Even after minutes, Haruto continued to cackle and weep. Rosette tried to hold his shoulder, but Haruto rejected it. Now, his eyes were empty, and he walked further away from Rosette. He drew his sword and slashed it downward forceful enough to create a deep, straight ravine in the valley. Shockwaves reverberated that made Rosette shield her eyes.

Haruto sheathed his weapon back and walked to Rosette. “What do you see…?” He pointed at the magma flowing about in the valley.

When Rosette answered what he wanted to hear, Haruto quickly grabbed her shoulders, “Exactly…! That’s all I see. Murder!” he let go and turned away.

“Coelstians and Prosperity Triangle residents are our families? No. They took one away from me. Adel was naive—Rubio was right. They don’t want us here. But why should we listen to the enemy?” Haruto looked back at Rosette again, “We live by—and for the family. And they need—more land….” His eyes filled with contempt.

Unfortunately for Haruto’s bone-chilling new philosophy, it took away a best friend that day.

Rosette walked toward him slowly. “My apologies, Haruto… but this new path of yours is one I could never follow. It was why I never saw them as family….” She pulled out her golden sword, handing it to Haruto. “At least with this… you shall never forget our days in the Sun. Farewell….” She walked uphill out of the valley.

To this day, Haruto never saw his best friend ever again.

Back at the palace outside, Adel drew blood over a sapling during his son’s funeral. Nearly every citizen in the Alaric Empire participated in the day of mourning.

After the citizens with tears, the emperor and his subjects upheld the first grand meeting in centuries in the palace’s cathedral. Ever since the death of the prince, everyone changed. They never forgot Haruto’s details about Rubio’s demise.

Adel, the emperor, changed the most. His warm persona turned into an unstoppable conflagration for his enemies. It was not the first or second time he lost a loved one—but his heart could not take it anymore.

Adel declared the new epiphany of the Alaric Empire: they were the only genuine family, so anyone outside was an enemy. Adel and his subjects would now fight and die for the family. More land from others—more love for one’s own.

Adel stood in front of the thousands who flooded into the cathedral. “I’ve known that you lot might question if outsiders could still be family. I assure you they can—if they are willing to accept our new will and break apart from their old. And so—the True Creed awaits them. Their rejection means they were never family. And so—the ax awaits them.”

After the emperor’s declaration, everyone cheered vigorously for the future growth of Alaric’s Sun to loom over all of Paintaiyanilam. From that day on, commander-in-chief Haruto would lead his men to their manifest destiny forward.

First came the fires, from the homes to the fields. Screams and tears would never stop. Next came the battlefield; banquets and full mugs followed afterward. Lastly came the chains; people could never escape from their loyalty evaluations. In a Novus jurisdiction, Haruto led such a campaign.

Alaric soldiers kicked down the first captive to his knees in front of their commander-in-chief. Guards led the rugged man to a table, ready to point the tip of their blades to the neck if he ever so much stepped out of line.

Haruto walked and looked down at the man. “Kiss the flag,” he pointed at the table.

The man was confused but uttered no word, seeing the guards drawing their weapons already. At that point, he was too frightened to move and panted.

Haruto walked closer. “Kiss the flag, and then you’ll be family. You know what happens if you don’t….” he moved back and drew his gold broadsword to the captive’s neck.

Tears rolling down the cheeks, the man nodded quickly. If it meant he could see his only family again (his grandmother, who passed the test), the captive went so far as to kneel before Haruto.

The commander-in-chief smiled intimately and hugged the captive while patting his back. “Welcome… brother.”

The passing ratio of these evaluations was one in two thousand.

On the battlefield, Novusian brigade mages weaponized flying vehicles against the enemy. In time, however, they had to come out face to face. The Alaric Empire soldiers never missed an opportunity to use Runic Art to hold said vehicles in place.

Everyone under Novus’ army wore black, including the neckties beneath the suit. Thin green line patterns resembling circuitry were visible at the right side of their necks and faces. The brigade mages also had metallic holes in their palms, allowing them to switch the effects of Runic Art techniques on a dime. Such a feat was usually only possible as an imperial/archmage. Yet even with all this, the enemy was still formidable.

At a tent from afar, Feuer walked to an old friend. For months, she experienced severe headaches from time to time.

He sat in front. “Tokino… if I understand this clearly—have you forgotten that man?”

“W-What…? What are you talking about?” she looked at him, holding her head.

He sighed, eyes closed. “No matter…. Perhaps recalling him is of no importance, now. Come. They need us,” he lent out a hand.

As the war went on, Haruto had now evaluated twenty citizens. None succeeded, and the guards quickly discarded the victims into deep ditches. Haruto decided to take a break, asking one of his men to take his place.

He walked inside a tent to meet with the emperor, who formulated a strategy on a round table. The plan was to keep charging at the Novusian mages and wait for an opportunity to flank them when least expected. Adel also warned his men that the enemy was very pragmatic with their highly advanced arsenals.

Hearing Haruto’s voice from behind, Adel turned around, noticing his stern demeanor.

Haruto rested his hand on his gold sword’s pommel and sat on a chair. “Any signs of him?”

