Landing lightly a short distance away, Hilde spun her blood-stained blade and murmured.
"Hmm~. I was wondering why the blade wouldn't go in smoothly~."
Hilde let the words slip as she looked at Rowket's body revealed beneath the cloak. Rowket's back was hunched.
When hidden by the cloak and the Juggernaut, it looked like he was wearing a backpack, but in reality, it was his abdomen that was bulging. That was why, even though Hilde had thrust her blade in with the resolve to kill, he was still clinging to life.
However, that was only 'for now'.
"Yeolpok Faction Master Rowket. The most powerful pro-war faction even in the Flame Nation. You command a unit that flies through the skies using thrusters, right? According to intel, the Raptor Unit is also used as the Golden Palace's messengers."
"Kuh, heok...!"
"They were a tricky unit to face without Historia. I didn't expect to take care of them here. We were lucky~."
Hilde looked back at me with an innocent smile.
"I can kill this one, right, Father?"
"Wait a moment."
"My? Why again? Is there something you need to confirm?"
The Regressor abruptly approached and drove a Heavenly Spike into Rowket's wing. Stepping on the Heavenly Spike so he couldn't stand up again, the Regressor asked with overwhelming intimidation.
"This is your last chance. Tell me the location of the Golden Palace."
"Cough...! You bastards...!"
"If you call yourself the Golden Palace's messenger, you must know where the Golden Palace is right now and what it looks like. If you want to live, spill it honestly. I'll spare your life at least."
"Heok, heok... Up to there..."
'They know up to that point...? They should be fools from a mere military nation who directly killed their king... How do they know that fact...'
Keuk, Rowket let out a short laugh. As if having made a resolution, Rowket coughed up blood-tinged foam and spoke in broken intervals.
"...Cough. Fine. I'll tell you..."
'...My troops, my fame, my wealth, and even my Juggernaut. I have already lost everything. There is no reason to live... and those, bastards won't let me live either. If so...'
He then mumbled something, but since it wasn't meant to be heard in the first place, the Regressor couldn't understand it. The Regressor walked toward him in annoyance.
"What are you saying? Speak clearly."
As the Regressor stepped forward, Hilde naturally leaned forward as well. It was to take his life if anything happened... but that was exactly what Rowket was aiming for.
Rowket unleashed his Innate Demonic Art. The metal forming his Juggernaut, the Raptor, was Alchemical Steel created directly by the Golden Mirror for Rowket. It was an immortal alloy that did not deplete no matter how much Rowket burned or exploded it. Therefore, Rowket could fly in the skies almost forever without worrying about the metal depleting.
However, at the very end, even that immortality could be detonated as fuel.
"You all... will die..."
"What?"
Rowket raised his blood-stained arm. The last remaining magical power in him flowed down his arm and into the Juggernaut. The metal created by the Golden Mirror was of a transcendentally high level, but the Faction Master... slightly altered its structure.
From immortal metal to mortal metal. To burn the enemy in an instant.
"...With this legacy bestowed by the Golden Mirror...! I will make you my companions on the road to the underworld!"
Rowket shouted as he released his Innate Demonic Art all at once. It was too late to respond. The final explosion that would turn a radius of hundreds of meters into ruins was about to sweep up the Regressor and Hilde....
However.
"What are you doing?"
The Regressor muttered blankly.
The Heavenly Mirror did not activate. The defense meridian engraved in the Regressor's body did not warn of any danger.
Because it was not dangerous.
"H-How..."
Rowket looked at his Juggernaut losing its light. The legacy personally bestowed by the Golden Mirror, the trump card he had saved until right before his death, was rusting.
Only metal could become the sacrifice for the explosion, but once rusted and worn away, it lost that qualification. Metal that had lost its value could not be used. Even by a Faction Master.
"Jan...nok...!"
Clack, clack.
A leisurely sound of hooves was heard on the dry land. Peru, riding Aurea, approached Rowket. As if defying Peru's emotionless gaze, Rowket shouted fiercely.
"Why...! Why are you interfering with me, Jannok...!"
Peru opened her mouth slowly.
"...You were trying to, self-destruct."
"They... should have died here...! If they had, that land would have become ours...! So why! Why did you turn my Juggernaut into Jannok...!!"
"...It's the same. Your Yeolpok. My Jannok. It's the same. It makes the Juggernaut unusable."
'...And if both produce the same result anyway. If it's an act of erasing one Juggernaut from this Flame Nation...'
Peru said softly.
"...It's better if fewer people die."
It was not because she lacked the ability that Peru did not fight. She avoided fighting because her ability erased value.
However, like now, if the Yeolpok Faction Master tried to cause a destruction where nothing remained by sacrificing all value, leaving only a more horrific result than Jannok, Peru would stop him.
The reaction from the Juggernaut disappeared. Feeling the lifespan of the Golden Mirror's masterpiece coming to an end, Yeolpok Faction Master Rowket wailed.
"Don't make me laugh!!! You should know, our earnest wish...! You...! You stole our second homeland...!!"
"Yees~. I heard you well."
Slash.
