After I died, my personal maid rebelled.

"How dare you blaspheme against humanity in front of me!"

The paladins, driven by lofty ideals, unleashed several scorching slashes that annihilated the air as they attacked the monster before them. As the attacks exploded, their battle speed increased rapidly, until only a blur of blood and crimson remained.

Nicole, who pulled a skull spear from the corpses, had a distorted expression, while the floating heads around her kept spewing holy words and releasing endless life magic.

The two soldiers clashed several times in a single second, the crimson light they emitted instantly vaporizing the houses around the street, and the towering Papacy was pierced by molten iron, resembling the blood and tears of faith.

However, this horrific battle, which took the lives of tens of thousands of people and erupted in thick blood, did not attract much attention.

Because that man arrived, crushing all those who stood in his way and announcing his destination—the royal palace.

The troops remaining in the capital were mobilized frantically. Even Falkov, who had been promoted to Grand Marshal, had to ride his horse quickly across the ruins.

The battle to defend the palace was about to begin, but he could not mobilize the troops outside the city to come back to reinforce it, since the initial intelligence he received made it very clear.

Forty thousand northern troops marched south, while a combined force of thirty thousand western and northern troops also advanced eastward toward the capital.

Two hundred thousand versus seventy thousand—to be honest, Falkov had absolutely no idea what to expect!

After all, the strength of the Northern Army was undeniable, while he inherited a mess, with most of his soldiers still wielding hoes in the fields just months before.

Once the northern army breaches the capital, annihilation awaits them.

"Marshal, why aren't you commanding the army outside the city?"

Claude rushed over to the palace gates and immediately began questioning Falkov.

He was going crazy. When their 200,000-strong army was broken through by the Northern Army, their supreme commander was still holding a meeting in the military camp in the capital!

Why would anything be so important? A gesture of surrender?!

Falkov's face was grim. He had almost figured out what had happened: a man as fast as lightning had rushed to the city gate alone, released a giant steel python that smashed the gate, and only then did he order his army to launch an attack.

Such tactics were completely unheard of to him. What was even more critical was that there was currently no high-level combat force in the royal city that could stop Oswald's advance.

Where is our magician?

Falkov had no time to argue with Clyde. Oswald's intrusion into the royal city was also an opportunity for them. The battle formation composed of adventurers and mages would teach that tyrant from the north a profound lesson.

"They've all been summoned to the palace, but it seems they're secretly carrying out some plan and haven't entered their designated positions."

"Should we contact the president of the Mage's Guild?" Claude earnestly offered his suggestion, but only received silence from Falkov.

The president of the Mage Guild is one of only three remaining great mages in the kingdom, and only she could defeat the monster Oswald.

No one knew the whereabouts of that president, and even though the royal city had faced several crises, she had never shown her face even once.

Falkov had begun to miss the days when Medivh was around. Although the old man had always suppressed them, the nobles, Medivh would always stand up for them whenever disaster struck.

Falkov was not unaware of what was happening in the royal city. He didn't care what was sitting on the throne; what he wanted was power and status, as well as an opportunity to realize his ambitions and aspirations.

Therefore, even if a certain curse, in order to gain the power to fight the Holy Knight Commander, mercilessly killed tens of thousands of civilians, he could still turn a blind eye, even though his mission was to protect the safety of the royal city's residents.

"Great Sage...any news?"

Claude was surprised for a moment before answering, "Yes, he sent you back to the front lines to command the battle, and told me to hold the palace, while he would handle Oswald."

After careful consideration, Falkov looked at the giant eye in the sky, took a few deep breaths, and walked silently toward the north gate.

The steel smoothed out the pits and crevices of the stone slabs, and those folds that symbolized the millennia-old history were completely turned to dust as the giant python moved forward.

Contrary to expectations, the frantic flight of millions of people cleared the streets of Oswald. The serpent of corrupt chains devoured the flesh and blood of countless soldiers, leaving behind a twisted, winding torrent of blood.

Five minutes after Oswald appeared, the first line of defense of the royal city was officially breached, and the soldiers' fear before their deaths vanished into a lament.

Scholars like to talk about historical choices, but ordinary people never have a choice.

As the giant python used the armor and body as a speed bump, the echoing sound of the bones made the monster before them even more terrifying, until the next second it suddenly disappeared, piling up countless bones in front of the second line of defense.

Blood swept across the entire royal city, and the pungent smell of blood made people nauseous in the air.

Oswald landed lightly, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword. Apart from the flash of blood that had just passed by, he hadn't noticed anything else.

[The Equivalent Exchange of Life and Death]

Tongzi promptly provided additional information, and Chuguang wasn't completely ignorant either; at least it was well-versed in the various ways life magic could be used.

(What does that mean?)

Oswald, his mind filled with questions, swept his emotionless gaze over the trembling Imperial Guards who dared not take a step forward.

[They used an equal weight of lives to offset your undead creations; preliminary estimates suggest that the blood-red light in that one second caused the deaths of 35,000 people.]

(This is outrageous...)

Oswald gave a cold laugh and swiftly drew his dark red serrated longsword from his waist. One by one, the Imperial Guards in front of him exploded, their bodies coalescing into thin lines of blood.

"The spiral of desire, the circle of rules, the boundary of natural selection, the thread woven with blood."

After much anticipation, the fine thread flew swiftly towards a central point, and in the blink of an eye, it wove a body that was both strange and familiar.

A bright red skirt fluttered down as a beautiful girl, perhaps a combination of Maria and Lilith, tossed her long black hair and stepped barefoot onto the ground.

"Reorganization is simpler than creation. Have you ever written a thesis, Oswald?" The girl smiled at him. "I'm sorry, I forgot that you dropped out of high school and went into the workforce."

"So, do you mind if I use their faces?"

Words that would never appear in this world were uttered lightly from the girl's mouth. She seemed to be born for elegance, and every smile and frown was captivating.

Since the attack wasn't launched immediately, Oswald was certain that the person before him was neither a resurrected form of Maria and Lilith, nor could it be the goddess herself.