Adel shook his head, “Afraid not, my son. It seems Feuer never lost his battle intuition. He would only start a fire when a golden opportunity was open. Either way—he deserves death. However…” Adel walked toward Haruto. “I wish for you to stand back.”

“What…?” his eyes squinted.

Adel sighed, holding his shoulder. “Haruto… you and Rubio were truly my beloved sons. And so—I feel it would be the world’s grandest justice for me alone to avenge his passing. The flames within my soul could never rest if I shan’t do it now….”

Surprisingly, Haruto agreed, never once raising his voice at the emperor. However, the Devil spoke too soon. Once a soldier went inside informing them of Feuer’s presence, Haruto hyperventilated, readying his swords tightly.

“Peace, my son, peace…. I bless the Gods for this news!” Adel walked past his son, walking out of the tent.

Haruto followed suit. Outside, he saw Adel’s target from afar, using his distinct magma-based ability. The emperor prepared his power as well. Blue flames cloaked Adel all around, and from his index finger, a beam of plasma aimed at Feuer’s face. Unintentionally, countless mages, including their men, were decimated by it.

Just as the attack neared him, Feuer was pulled away from the scene by his comrade. The plasma beam created a massive explosion that obliterated a mountain far away.

“What the hell was that?!” Tokino exclaimed and unsheathed her rapier.

Feuer kneeled and panted on the ground. “Do not interfere… you are no match for Adel even after a decade shall— No!” He witnessed Tokino running at blinding speeds, trying to reach out his right hand for her.

On her way, Tokino weaved through every living obstacle trying to attack her. In a flash once again, before Adel even reacted, her rapier was already near his neck.

Fortunately for Haruto, he realized Tokino’s presence quickly and drew his gold and silver sword at her. However, the unexpected happened; she immediately changed direction. Her rapier now neared Haruto’s face, but fortunately again, he only received a scratch on the cheek.

Haruto now went on the offensive, but Tokino perfectly dodged and countered. That was until he became faster. Even when she knew where it would land, she received a scratch on her right forearm.

Now unable to defend Adel, Haruto realized the rapier-user was now his opponent. He told the emperor to leave it to him. With that, Adel nodded and flew to the skies via blue fire combusting from his feet.

Haruto looked back at the enemy. “Who are you?” his eyes squinted.

She backed away and panted. “I could say the same thing…. We had reports about a dual-wielding man in the Alaric Empire—but no one knew your name. So…” she pointed her rapier at him, “…would you kindly do the honors?”

He lowered his swords. “Haruto Minagawa.”

She lowered her weapon as well. “Tokino Shinsei (真性時野).”

Haruto’s eyes squinted. “Wait a minute…. Shouldn’t your last name be—” he interrupted himself to dodge Tokino’s uncalled-for attack right in front. Beforehand, he noticed strange clock hands within her narrowed gaze.

From afar, Tokino pointed her rapier again at Haruto. “Enough talk…. Have at you!” her lavender eyes filled with determination.

Meanwhile, as Adel landed where he wanted to be, he faced the sibling defector himself standing in front.

Adel smirked and chuckled, knowing full well that Feuer would never let go of his past demeanor. “Your crown changed…. Impressive. More impressive than your hackneyed clothes of the new age.”

Feuer’s eyes squinted, “What do you wish to achieve from insulting me? It does not serve to increase prowess.”

Adel chuckled again, “Quite right as always, old friend. That was just a bit of fun. Now… let us commence.” blue fire clad his body.

“With pleasure, your Highness….” Feuer coated his arms in magma.

As soldiers on both sides ran away using rune portals, an apocalypse occurred—far more world-ending than when Feuer fought Rubio. At first, it looked like the sibling defector had the upper hand with magma power. Then it turned out Adel’s innate ability could keep up. Eventually, they clashed fists; shockwaves reverberated. Now standing on a blackened canyon of ash two hundred meters wide, the two fighters went with melee. With every blow, the canyon caved in deeper.

Feuer was the first to draw blood, but Adel returned the favor. After another fist clash with both hands, they jumped away from each other for a breather. Feuer forcefully corrected his right shoulder joint, while Adel snapped back his neck that severely tilted to the left. At that point, they stood in front of each other, passively healing with Runic Art.

Adle walked closer, “Why, Feuer? Why abandon us? It ached my heart so much when you’ve left. Disappointment would have drowned your father if he were much living.”

Feuer finished healing himself. “Why, you ask? Your education taught us the words ‘plunder’ and ‘pillage.’ Indeed, they were horrible, and yet here your empire stands—showing the world your ‘love’ by burning crops….” He raised his hands on the sides.

Adel chuckled yet again. “And why do you think we chose to treat such words poorly? We were not the first to act upon it. You know of this within.”

“Have I asked whoever the original culprit was?” Feuer raised an eyebrow. “Your empire acted upon this now. And with that—we of Coelestis and the Prosperity Triangle retaliate against your barbarism!” he pointed at the emperor.

Adel smiled. “Hahahahaha…! For what do you know about barbarism, traitor?!” The blue flames combusted all around his body violently.