Chapter 124: Chapter 124: Wood's Death, the End of the Battle
"Partner, the woman in front of you is just like you and Brother Wood, also one of the legendary familiars.
Everything that happened, from the incident with Wardes to the events in Albion, was likely orchestrated by her from behind the scenes. Be careful."
After confirming that Henrietta and Queen Marianne of Tristain were unharmed, Louise ran back to Saito's side to face Sheffield.
Even though Sheffield had lost an arm to Saito, she still retained some combat ability. Moreover, there were still over a thousand Albion soldiers in the vicinity, so the situation remained far from favorable.
However, during their search for the "Dragon's Raiment," both Saito and Louise had managed to level up.
Saito's sword, the Wisdom of the Sword, Derflinger, had regained its original form and could now absorb magic from five elements, excluding Void magic.
Louise had also begun to master Void magic, and at critical moments, she could use spells from the "Founder's Prayer Book."
On their journey to find the Dragon's Raiment, the bond between Saito and Louise had deepened significantly, especially after Saito gave up the chance to return to his original world for her.
In the main battlefield, they used the Dragon's Raiment to defeat Albion's dragon knight forces. Louise had even exhausted over a decade's worth of accumulated magical energy to unleash a powerful explosion that destroyed Albion's airship, sealing Tristain's victory.
Afterward, they learned from Marshal Gramont that in order to secure this victory, Henrietta and Wood had voluntarily served as bait to lure away the majority of Albion's forces.
They had fought three thousand against three thousand and won with great difficulty. No one among Tristain's nobles believed that Wood and his force of a thousand could hold off Albion's forty thousand soldiers. With a night having passed, it was hard to imagine they were still alive.
Most of Tristain's nobles argued that they should not let the sacrifices of the Queen and the Princess be in vain, and they should take advantage of the fact that Albion's main force had not yet returned to completely conquer Albion.
However, Louise and Saito could not accept this and, borrowing Tabitha's familiar, Sylphid, flew to the forest and jumped down, leading to the scene that had just unfolded.
Louise and Saito had mentally prepared themselves, knowing that while the nobles of Tristain were often unscrupulous, they also had a point.
Facing forty thousand soldiers with just over a thousand seemed a hopeless task.
But what they had not expected was that the main force of Albion, which the Tristain nobles had feared, had been utterly annihilated here!
Louise had just learned from Henrietta and Queen Marianne that the reason they had been able to hold out so long was largely due to Wood.
And here, out of the thirty thousand Albion soldiers who had fallen, more than twenty thousand had died at Wood's hands alone!
Sheffield, clutching her severed arm, glared at Louise and Saito, her face twisted with anger.
If Gandálfr and the little Void user were here, it meant that the mission she had given to that useless Wardes had failed.
Moreover, it likely meant that Gandálfr and his allies had found the legendary "Dragon's Raiment" and turned the tide of battle.
The power of the Brain of God was suited to behind-the-scenes operations; in direct combat, she was no match for the God's Left Hand Gandálfr and a Void user.
Although there were still a few thousand of Albion's soldiers left, Sheffield was worried that reinforcements from Tristain might arrive.
"This time, you were lucky, but your luck won't last forever. Lifdrasir is beyond saving. Next time, it will be Gandálfr and you, you flat-chested girl."
Sheffield retreated decisively. Saito and Louise wanted to pursue her, but before she left, Sheffield used some kind of magic tool to control the remaining Albion soldiers, forcing them to hold Saito and Louise back, even at the cost of their lives.
It wasn't until Sheffield had escaped that the Albion soldiers, regaining control of their bodies, learned from Louise that their kingdom had been defeated and reluctantly chose to surrender.
Henrietta and Queen Marianne, supported by Saito and Louise, approached the dying Wood.
When Wood saw the familiar faces close by, he forced a bitter smile, and his vision gradually began to blur...
The battle between Albion and Tristain caused a huge stir across Halkeginia. What surprised the surrounding nations was that the final victor was the seemingly weak Tristain.
Despite having only thirty thousand soldiers against Albion's seventy thousand, they had achieved a decisive victory.
With the death of Albion's royal family, the new royal family, in order to stabilize their position and deterred by Tristain's newfound military power, agreed to become a vassal state of Tristain when the peace treaty was signed.
With the war won, Tristain celebrated nationwide. In this war-torn era, even the common people wanted to live in a powerful kingdom to avoid the scourge of war.
Tristain, once a small kingdom in the northwest of the Halkeginia continent, had, after this one battle, become one of the major powers.
With the kingdom growing stronger and larger, the common people were happy for their newfound security, and the nobles were overjoyed with their increased status and lands.
The names of those who had made great contributions in this battle became widely known.
Henrietta's bravery in risking her life as bait was widely praised. With this increase in her reputation, Queen Marianne officially passed the throne to her.
Saito and Louise were also rewarded for their efforts in finding the Dragon's Raiment and turning the tide of the battle.
Louise was appointed as a court magician and granted the title of viscountess. As the third daughter in her family, she could not inherit the Vallière family's dukedom, but this viscountcy was something she earned on her own, independent of her family.
Saito's position as a "chevalier" was made official. He was permitted to form his own knight order and was granted the noble title of baron.
To rise from a commoner to a baron, and to be awarded the honor of being a chevalier, was an outrageous reward. But considering that Saito single-handedly destroyed Albion's dragon knight forces, no one could argue against it.
What the nobles couldn't accept was that after Henrietta ascended the throne, the rewards she bestowed upon her familiar were so grand that they made every noble in Tristain envious, with many even vocally protesting!
The nobles argued that it was absurd for a mere commoner to receive such honors!
Note: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 200+ at patreon.com/Betek.
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