Early in the morning, the ruins of Ebolden.

The elegant and exquisite harbor city, the serious Azorean elf "New Town" like a military camp, the mysterious Nine-Pointed Star Wizard Tower, and the magnificent Eagle King's court......

All that is left is ruins.

It's not a ruined city, it's not a ruined wall, it's not a trace left by a fire... Only rubble, mountains of rubble, piled up all over the city, looked more like a huge, undulating mound of earth.

The moment the breath of the controlled undead dragon Aeolit burst through the ground after being drained of all the void by the black-haired wizard, the entire city collapsed inward as if it had been blasted with precision, turning into a huge, hemispherical crater.

In addition to the tens of thousands who escaped from the city at the last moment, hundreds of thousands of Azorean elves were buried alive in this smoky, rubble-filled ruins.

The overflowing rubble and bones even fell from the crumbling walls into the Gem River, which once silted up and cut off the river, causing the river to backflow, forcing Brandon to abandon the pursuit of a handful of wandering elven warriors and mobilize the legion to clear the river before it flooded the city.

The mere pile of corpses in the rubble that could not be cleaned up was terrible enough, and if the river was poured into the ruins, the river mixed with corpses and decomposing materials poured into the barracks......

Disease, plague ... It's not a simple word that sounds.

Plague, a word that has changed the minds of the Empire, is even more terrifying than an evil god or a demon, and Brandon has gone to great lengths to clear the rivers and keep the barracks clean, and he has gone to great lengths to let the dragons burn the battlefield and burn all the corpses that have not had time to bury them......

In the somewhat caustic words of a certain countess, at least in dealing with the plague, Brandon de Salion showed a bit of the decisiveness and iron fist that an emperor should have.

Of course, she thinks that if she could do better and more efficiently, such as speeding up the recovery process by giving Ebolden land to the heroes in the battle, and taking the opportunity to weaken the strength of the principalities... In response, Loren said that he agreed with both hands plus 10,000 likes.

Standing in the rubble, stepping on the rubble beneath his feet, Brandon felt as if he was not standing on the rubble and rubble, but on the bones.

Bones, broken bones, rotting flesh and internal organs, dried and sticky plasma, the stench of mixed together... It was already the height of summer, and the weather was getting hotter and hotter, but there was a biting chill that tore through the robe and armor, piercing his spine upwards into his skull.

The beads of sweat that ran down his neck and back made him shiver like blood spilling from the wound, and his sticky, somewhat swollen hands seemed to be stained with something dirty, and he couldn't wipe it off.

Do it yourself... In the way of massacre, a race was destroyed.

Not on the battlefield, not on the premise of reciprocity, not in the event of resistance......

Destroyed them himself... He made a promise to let them live, but he destroyed them anyway.

"What does it feel like to destroy a race with your own hands?"

Staring at the ruins at his feet, Brandon, with his back to Loren, suddenly spoke, as if asking and talking to himself.

Loren, who was dressed in a wizard's robe, raised his hands behind his back and shrugged his shoulders slightly, following the appearance of Mentor Dalton:

"The feeling of being alive. ”

With a soft snort, Brandon pulled the corners of his mouth with a smile.

"That sounds a bit arrogant, my Wizard Advisor. ”

"No matter how arrogant you are, it's better than death. ”

"Really? I thought the people of Byron were ashamed of life and proud of death. ”

"Slogans and reality are two different things. ”

"Hmm... It's a bit sophisticated and ironic, but it's quite in line with your style. ”

Brandon, who was a little stunned, raised his eyebrows and tilted his head with a smile.

The unmoved black-haired wizard swept the entire battlefield with his gaze.

He could feel the meaning of Brandon's words, the former "disgraced prince", now a real emperor, and his every move began to become purposeful.

"How do you feel now? I'm talking about the wizards... It is said that you opened the second valve, the same as Logan who used to wear a hat. Brandon turned around and said suddenly:

"I don't know much about that guy, except that he has a lot of power, so strong that he can fight the evil gods, and to be honest, I always thought it was a story made up by wizards, until I ......"

