At this moment, the scene that unfolded before Riezel and the others was, without a doubt, a battlefield.
It was a true war, a true battlefield.
One army was laying siege to a city while another defended it. Both sides had turned the city gate and walls into their strongholds, with the open plains before the city serving as the battlefield.
A brutal clash raged on, filling the land with blood, furious shouts, blaring war horns, agonized screams, and the endless clang of weapons, creating an atmosphere thick with slaughter and bloodshed.
Riezel and the others silently watched the scene for a long time.
"...Uhh, that looks like the kingdom of Lukais's army, doesn't it?"
Ivy was the first to break the silence and start the conversation.
"Are you sure?"
Even though Riezel already had a good idea of the answer, he still asked.
"Yeah. I mean, the flag with the sword and flames intertwined—that's definitely Lukais's banner."
Ivy pointed toward the rear of the besieging army.
A banner indeed stood there, bearing the emblem of a blazing flame with the pattern of a sword within it.
"So, Lukais sent an army to attack Theresis's border?" Leo frowned, his voice filled with annoyance. "Tch, the people on this continent really are just as dumb as the priests said."
Leo's opinion not only stemmed from the current state of the Akasha Continent, but it was also a belief shared by nearly everyone in the Hidden Land who knew about the continent's present situation.
Back when they were at the Frenzel residence, Ivy and Leo had already told Riezel about it.
"Way back in the day, the whole continent only had one king and no nations. Back then, humanity was united, and the only enemies we had were monsters, not each other."
"Even though the Hidden Land has been developing for 11,000 years and isn't nearly as empty as it used to be, we've never gone to war because our enemies are still monsters, not other humans from different clans."
Back then, that was what Ivy and Leo had told Riezel when he asked what kind of place the Hidden Land was.
In their eyes, large-scale wars between humans were an incredibly foolish thing, because humanity had always been one race and one united whole.
Personal duels or individual conflicts were one thing, but for nations like those on the continent to wage massive wars against one another over power and profit was nothing less than internal strife—a path toward self-destruction.
At least, during the ancient magic civilization, and even in the Hidden Land today, wars between humans had never occurred.
No matter how serious a conflict became, it was limited to disputes between organizations or families. Even at their bloodiest, the casualties never exceeded ten thousand—often not even a thousand. At most, they numbered only several hundred.
But what about the Akasha Continent?
Nations had been at war with one another for years. Even a single campaign would leave at least tens of thousands dead or wounded. If the fighting dragged on, casualties reaching hundreds of thousands or even over a million were nothing extraordinary. It was nothing less than a meat grinder that devoured lives and populations alike.
If something like that had happened during the ancient magic civilization, or in the Hidden Land, it would have been considered utterly unimaginable.
During the ancient magic civilization, humanity faced constant persecution and slaughter at the hands of monsters, so they needed to stand together in absolute unity.
Who would have dared start an internal war while such enemies still threatened mankind?
Even today, the Hidden Land still inherited that tradition.
Humanity was one people, governed under a single authority, so there were no nations locked in endless wars against one another.
Having grown up in such a place, it was only natural for Ivy and Leo to view the Akasha Continent's current state as incredibly foolish.
Of course, from Riezel's perspective, they were speaking from a position of privilege.
It was common sense that humanity naturally united against a common external enemy, but once that enemy disappeared, people inevitably turned their attention toward those who possessed the wealth, resources, and benefits they desired.
Riezel had always believed that humans were creatures driven by desire. Whether it was for survival or to satisfy their own ambitions, they would raise the butcher's knife against those around them to obtain what they wanted.
For that reason, even as Ivy and Leo proudly praised the greatness of the ancient magic civilization and spoke of the peace within the Hidden Land, Riezel never came to see humanity as something inherently beautiful.
Where some people praised peace, others longed for war.
Where some cared little for fame or wealth, others relentlessly pursued power and profit.
Where there was light, there would always be darkness, and the reverse was equally true.
In his eyes, the world was never simply black and white, nor could humanity be divided into good and evil so easily.
Human nature was fundamentally gray.
It could become black, or it could become white.
Which side it leaned toward simply depended on the era.
