Lana could see that the trio in the sky had reached an impasse, and she grabbed onto Erwin's hand to drag him away.

However, Erwin remained stubbornly on the spot, inspecting his surroundings with a dazed expression.

"We have to get out of here! Do you want to get yourself killed?" Lana snapped.

"She's not gone yet... She's still here..." Erwin murmured.

"Stop being a delusional idiot! She's already dead!" Lana yelled. "If you don't run, I'll have to cop an attack for you as well! Are you only going to be satisfied once everyone around you is dead?"

Erwin faltered slightly upon hearing this, then begrudgingly allowed himself to be dragged away.

Back then, it was his father who had saved him, and here, it was Theresa playing that role. He was like a child who could never grow up, constantly relying on the protection of others for his own survival.

Lana knew that she was being quite harsh with her words, but she had to be more forceful. Otherwise, who knew what this idiot was going to do next?

Even though Erwin was being dragged downward by Lana, he was still looking up at the moon in the sky while waving feebly with his free hand.

He didn't know how to bid farewell to Theresa, even though she couldn't see him anyway.

Dawn was just about to break, but right at this moment, the brightening sky was obscured by a layer of dark clouds.

Looking at the light rain falling down onto his fingers, a faint smile appeared on his face. He knew that this was her final farewell to him.

However, his smile was even more hideous than the most tragic of grimaces.

Despite his heartbreak, the return of their leader still provided a significant boost in morale for the troops of the City of Freedom

Sherry also heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing Erwin return safe and sound. He had been under immense pressure, battling formidable opponents while instructing the troops in battle, but now that Erwin had returned, he was finally able to focus wholeheartedly on the battle.

Onean didn't know how to console Erwin, so she could only remain silent.

Sim was immediately struck by a sense of foreboding as soon as he saw Erwin return to Fort Lungpierce alive. He knew that he had to take down Fort Lungpierce in one fell swoop while Erwin was grieving for his lover.

With that in mind, he pulled a sheepskin bag out of his robes, then pulled a series of fingernail-sized purple beads out of the bag. All of the beads were shimmering and translucent with purple liquid swirling inside.

With a vigorous hurl, the beads were sent flying in all directions, landing all over the Delair Dukedom's ranks.

"What's that, Senior Sim?" Duba asked with a surprised expression.

"Life Essence Perilla" Sim replied while carefully observing the changes taking place in the Delair Dukedom's troops, paying no heed to Duba's reaction.

Duba drew a sharp breath upon hearing this. He knew that this was Sim's signature magic potion, and under the effects of this magic potion, these soldiers of the Delair Dukedom were going to become the most fearless warriors in this world. However, that was going to come at the cost of their lives.

In other words, even if they could conquer Fort Lungpierce on this day, those soldiers weren't going to be alive for much longer.

Never did Duba think that Sim would be such a ruthless commander. At the same time, this provided a valuable lesson to him, which was that a commander had to be cruel and decisive.

Purple mist began to permeate throughout the Delair Dukedom's ranks, and fierce looks appeared in the eyes of all of the soldiers that inhaled the mist as they charged toward the fortress walls with all their might.

They didn't bother to defend themselves at all against the spells falling from above. Some were knocked down by fireballs, some were pierced through by ice spears, some were zapped unconscious by lightning, but they would immediately get up again before resuming their charge as if they couldn't feel any pain.

"What on earth is going on?" Lana exclaimed as she watched the scenes unfolding at the foot of the fortress.

Onean's brows furrowed tightly as she replied, "There must be some type of magic potion at play here. Look at those people, they have no regard for their own lives!'"

Not only were troops of the City of Freedom alarmed by this sight, even Count Cooper and his soldiers were feeling very spooked.

However, this was the climax of the battle, so any assistance was much appreciated, and Count Cooper had no intention of questioning the measures being employed.

With these fearless soldiers charging toward the fortress walls one wave after another, the Delair Dukedom's forces were finally able to establish a stable foothold on the fortress walls.

Even with Lana and Onean joining forces to fire off all types of spells, they were unable to suppress the momentum. Both of them were carrying injuries and had expended a great deal of magic power in their battle against Rochea, so it was unreasonable to expect them to be able to reverse the tide of the battle on their own.

