"Σ(@△@|||)."
How staggering is the sight of a jingguan—a trophy mountain built from hundreds of thousands of human heads?
Stacked layer upon layer, it towered like a mountain range outside the city-state of Olenos.
Countless heads, faces contorted and still frozen in terror, were pieced together to form a tableau that looked like a depiction of the eighteen levels of hell brought into the mortal realm.
It was enough to make one's soul scatter in fright.
Directly in front, the remaining half of the Olenos Lord's body, eroded by the Black Tide, was suspended high atop a stone monument by heavy iron chains.
The once-unrivaled king was now nothing more than a wreck swaying in the wind.
"..."
Even after witnessing countless brutal battles, Cerydra's pupils still constricted in shock.
"..." Hysilens was the same, remaining silent for a long while.
Though she had once slain sixty thousand soldiers in a single battle, standing blood-soaked like a phantom, she had never seen a scene so soul-shakingly horrific.
A jingguan.
Hundreds of thousands of contorted heads!
Castorice stumbled back half a step, her usually cold eyes surging with waves of shock.
She sighed softly, raising her hands to her chest and slowly closing her eyes, as if whispering a prayer for the salvation of the thousands of departed souls.
Tribbie and Trianne knew very well that Ryuga had crushed the city-state of Olenos only to bring them justice.
Even though they understood and were grateful, their pure hearts were still inexplicably shaken.
"..."
They finally understood why Ryuga was called the "Desert Reaper" and the "Genesis Demon God."
When a Demon God rages, millions of corpses fall, and ten thousand nations hold their breath.
Before the jingguan, a massive monument stood tall.
The inscriptions upon it were carved like strokes of a blade or an axe, every word dripping with blood.
"To the nations of the four directions—anyone who dares to harm my Saintess shall have their kingdom destroyed, their race extinguished, and their lineage severed!""Today, this jingguan is built to proclaim this to the world.""Genesis Demon God, Ryuga."
The mangled remains of the Olenos Lord hung just above the stone tablet.
Beneath the inscription, bloodstains were scattered everywhere.
When the wind blew, the entire jingguan emitted a low, wailing sound that made one's skin crawl.
The group stood there for a long time, no one speaking.
An irreversible pressure weighed heavily on their hearts.
Even battle-hardened soldiers were wetting themselves in fear.
"Scared?"
"Don't forget my 'titles'."
Ryuga sat on a massive bluestone rock, his clothes clean and tidy, looking completely out of place amidst the surroundings drenched in the blood of the Olenos people.
Sakura stood silently to the side, her hand gripping the hilt of the blade at her waist.
"So, even Hysilens, who is called a 'phantom,' is shocked? It seems the effect of this jingguan is quite excellent."
Ryuga smiled.
He had even gone out of his way to splash the blood of the Olenos people onto the heads of the jingguan to make them look even more gruesome and intimidating.
The effect was even more "wonderful."
"Ryuga, we are very grateful to you."
Ryuga glanced over; Tribbie, that little mushroom, was kind-hearted after all.
Trianne, however, didn't care at all: "Idiot! What's the use of just slaughtering a city? Are there not enough city-states already destroyed by the Black Tide? Of course, you have to pile the heads together to have a real impact."
"If we can die, why can't they?"
"I don't want to experience that... that pain, dozens of times worse than usual, being inflicted upon us again."
As she spoke, Trianne hugged her shoulders.
Just the thought of that bone-scraping, heart-wrenching pain made her whole body tremble.
Tribbie quickly pulled Trianne into an embrace.
"They..."
"There shouldn't be any living Olenos people left on the surface. There might be some hiding in the basements; go look for them."
Ryuga waved his hand, pointing toward the east and west.
Cerydra gasped.
"First Legion, hear my command: enter the city and search for survivors."
"Second Legion, follow me into the palace to inventory the treasury."
Hysilens immediately issued the orders.
It seemed like the First Legion was doing the hard work while the Second Legion was collecting the money, but in reality, the First Legion was the one making a profit, while the Second Legion was just there to look and satisfy their eyes.
Did you really think you could take anything from the palace treasury?
Everything there was accounted for.
