The weapons I forge are absolutely flawless.

She reined in her horse and stopped in front of the battle lines, her gaze sweeping over the flags fluttering on the city walls, still wondering if it was a trap set by the kingdom.

Just as she hesitated, the heavy city gate slammed shut, and with a cloud of dust, two familiar figures rode out from behind the gate.

“What a coincidence, Edel. We just took Solbaku Pass and you arrived just in time.”

Wiener's voice carried a hint of mockery, and there was absolutely no sign of the hard-fought battle he had just fought.

Chlorie, standing beside him, smiled slightly and gestured for Edel to enter, saying, "It seems you've just gone through a tough battle. How about you go in and rest first?"

"Then I won't be polite."

Edel turned to Sigurd and gave him an instruction before entering the lord's mansion with Venus and Chlorie.

Although the bodies of the defenders had been cleared away, the lingering smell of blood in the air still hadn't dissipated, indicating that the capture had only recently taken place.

This made Adele regret that if she had been a few days faster, she might have been able to enter Solbaku Pass before Vina.

"Please sit down." As soon as Venus invited Edel to sit down, someone immediately brought out tea.

Adele thanked him casually, but then realized that the person serving the tea looked somewhat familiar, and blurted out, "Felix?"

“Yes, is there a problem?” Felix tilted his head, as if he didn’t think there was anything wrong with it.

Edel looked at Venus, her eyes questioning what he was up to, making a sword saint-level emblem user do such menial work.

“We just took this pass, and Lisette and the others all have a lot of things to do. This guy is the only one who's relatively free, so we had him come along to help out,” Vena explained casually.

“Alright,” Adele didn’t dwell on the matter any longer, as there were more pressing questions to answer: “How did you manage to do that?”

"You mean take the Solbaku Pass?"

"I'm asking how you got here?" Adele asked, puzzled. "I didn't even receive any news of your counterattack on the kingdom."

"Let me answer that question," Chlorie coughed lightly. "It's normal that you don't know, because this is our first battle in the kingdom."

"You should at least have heard the news that the Kingdom's expeditionary force has withdrawn to reinforce their own territory," Viner reminded her at the opportune moment.

"Could it be—" Edel suddenly connected everything.

“That’s right, that support force was a disguise from the very beginning,” Kurori continued. “The 50,000-strong army led by Dimirli was completely annihilated outside the territory of Cordelia. We used captured Kingdom army equipment to disguise ourselves as a retreating Kingdom army and arrived here without firing a shot.”

“No wonder my journey has been so difficult,” Adele murmured.

She finally understood why her army had encountered such fierce resistance and obstruction along the way.

Since the disguise of the feudal lords' army was not exposed, it was naturally the imperial army she led that had to bear all the pressure.

"With the military strength of the vassal states, being able to completely wipe out the expeditionary force led by Emperor Mili is already an overachievement," Viner said, distancing himself from the situation. "Besides, didn't we also save you the last obstacle?"

"So? Now that you've won the bet, what conditions are you going to set?" Adele glanced at Vina.

"I just said it casually at the time, and I didn't care about winning or losing at all."

Wiener clearly hadn't expected that this was what the other party was so concerned about, and tried to brush it off.

“But I’m serious,” Edel scoffed. “Kurori happens to be here today, so let her be our witness. Just tell me your request, and I’ll do it for you.”

“In that case…how about handing Sylph over to me?” After thinking for a long time, Venus made a request that was acceptable without being too unreasonable.

But to everyone's surprise, Adele's expression changed as soon as he finished speaking.

"Sylph?! I really misjudged you, Venus!"

Adele's voice rose a few decibels, her eyes filled with disbelief and anger.

She had guessed countless times what conditions Vina would propose after winning the bet, but she never imagined that he would set his sights on her own sister.

“I think you’ve definitely misunderstood,” Venere said, looking at Edel’s flushed face and then glancing at Chlorie, who was watching the drama unfold with excitement. She felt it was necessary to explain. “What I meant by ‘handing her over to me’ was to have her join the Silver Wolf Class after Sylph enrolls.”

“Even the Silver Wolf Class… Silver Wolf Class?” Edel stopped abruptly, her brows furrowing slightly, her tone softening. “This is, after all, Sylph’s business, and I can’t make the decision for her.”