Brandon glanced at the ruins beneath his feet.

"I guess the legends... Dragon Kingdom, Devils, Dragon Knights, Evil Gods... It's all true, our ancestors didn't lie to us, they all like to lull their children to sleep with the most cruel and terrible history, right?"

"Only those who have the most powerful power can live in peace... That's how they teach children, right?"

The strong are respected, the victor is the king, and only by dominating the armies can he dominate the empire.

Strength... Decide everything.

"Nope. ”

Brandon, stunned, raised his head: "What?"

"I said, not really. Loren said softly, "If you have great power to rule everything, then humans are still ruled by dragons." ”

"If the power is respected, then the hat-wearing Logan will not be hunted down as an apostate, he should be the emperor's guest of honor, but the truth is that he is not loved and respected by strength, but fear and disgust, and only a very few people are willing to follow him. ”

"If the greatest power can live a stable life, the dragon kingdom should still be alive and well, and it is the wizards who rule the dragon kingdom that are unwilling to share their knowledge and power with the common people that led to the destruction of the kingdom. ”

"And the concept of power is never absolute. Loren shook his head:

"What's more... How do we measure a person's strength, power, wealth, status, title, prestige, bloodline... Or is he so special that no one can beat him? I don't think any of them are particularly suitable. ”

Brandon was stunned for a moment.

He frowned, as if he was a little angry: "Then you say, you tell me what power is?"

Loren, who was stared at motionless by Brandon, slowly tilted his head little by little, and deliberately stared at Brandon with wide eyes:

"My beloved Majesty Brandon II, what are you asking me......"

"Or are you asking yourself?"

The two of them, looking at each other, were silent for a minute.

A minute later, a smile appeared on Brandon's face.

A casual smile, just like the one they had when they first met in the courtyard of Corona's house.

"Enter the cabinet and continue to be my wizard advisor. Standing in front of the black-haired wizard, Brandon stared motionless into his eyes: "My ancestors didn't have the courage to make the hat-wearing Logan a guest of honor, but I could." ”

"So that you and Ain, Isaac, and my cousin Lena can stay in the Imperial Capital, and I can revoke a few laws that are not very friendly to wizards, so that they can also become nobles of the Empire, and let them have more rights... And you, you can help me with these things. ”

"The most important thing... That's the only way to reassure me about Byrne, otherwise I don't really know what to do if Byrne gets stronger in the South every day. ”

"This is the condition I prescribed, and it is also an ultimatum. Brandon had a complicated expression on his face and said sullenly:

"Don't think I don't know what your Charlotte wants to do with Arles, Boe and Elleman... It is said that several dwarven city-states have also become vassals of your Byrne, and if this continues, the whole south will become the Turin family. ”

"What does she want, is it really just the revival of Byrne and the glory of the House of Turin? Maybe it was, maybe it was before you became a duke, but now... I guess all she was thinking about was how to make the House of Turin able to replace de Salion as Emperor one day, right?"

Brandon thrust his waist and sighed helplessly: "To be honest, I don't care about this, anyway, she should be no play when I'm alive, but... Anyway, I'm still a De Salion after all, and I can't just watch this happen, you know?"

“...... Uh, understood?"

"No, I don't think you understand, I know who you mean to offend, but you care too much about Charlotte's feelings, you seem to have forgotten that you are the Duke of Byrne, you can't let her control you understand, so I ask again, are you willing to accept this result?"

“...... I accept. ”

"Look, I knew I wouldn't accept it. Brandon, who snorted lightly, shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands, with a helpless expression of "I had guessed it a long time ago": "In this way, don't be in a hurry to object, I will explain the key issues to you first." ”

"I said I accept. ”

"Don't be in a hurry, I said, take your time, I can understand you, sometimes it is difficult for me to refuse the requests of my sister-in-law, they are very good people, not inferior to any knight, of course...... Mind you, I'm not biased when I say this, I'm just saying that they're just as good as the knights, even better than the ......riders."

