"I have no reason to lie to you. You're no threat to me!"
Haruki's response to Najenda was blunt, but it was the truth.
"Yeah, I agree with your proposal. I'll definitely make the Empire better."
Najenda, knowing Haruki wasn't lying, didn't hesitate. She agreed to his suggestion that she replace the Prime Minister, speaking with firm resolve.
"That's your business."
With that, Haruki turned his gaze to the women of Night Raid and asked, "What about you? Are you planning to stay with the Revolutionary Army? You're more than welcome here."
Haruki clearly had an interest in them—otherwise, he wouldn't have asked twice. If it were anyone else, he'd have killed them without a second thought. There wouldn't have been so much talking.
"I… I haven't decided yet. I'm not helping those people anymore, but I still don't know what I'll do next."
Leone didn't give a direct answer like Najenda. After thinking it over, she finally spoke. Haruki noticed she had already drifted away from the allied forces without realizing it.
"I'm with Leone. I haven't decided either."
Mine glanced at Leone as she spoke, then ran over to stand beside her.
"Well, I haven't thought it through that much, but I just want to stay with everyone."
Sheele adjusted her glasses and mumbled in a daze. She then joined Leone and Mine.
It was clear—after witnessing the actions of the ten allied soldiers, the women of Night Raid had completely lost faith in their cause.
"Hmph, even so, I'll never side with you! I will avenge my brother and Lubbock. I'll end you with these two Teigu, with my own hands!"
Tatsumi, unlike the others, had been glaring at Haruki with murderous intent ever since he arrived. Driven by the deaths of Bulat and Lubbock, his hatred had clouded his mind. He'd forgotten the vast difference in power between them and naively believed he could defeat Haruki the same way he had defeated the Supreme Teigu.
Haruki ignored Tatsumi's outburst completely. He didn't care what Tatsumi thought. To him, someone so unaware of his own limits was already dead.
"Haruki, no matter what, we won't give up. Everyone in the Imperial Capital is guilty. We're only punishing them—it's not wrong. Members of Night Raid, Najenda, you've betrayed the coalition and justice itself. You'll all be punished."
Another high-ranking coalition officer spoke, still refusing to back down, still clinging to that self-righteous tone. In just a few sentences, he not only gave noble justification for their slaughter and destruction in the Capital but also condemned Night Raid.
Haruki couldn't help but wonder—how could these people talk about justice so shamelessly without feeling sick?
"Soldiers, don't fall for this man's lies! The revolution is almost complete—we can't fail now! He is the root of the Empire's evil, worse than Honest himself!
Soldiers, attack him together! If we kill him, we win! A better life awaits us!"
He went on, shamelessly painting Haruki—the Empire's founder—as a worse plague than Honest and trying to rile the troops with grand promises.
At this point, Haruki couldn't help but admire their talent for flipping the narrative. In a future era, they'd make perfect candidates for pyramid schemes—masters of brainwashing.
"Kill!"
"So that's how it is—everyone, attack!"
Uneducated and easily swayed, the civilians didn't even hesitate after hearing the Revolutionary Army officer's words. Without thinking, most of them charged toward Haruki, shouting as they launched attacks using all kinds of weapons aimed at him in the sky.
Among them, Tatsumi wasn't idle either. Wielding two Teigu at once, he launched an assault on Haruki.
"You idiots are really asking for death. I was planning to let you live a little longer."
Haruki spoke coldly.
He didn't care if they'd been deceived. All he knew was that a mob of ants dared to raise their weapons against him. Now, he just needed to show them the consequences of crossing his path.
A piercing phoenix cry echoed through the sky as an Ice Phoenix dove down at high speed. Its sheer presence made the soldiers below tremble. As one of the elite Super-Class Danger Beasts, given enough time, this Ice Phoenix alone could have wiped out all 200,000 troops of the coalition.
But this time, it hadn't come to fight. A closer look revealed that only Haruki was on its back—he didn't need help when taking action. The Ice Phoenix's true mission was to extract Najenda, Leone, Sheele, and Mine from the battlefield. Otherwise, Haruki wouldn't be able to go all out while they were still within reach.
Once the Ice Phoenix carried the four away, the awe it inspired slowly faded from the allied forces. Only then did they realize that the massive white bird accompanying Haruki and the others wasn't just a regular Danger Beast, but a rare and terrifying Super-Class one.
"Filth like you dare to provoke me? Get ready to die!"
As the gale stirred by the Ice Phoenix's wings faded, Haruki appeared before the allied troops, clad in a tight-fitting black and crimson silk robe. From his appearance alone, he looked more like a noble's pampered son than a fearsome warrior.
But none of the ten elite soldiers found his words laughable. A chill ran down their spines—it felt as if what Haruki had just said was about to come true.
Then, from the signature golden vortex of the Gate of Babylon behind him, Haruki slowly drew a blade.
It was the mightiest of the Three Supreme Swords of the World—the Sword of the Earth, Sō'unga.