Meanwhile, Erwin merely looked on with a wooden expression at the monsters scaling the fortress walls with purple light glowing in their eyes. As the light rain fell on his face, he couldn't help but denounce himself. In comparison with the monsters before him, he was much more like a walking corpse.

Onean's temper finally boiled over upon seeing this, and she stormed over to Erwin's before closing her hand around his throat and slamming his back into the wall behind him. "Open your eyes and take a good, hard look! This is a war! Anyone can die in a war! If you're going to allow yourself to fall into depravity, these soldiers that are dying around us would've lost their lives in vain! Wake up and remember that you have a responsibility on your shoulders. Think about all of the people who follow you and look up to you."

Erwin looked around at the bodies piled up all over the top of the fortress walls, and he couldn't even tell which ones belonged to his allies and which ones his enemies. Blood was flowing down the stone staircases one step after another, and all of the soil in Fort Lungpierce had been stained red.

He saw Sherry, Shiba, and Bracken, who were still fighting with all their might despite their injuries, and he was struck by a sense of shame.

"It's time to put an end to this war," Erwin said as he patted the back of Onean's hand, indicating for her to release him.

As soon as she obliged, he vanished on the spot.

By the time everyone spotted Erwin again, he was already right behind Duba, and no one knew how he had gotten there in the blink of an eye.

No one knew how he had reached that position in an instant.

As it turned out, even though Erwin had looked completely broken and grief-stricken, he had been thinking of a way to force back the enemy this entire time, and upon spotting Duba among the crowd gathered at the foot of the fortress, he knew that it was the right opportunity to take a gamble.

"Prince Xar sure is complacent to have sent his son to the battlefield," Erwin mused as he laid a pair of fingertips against the back of Duba's neck.

Only after hearing Erwin's voice did Duba realize that there was another person sitting on the back of his horse, and he immediately shuddered in fear and alarm.

"Retreat your troops, old man," Erwin said in a cold voice as he turned to Sim. "If you get Prince Xar's son killed here, how are you going to face him when you return to Finklan?"

Sim's eyes widened with shock, and he was stunned into silence.

Meanwhile, the hundreds of archers around them immediately directed their arrows toward Erwin in unison.

"Those archers definitely won't be able to strike as quickly as I do. Do you want to test me?" Erwin asked in an expressionless manner, following which a beam of light abruptly erupted out of his fingertip and flew right past Duba's cheek.

Duba was instantly struck by a burst of searing pain as a black line was scorched onto his cheek, causing him to grimace in pain.

Duba didn't want to put on a cowardly display in front of tens of thousands of people, so he naturally wasn't going to beg Sim to save him, but the fear in his eyes had already completely betrayed him. He didn't have the courage and resolve to lay down his own life here. After all, the conflict taking place in the western part of the empire was one that solely involved the City of Freedom and the Delair Dukedom, so it had very little to do with him.

Sim was also aware of this. He was only here to command the troops in battle. If the son of Prince Xar were to lose his life here, how would he be able to return to Finklan and face the prince? Just like in their game of battle chess, Erwin had been capable of pulling out a massive surprise for him at the very end.

"You're taking too long to think," Erwin said as a beam of light pierced through Duba's palm.

Duba immediately let loose an agonized howl, following which he realized that the pinkie finger and ring finger on his right hand had already dropped onto the ground.

A furious look appeared on Sim's face as he immediately roared, "Stop! I'll order them to retreat."

Despite what he was saying, he had no idea how he was going to do that. The soldiers of the Delair Dukedom that were under the influence of the Life Essence Perilla weren't going to listen to orders anymore. Their minds were entirely fixated on the enemy, and there was no way they would rest before all of the soldiers of the City of Freedom were vanquished.

Right at this moment, the sound of pounding horse hooves suddenly rang out from the mountain path behind them.

Whose side are they supposed to be on?

Erwin and Sim were both stunned by this turn of events, and both of them thought that enemy reinforcements had arrived.

...

Under the dim sky, a well-equipped legion of mercenaries stormed over the muddy mountain path en route to Fort Lungpierce.

The leader of this unit was none other than Lucidy Farody. Erwin wasn't all that surprised to see him. Seeing as Emma had taken him away, she had to have a way to resurrect him from the dead. However, looking at Lucidy's alarmingly pale complexion, Erwin knew that he most likely wasn't going to be able to live long in his current state.