Before he finished speaking, Brandon suddenly froze in place as if he was hallucinating, and looked at Loren with a blank expression: "What did you just say?"

"I said... I accept it?"

The black-haired wizard looked helpless.

"You accept?"

"I accept. ”

"You say... Do you accept it?"

"I accept. ”

"You said you... Willing to take it?!"

“...... Let's stop cheating on word counts, okay?"

"I don't understand, you accept it, why do you accept it, you shouldn't!" Brandon scratched his head with a broken face, and his beautiful red hair became messy like a chicken coop:

"But if you accept it, how can I convince you... Ah, if you accept it, I won't have to convince you, will I?"

Faced with Brandon's inquiry, Loren looked up at the sky, really not knowing how to answer this question.

Brandon was even more lost than he was, feeling like a knight who had been preparing for a duel for a whole year, only to arrive in the final only to find that his former rival was dying of old age, rickets, asthma and tenosynovitis.

"Loren Turin, for the first time, I found out that you are such a disappointing fellow!"

After saying this with a tragic face, Brandon snorted angrily as if he had been humiliated, and turned away without looking back.

........................

"He agreed?"

On the way back to the barracks from the ruins, Charlotte, who was waiting here, looked at the returning Loren with some surprise, and Lena de Salion, who came with her, with a meaningful expression.

"On the condition that you become a member of the Imperial Council and revoke the ban on wizards, Byrne promises not to expand his influence for the next thirty to forty years. Charlotte blinked, still not quite convinced:

"It's weird... I didn't think he would accept such harsh conditions. ”

"But he agreed... It's the same as someone said. The black-haired wizard glanced at the girl with eyes that should not have appeared here, and the other party bowed slightly to him quietly:

"But it's not this one that really weirdens me. ”

"What's that?"

"You. Loren looked at Charlotte.

"Me?"

"Yes... Because of our proud Countess of the Red Blood Castle, the direct bloodline of the Knight King... She was willing to agree to such harsh conditions and give up the opportunity to become the founder of the Byrne Kingdom in her lifetime. ”

Charlotte was stunned for a moment, then snorted coldly. A little cramped: "This... There's a reason for that, there's a reason!"

"Yes, I know, I just ......"

"I understand that you certainly don't know why, but I can explain. Charlotte couldn't help but steal and said: "First of all, Byrne has suffered a lot of damage in this war, and we have lost several counts, all of whom are Byrne's best legion and cavalry commanders, which is a very serious blow!"

"Uh... Charlotte, I said it, I know you'......"

"Secondly, Byrne has also contributed a lot to this battle of the Empire, I can't make Byrne's knights fight for the Empire at the same time, and then immediately oppose the Empire, they won't understand, they will think I'm crazy, and it's also against the glory of the House of Turin. ”

"I said, what's going on today? Why can't anyone seem to hear me......

"Therefore, I have decided to propose reconciliation to Brandon, and it is not a bad thing to have an emperor with whom I can cooperate anyway. ”

"With Brandon's help, Turin will no longer be as secretive as in the past, but will naturally start to get involved in the affairs of the empire, big and small, from behind the scenes to the front of the stage, and truly become the pillar of the empire from a powerful country, until one day, become a family that truly manages the power of the empire!"

"Whether it's the Chancellor of the Exchequer, or the Lord of the Seals, or the Leader of Parliament... Even if he is just a small person who is not worth mentioning in terms of reputation, as long as he really holds the power, then it is only a matter of time before he gets a name. ”

"So, not only can we avoid the civil war in the Empire, but we can also control everything in the end, so that De Salion of the Heavenly Dome Palace will obediently hand over the throne to Turin, the Empire... It will be continued by the bloodline of the Knight King. Charlotte smiled confidently and looked at Loren:

"This is the future I have planned for the Turin family, thirty years, fifty years, one hundred years...... The Turin family will eventually be crowned emperor, what do you think? Well, why don't you speak? You speak, you either say or disagree, then tell me what you think, say, Loren Turin, why ......"