Dark clouds filled the sky, casting a gloomy shadow.
In the canyon, two armies were engaged in fierce battle.
"Charge! Defeat the Lansca army, win this battle, and final victory will be ours!"
Shouting the slogan to boost morale, Sercis led from the front, his fierce attack tearing a small gap in the deadlocked battle.
As the youngest Templar Knight Commander in history, Sercis had lived a legendary life.
Born an ordinary human, he was taught by a master, perfecting both martial skills and magic to their limits. Rising from a commoner with no power or influence to become the Knight Commander, he supported a weak and isolated princess during a civil war, balanced the power of the great families, and restored stability to the nation.
If they won this war, they would reclaim the territories lost during the civil war.
The enemy nation's Saintess, clad in armor, immediately reacted, shouting loudly as she blocked Sercis's path.
"Don't even think about breaking through!"
She was Sercis's old adversary—Ariel, known as the "Nation-Saving Saintess."
The two had faced each other countless times on the battlefield, neither able to overcome the other.
Their blades clashed, sparking countless flashes of light. Battle energy surged outward, their intense exchange forcing nearby soldiers back, creating an empty space with the two of them at its center.
This woman is still as difficult to deal with as ever...
Irritation rose in Sercis's mind.
At that moment, he suddenly felt a pain in his chest. An excruciating agony spread from his thoracic cavity, quickly covering his entire body.
Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, then began flowing from all seven facial orifices. No matter how handsome a face, it now appeared only grotesque.
"...You..."
Sercis thought the enemy had used some underhanded trick during their fight and glared angrily at Ariel, only to find the other woman's face equally filled with disbelief.
He suddenly realized.
No, it couldn't be Ariel's doing. These symptoms were clearly the Flame Flower poison!
Legend said the Flame Flower grew at the mouth of volcanoes. Though its toxicity wasn't strong, it was difficult to expel from the body.
If accumulated over years, then activated with the Ice Soul Flower—a plant with properties completely opposite to the Flame Flower—it would instantly trigger a lethal poison...
The Flame Flower was already rare, and few knew of its toxic properties. Moreover, who could have made him consume it regularly without his knowledge, then used the Ice Soul Flower to trigger the poison...
In Sercis's mind flashed the image of a fragile girl smiling, offering him a cup of victory wine before he departed for battle.
The strong liquor had gone down his throat without burning, instead leaving a cold sensation.
It was Queen Flora, whom he had watched grow up, helped ascend to the throne, and supported with all his might...
He had only mentioned this information to the Queen when telling stories, sharing it as an interesting piece of knowledge.
At that moment in the royal palace, a pair of delicate hands accepted a cup of red tea from a maid.
The elegant young woman gazed at the steam rising before her, took a small sip of tea, and her rosy lips gradually curved into a smile.
By my calculations, the poison should have taken effect by now.
Sercis, don't blame me for being ruthless.
You were the one who monopolized power, suppressed those close to me, and continuously won the hearts of the people.
Weren't you just using me, planning to ultimately step on me to rise to power, to become the supreme ruler of this country?
Flora gripped her teacup tightly until it shattered, the fragments cutting her fingertips. Though the pain was intense, she felt only satisfaction.
Meanwhile, Sercis was desperately considering possibilities for escape.
He couldn't die here—he needed to return to the throne and confront that woman, to demand why she would treat him this way.
With an explosive burst of battle energy from within, Sercis used his last strength to force back his relentless opponent.
"Kristin!" Sercis called loudly to his companion. "Situation has changed, help me retreat!"
Kristin was Sercis's childhood friend.
They had grown up together, and when Sercis first set out on his path of adventure, Kristin was one of his companions.
Sercis had never married. He thought that if he ever did marry, perhaps Kristin would be his only choice as a wife.
In fact, they had been in a stable relationship for years.
For this expedition, Kristin served as the commander of the magic corps, remaining one of Sercis's most reliable companions.
Dense ice arrows shot from behind, forcing back nearby enemies.
Just as Sercis was rejoicing, the shattered ice fragments suddenly coalesced in midair. A sharp ice spear formed in an instant, piercing through Sercis's chest from behind before he could react.
Amid a chanting voice, the ground suddenly rose up, breaking the battlefield into pieces and cutting off any possible escape routes for Sercis.
Ice arrows launched in unison, nearly turning Sercis into a sieve.
Most decisive of all was a giant sword of ice crystals that pierced his already blood-soaked chest, pinning his entire body to the raised earthen wall.
"...Kristin… you too..."
Sercis spat out a large mouthful of blood, his vision already blurring, as he stared in disbelief at the woman approaching gracefully.
"Ten years… do you know how I've spent these ten years?"
Kristin hysterically screamed at Sercis, her gaze filled with undisguised fury and hatred.
"You killed Victor! He was our companion, our most trusted companion!
"If it weren't for you, Victor and I would have been together long ago!
"For ten years, I've been holding back, waiting for this day to let you taste what it feels like to be killed by someone you trust most!!"
"...That was because..."
Sercis wanted to explain, but reality gave him no chance. Dizziness grew increasingly intense as the strength drained from his body.
If he didn't escape now, he would definitely die here!
Biting his tongue hard to remain conscious with his last willpower, Sercis tore off the necklace on his chest and crushed the radiant crystal it held.
It was an extremely precious Sky Crystal, Sercis's ultimate lifesaving measure.
Once activated, it could instantly perform spatial magic teleportation regardless of distance.
He couldn't control the destination now, but as long as he escaped, there was still hope...
"Master."
With the sound of a cool voice, a spatial field suddenly activated, sealing the area around Sercis.
The spatial magic successfully completed, Sercis's form instantly disappeared, only to reappear almost in the same place, barely a meter from her previous position.
Kassy...
Before departing for battle, he had ordered her to guard the royal palace and protect the Queen, yet now she appeared on the battlefield.
Sercis no longer wanted to ask why.
The pointed-eared elf gazed sorrowfully at her former master, her thin lips opening and closing, both sad and resolute.
"I only wanted freedom. Since Master wouldn't release me from our contract, then... please die..."
"So, you've all been wishing for my death."
Perhaps at first he had felt anger at the betrayal, but by now, Sercis's heart was frozen to the core, leaving only endless numbness.
It turned out that what he had thought was care and devotion was, in their eyes, nothing but hypocrisy and loathsomeness.
Their response had only been pretense, waiting for the right moment to take revenge.
How laughable that he hadn't seen through it, instead treating them as the most important people in his life, protecting them at all costs.
With the poison taking effect, his battle energy shattered, wounds burst open, and consciousness fading.
There was no possibility of struggle left. By now, Sercis had lost all hope and the will to survive.
"Enough talk!" Kristin shouted harshly.
Ice crystals formed again, and a giant sword pierced through Sercis's heart.
The light gradually disappeared from the youth's pure black eyes, but Kristin still feared he wasn't completely dead and repeatedly stabbed him countless times.
Only after confirming that Sercis had no breath left did Kristin stop.
The ice-controlling mage dispelled the ice crystals, the pointed-eared elf gazed toward the sky, and the young woman in the royal palace put down her teacup. All three simultaneously let out sighs of relief.
It was over...
A legendary figure had thus fallen.