During the ancient magic civilization, humanity had suffered relentless persecution from monsters. If they had not united, they would have become nothing more than food and prey. Naturally, they had no choice but to stand together.
However, the modern magic civilization was different.
Although monsters were still numerous, they no longer spread across the entire world as they had in ancient times. Moreover, human civilization had also grown far stronger than the monsters, making them no longer capable of bringing civilization-ending disasters. Instead, they had become little more than unstable hazards lurking throughout the wilderness.
In the end, without an overwhelming external enemy, humanity naturally turned its attention toward itself, fighting one another for countless different reasons.
Because of that, Riezel felt that although Ivy and Leo were undeniably powerful, they were like flowers raised inside an ivory tower, having never witnessed humanity's darkness or the world's cruelty.
And that was also why they looked down on the Akasha Continent as it existed today, because they had never truly understood humanity's nature, nor had they ever stopped placing humanity on far too high a pedestal.
However, Riezel had no interest in giving the two of them a lesson.
Right now, he only cared about one thing.
"It looks like Lukais's army's got the upper hand."
Riezel voiced his conclusion.
Even without him saying it, the battlefield made that obvious.
As time passed, the walls of the border city of Mitte were gradually blasted apart by Lukais's army magicians, exposing the streets within.
At the same time, the number of guards on the walls steadily dwindled as Lukais's soldiers gradually seized control of the battlements, pouring through the collapsed city gate and breaches in the walls before charging into the city with furious roars. Fires and thick smoke soon began rising from within the city itself.
No matter how one looked at it, Lukais was on the verge of a decisive victory, while Theresis's border city was about to fall.
"A-Are we... going to help them?"
Lizbeth asked timidly.
Lilith, who had been watching the slaughter on the battlefield with obvious interest, glanced at Lizbeth.
Honestly, she really wanted to say that none of them were citizens of Theresis, so why should they help?
They were outsiders, and this was simply a war between nations over competing interests, not a battle of good versus evil, so there was no reason to support either side.
True, they needed to accomplish a few things in Theresis and might even require the royal family's assistance, but so what?
It was only one city.
Even if it fell, it didn't mean Theresis would be destroyed as a nation, so intervening now was not guaranteed to bring any benefits.
Besides, she personally simply didn't like the idea.
Wasn't it wonderful to watch humans slaughter one another?
How beautiful that blood was.
How delightful those screams sounded.
If they could tear each other's still-beating hearts from their chests, that would be even better.
Lilith smiled inwardly with genuine delight, though she kept those thoughts to herself since she knew that, by human standards, such thoughts were cruel, and her master probably would not approve of them.
Since her master would not like those thoughts, Lilith had no objection to hiding her true feelings. Honestly, she was perfectly content to continue being an obedient and well-behaved attendant, remaining quietly by her master's side.
"Hwahh..."
As for Euryale, she started yawning again.
It went without saying that she had absolutely no interest in human wars.
If it had been another vampire, like Shalltear, she would probably have found the scene just as pleasing as Lilith did.
Vampires might not be demons, but they were undead who hated the living even more. Watching humans slaughter one another while blood stained the frozen land crimson would have made for quite an entertaining spectacle.
Euryale, however, was no ordinary vampire. In fact, whether she could even be considered undead was questionable. Because of the Reinnail Clan's bloodline, she had long since undergone an incredible transformation, so rather than being an undead, she was more like a human who closely resembled one.
Riezel himself was the same in a way.
At his core, he was still human, yet he possessed a physique comparable to that of a spirit.
Euryale was similar.
It was as though a human had been revived and gained the traits of an undead, yet she held no hatred toward the living. Instead, she was simply so innocent and pure that she lacked any concept of good and evil, as well as emotions like sympathy or compassion.
Riezel could personally guarantee that, considering he had already experienced Euryale's charms firsthand.
Honestly, he had been a little worried at first, wondering whether making love with an undead woman would cause some kind of problem.
Later, however, the facts proved that he had been worried in vain.
Euryale's body temperature was a little lower than normal, but she was nothing like an undead corpse that was ice cold.
On the contrary, her soft body had been pleasant to hold. It had only been slightly cool, and as for what it was like inside, honestly, there was no need to explain. In short, it was something far too wonderful to describe to anyone else.
