Subaru Natsuki, who returned from the new Three Kingdoms

Click.

The dark purple light shattered into tiny specks of light.

A glint of light flashed in Capella's eyes as he sensed the disappearance of the restrictions on his powers.

Meanwhile, the battle in the center of the hall had intensified.

Subaru Natsuki has injured one leg and lost the ability to move.

Yet he was still able to fight normally, and his combat ability was not affected much.

It was as if he had long been accustomed to the feeling of losing a leg.

Wilhelm had no choice but to continue forward.

Subaru Natsuki's sleeves, shoulders, and chest tore one after another, his breathing was already disordered, but his five fingers gripping the sword tightened more and more.

All noise was silenced by the high pressure.

His eyes were fixed on the oncoming sword, and his ears were filled with the deafening roar of the two blades colliding.

With each successful block, the direction of the next sword strike becomes clearer;

With each step he was forced back, the untouched layer at the end of the Hateful Heaven Sword Technique drew one inch closer to him.

The Heaven-Hating Sword!

That was the realm reached after the Hate Heaven Sword Technique had surpassed its limits.

Tian Feng only conceived of this path back then, but he himself never actually stepped into it.

When the old man imprisoned in Jizhou was half-drunk, he pointed to the starry sky outside the cell window and told him:

"When the Hate Heaven Sword Technique is mastered to its highest level, there will be no enemy in the mortal world worthy of your continued sword strike."

"At that time, you will be slaying the heavens."

"I can see the road, but I can't cross it."

"If you can get past this, then show me whether fate can be cut through by the sword of us ants."

Natsuki Subaru honed the Hatred Heaven Sword Technique to its ultimate form through countless deaths, but he was always just one step away from mastering it.

At that moment, Natsuki Subaru finally felt that step appear before his sword.

Natsuki Subaru raised his sword to meet Wilhelm's cold slash, his wrist twisting slightly before the collision.

The hatred scattered throughout the sword moves was stirred together, converging along the blade towards a single point. If he could push forward just half an inch, he could open the door that Tian Feng had once described.

But that half inch never arrived.

Natsuki Subaru felt his arm suddenly become heavier, and the strength he had accumulated dissipated when the swords clashed.

There were also loose stones underfoot that prevented them from hitting the spot.

The disordered breathing rushed to his throat just before he could exert force.

This forced him to slow down his sword strike by a fraction of a second.

One could say it was a coincidence.

The same thing happened the second and third time.

Every time he was about to cross it, an unseen force pressed down on the sword's edge, wearing down his strength, and writing the four words "pride comes before a fall" into this battle stroke by stroke.

Natsuki Subaru's smile vanished.

He recognized this power.

day.

"you again!"

Natsuki Subaru blocked Wilhelm's sword, his feet sliding several feet across the shattered ground.

"Guandu, it's you! Xuchang, it's you! Now that we've moved to a different place, you still won't let us go!"

"You want our family to fail? We'll make sure you don't get your way!"

The person he was fighting was Wilhelm, but what truly weighed on the Heaven-Hateing Sword was the sky that had repeatedly pushed him to his doom!

Heaven forced him to submit to his fate!

"OK……"

Natsuki Subaru gritted his teeth, gripped the sword hilt with both hands, and charged forward once more.

day!

You can suppress me once! Suppress me for a lifetime! Then I'll do it a second time, a second lifetime!

"I hate God!"

Sword light shot into the sky.

Wilhelm also stepped into that cold light at the same moment.

His sword emerged from the narrowest gap, first pressing down on Subaru Natsuki's sword spine, then slicing along the violently trembling blade.

Subaru Natsuki's grip on the sword split open, and his five fingers could no longer suppress the force.

The sword hilt began to slip from his palm.

Subaru Natsuki didn't stop, immediately turning his hand into a sword and continuing to strike Wilhelm's blade!

If you come into contact with it.

The inevitable outcome would be that the entire arm would be severed at the root.

Natsuki Subaru is ready to start over.

But at that moment, a scorching aura suddenly erupted from the throne!

Capela, whose eyes had already transformed into dragon eyes, desperately tried to keep up with the two men's sword moves.

At the moment when Subaru Natsuki was utterly defeated.

She suddenly opened her mouth, and fine black scales emerged along her lower jaw.

Dark dragonfire erupted from her mouth, traversing the dilapidated hall and hurtling straight towards Wilhelm.

The old man's pupils contracted. He abandoned his pursuit and retreated swiftly to the side and rear, sheathing his sword. The dragon flame grazed the spot where he had just stood, scorching a blackened trench in the ground, and the rubble along the way instantly turned into crimson lava.

“Dragon…” Wilhelm’s eyes narrowed slightly, as if he had thought of something.

