Become their wicked yet gentle lord.

Ryuka looked at the beautiful, mature female knight's face, contorted in a tearful expression. Her black eyeliner was washed away by tears, leaving several black tear streaks scattered around her eyes and cheeks.

"Well then, it all depends on your sincerity..."

Snapped!

In a magnificent hall of the castle in Sochi, a crisp slap rang out.

"You idiot! You're just going to let your cousin go into a 'bloody duel' all by herself?"

A middle-aged noblewoman was scolding Tavis Duke, the heir to Sochi, as if she were reprimanding a servant. She was none other than Countess Mara.

Tavis covered his face, his lips twitching as he hesitated to speak.

"Prepare the carriages! Take my private army! To the border!!!"

Lady Mara's eyes widened in fury; she looked nothing like a woman nearing sixty, but rather like an old but ruthless vulture. She donned her cloak, boarded her carriage, and sped out of the castle, followed by a troop of a hundred cavalrymen, twenty of whom were knights, and the rest were apprentice knights.

The masked guards beside Lady Mara were brought from the Payne family's territory when she got married...the pinnacle of Grand Knight combat power!

After leaving the castle, she looked up and turned around, glaring fiercely at the tall tower where her husband's room was...

Two and a half hours have passed. If Megan had won, she would have been done playing and come back long ago...

As Mara thought this, she angrily rebuked the coachman, telling him to get to the border outside Sochi within a quarter of an hour, even if pedestrians on the road were killed.

But when they arrived at the plain, all that remained on the ground were the pitted marks of battle and the 'Bloody Duel' contract device, which had lost its magical effect.

There was a tattered white cloth on the instrument. Mara had just taken it off when she accidentally triggered some mechanism. A firework shot out from the instrument, soaring into the sky and exploding in the air.

But Mara paid no attention to any of that, her only concern being the tattered cloth in her hand, on which were written in blood:

According to the duel rules, Megan Payne has become Ryūsha's personal property.

As dusk settled, the light and shadows dimmed. Mara clutched the piece of cloth; she recognized it as a tear from Megan's underwear…

And that bloodstain tinged with water... it was clearly...

A few strands of dark purple, curly hair still clung to the white cloth...

Although the handwriting was crooked, the unique way some letters were written made Mara recognize that... it was written by Megan herself!

"Chase after them!"

Mrs. Mara gripped the cloth in her hands, feeling a wave of dizziness. She looked towards the distant forest, and angry words seemed to be squeezed from the depths of her throat.

"Mother! Wait..."

Tavis called out from behind, but Lady Mara completely ignored him. She didn't care about any peace treaty or that the thirteenth princess was in the capital assisting the regent!

Mara believed that with just a hundred cavalrymen behind her, she could raze Linhu Town to the ground! She didn't care what would happen next!

She realized that this was definitely Ronald's conspiracy! Her husband had long wanted to weaken the 'Paine Faction' that she represented!

They are joining forces with outsiders to deal with them, just as they used their own strength to deal with others in the Sochi region!

Why not just start a war? If we tear off all pretenses, no one will have an easy time!

Ignoring her eldest son who was leading the troops in pursuit, Mara boarded the carriage and ordered them to depart.

But suddenly an ice wall appeared before them, blocking their path.

"Snowfield!!!"

Mara stared fiercely at Melanie, who was swaying down from the sky.

"what you up to?!"

"Oh, it's Mrs. Mara, how rude of me."

Melanie, holding her large wizard's hat, sat sideways on her staff.

"I heard that Uncle Ronald just signed a contract with Linhu Territory. Why are you leading your troops across the border, Madam?"

Mara looked at Melanie, with only one thought in her mind.

Why did they have to come at this exact moment?!

Although the Snowfield family also aligned themselves with the Third Prince's faction, Lady Mara never trusted her cousins ​​from the Duke family, even though the head of the Snowfield family was indeed loyal to the faction he had chosen.

Therefore, in Mara's eyes, Melanie, who appeared at this moment, must have stood on her husband's side.

Mara initially thought that Megan becoming a Grand Knight would put a check on Melanie from within. But in the blink of an eye, she became someone else's prisoner...

