The Lord Of Blood Hill

After fully subduing Steel Shield, Henwell drags him along, avoids the guards on the way, and returns to the king's hall.

After making his arrangements, Henwell looks at Ulysses's corpse and says, "Forgive me."

With that, he uses Steel Shield's longsword to create several wounds on the body.

Among them is a fatal wound piercing the heart. The surroundings are also arranged to look as if a great battle has taken place.

Then Henwell walks out of the shelter. At the entrance, he uses his Shackles Of Civilization ability to control a mechanism inside.

The entire shelter locks itself from within and is once again sealed off from the outside.

After finishing this, Henwell glances once more at the king's hall. Only after confirming that every trace of his own presence has been erased does he turn and leave to look for Catherine.

When he finds Catherine, she immediately asks what had happened.

Catherine is also a Battle Knight. Naturally, she sensed the Thug bomb and the fluctuations from Henwell's battle with Morris.

Henwell does not say much. He only says that he sensed it too, but did not dare go over to check.

Then Henwell changes the subject and asks Catherine to come forward and organize the royal guards inside the castle as much as possible.

In at most another hour, the castle's protective spell formation will be undone.

Once the Western Federation's elites rush in, if the royal guards still try to stop them, they will suffer a deadly blow.

And afterward, the Western Federation will also use this as proof that the Billie Kingdom is colluding with the Veil.

Understanding the stakes, Catherine immediately begins gathering the castle guards under Henwell's protection.

Now that there is no interference from the Veil, the guards gather quickly.

With Catherine's handwritten order and token, scattered units of guards across the castle are gradually brought together.

Originally, the vast Sunflower Fortress had at least two thousand elite guards.

Of course, these guards only patrolled here during the day. They did not live here at night.

But now, after Catherine takes a count, fewer than a thousand remain.

And that only includes the royal guards. It does not include the losses among the king's personal guards.

All told, including the innocent maids, servants, and other workers, at least two thousand people have died inside the castle in a single day.

Thinking of this, Catherine cannot help falling silent with sorrow for a while. After all, she grew up here.

Many of the people working here had served in the castle for half their lives. She could even call many of them by name.

And now, these people have died for reasons they did not even understand.

Henwell does not know how to comfort her. Fortunately, Catherine soon steadies herself.

Orders are issued one after another in an orderly fashion, giving the leaderless guards and the king's guard a backbone again.

Not long afterward, someone reports that Veil members have been discovered.

Catherine does not hesitate. She leads people over, and with Henwell's assistance, captures them one by one.

At last, the fighting inside the castle gradually dies down.

Catherine then brings her people to Garcia from the church. By this point, a number of Veil prisoners have already been gathered there.

Before the ranger died, he inflicted certain injuries on Garcia and badly wounded Pakrik and Diara, who had been supporting him.

Even more Western Federation elites are wounded. Their combat strength has already fallen to its lowest point.

Seeing the royal guards advancing in strict formation and full battle order, Garcia cannot help feeling a headache coming on.

Fortunately, Henwell appears in time and has Catherine begin organizing treatment for the wounded.

Henwell personally joins in as the surgeon, saving many lives.

Some are elite warriors of the Western Federation. Others are elite guards from the castle.

Outside the castle, two elite groups have already completed battle preparations on the square.

Besides, several elite teams are ready to break in through the castle's various entrances at any time.

At present, the Western Federation has both Luke, Expedition Marshal of the empire, and Archbishop Ashiburn of the church personally on scene.

Six Glory Ranks, more than twenty Iron Ranks, several hundred Grand Knights, and over two thousand Battle Knights.

This is more than enough to keep the surrounding Billie army from approaching at all. After the commander asks for instructions, he can only cooperate by cordoning off the area.

Expedition Marshal Luke of the empire, frowns and asks, "Archbishop, how much longer before this castle opens?"

Ashiburn, the Holy Spirit Church's archbishop stationed on the Forgotten Continent, says, "A little longer. There is no need to hurry. It will be soon."

Tobias, commander of the empire's knight order, snorts coldly. "Can we not just tear open the defenses here?"

Eppdin, a Judgment Bishop of the Holy Spirit Church, glances at him and says calmly, "Of course we can. But if we tear it open, will you be responsible for repairing it?"

Tobias says, "This place is already a den of thieves. Why should we repair it?"

Eppdin laughs. "Good. You said that yourself. When the royal branch here complains to the empire later, you had better bravely take responsibility."

Expedition Marshal Luke raises his hand and stops Tobias from retorting. "Enough. The protective arrangements here were originally set up jointly by the church and the empire."

"If they really are damaged, both sides will have trouble. No one gets to escape it."

"Besides, if this matter spreads, some people in the empire will be dissatisfied with our conduct."

"Besides, this is, after all, the residence of the imperial royal family in a strict sense. We have a responsibility to protect them."

"If we handle this too crudely, it will not be a good result for us either."

Graham, lord of Guardian City, advises, "It will not be much longer. Everyone, please wait patiently."

Bekley, commander of the Imperial Bulwark Legion, sighs. "If Janet dies inside, I imagine Chief Administrator Basarom will be very displeased."

Eppdin says coldly, "Fishing requires bait in the first place. Basarom's son is noble, and everyone else is not?"

"Our Knight Commander Hume's nephew is inside as well. If he dares sacrifice himself for the church, why can Janet not contribute to the empire's cause?"

Ashiburn waves his hand. "Stop arguing. Prepare yourselves. The protective spell formation is about to open."

Everyone immediately readies for battle. Seeing this, the kingdom army on the perimeter also goes into strict formation.

A little while later, the castle's protective spell formation slowly weakens and finally disappears completely.

After a tense silence, a creaking sound spreads across the quiet square.

The drawbridge is slowly lowered.

Just as the elites of the church and empire begin to charge, they see the scene behind the drawbridge.

The archbishop and the grand marshal immediately raise their hands and stop their warriors from attacking.

Behind the slowly descending drawbridge, several figures are revealed.

First is Henwell, covered in blood, a greatsword resting on his left shoulder while his right hand braces on another sword.

Beside Henwell stands Catherine in full martial attire, holding the sunflower-ring royal banner.

Farther back are Knight Garcia, wrapped in bandages that are still seeping blood, and the surviving elite warriors of the Western Regions, each wounded and standing with difficulty.

The afterglow of the setting sun falls across them. They look both tragic and murderous.

Henwell's gaze passes over the professionals gathered on the square and settles on the sunset in the distance. For a long time, he says nothing.

That sun seems like a kingdom in decline.

After it comes the long night.