Chapter 96

Chapter 69 Wildfire on the Vast Prairie Part 7

“Cough, cough—”

Another violent fit of coughing.

“…That must be it. Cough, cough, I think I am.” His eyelids drooped down. “Girl. Next time, if you… see someone like us… remember, you have to cut off their head… otherwise, before burning away your own blood… we won’t stop…”

“…What’s the point of doing this—”

Halfway through his words, he suddenly saw Varall’s flames extinguish.

Immediately after, his skin visibly withered, his hair lost its color, his face became extremely gaunt and emaciated, his eyes turned milky and lifeless, as if he had aged many years in an instant.

“I… can… ask you… one thing…”

“Can’t.”

I immediately refused.

“No… three years ago… I went alone… to the bottom of the cliff… to look for you… I looked for you… but I didn’t find you…”

Varall, sounding like an elderly man, whispered these words, causing me to freeze for a moment.

Then my gaze sharpened, looking seriously at his face: “No one has looked for me.”

But he couldn’t hear anymore.

“So… please…”

“Tell… Elina… that I tried my best… that I love her…”

“Miss Elina…”

His hazy eyes widened, as if in a dream.

“I saw her… under the moonlight… she was holding a sword… she was so beautiful…”

“She… was so beautiful…”

Sii—

A scream came from behind.

The silver-haired woman dismounted from the unicorn, looking at the devastated snow scene around her and the scorched earth, her eyes showing slight shock.

“Miss Peyalo… are you hurt?”

I shook my head.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Bella, captain of the second squad of Shanterl army.”

Her expression was calm, no emotion showing on her pretty face. Then she looked at the person pierced by ice spears, whose head had already drooped.

“Is this Varall?”

“Yes, he’s dead.”

“Am I too late?”

“Not really… um…”

Before I could finish my sentence, she already knew what I was going to say.

“I brought people here first, Your Grace will arrive soon.”

“Oh.”

I acknowledged with a nod, then turned back to look at the disfigured person lying on the ground, and shifted my gaze to Varall, pausing for a moment on his emaciated body.

Seeming to think I wasn’t reacting much, Bella began explaining to the duke.

“Varall burned through the chains, killed a few people, and escaped from the cellar. Later, the hunters patrolling found something wrong with White Gate. I feared delaying would cause trouble, so I gathered everyone and set out ahead of time, only sending word to Shanterl Castle just before leaving.”

I gave her a sweet smile.

“I know, let’s go.”

Then I threw down the glacial scythe, turned, and stepped towards the battlefield nearing its end.

Recalling Varall’s last words, whether it was a lie or if he truly had fallen off the cliff to find me three years ago… it didn’t matter anymore.

The fact was established, and trying to make up for it later had no meaning, right?

“Was he the Gate of Truth?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“…Evil path.”

Bella mounted the unicorn, moving her body back to leave space in front of the saddle, then extended her hand to me.

“Miss, come up.”

I hesitated slightly, grabbed her hand, and climbed up.

Actually, I was not good at riding horses, having no talent for it. In my previous life, I even fell off a horse, almost getting trampled to death, since which I developed a fear. The unicorns of this world were much larger than horses in my previous life… but showing that might be embarrassing.

I felt a little afraid, but heard Bella behind me say, “Miss, grab

“Steady.”

The horned horse let out a scream and galloped forward with its iron hooves.

“Whoa—”

I staggered from being thrown off balance, my little hands flailing, unsure where to grab, and instead wrapped around Bella.

There was no warmth or softness; Bella’s leather armor was cold and hard, pressing painfully against my back. The jolts from the “thud, thud” of the hooves made my bottom ache as well. Seeing me in such a disheveled state seemed to surprise Bella.

“Miss, you can’t ride a horse?”

“I can… just a little.”

“Oh.”

She wasn’t one for many words. After responding, she fell silent, only quietly freeing up a hand to wrap around my waist.

Night deepened.

The horned horse raced past the battlefield.

A light breeze brushed past, carrying the stench of blood and death.

We passed countless hunters running to gather the fallen, and city guards who had been injured and taken prisoner—most of them were those who had collapsed after being frost-bitten by me. At that time, I had deliberately lowered the temperature of the frost mist, so they wouldn’t die… but these people still only accounted for less than two-tenths of the total.

Most of the soldiers had their heads severed, limbs missing, some split in half, intestines tangled around their necks… They had bled out on this land, resting forever… perhaps they couldn’t even rest in peace.

Among them, many did not know what they were doing when they set out. Perhaps they told their wives and children, “I’ll be gone for a few days, and I’ll return soon.”

But they never returned.

My emotions were indescribably complex.

I wasn’t feeling sympathy for them; they were still enemies, and not long ago, they had fought against me with swords and blades. If I were just an ordinary girl, or like Peyilo three years ago, I might have died.

I remained unscathed on the battlefield not because of their mercy, but because I was strong enough. I understood this logic very well.

I just hated war and those so-called nobles who could make others die pointlessly with just a few words.

Perhaps I hadn’t yet adapted to the rules of this world. It was a world of survival of the fittest, completely different from the cutthroat business world of my past.

Death was laid bare before us, impossible to ignore.

The horned horse continued to gallop, and soon more hunters gathered around us. In the distance ahead, La Fayette and his guards surrounded a limping man covered in filth.

“Let go! Let me go—”

“I am Prince Valen of the Empire! How dare you treat me this way!”

The man struggled and fell, possibly hitting an injury, and he screamed in pain. Then he lifted his head, revealing Edward’s handsome, albeit dirty face under his messy black hair.

La Fayette bowed slightly, greeting him, “Good evening, Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”

The guards and hunters nearby laughed without restraint at the scene.

“Hahaha—”

“Good evening, hahaha—”

Some even mimicked La Fayette’s gesture, bowing to the prostrate Edward and repeating the same words, making the laughter even louder.

Edward lowered his head in silence.

“Why don’t you say something?”

“…What is there to say? La Fayette, you won this time. Next time—”

“Do you think there will be a next time?”

La Fayette’s lips curled up, his eyes narrowing as he shot a cold gaze at Edward, causing him to pale.

“La Fayette, what do you want…?” His voice trembled as he widened his eyes, “Do you want to kill me… No, you dare not kill me… The Church won’t allow you to do such a thing…”

The horned horse neighed and stopped at the edge of the crowd. La Fayette heard the noise and looked up at us.

“Is it over?”

I nodded.

“Yes.”

“Good, mine is finished too.”