The tattered underwear and virgin blood on her hands indicated that Megan had been... As for her duel opponent... I heard he was just a fifteen-year-old boy!

Are you kidding me?! Megan, the woman I cherish most, who hates men and is still unmarried at thirty, had her virginity taken by a brat after becoming a Grand Knight?!

"Snowfield! It was you! You must have been secretly helping the people of Linhu Territory! Otherwise, how could Grand Knight Megan have been defeated?!"

“Mrs. Mara, you should have evidence for your words.” Melanie’s tone turned cold, and the temperature seemed to drop several degrees.

The masked guard behind Mara stepped forward. Although he did not exude any fighting spirit, he was like a black mountain. The pair of gloomy eyes under the iron mask made Melanie shudder.

"Don't mess with this person," were the first words Count Duke told Melanie after she arrived in Sochi.

Melanie was told that this person had long been at the pinnacle of the Grand Knights, and could be said to have one foot in the Heavenly Realm...

Lord Duke felt it was no exaggeration to say that he could fight against several Grand Masters.

"I have no idea what happened. I was just sent by the Third Prince to investigate Linhu Territory and I just got back." Melanie smiled and repeated the words that Liuxia had taught her.

"Oh, really? So what intelligence did you find out?"

"Oh... I heard that Linhu Territory has created some kind of long-range magical weapon that can strike targets several kilometers away, and its power is as strong as a Grand Master."

"Bullshit! Don't try to scare me with that nonsense! If you don't move aside, I'll chop you up!"

Lady Mara angrily rebuked Melanie, saying that magical engineering was at best a frivolous and ingenious skill, a consensus shared by most nobles. They argued that with the money and magic stones to develop magical weapons, it would be better to train more knights and mages.

“Uncle Tavis, this is your family matter, I can’t interfere. I’m going back to Sochi.”

Melanie gave Tavis a cold smile, then immediately stirred up a blizzard and disappeared from everyone's sight.

"Mother...you can't..."

"Get out of the way!" Ignoring her son's objections, Lady Mara ordered her personal guards to enter the territory of Linhu Territory.

At that moment, a blue shooting star streaked across the dark horizon in the distance.

Then, a dull sound arrived belatedly...

The blue meteor flew towards me first, then stopped in mid-air, seemingly growing larger...

The masked guard immediately picked up Lady Mara and quickly fled, while the others seemed to realize something and reined in their horses to disperse.

Boom!!! The blue meteor struck the 'Bloody Duel' contract pillar, causing a massive explosion in the rear of the cavalry as they dispersed.

Blue flames burned, and shrapnel spread out in a radius of more than ten meters. Some cavalrymen who hadn't managed to scatter were thrown from their horses by the scorching blast. Even at the edge of the blast radius, their armor was dented by the shrapnel!

If the distance were any closer... even if the armor wasn't pierced, the internal organs would probably be shattered!

Several apprentice knights who had fallen from their horses cried out in pain, not understanding what had happened.

"Great Magician... no!"

Mrs. Mara boldly picked up a shard of paper.

It's magical technology powered by magical crystals... Melanie wasn't lying; rather, she came to tell us this on purpose.

This blue explosive projectile is clearly a warning...

Mrs. Mara's expression was uncertain as she looked at the deep mountains and dense forests along the Linhu Pass, wondering how many more dangers lay ahead.

If the opponent can project something like a fireball, couldn't they just ambush them on either side of the road? Mei, where am I? Lin isn't here, Lin is empty, are you here...?

She's not a stupid woman.

"Let's go back……"

Mrs. Mara seemed to have used all her strength to say those words. But at least she knew that Megan's life was not in danger.

As long as you're alive, there's a chance.

Compared to Linhu Ling, it seems that the problems at 'home' are more serious.

……

Meanwhile, in the distant dense forest, Ryusha watched with a somewhat speechless expression as Anyaberg excitedly circled the magical catapult.

"That was amazing! That was so awesome! I shook several times when I ejaculated!"