Because of that, Riezel believed Euryale's resurrection had actually succeeded. It was only because some mysterious power had prevented her from awakening that she had ultimately relied on the power of Create Undead to awaken in a different way.
In other words, the last queen of the ancient magic civilization was still one of the living, a living person who had been altered and had gained the traits and powers of a vampire.
Under those circumstances, Euryale naturally did not find such a bloody battlefield enjoyable the way a true undead would, and simply found it boring.
"Hmm..."
Under everyone's gaze, Riezel fell into thought.
He actually had little desire to interfere in a war that had nothing to do with him.
In the end, neither side consisted of his relatives or friends, nor did either side have any connection to him whatsoever, leaving him with no particular reason to support either one.
Yet Riezel decided to step in anyway.
"Let's call it a favor for Theresis. It'll make it easier to ask the royal family for information when we get to Urvashi later," Riezel said, glancing up. "Besides, the civilians didn't do anything wrong. And with Lukais's reputation, once they break into the city, they might loot Mitte from top to bottom. If they feel like it, wiping out the entire city before they leave wouldn't be out of the question. Let's just do it for the innocent civilians."
Riezel's decision left Lilith somewhat disappointed, while Lizbeth looked visibly relieved.
"Mm, the civilians didn't do anything wrong."
"We can't just sit back and watch innocent people die."
Ivy and Leo also regained their spirits and agreed with Riezel.
"Lilith."
Riezel called out to Lilith without even turning around.
"Yes, Master."
Lilith immediately understood what Riezel meant, and with a single flash, she disappeared from where she stood.
Even though she felt a little disappointed, those feelings disappeared the moment Riezel gave the order, because a little personal amusement meant nothing compared to her master's wishes.
===
"Hahh... Hahh... Hahhh..."
At the center of the battlefield, a swordsman clad in blood-stained armor and wielding a sharp longsword struggled to support his exhausted body as he breathed heavily.
He was the bravest warrior on the battlefield.
From the moment the war had begun, he had been the first to charge into the enemy ranks, cutting down foes with all his might. Countless enemies had already fallen beneath his blade, and their blood had stained both his armor and his sword, leaving crimson droplets constantly dripping from its edge.
But after fighting for so long, he was finally nearing the end of his strength.
Enemies surrounded him from every direction, while the soldiers who had followed him had all fallen behind him on the battlefield. He had become the only man to penetrate so deeply into the enemy's formation, but he had also become a beast trapped within their encirclement.
As he listened to the sounds of the city gates and walls collapsing behind him, he knew the battle was already lost.
"It's time to give up, Hugh Faulkner."
A voice rang out from in front of the valiant swordsman as another swordsman, clad in blood-stained armor and carrying a sword, stepped forward to speak.
Unlike Hugh, however, he remained in remarkably good condition.
"Darius Kazan!"
Hugh glared fiercely at the man, for the man standing before him was the one leading Lukais's frontier army and the supreme commander responsible for the assault on Mitte.
In other words, he was the greatest enemy in this entire war.
"Don't look at me like that. I'm just doing what I was told."
Darius wore an innocent expression, though the mockery in his eyes was impossible to hide.
"You despicable coward! Do you think I haven't heard of your name?! For the past several years, you've been leading Lukais's frontier army!"
Hugh growled through clenched teeth.
"Ever since a few years ago, you've been roaming the borders, burning our villages and towns, plundering our merchant caravans, and never once stopping your harassment of the frontier!"
"Your crimes are beyond count! A bandit like you doesn't deserve to be called a knight!"
Hearing Hugh's furious accusations, Darius merely smiled with amusement.
"I was never a knight to begin with. Besides, in my country, 'bandit' isn't really an insult. If you're trying to get under my skin with that kinda stuff, you're wasting your breath."
Right after saying that, Darius's expression turned serious.
"Anyway, this fight's already over. You've lost."
"Even if you're Mitte's strongest knight, staying undefeated after being challenged by a hundred Sword Masters, you still can't change how this battle ends."
"Hand her over."
"I know you've got her hidden somewhere, don't ya?"
===
[A bonus chapter for reaching 300 Power Stones]
[Support and get early access to upcoming chapters at: patreon.com/VALRRR]