Wilhelm had just dodged the flames when his two fast-moving sons, at Capella's signal, rushed into the fray, flanking the exhausted Subaru Natsuki and dragging him back to the throne.

"father!"

Are you alright?

His sons gathered around him, supporting his shoulders and arms.

Natsuki Subaru took a few deep breaths, and once his weak legs regained their footing, he immediately turned around to look for the source of the dragon flame.

Clarissa remained standing there, holding Capela in her arms.

The mount still consisted of only a head and a small section of its body below the neck, with a wisp of black smoke remaining at the corner of its mouth. The dragon scales on its jaw were rapidly receding, showing no signs of returning to a complete body.

Natsuki Subaru watched this scene in astonishment.

It's speculated that the seal may have been maintained for too long, causing it to loosen slightly, which is why Capella has temporarily regained the power to breathe dragon fire.

"Okay!"

Natsuki Subaru pushed away his beloved son who was trying to help him up. They tried to help him up, but Natsuki Subaru shooed them away.

"Without your help, can't our family support ourselves?"

Subaru Natsuki staggered up to Capela and patted her head with a look of satisfaction.

"Even though we've lost, we're as happy as if we've won! Our mount has finally learned to protect its master!"

"What a fine steed! What a fine steed! All these days of raising you have been worthwhile!"

Capela's temple throbbed violently.

She resisted the urge to bite off those fingers and turned her head away from Subaru's caresses.

"Don't flatter yourself!"

"In this situation, if you die, I will suffer the consequences too!"

Capela looked over his shoulder at Wilhelm, who had regained his footing, and then glanced at Reinhard, who still had his hands clasped on the Dragon Sword.

"Retreat before they all attack together!"

"At your speed, it would be no problem for you to take me away from here."

"retreat?"

Natsuki Subaru was stunned for a moment, then threw his head back and burst into laughter.

"Hahaha~ We're not retreating!"

Capela's face darkened.

The black-haired boy turned around and planted his sword in front of him, using the hilt to support his still-weak body, and looked up at the throne that was so close to him.

"We led our brothers all the way into the palace; how could we possibly return empty-handed?"

Subaru Natsuki must take McCrotov to Emilia's camp!

"Why?" Capela pressed on, unwilling to give up!

Subaru drew his longsword, the blade flashing coldly as it sliced ​​across his side.

"Because there is no second Lugunica in the world, and there is no second Subaru Natsuki!"

These words resounded throughout the hall, so much so that even Capela was momentarily stunned and forgot to curse.

He has turned to his sons and raised his sword high.

"Brothers, follow me into battle! Fight to the very last moment, then commit suicide and return to heaven!"

The children looked at each other in bewilderment.

Even if we win, do we still have to die?

The sound of hurried and heavy footsteps interrupted Subaru Natsuki's command.

A dozen or so members of the Six Tongues faction were the first to rush into the main hall through the damaged side door.

Their clothes were covered in mud and water from the underground passage, but their weapons were all drawn. As soon as they entered the hall, they gathered behind Russell Ferro in an armed state.

Ricardo's roar echoed from the same corridor.

"Get out of my way!"

"A bunch of useless trash, they can't run fast, they'll just block the way!"

The towering werewolf shoved aside the last two Six Tongue members blocking the way, and with Rius protecting Anastasia as they made their way through the crowd, Emilia followed closely behind them.

The six tongues, intentionally or unintentionally, blocked their way, causing them to lag far behind Wilhelm and his companions until the sword fight ended before they could even enter the main hall.

Upon seeing the reinforcements, Russell Ferro's earlier anxiety about the grandfather and grandson's reluctance to attack Subaru Natsuki vanished.

Now he doesn't care if others share the credit.

Reinhard hesitated to make a move, and the Sword Demon couldn't defeat the enemy in time. If this continued, Subaru Natsuki would really get away!

Having help is the best thing right now!

"You've all come at the perfect time!"

He pointed at the dark-haired youth before the throne and, before anyone could ask, shouted sharply:

"This person led the followers of Capella, the Archbishop of Lust of the Witch Cult, to storm the palace, imprison Lord Crusch and Commander Marcus, and even attempted to kidnap Lord Mycroft!"

"He is the traitor who has brought chaos to the kingdom!"

As the voice came, a familiar aroma of sake wafted through the smells of blood and burnt food, reaching Subaru Natsuki's nostrils.

Subaru Natsuki had naturally already smelled it.

From the moment Anastasia stepped across the palace moat, the intoxicating fragrance told her that the lord she had once chosen had arrived.

Natsuki Subaru's Adam's apple bobbed slightly, but his fingers gripping the sword did not loosen.