I have kept acting like that? Why...why didn't you tell me?"
Redina's lips trembled as she sobbed.
She had only just realized, far too late, the wrongs she had committed and the pressure she had imposed.
Cayer had never told Redina that he was dying.
He hadn't mentioned that in order to draw more power beyond his limits, he was consuming his own life force.
Cayer silently looked at Redina.
"It's not just you who feels sorrow for the dying."
"..."
"If you knew this, you would have unnecessary thoughts during battles."
He was only doing what was necessary to save someone else who would otherwise die, even if it meant shortening his own life.
"It's just...how it is."
If Redina began to realize that the power she was using was not just simple mana, but a force created by chipping away at Cayer's life, she would undoubtedly start to worry.
Even now, some units were receiving support while others were being abandoned.
From Redina's perspective, if the number of people sacrificed due to the aftereffects of magic was deemed smaller than the number of people that could be saved by that magic, then that was the course of action to take.
If Redina had to take into account Cayer's life on top of that, she would have to give up even more.
Just as Redina had scolded Cayer for the sake of the people's lives, Cayer had also withheld the truth from Redina for the sake of the people's lives.
"I'm not going to die just yet."
Cayer tried to speak without hesitation, while Redina clenched her teeth, her eyes wide and filled with tears.
"Stop talking nonsense..."
Their relationship as senior and junior had become deeply strained.
Both were absolute to each other, yet they resented each other.
"If you die, I'll become useless. Your life is worth more..."
"It's the Arc Crystal that would become useless."
At Cayer's self-deprecating words, Redina's eyes widened.
"Why do you speak like that?"
"You always said it, didn't you? That as long as there's a power cartridge, it doesn't matter if I'm not there. That I'm just an efficient power cartridge."
Their relationship, built on resentment and harsh words, had already crumbled.
Anger, injustice, and frustration had turned every word spoken in excess into indelible scars.
"It's a good thing, isn't it, for a lowly person who can't even use magic to save lives by shaving off a bit of his lifespan?"
Amid Redina's harsh words, Cayer was not alright.
He couldn't be.
Cayer's self-loathing had already reached its peak.
Seeing Cayer like this, Redina shed tears of regret.
"I... I didn't mean... I didn't mean to say that... I didn't know. I really didn't. I was... I was bad. I was wrong. I was bad. I went too far with you. I'm sorry... I'll apologize. So please, don't talk like that... Don't push yourself... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... Oh... I'm sorry..."
"Be quiet."
"..."
"Let's just continue as we have been."
Regardless of what lay between them.
Regardless of how they thought of each other.
"Like I said, I'm not going to die just yet."
Now, it had become irreversible.