The girl in overalls with dark red hair jumped up and down, but what she said sounded strange no matter how you looked at it.

Anjaberg had been waiting all afternoon for Ryūka's launch order, and he was nearly going crazy with impatience. Especially when he saw Ryūka and her team return with a sexy female knight, raggedly dressed, wrapped in a tent cloth, and looking utterly terrified, Anjaberg understood what Ryūka had been doing all those hours…

But before she could react, Ryūka made her recalculate the trajectory and change the impact point.

"You really let me have a go? You're not kidding me?" Anjaberg looked suspicious.

The magic catapult had limited ammunition, and the magic crystals packed into each projectile were not cheap. So, apart from the initial test launch after completion, Anjaberg never fired this behemoth again.

"I'm not lying to you, engineers don't lie to engineers!" Liu Xia nodded firmly.

"Heh~ You've only worked on a few projects with me, and you're already an engineer?" Anjaberg put on a smug expression and pouted his little nose.

"Let's at least get into the Imperial Military Academy and finish our engineering science credits in the middle school before we talk about anything else!"

Although Anjaberg said that, she had to admit that many of the ideas were provided to her by Ryuka.

But after she excitedly adjusted the launch angle, Ryuka stopped her.

"Wait a little longer, wait a little longer."

"What are you waiting for? Ryuka, you're not trying to trick your sister Anya, are you?!"

"I'm not kidding! We're waiting for fireworks..."

Ryusha explained to Anyaberg, and the little engineer gave a mischievous 'Oh~ I see~' smile.

Then the two of them covered their mouths and giggled, looking like a pair of wicked maggots.

While waiting, Anjaberg looked at Megan, who was huddled up opposite him, and figured out what had happened to Miss Payne.

Although he felt a little sorry for her at first sight, after hearing Kira recount the female knight's misdeeds, Anyaberg immediately stopped caring.

After all, they knew perfectly well how defeated prisoners of war would be treated during their military academy courses.

Anjaberg was even commissioned to develop torture devices for prisoners, though she had no desire to make such things. But for a long time, most of the internship credit projects available to engineering students were of this kind…

As for the fact that it was Ryuka who did that, Anyaberg was somewhat incredulous, so he secretly nudged Ryuka twice with his elbow.

"Hey, Ryuka, you really...did that with her?"

"What, are you going to condemn me?"

"No, I'm just curious... You're so short, and she's so tall... Is it really possible..."

Ryusuke was taken aback. He hadn't expected Anyaberg to ask such a question and thought Anyaberg would say he was being unreasonable.

"Look at her, do you think I'm up to the task?"

Ryuka pointed to the distraught Megan, whose makeup was ruined. But when she saw Ryuka pointing at her, she immediately scurried over.

A pair of huge breasts swayed up and down as she jogged... Her plump body was slightly bent, as if she were very tired. She came to Liuxia's side and knelt down obediently, bowing her head and showing a fearful yet ingratiating look.

"Did you...did you call me?"

Even kneeling, Megan looked much larger than Ryusha, yet her every move resembled that of a maid. No, she was even less than a maid, utterly devoid of the shame befitting a noblewoman and knight.

"This is none of your business. Go back home."

Ryuka even kicked her in the chest, causing a ripple.

"Yes……"

Seeing that Megan not only didn't dare to get angry, but also obediently went back, Anjaberg suddenly had a strange idea that almost made Ryusha choke.

"Hmm...you didn't use some kind of weird tool, did you?"

Judging from her serious expression, she seemed to be genuinely considering the plausibility of the matter: what were the chances that 'Ryuka conquered a female knight from the Great Horselands'...?

"I'm telling you..." Liu Xia said, somewhat exasperated, "Are you even a teenager? Why are you so calm and composed? Shouldn't you be feeling shy, indignant, or even blaming me right now?"

"Huh? Why?!"

Anjaberg stared wide-eyed, looking utterly bewildered. Her bright eyes blinked, her ruby-like pupils filled with genuine questioning.

Looking at Anyaberg's innocent, angelic face and expression, and then recalling what she had just said, Ryuka felt that this engineering girl definitely had something wrong with her.