Chapter 234
In the feeling of something being heard.
Meiri regained her faint consciousness.
And when she opened her eyes.
She was facing dark blue hair.
The moment she saw that hair color, Meiri gasped and swallowed her breath.
It was only natural since it was the color of Balheim, which had twice made her lose consciousness.
Meiri hurriedly looked at the person carrying her while running.
And she quickly realized who he was.
Kraush Balheim.
The man who had spoken incomprehensible words to her.
Meiri realized that he hadn't noticed she was awake yet.
And then, as she quietly moved her hand toward her waist.
"Just so you know, I also have detection abilities."
Meiri's body stiffened and froze.
He had noticed her attempt to ambush him from behind.
Meiri quietly removed her hand from her waist.
Because the moment her attempt to act recklessly was caught, she knew she had no chance of winning against Kraush.
At the same time, Meiri noticed that the bracelet on her wrist had already been taken by Kraush.
She quickly gave up on retrieving it as well.
"......What are you planning to do with me?"
"You're the head of the White Lamb Order. Until the White Lamb Order is dismantled, I'm planning to keep you somewhere else."
Kraush said so as he sprinted down the corridor.
However, Kraush's expression was not pleasant.
The reason was something Meiri could quickly figure out.
It was because the surroundings were entirely engulfed in battle.
The White Lamb Order had joined hands with the Geohaedan and the Human Horse Unit.
In the case of the Geohaedan, only Felray had come to support, but for the Human Horse Unit, most of their forces were present.
They too had to defeat the Lion Order no matter what, so they were fighting with all their might.
Because of this, the Lion Order was also struggling quite a bit.
After all, the White Lamb Order already had many members, and with the addition of the Human Horse Unit.
Being outnumbered was a reality.
Thus, the Lion Order was in a situation where each member had to take on at least three opponents.
Yet, Kraush had a different reason for frowning.
Kraush was looking out the window.
"Tsk, quite a lot of them have gathered."
It was because a large number of people were swarming in from outside.
Their identities were none other than other groups.
Perhaps an opportunity to handle the White Lamb Order, the Lion Order, and the Human Horse Unit all at once.
So as soon as they noticed the battle between the two groups, they stopped fighting among themselves and attacked here first.
Meiri also belatedly realized this fact through her detection.
At the same time, she looked at Kraush with astonished eyes.
Her detection range was vast enough to be considered the best in Rahelrn Academy.
In fact, among those with detection abilities, there weren't many in the world who could match her.
Yet, Kraush, who was right in front of her, was sensing the presence of those as far away as Meiri's detection ability could reach.
While he couldn't discern details like Meiri, his detection range was absurdly wide as well.
As proof, the other groups were still quite a distance away.
"W-what exactly are you?"
When Meiri muttered absentmindedly, Kraush glanced at her.
"Kraush Balheim."
Ironically, just saying that name explained everything.
Because he was Balheim.
Leaving the dazed Meiri behind, Kraush took his eyes off the window.
Because someone was walking down the corridor ahead.
The moment Kraush saw him, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.
A man scattering golden aura while holding a spear loosely.
It was none other than Glen Diana, Mary Diana's cousin.
There was a shallow wound on his arm.
Kraush noticed who had inflicted that wound.
'Karandis.'
She had stepped in to restrain Glen in his stead.
It seemed to be a wound left by her.
"Glen, what happened to Karandis?"
Knowing Karandis' personality, unless she was completely incapacitated, she would have stubbornly tried to stop Glen.
Yet, here he was with only a shallow wound on his arm.
The meaning of that could be understood through Glen's words.
"I broke her limbs. Even then, she tried to get up, so I pinned her to the wall with my sword."
Glen conveyed the fact with extreme indifference.
However, Kraush noticed that Glen had deliberately said more than necessary.
That was provocation.
A provocation to make Kraush fight him.
Such cheap provocations didn't work on Kraush.
After all, provocation was his specialty, not something he enjoyed being on the receiving end of.
But Kraush casually let go of the hand holding Meiri.
"Kyaak!"
Not expecting Kraush to release her, Meiri let out a scream and rolled on the floor.
Leaving her there, Kraush drew Rain Thunder Prime.
"Meiri, if you try to escape, I'll chase you to hell and drag you back."
His voice, resonating eerily in the corridor, was filled with sincerity.
Meiri, knowing Kraush would willingly do so, flinched and quietly leaned against a wall.
"......I don't even have the energy to escape."
Starting from when Charlotte had destroyed her detection system, to being beaten by Kraush.
As Meiri said, she truly didn't have the energy to escape.
So she decided to just watch.
After all, unless someone rescued her, she judged it was impossible to escape from Kraush.
"Glen, I left a question unfinished earlier."
Black Flame rose from Kraush's sword.
Within that Black Flame, Kraush quietly looked at Glen.
"Why are you in such a state?"
The Glen Kraush had known was someone who stood against injustice.
In fact, when Kraush had been wronged by a member of the Imperial Faction, Glen had stood up for him.
Yet, this Glen looked extremely tormented now.
As if he had abandoned his own beliefs.
"It's for the family."
Hearing the word "family," Kraush slowly began to furrow his brows.
