The mont Eros vanished—
the replica staff lost control.
A violent pulse of sacred mana erupted from the watchtower, shaking the entire fortress.
The surrounding soldiers stumbled backward in shock as golden light spiraled wildly into the skies.
Amidst the rumble stood Liam.
He had been helping the other soldiers when he abruptly stopped.
A sense of dread crawled up his spine.
Sothing was wrong.
"Young... Master?"
His hand trembled, loosening his grip on the tray of dicine he was carrying.
CLANG.
The sound snapped him back to reality.
Without hesitation, he sprinted toward the watchtower.
━━━━━━━━━━
An old knight slowly lifted his head.
Sharp gray eyes narrowed dangerously.
"...Sir, what happened?"
A cold wind swept through the courtyard.
Every knight nearby imdiately stiffened.
Because the man who had been standing there only monts ago was gone.
Their pillar.
Their support.
Vanished.
Eros had been taken sowhere.
Midgar and Athena exchanged glances.
Both of them felt the sudden shift.
The circumstances that had finally begun calming down suddenly felt dangerous once again.
Midgar stood up imdiately and rallied his n.
"Eros is missing! Search every nook and cranny of the city!"
His roaring command made the surrounding soldiers flinch.
His aura surged.
A veteran feared even amongst the older generation.
The pressure leaking from his body alone caused younger knights to struggle breathing.
Then—
another pulse erupted from the watchtower.
This one even more unstable than before.
Midgar vanished instantly.
BOOM!
The stone floor beneath him exploded apart from the force of his movent.
Liam was already there and they found nothing.
"Where could he be?"
Athena arrived much later.
As soon as she arrived her first reaction was to scan the residual mana.
Using a spell to analyze what happened she finally able to trace where Eros was taken.
"The capital?"
The two n with her frown and asked.
"What capital my lady?"
"Eros was taken there" she replied.
"What?"
Liam look aghast while Midgar couldn't help but grip his sword tighter.
"Can you take us there?"
He asked imdiately but Athena just shook her head.
"I can't teleport you there"
She looked down feeling helpless.
But then a thought made her hope again.
"I can't but I know soone who could"
She took out her communication orb and began calling a certain mage.
━━━━━━━━━━
At the sa ti—
inside the Imperial Capital.
The battlefield remained chaotic.
Explosions continuously echoed throughout the ruined streets while the skies trembled beneath the clash between the Dukes and the Pillars.
Eros stood frozen before Emilia.
Her appearance was haggard, as if she had been running from sothing relentless.
Aside from that, her expression was in complete disarray.
As though she had suddenly seen a ghost standing before her.
Eros stood amidst the broken streets.
His gaze searched her face.
Searching for sothing.
Anything.
Regret.
Remorse.
An explanation.
Neither of them spoke imdiately.
The soldiers surrounding Emilia had already ford a defensive line around her.
Weapons raised.
Mana circulating violently.
"Your Highness, please give your order."
Gilgan spoke while gripping his weapon tightly.
A strange tension had wrapped around his body.
All the soldiers guarding Emilia were at their highest state of alert.
Because the identity of the man standing before them was impossible to ignore.
A Lionheart.
And not just any Lionheart.
The heir of the East.
One of the Empire's greatest future assets.
"Eros..."
Emilia spoke quietly once more.
This ti her voice carried confusion.
And sothing else.
Relief.
However—
before Eros could answer—
a terrifying pressure suddenly descended upon the battlefield.
BOOOOOOM!
The air exploded.
Several nearby soldiers were instantly blown backward.
The ruined streets cracked apart while debris rose into the air.
A figure landed directly between both sides.
Long silver-gray hair fluttered behind him.
Then three familiar figures erged from the dust.
One was a mage whose appearance looked just as exhausted as everyone else.
The other two carried their weapon in hand, ready to act at a mont's notice.
"Master?"
Eros called out.
Edmund rely nodded in acknowledgnt, though his gaze never left the enemy.
Liam quickly approached Eros, already preparing healing magic despite finding no injuries to treat.
Midgar, on the other hand, stood directly between both sides like an unbreakable wall.
His silhouette remained tall despite his injuries.
Resting against one shoulder was a massive greatsword.
Despite his relaxed posture—
the pressure radiating from him made even experienced soldiers pale.
"Young Master."
Midgar's voice echoed coldly.
The mont Eros saw him, his eyes widened slightly.
"Even you?"
Midgar ignored everything else and imdiately scanned Eros from head to toe.
Checking for injuries.
Mana corruption.
ntal interference.
Anything.
Only after confirming Eros remained unhard did the old knight finally exhale.