"Searching for survivors" was actually a search for valuables that families hadn't had time to take with them.
Those were perks for the soldiers, something the higher-ups turned a blind eye to.
This time it went to the First Legion.
In the next battle, the perks would go to the Second Legion, and then the Third.
Everyone took turns getting the benefits.
"Ryuga, I hope your method works."
Cerydra unconsciously rubbed the scepter in her hand and sighed softly.
This kind of thing was, after all, a double-edged sword.
Those city-states still on the sidelines might respond with blood for blood, putting up an even more desperate resistance.
"It doesn't matter. If it comes to that, we'll just wipe them all out."
"In the future, when you go on a campaign, let Phainon accompany the army. Whoever refuses to submit, burn their royal city to the ground."
Ryuga snorted heavily, completely unconcerned.
"Uh..."
The corner of Cerydra's mouth twitched.
Whatever.
In any case, her goal was to end the Golden War.
"By the way, Ryuga, what exactly is going on with Marchie?"
Before Cerydra could finish her sentence, a blur passed before her eyes. A figure flashed on the bluestone, and Ryuga had already landed on the back of the Dromas.
The Empress: "..."
The Dromas's body was as massive as a hill, its back flat and wide—wide enough that in the story, Stelle could fall into a deep sleep on it.
At this moment, March 7th was curled up, her arms around her knees, surrounded by a visible layer of cold mist.
Wisps of cold air were gradually condensing into fine frost crystals on the surface of her body.
"Marchie."
Ryuga called out softly.
"Ryu... is it over?"
March 7th looked up slightly, her eyes opening.
"Yeah."
"Then I can rest easy. I'm going to sleep for a bit."
The corners of March 7th's mouth curled up, and her eyelids closed heavily.
"Marchie, promise me, you absolutely must not (bus) fall (yes) to the dark side... though I do quite like the yandere type."
Ryuga pressed his hand on Marchie's shoulder, his tone somewhat teasing.
However, there was an unmistakable look of worry in his eyes.
March 7th's eyelashes trembled slightly as she forced them open a crack, glancing sideways at Ryuga: "Don't understand... tired, sleepy."
With that, she closed her eyes.
The cold air around her intensified instantly, and frost patterns spread like a spiderweb along the edges of her clothes and the tips of her hair, slowly freezing her back into a block of ice.
Ryuga sat quietly on the back of the Dromas, gently stroking the ice.
"So, what exactly is going on with Marchie? Was she always like this?"
Cerydra jumped up, asking curiously.
Ryuga was going into "seclusion" and had asked Marchie to stay with her.
As a result, in the time it took her to take a bath, she found a block of ice on the bed.
It had given her quite a fright.
She hadn't dared to sleep all night and had called almost all the famous doctors in Okhema.
The next morning, she saw her jumping around as if nothing had happened, and only after being told the situation did she breathe a sigh of relief.
"I have no idea~"
"Come here."
Ryuga beckoned with his finger.
Cerydra didn't understand why, but remembering the moment her earlobe had been nibbled, her face turned a bit red.
Still, she leaned in.
Ryuga leaned close, his lips almost touching the Empress's ear.
His warm breath brushed against her sensitive earlobe, and Cerydra felt a tingling sensation spread quietly from her earlobe straight to her heart.
Her itchy earlobe felt hot.
Her heart felt itchy too. "I suspect Marchie's memories have traveled to the past of Amphoreus."
Cerydra was shocked: "Ah!?"
"Shh!"
"Oh, oh~"
"Keep this to yourself. Don't tell anyone."
"Not even Hysilens?"
"Not even Hysilens!"
"I understand."
Did this count as having a little secret between the two of them?
Ripples formed in the Empress's heart, and she felt a small surge of joy.
Wait?
Why did she feel that Marchie's image was a bit like...
"The Celestial Maiden!?"
Her eyes gradually widened as she recalled a story told by a traveling bard when she was a child.
Could it be?
No, no, I must be overthinking it.
Hysilens, who had just returned with the Second Legion, happened to see the scene of Ryuga whispering into the Empress's ear.
(Hmm, it seems I've returned at an inopportune time.)
To be continued…