"It's as if the Silver Wolf Class has wronged her." Jessica appeared at the table at some point, arms crossed. "You can go back and ask her if that girl is willing to join the Silver Wolf Class."

“If Sylph is unwilling, I will not force her,” Viner quickly added.

Adele paused for a moment, her eyes flickering slightly, before finally nodding: "If Sylph is willing, of course I will support her."

Now that she has become Empress, Sylph no longer needs to choose the Black Eagles class for political reasons.

If the princess could enter the Silver Wolf House, it would at least make up for Edel's past regrets.

Seeing that the atmosphere had eased, Jessica suddenly remarked, "Come to think of it, how long has it been since we sat together like this?"

"A scene like this, with all the prefects gathered together, can only happen in—"

As Chlorie continued speaking, she realized that the four prefects from back then could no longer be gathered together.

Who ultimately defeated Dimir?

Adele first looked at Jessica, who simply shook her head slightly. Then she looked at Vina, who also denied it.

Finally, Felix cautiously raised his hand, "I was just desperate to save Vena, that's why..."

Despite being one of the top fighters in the Allied Forces, he was surprisingly naive in private, which made Adele chuckle. "I don't mean to blame you, I'm just a little sentimental. If Dimir were still here, we wouldn't have gotten this far so easily."

"That's good." Felix patted his chest and breathed a sigh of relief.

“During Dimili’s final battle, he was no longer able to resist the curse on the Spear of Death. Even if left unchecked, he would only end up dying,” Vena explained.

If Dimily were still in the same state as when they first stopped him, Vena would certainly not risk appearing before him.

But as the army crumbled and Dimir began to use the momentum of killing intent instead of military force in battle, he knew the time had come.

Even if Felix hadn't caught up, Venus would have been more than capable of defeating him, given that he had the Holy Sword in his hand.

However, no one is better at dealing with cursed weapons than Escudo.

Xiao Ai was sullen for a long time after being robbed of his playing opportunity.

“I still don’t understand why Labbel would do this. Even if the imperial family is ruthless, there’s no benefit in having your heir use a cursed weapon,” Edel said, her brow furrowed, her voice filled with deep confusion.

"The premise for considering all this is that we must ensure that the king currently sitting in the capital is truly Labbel," Vena said meaningfully, rubbing the holy ring on her hand.

"You mean?" Adele's expression hardened, as if she had vaguely sensed something.

“Within the capital, there are multiple demonic reactions,” Escudo reported expressionlessly in human form. “The one sitting on the throne is very likely no longer La Belle himself.”

Chapter 675 After this battle, we'll return to Lumiel Village.

"Such a big thing, how could no one have noticed?" Adele frowned, her tone filled with disbelief.

Even before entering the academy, she knew that some nobles within the empire would secretly collude with the demons for their own selfish interests.

The possibility that even the king of a kingdom could be replaced by demons was beyond her imagination.

“Perhaps the cursed weapon exists for this reason?” Vena said slowly.

The more powerful a wielder of a crest, the harder it is to resist the allure of a divine weapon.

In a kingdom where martial spirit prevails, this temptation is even more deadly.

But this stuff is like poison; once you're hooked, it's hard to get rid of.

Once they are completely free from the cursed weapons, tell them that as long as they don't become human and transform their bodies into more powerful demons, they can resist the curse and gain greater strength.

How many people could resist such a temptation?

“I should have discovered it sooner,” Escudo said, blaming himself.

As a holy sword, she should have been able to easily identify the presence of demons.

But during the years she wandered the continent, the demon race also kept up with the times.

Their methods have become more covert and efficient, and have long since moved beyond the forms of the past.

It was no easy feat for a kingdom to be infiltrated into its current state.

"It's not accurate to call these guys simply humans or demons, so I call them half-demons."

"This method of transformation is far more efficient than using demonic blood to transform apostles. They possess both the growth potential of humans and the powerful physique of demons. The only cost is that they will lose control of the power of the emblem after the transformation is completed."

Escudo paused for a moment, then continued, "Although the strength after transformation is related to its original power, it still possesses at least the combat power of an Apostle."

"An unknown number of demon apostles?" Even after learning about the hidden power of the other party, Edel did not back down. Instead, she asked Chlorie, "This time you won't repeat the same mistakes as the Griffin battle, will you?"