Lucidy seemed to be completely disinterested in the countless soldiers battling before him. Instead, he was straining to look into the distance, trying to catch a glimpse of a certain figure.

Thankfully, his efforts didn't go in vain, and he managed to spot the silver-haired figure that he was looking for on the fortress walls. He heaved a long sigh of relief upon catching sight of her. He had rushed several hundred kilometers to get here just to see her one last time. It was unclear whether he had been goaded by Emma into doing this or if he simply couldn't suppress the yearning in his heart. In any case, he had led his troops here in the end.

He wasn't actually here to provide reinforcements to the City of Freedom. The only wish that he was still clinging onto in this brief second life was to see her one last time.

Even if he could only take a glance at her from afar without approaching her, he would be content.

With a wave of his hand, the mercenary legion under him charged forward in full force.

The Striking Salamander mercenary legion of close to 5,000 troops didn't possess any remarkable combat prowess, but in the face of only several hundred enemy archers, their charge was still very effective.

Sim had failed to anticipate the arrival of this branch of enemy reinforcements, and he had no choice but to yell up at the sky, "Buu, it's time to go."

At this moment, the three people in the sky were still caught in an impasse.

Aglea was looking at the man standing firmly before her with a complex expression, and she couldn't bring herself to strike him down. He had always been the only one in this world who dared to step in front of Aglea's sword.

A benevolent smile appeared on Sword God Buu's pale face as he patted the shoulder of the person standing before him. "I'm still not so old that I need my disciple to shield me from my opponent's sword."

Perry shuddered as if he had been struck by a bolt of lightning upon hearing the word "disciple".

He turned around to face the elderly man with a dazed expression.

There was no verbal communication between the two, nor any cliched emotional reunion between master and disciple. The two of them merely exchanged a glance, following which Sword God Buu departed with a carefree smile.

All of a sudden, Erwin detected a vast burst of sword energy hurtling toward him from behind, and he immediately abandoned Duba before swiveling around and unleashing his Finger of Destruction.

Even though Sword God Buu had sustained a severe wound and had expended all of his energy, this burst of sword energy was still enough to pose Erwin great problems.

Erwin didn't dare to take the attack lightly, and he immediately conjured up his light shield, doing everything in his power to keep the sword energy at bay.

Meanwhile, his Finger of Destruction pierced straight through Sword God Buu's shoulder.

Sword God Buu took an indifferent glance at the wound on his shoulder, then hoisted the unconscious Duba onto his shoulder and laid a hand onto Sim's arm, following which the three of them vanished in the blink of an eye.

For the City of Freedom, the best strategy was to prevent those three from leaving at all costs. However, all of the most powerful figures of the City of Freedom were preoccupied and weren't free to pursue the trio. Onean and Lana were busy dealing with the Delair Dukedom's forces that had scaled the fortress walls, while Perry refused to stand by and watch Aglea hunt down his master. As for Erwin, he was still dealing with that burst of sword energy, so no one was able to give chase.

In addition to that, no one knew just how fearsome a cornered and wounded Sword God Buu could be, so anyone who gave chase would've been taking a great risk.

With the arrival of the Striking Salamander mercenary legion and the departure of Sim from the battlefield, the tide of the battle quickly turned.

The archers of the Delair Dukedom were the first to be vanquished, having been completely overwhelmed by the Striking Salamander mercenary legion's heavy cavalry. These archers were completely incapable of warding off the formidable cavaliers, and they were quickly felled under the hooves of the enemy steeds.

With the cavaliers charging toward them from behind, the soldiers of the Delair Dukedom who still hadn't scaled to the top of the fortress walls were forced to turn around and face the enemy reinforcements in battle.

The soldiers of the City of Freedom were greatly reinvigorated at the sight of these reinforcements, and morale received a significant boost.

However, the Delair Dukedom's troops didn't panic in the slightest as they were still under the influence of the Life Essence Perilla, and they continued to fight with single-minded ferocity.

Only as the sun began to rise over the horizon did this battle draw to a conclusion.

With the combined efforts of Aglea, Onean, and Lana, these fearless soldiers of the Delair Dukedom were finally wiped out.

Bodies were piled up all over Fort Lungpierce, as was the case at the foot of the city walls. It was no exaggeration to say that the ground was laden with corpses as far as the eyes could see.