Then—
his gaze shifted toward the Aileenian soldiers.
The atmosphere changed instantly.
The pressure around Midgar sharpened enough to force several enemy soldiers to step backward.
Even Emilia narrowed her eyes carefully.
She recognized him imdiately.
Midgar Lionheart.
A proud soldier of the Lionheart family.
A monster from the previous generation.
Not ancient enough to be called old, yet still terrifying enough to instill fear in every age.
One of the few individuals capable of standing beside the God's champions.
His gaze slowly landed on Emilia.
"...Princess of Aileen."
Emilia calmly straightened her posture despite the overwhelming pressure.
"Sir Midgar."
For several tense seconds—
nobody moved.
Then suddenly—
multiple Aileenian soldiers rushed forward.
"Protect the Princess!"
Mana exploded throughout the battlefield.
However—
before their attacks could even land—
Midgar moved.
SCHKKK!
Nobody even saw him fully draw his blade.
The next mont—
every attacking soldier froze.
Their weapons shattered apart simultaneously.
A shockwave erupted behind them monts later.
BOOOOM!
Entire sections of the ruined street split apart.
The surviving soldiers staggered backward in horror.
Too fast.
Far too fast.
Even Eros blinked in surprise.
He had barely managed to follow the movent.
"Was he always this strong?"
Sparks of lightning pulsed continuously from Midgar's blade into the very ground beneath them.
Midgar calmly lowered his sword.
Disappointnt crossed his face.
"...Pathetic."
The surviving soldiers imdiately beca enraged.
More mana surged throughout the battlefield.
But before another clash could begin—
Eros stepped forward.
"Stop!"
His voice echoed sharply across the ruined street.
Both sides paused instinctively.
Eros imdiately positioned himself between Midgar and Emilia's forces.
His expression hardened.
Soon enough, Imperial soldiers arrived after hearing the commotion.
Upon seeing Eros and the Aileenian soldiers, they imdiately moved to guard him.
Eros simply motioned for them to stop.
"They are not the enemy right now."
Several Imperial soldiers nearby looked shocked hearing those words.
Even Edmund frowned slightly.
"Are you letting your emotions get the better of you, my student?"
His voice carried both concern and disappointnt.
"Young Master," Midgar spoke carefully.
"They are Aileenian forces."
Liam nodded in agreent.
"I know."
Eros tightened his grip around the replica staff.
"But sothing bigger is happening here."
His gaze slowly lifted toward the distant skies where unimaginable pressure continued shaking the heavens themselves.
The battle above the capital still raged endlessly.
Pillars.
Dukes.
Sacred weapons.
And sowhere inside the palace—
Apollo.
Eros could feel all of it through the replica staff.
The sacred energy trembling violently inside his hands almost felt alive.
As though it were desperately trying to guide him sowhere.
Emilia quietly observed him.
Then finally—
she lowered her weapon slightly.
The soldiers behind her imdiately reacted.
"Princess?!"
But Emilia ignored them.
Instead, her silver eyes remained fixed on Eros.
"...You truly don't understand what's happening either, do you?"
Eros remained silent briefly.
Then—
"...No."
For the first ti since arriving in the capital—
complete honesty crossed his face.
Because the truth was simple.
He had no idea why the replica staff brought him here.
No idea why the sacred weapon reacted so violently.
And no idea why his chest felt increasingly heavy the longer he remained inside the capital.
Edmund looked between both sides carefully.
Then toward the heavens.
His instincts imdiately sensed it.
Sothing enormous was approaching.
Sothing dangerous enough that even he felt uneasy.
Midgar slowly rested his sword against his shoulder once more.
"...This day keeps getting worse."
And far above them—
the heavens cracked again.
Eros looked toward Emilia once more.
His gaze searched her face.
Trying to understand.
Trying to know whether she truly wanted this outco.
This war.
This destruction.
This rift between them that he could never fix.
'You broke us.'
He wanted to say it.
Wanted to ask why.
However—
his mouth remained shut.
The power of the Eternal Oath stirred within him.
His mind.
His body.
His soul.
Everything existed for the Empire.
Slowly, his doubts faded.
His emotions weakened.
His mories blurred.
What remained was duty.
Protect the Empire.
Emilia witnessed the entire process.
She saw the change in his eyes.
From confusion—
to certainty.
Her expression darkened.
"I'll say it again."
The princess spoke quietly.
"You truly don't understand what's happening."
'You are being controlled.
Don't you see it?'
She wanted to say those words.
She desperately wanted to.
But just like Eros—
her mouth remained shut.
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