"It's been a long time, and you've certainly learned to be humorous." Chlorie smiled slightly. "Lord Holy Sword went out of his way to explain the situation to you, so I was naturally well prepared."

Although the allied forces avoided all direct battles during their march, they were not idle.

Viner made a detour to Lumir Town, where he instructed Sargozi and his apprentices to specially craft a batch of weapons and equipment designed to target the demons. These weapons and equipment have already been distributed to key units.

“I will confront ‘Label’ under the city walls as Arios and expose his true colors. As for what happens after that, I will have to rely on your help.” Vena stood up and looked at everyone, speaking solemnly.

"We've come this far, and you're still saying things like that? Do you really consider us outsiders?" Adele said, feigning reproach.

“That’s why I said that, because I consider everyone my close friends.” Viner shook his head. “The road ahead is long, and I don’t want anyone to fall behind here.”

"Vina, please don't say such unlucky things!"

Felix interrupted him in annoyance, but as soon as he finished speaking, Escudo pounced on Vina as if vying for his affections, and hugged him tightly: "I will definitely protect my master."

"Ah, I believe little Escobar can do it." Vena ruffled Escobar's hair and smiled.

"No matter how good the morals sound, everyone here has their own selfish motives. We won't give up so easily until our wishes are fulfilled," Chlorie replied softly.

“Don’t forget, you still owe Lisette an explanation.” Jessica looked directly at Vina, her gaze carrying a hint of warning.

A smile played on Viner's lips as he suddenly appeared beside Jessica, whispering in her ear, "I think you're talking about yourself, aren't you?"

These whispered words, of course, could not escape the notice of everyone present. Under the watchful eyes of the others, Jessica reluctantly admitted, "So what if it is?"

Seeing that the other party was finally being honest, Viner smiled and then said, "After this battle, come back to Lumiel Village with me."

"That's what you said."

Jessica nodded, unaware of the hint of envy in Adele's eyes.

-----------------

"Okay, now everything is fine."

Anna recalculated the distribution table of supplies and equipment, and after confirming that it was correct, she leaned back and stretched.

"How come I see someone slacking off as soon as I arrive?" Viner said with a smile as she lifted the tent flap and entered.

“Then you’d have to ask why there are such exploitative and heartless bosses,” Anna retorted, though a smile involuntarily crept onto her lips.

"That's why I had a change of heart and came here specifically to comfort you."

Vina sat down next to Anna and reached out to massage her shoulders with just the right amount of pressure.

"I wish this could last longer." Anna closed her eyes, a comfortable expression on her face, her tone unusually relaxed. "Weren't you discussing something with Chlorie and the others? How did you get kicked out?"

“It was clearly my choice to leave,” Viner flicked Anna’s forehead, causing the latter to pout in dissatisfaction. “They were discussing their upcoming formations and coordination, and I just happened to come out for some fresh air.”

After enjoying a massage for a while, Anna suddenly asked, "Do you think this battle will be the last?"

Viner paused for a moment, then continued massaging her shoulders: "I will try to make it the last civil war for humanity."

After all, they would have to face the threat of the soon-to-be-resurrected demon god.

“Vina,” Anna called out.

"Ok?"

“You’ve never let me down, and you will this time too.” Anna opened her eyes, looking at him intently with eyes full of trust.

"What a heavy expectation," Viner shook her head helplessly.

“If you can’t even bear my expectations, what’s the point of talking about defeating the Demon God?” Anna smiled slightly, then stood up and gently nudged Vena. “Alright, stop wasting your time on me. If you’re really free, go see Listy.”

Wiener stood up and dusted off her clothes: "Okay, whatever you say."

Anna waved and watched him leave, the smile on her face gradually fading.

“Oh, right—” Viner suddenly returned, poking his head into the tent, “How about we go to Lumiel Village together after this battle is over?”

"Since you said we're together, it means I'm not the only one, right?" Anna asked, hands on her hips, feigning seriousness.

“Not that many, right?” Viner counted on her fingers. “Although you say this is acceptable, I think we should still give you all an explanation.”

Anna paused for a moment, then covered her mouth, trying to hide her emotions.

"He's clearly a womanizer, why are you taking it so seriously!"

"So what's the reply?" Wiener pressed on.