The shout cut off as if sliced by a blade. A moment later, Rowket's head fell at an angle. The Yeolpok Faction Master, who had poured out his rage at the Regressor, the military nation, and finally at Peru who blocked him, had a face full of indignation even in death.
A period was stamped on the soot-stained book. Standing a little further away, I offered him a farewell in my heart.
Farewell, Lord Rowket. A man like a flame that burned until his breath ceased.
When I finished my farewell and raised my head, Hilde was hiding the blade behind her back and showing an awkward smile to the Regressor and Peru.
"Don't look at me with such eyes~. 'I' merely took on the dirty work everyone couldn't bring themselves to do. Could we have just passed by without killing him? I deserve to be praised, rather!"
What a hypocrite. When she was full of intentions to kill him from the start.
The person who actually made the greatest contribution to neutralizing Rowket was me, though. They say the left hand shouldn't know what the right hand is doing, but aren't I working too hard without even getting any recognition?
Anyway, let's go mediate before the atmosphere gets any weirder. Sighing inwardly, I called Azi.
"Azi."
"Good work, woof!"
"...No, I didn't mean to ask for praise."
When morning broke, the horrors of the previous day were starkly revealed. The vast plain was covered in traces of battle. Bloodstains, ashes, and even devastatingly dug-up pits. The land, etched with all sorts of contours, was beyond grotesque—it was pitiful.
However, amidst all this, the jackals were merrily rummaging through the corpses.
Not only the mounts, but also the weapons and tools on the corpses were all precious assets. The jackals who had fled flocked in to claim the legacy left by the Raptor Unit and the other jackals.
The jackals filled their bellies in a festival spread over corpses. The fact that new corpses weren't piling up was probably thanks to the Camp Leader maintaining strict order.
"Hey there! Properly bury the corpse you looted!"
A jackal, who was about to take only the items and leave the corpse, clicked his tongue.
"Tch, so picky. He's dead anyway."
"I'm not telling you to show respect for the dead. At least show respect to your employer!"
"Got it. Well, if it's for my employer, digging a hole and burying them is nothing."
While the jackal grumbled and buried the corpse, the Camp Leader, who had let out a deep sigh, approached us.
"I'm sorry for making you wait. I wanted to collect the corpses before Lord Peru left. If their corpses remain, the fleeing Raptor Unit might come back to retrieve them."
Of course, it wasn't out of camaraderie. The corpses of the Raptor Unit held too many resources that the unit needed. If the highly mobile Raptor Unit launched a raid, they could just take the wings and thrusters and flee; he must have feared this possibility.
Still... I glanced at Hilde. Hilde noticed my gaze and smiled frivolously.
"Hehe. What is it, Father?"
"It's nothing."
I doubt that. Didn't that person kill more than half of the Raptor Unit? And by stealing an ally's face and flying through the sky, assassinating them one by one in mid-air, no less. The Raptor Unit scattered and fled not because they were a disorganized mob, but because they couldn't distinguish between enemy and ally.
What a terrifying ability. It gives me chills.
The Regressor asked the Camp Leader.
"Where is the Jannok Faction Master?"
"She is at the camp. She is undoing the seal on the Juggernaut."
"Still?"
"She should be finishing up soon. Follow me."
The Camp Leader left the aftermath to his subordinates and headed to the camp.
Since most of the jackals were outside enjoying the windfall, the camp was filled with a pleasant tranquility. It was overflowing with vitality, hard to believe it was the land where hundreds of people had died.
It wasn't that strange. The Flame Nation was a land of wanderers. It was extremely rare for jackals who had parted ways once to meet again. To them, death held the same meaning as parting.
The Camp Leader said as he passed between those gathering loot.
"I'll tell you since it's already been revealed. Lord Peru is the Jannok Faction Master. However, she doesn't build any particular faction and travels alone."
"That means she's a loner. She did seem a bit like that."
"...It's not a wrong statement. There are various difficulties in accumulating wealth with her ability."
The Camp Leader, having voiced an uncomfortable truth, added as if making an excuse.
"However, thinking the other way, it's also hard to find a Faction Master as safe as her. Look at Yeolpok Faction Master Rowket. He and his subordinates squander money extravagantly. They always hunt others because they never have enough no matter how much they spend. Compared to him, Lord Peru isn't very interested in money."
"Because even if she gathers it, it will disappear someday due to her ability?"
"...I can't read her mind, so I wouldn't know that, but anyway, Lord Peru is a mild-mannered person who dislikes fighting."
The Camp Leader, who had been secretly glaring at me, turned his head and looked in one direction.
"You may not be welcomed, but there will be no reason for them to be hostile either. Please take care of it."
"Yes, Father. Don't worry. We'll take good care of it on our end."
"...Um, is this person always this noisy?"
The Camp Leader, unable to hold back, questioned the Regressor. Then, the Regressor asked me.
"What's your complaint?"
"He's beating around the bush. I provoked him to stop pretending to be gentle and just say what he really means."
"She says so."
"...Never mind. I spoke out of turn."
The Camp Leader shook his head and resumed walking. Like that, we gradually headed deeper into the camp.
"We're here. It's over there."