“Someone! Anyone, hurry!”
Soren tore open his throat and roared inside the main hall of the palace.
Yet not a single person gave any response.
Not long ago, he had felt the entire palace shaking as if heaven and earth were overturning. Strange lights continuously flashed across the sky outside, as if something extremely terrifying had occurred.
He had sent out all the subordinates by his side to observe the situation, yet not a single one had returned to report.
“There’s no need to call anymore, Soren.”
A girl’s voice rang out from the entrance of the palace.
“Who is it?”
Soren stood up from the throne, tightly gripping the Imperial Heirloom Artifact in his hand as he focused his gaze on the entrance.
He saw a girl with a pair of black wings on her back slowly fly in and land on the ground.
“You are… Via!!”
Soren recognized the other party and was quite surprised. No matter how one looked at Via’s appearance, it did not resemble what a cleric ought to look like. She was the daughter of the former Perfect Saintess Sylvia, and at the same time the saintess candidate whom the world had recognized as a useless failure.
“No, how did you get here? Where is Sophie? She should be outside!”
“Take a guess?”
A chill ran down Soren’s spine.
He felt that Via being able to arrive here probably meant Sophie had already been defeated.
“That thing… is that the controller of the Shadow Giant?”
Via noticed the staff in Soren’s hand and quickly realized that the aura on it was extremely close to that of the Shadow Giant.
“What do you intend to do? Don’t come any closer!!”
Soren pointed the staff at Via, baring his teeth.
“I can summon the Shadow Giant over at any time. When that happens, I can easily crush you to death!”
“The Shadow Giant does not distinguish between friend and foe. If you do that, the first one it crushes to death will be you.” Via replied.
“So… what of it!”
Soren steeled himself and continued to pressure Via.
He knew the other party had not come with good intentions.
“If you do not intend to spare me, then at worst we can perish together!”
“Are you also threatening me?!”
“I am merely stating the facts. If you choose to spare me, then it would be better for both of us! Right now Soren can only rely on the Imperial Heirloom Artifact to fight for a chance at survival.”
“Unfortunately, you do not have the qualifications to negotiate terms with me.”
Via lightly tapped the ground with Starfall Flame. A scene of revolving stars appeared around her body.
In the next second, divine power transformed into heavy pressure that pressed down upon Soren, causing the current emperor of the empire to collapse onto the ground.
“No, no! My Imperial Heirloom Artifact!!”
Soren cried out in terror.
He could only watch helplessly as the Imperial Heirloom Artifact fell away and stopped by Via’s feet.
Via glanced at the Imperial Heirloom Artifact. The glowing staff flew into the palm of her hand.
“So the tool that controls the Shadow Giant is actually the Imperial Heirloom Artifact of the Saint Luo Empire.”
Via looked at the Imperial Heirloom Artifact and fell into thought.
She already possessed Mythical-tier strength. That seemingly indestructible Shadow Giant could be completely crushed using divine power.
However, she thought of how this item was a symbol of imperial authority and ultimately decided to leave it for Stella.
In the end, she merely used the Imperial Heirloom Artifact to cancel the summoning of the Shadow Giant.
“Via, y-you shouldn’t kill me!”
Seeing that he had reached the end of his rope, Soren could only lower himself.
“You are helping Stella rebel, right? Why not choose to stand on my side instead? Everything Stella promised you, I can give you all of it. I can make you someone second only to one person… No, I can divide the entire territory of the empire with you! Let the two of us jointly rule the Saint Luo Empire!”
“How could I possibly believe your words?”
Via casually flung out a magic missile that smashed into Soren’s body. She controlled the power so that it only knocked him unconscious.
Executing Soren was Stella’s matter.
This emperor who had schemed against Gustav to seize the throne would be of great use when Stella ascended.
“Via!!”
When Stella led the New Imperial Army into the main hall of the palace, what she saw was the pink-haired girl holding the Imperial Heirloom Artifact and Soren collapsed on the ground.
“Oh, Stella. You finally arrived.”
Via tossed the Imperial Heirloom Artifact over.
“Here. For you.”
“This is… the Imperial Heirloom Artifact!” As a member of the imperial family, Stella of course recognized what it was.
“Yes. At the same time, this is also the controller of the Shadow Giant. Soren used this to summon the Shadow Giant.” Via replied.
“Via, just now I saw an earth-shaking battle occurring on the side of the palace. Could it be… that it was a battle with Sophie?” Stella recalled the scene she had witnessed earlier and still found it rather shocking.
“That is already a domain that ordinary people cannot reach.”
“Yes.”
“No wonder.”
“Did you see Sophie?”
“Mm.” Stella nodded. “When we entered the palace, we saw Sophie. She did not obstruct us. Instead, she requested that we arrest her, saying that she had committed faults and ought to accept punishment. Seeing that Sophie no longer held any hostility, we temporarily took her away.”
“This elder sister is really… well.” Via smiled helplessly.
“Soren has also fallen.”
Stella walked over to Soren, squatted down, and placed a finger in front of Soren’s nose, sensing that he was still breathing.
“Don’t worry. I know he is a useful tool and specifically left him for you to deal with,” Via said. “Right now, the Holy Knight Order has been crushed, the Saintess of the Holy Land has been defeated, Soren has been captured, and the legendary artifact has also fallen into your hands. Without a doubt, this victory belongs to you.”
“We… won.”
Stella could not conceal her excitement. She placed a hand on her chest, feeling her gradually accelerating heartbeat, and a look of joy appeared on her face.
This also meant that she already possessed the qualifications to become the emperor of the Saint Luo Empire.
“We won! We won! We won the civil war!”
Hearing this news, the New Imperial Army excitedly shouted and danced about inside the main hall.
Some people even set down their weapons and cried from excitement.
Via still had some things she needed to do. When she was about to leave, Stella grabbed her hand.
She turned around and saw the blue-haired girl with tears glistening at the corners of her eyes gazing at her with heated eyes.
“Via, all of this… is your achievement. Without you, we would not even have been able to walk through the palace gates.”
“This is something I promised you back then. Do you still remember that slip of paper?” Via said with a smile. “I said I would return to the Saint Luo Empire and help you become emperor. Now, it can be considered that I have fulfilled my promise.”
“Mm…”
Disregarding the gazes of others, Stella embraced Via in full view of everyone.
“Thank you.”