“...... To sum up, I think that only the most objective, plain, and emotionless words are the most appropriate to describe the 'endgame' of this imperial defense war.

My assistants and apprentices questioned why I had to insist on writing for years after the war, so that I could free myself from the shackles of emotion and subjectivity, calm the passionate blood, and leave posterity with an objective documentary, not an exciting poem.

Latter... As far as I know, there are countless of them, and there is no shortage of famous articles.

First of all, the heroes who incarnated the walls of the empire.

Dresis, the deputy commander of the Broken Mountains, who led the heavy cavalry to charge from the front when the Azorean elves launched a general attack, buying his soldiers enough time;

Ser Aaron, the chief knight of Lothair, fell from his horse while fighting with Azorean elven reinforcements and was besieged by a large number of enemies, and after the battle, the Lady of Lothair personally searched for his bones, but unfortunately did not find them.

The surviving Knight of Lothair swore that he had seen Sir Aaron's body glow with golden light, and that the Holy Cross had ascended to heaven the moment he rushed into the enemy line told me that it was not true, but I still willingly believed this "lie".

Angt, Earl of Byrne Mountain Rock Castle, Ranmaros, Earl of Lakeheart, was killed in battle, and used his life to win back the defeat for the Byrne Army, and Earl Geraint, Earl of Glory Tower, who was on a par with Regrell, Earl of White Horse Peak, but always very inconspicuous, used his final charge to win back a city for his repeated defeats.

In addition, there are Salald, Earl of Banner Gun Castle, Earl Elendil of Broken Sword Tower, and Byrne's Legion, Count Bose of Loyal Soul Castle, who also paid the heaviest casualties in the empire.

Archduke Sarika Jonah of Boi, Charlotte, Earl of Byrne Bloodcast, and Grenwell, Earl of Stormcastle, were the three elves who raided the rear of the empire in the Azores, relying on the personal prestige of the Grand Duke and the Countess to organize soldiers to defend on the spot, buying enough time for His Majesty Brandon to come back to help.

Needless to say, the famed Archduchess of Scimitar did not dampen her sharpness from a crushing defeat on the frontal battlefield, but the prestige of the Countess of the Red Blood Castle was almost entirely based on her diplomacy and trade savvy;

With a near-turning victory, she proved that she was worthy of being the son of the Knight King.

For the Empire, the truly meaningful part of this war is not in the heroes, or even in the victory, and if it were not for the final shocking reversal, it would have been the Empire, not the Azorean elves, who would have been defeated... They are the ones who are tactically impeachable and really in control.

There have been many crucial victories in the history of the Empire, each of which has been linked to the fate of the Empire and the fate of the world: the great conquest of Eckhart I, the Battle of Brandon the Sage's Valley of Blood, the "Final Battle" of the Dragon Empress......

But this time, for the first time... The sorcerers have become the key to victory in the war, and the contributions and sacrifices of those who were previously unknown are enough to put all the servants of the Holy Cross to shame.

A total of four wizard tower elders, led by Master Alberd, four senior mentors, and the witchers and elven war dancers who guarded them, all died in Eberden;

Among the only survivors, Lord Dalton Candle was mortally wounded and nearly devastated, and when I saw him again, he looked as if he had aged twenty years overnight, from a lean middle-aged man to a dying old man.

The Lady of Lothair had lost her right arm, and no one knew the cause, and I had received some information from my friend Lusen, vaguely as if it were related to him;

Lusenwirtz, my friend... I stayed out of the door all night while he was being treated, I didn't want to admit it, but I did think he was going to leave me forever.

In addition to this, there are Einlander, Isaac Grantham, Peter Fasha...... More than a hundred wizards from Golovin, the Red Blood Castle, Ebolden, and all over the empire have made great sacrifices for this war, something that has never happened before.

Naturally, there is also Loren Turin...... My friend, and half of my mentor on my way, brought this war to a successful end in a very shocking and cruel way.

As a follower of the Holy Cross, I could clearly feel that I was on the verge of a change in the world, and that it was true, and now, years later, I can even see an apprentice wizard appear in the church like an ordinary person, as if it were a common occurrence.

They will never understand how much their forefathers sacrificed for this little bit of power that is no different from ordinary people... I sincerely pray to the Holy Cross that they will never truly understand and never experience the same suffering as their forefathers.

But if you want to go through it, I believe they will be just as brave as their forebears, if not braver, and I firmly believe that.

And I, the bishop of the Byrne Church, outside of imperial politics, a follower of the faith, I know that the world is going to make some changes, and whether these changes are good or bad... Who knows?

It's better than nothing......"

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

Emperor ** battalion, prison.

The flickering light of the fire shone through the cold iron fence, reflecting a figure kneeling by the wall.

The shackles around his arms and neck were tightened, forcing the figure to raise his arms flat and his chest up, and the chains of his ankles and hips were so tight that he could not even relax the slightest bit, and could only remain in a "sitting" position on his knees.

Look up to the sky and sigh, open your mind, and sit on your knees... If it weren't for the chains and bars on his body, this would have been the most standard prayer posture for saints.

Of course, the owner of this figure has absolutely nothing to do with the saints.

Holding on to the bars, Loren looked at the figure intently.

"Loren Turin... I thought you weren't coming. ”

The elven prince spoke lazily, as if enjoying a small snack while talking to the people next to him: "That prince of yours... Well, it looks like the emperor now... I was afraid that I would run away, so I nailed a short sword forged from Mithril into my spine, and I almost bleed to death!"

The tone full of resentment seems to be complaining to a friend about a bad luck one day.

"Just in case, after all, you're a royal family of the Azorean elves... Finally, the descendants of the Eagle King, of course, have to be careful. ”

The black-haired wizard said quietly.