His family was the Diana Family, renowned for their spear techniques.
They had consistently produced excellent spear masters, and in the past, Mary from their family had even been called the Divine Spear.
However, the situation now was vastly different from before the Regression.
Mary had been imprisoned for the crime of attempting to assassinate the 4th Princess, Sizelry Ephania, and was now even branded with the Imperial Seal.
Naturally, the Diana Family, which had produced a royal assassin, was also pushed out of the political scene.
The reputation of the Diana Family as a prestigious spear lineage had crumbled in an instant.
The fallen reputation showed no signs of returning, and the Diana Family slowly began to decay.
Still, it was better when Mary was by Sigrid's side.
This was because Sigrid had occasionally supported the Diana Family in her own way.
However, after Sigrid completely abandoned Mary.
Sigrid no longer extended her protection to the Diana Family.
It was partly revenge against Mary, and partly something she calculated in her own way.
Even if Mary was unnecessary, the spear masters of Diana were still useful.
With that judgment, Sigrid instantly severed ties with the Diana Family.
She knew that if the Diana Family continued to collapse, they would cling first to those who had helped them so far.
The moment Sigrid's protective hand, the only one extended to them, disappeared.
The Diana Family began to fall into ruin at an uncontrollable speed.
Nobles and merchants began to cut off their transactions and contracts with the Diana Family one after another.
Even the residents in their territory began to leave Diana as goods and trade stopped coming in.
The Diana Family was located in the northern rugged terrain, far from the Empire's central region.
Therefore, the territory, which couldn't sustain itself, collapsed in an instant when goods and trade stopped coming.
Naturally, the Diana Family declared a state of emergency.
And as Sigrid intended, the first person they clung to was Sigrid.
This was because, after Mary committed the royal assassination, the merchants and nobles they had once traded with were all taken over by Sigrid.
Thus, the person the Diana Family attached to in an attempt to create a connection with Sigrid.
That was Glen Diana, who was enrolled at Rahelrn Academy.
Glen had to become Sigrid's dog.
[You, who wield the spear for the Diana Family, should know. To revive the Diana Family, you must surpass Mary.]
Glen could not deny those words.
Even now, despite everything, Mary's prestige, born with the Heavenly Martial Body, was remarkable.
Her overwhelming victories against the Empire's knights at a young age were firmly engraved in Glen's memory.
Although she was now greatly underestimated, Glen still knew he could not surpass Mary.
[If I said I had a way to make you stronger, would you follow it?]
His mother and father knelt before Glen, begging and pleading.
Glen had never seen his once-proud parents cling to him so pathetically.
Glen could not abandon the collapse of the family he had lived with all his life.
So, he trampled on his own beliefs.
No matter what it took, he would grow strong enough to meet Sigrid's expectations.
And he would rebuild the family.
[Yes, willingly.]
Thus, he decided to become Sigrid's dog.
From Glen's spear, golden light began to pour out more fiercely.
The walls touched by the surging aura cracked and split apart.
The glass windows fractured and shattered with a clatter.
The aura emanating from Glen was overwhelmingly powerful.
"Kraush."
Glen's spear was aimed at Kraush.
"I must defeat you."
Sigrid spoke to Glen.
She told him to return victorious against Kraush in this Confrontation.
Sigrid was not unaware of Kraush's strength.
She also knew full well that the incomplete Glen could not defeat Kraush.
However, she sent Glen anyway.
She believed that, at the very least, he could hold Kraush back.
Kraush, realizing this, furrowed his brows tightly.
'Sigrid, you bitch.'
Later, Sigrid turned Glen, who would belong to the Skyborne Generation, into a mere pawn for her convenience.
All for her own greed.
'I knew things had already been falling apart.'
This woman truly seemed to have no intention of stopping the Destruction.
Kraush wanted to ask Sigrid.
For what exactly was she breaking everything to maintain her position?
No matter how much she maintained that position, didn't she ultimately witness this world being destroyed with her own eyes?
Didn't she even once wield a sword alongside Arthur to save the world?
Kraush forcibly swallowed the words that rose from the depths of his heart.
'In the end, Sigrid, you and I are not walking the same path.'
Sigrid Ephania.
She truly had no intention of stopping the Destruction.
Even knowing about the future Destruction, she only thought of destroying everything around her, holding onto her petty power to preserve her position.
It was laughable to think that, as someone chosen by Arthur, she would walk in the same direction.
At least Arthur had genuinely made efforts to stop the Destruction.
'Well, I already knew.'
Sigrid lacked leadership.
More precisely, she didn't know how to set a goal and move forward toward it.
Because she didn't know how, she had simply followed Arthur, who confidently moved toward his goal.
To her eyes, Arthur must have seemed dazzling.
And inwardly, she must have felt satisfaction and exhilaration.
Just by being by Arthur's side, people praised her, speaking of her as if she were an apostle of justice.
But in reality, she was not of that caliber.
"Is that so."
Kraush abandoned all expectations of Sigrid and looked at Glen.
Glen, who was pouring out everything he had, even drawing on his future.
The only thing Kraush could do for him now.
"Then, try to win."
Was to respond with his full power.