"Yes, yes, I understand, understand that the Empire defeated the Azorean elves, and that such a great war needs to have a suitable, symbolic ending, to bring everything to an end... I'm that symbol, and if I die, even if this war is over, so ......"

The elven prince stopped talking to himself, slowly lowered his raised head, and stared at Loren.

He could feel that the other party had become a little different from before, and the specifics were indescribable, but the elven prince had a faint illusion that the person standing in front of him was not an imperial person.

It's the shell of an evil god that eats people.

"What was the result?"

It's not easy... Loren could clearly see his strained neck and flushed face, as well as his trembling body pinned by the Mithril Shortsword.

"It's over, it's all over. ”

The black-haired wizard shook his head: "From this moment on, the title of Kiazores has become history. ”

"This moment?"

"Yes, this moment... Almost a quarter of an hour ago, His Majesty Brandon de Salion flew with the three-headed dragon to the shores of Eberden, as he had promised, allowing the surviving Azorean elves to return to your homeland by boat. ”

"Ah, that's ......"

The elven prince immediately understood.

Brandon promised to let them go, but did not promise that they would not be pursued, and hundreds of ships full of elves and no weapons encountered a three-headed dragon in the unsheltered sea... The end is obvious.

There was no consternation, no anger, but he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Actually, there's no need for that much trouble. ”

After a few seconds of silence, the elven prince said lazily: "Let them return to their hometown, and the final outcome will be the same, maybe it will be even worse, they will be eaten up and wiped out by monsters everywhere, or they will become new monsters in the land full of emptiness;

But... I can understand, can act recklessly but without being blamed, unscrupulous revenge and ravage, venting**, bullying the weak, who wouldn't want to do that?"

"I don't want to do that, I just have a reason to force him to be patient. ”

As if in a dream, the elven prince muttered to himself, and suddenly turned his gaze to Loren: "So... What about me?"

"What will happen to me?"

The flat tone seems to be really just a casual question.

But the answer is simple.

"Life is better than death. ”

"Huh?"

The elven prince didn't react at once.

"You are the last Azorean elf, a symbol of the end of this war, Brandon... He won't let you go so easily, and burn you to ashes happily. ”

Loren looked directly at the stunned face: "He wants to show you off as a trophy, as a tool to win hearts and control power, and the more you live, the more the empire will remember this war, which is important to Brandon." ”

"So... Probably won't he think of killing you until you're completely useless to him, that is, completely forgotten by the Empire, right?"

This time, the elven prince was silent for a long time.

His eyes revealed very complicated feelings, and finally he let out a long sigh and resigned himself to his fate.

"It's going to be going to be going to be for a long, long time, and I'm going to live like a year about every day after that. ”

"On the contrary, you will live a wonderful life. Loren interrupted.

"Why?"

"Because there are so many people who want to kill you, and their ** who want to kill you is even greater than their loyalty to Brandon and the Empire. ”

"Oh... These brainless people will never understand how useful a living enemy is. The elven prince pouted very disdainfully:

"So, I now have a bunch of fanatical followers, though not the good ones, but the kind that desperately wants to kill me?"

Loren nodded.

"So... You didn't come to see me, but you happened to be passing by and met a few fools who wanted to kill me, and after putting them down, you came in to take a look and make sure I was still alive?"

"That's pretty much it. Loren admitted.

The elven prince's face was pulled down instantly, and the change in mood even made the atmosphere a little different.

"Uh...... A little disappointed, but not incomprehensible, you are the winner, the winner can do whatever he wants to the loser, I understand, I understand that I don't deny it, I have also thought a lot about how to fix your plans after defeating you, there was a period of insomnia, I relied on this to pass the time. ”

"Then again, since His Majesty the Emperor of the Empire is not in a hurry to kill me, it means that I can live for a while, to be honest, I am an Azorean elf, and the biggest characteristic of our Azorean elf is that he likes to pretend that he is not afraid of death... But I belong to the Azorean elves that are not too mainstream, and being alive is more important to me than anything else. ”

The elven prince deliberately pretended to be indifferent, with a tone of deep disappointment.

Of course, it is also possible that he is pretending.

"I guess you're leaving, huh?"

Taking a deep breath, the elf prince tried his best to look at Loren from the corner of his eye: "I don't know what you're going to do, but probably in your eyes, this war is over, everything is back to normal, the prosperous era is coming, long live the emperor, long live the empire, you can enjoy ......"

"It's not over yet. ”

The interrupted elf prince was stunned, and for the first time there was a stunned look in his eyes.

"You know?"

"I know. The black-haired wizard bowed slightly: "I still know why it came here, I know that the Azorean elves have indeed chosen this path of no return for the survival and survival of the race, and I know how desperate you are, and I know that you have indeed gambled everything." ”

"It's a pity that you lost. ”

The stunned elven prince didn't notice his flushed face at all, and looked at Loren.

"That's right, we lost, and honestly we didn't want to lose, because I had already won... If it hadn't been for you, a cheating guy, I would have been the Eagle King. ”

"We will save the fate of the race, save the world, and create a civilization as brilliant as the Dragon Kingdom... If it weren't for you... You, Loren Turin. ”

"If it weren't for you, it would be fine. ”

A low and lost tone, with deep resentment and hatred.

It's fine if you don't have me......

Loren looked at him, looking at the resentful and vicious eyes of the Rodria Azores, there was no melancholy at the end of the game, there was no excitement and emotion after playing with the opponent, only because of the defeat... Impotent rage.

"It's fine without me... Well, you're right. ”

Looking at the slightly stunned eyes of the elven prince, Loren nodded thoughtfully:

"I assure you, you, they, they... He...... All of you. ”

"It's going to die on this. ”