### Chapter: 234
Amidst the feeling of something fading away,
Meiri dimly regained her senses.
And when she opened her eyes,
she was faced with dark blue hair.
Immediately, Meiri gasped as she recognized it.
It was the color of Balheim, the one that had knocked her out not once, but twice!
She quickly noticed that she was being carried by someone.
And in an instant, she realized who it was.
Kraush Balheim.
The man who had been spouting nonsense that she couldn’t understand.
Meiri thought he was completely oblivious to the fact that she was still awake.
And just then, as she was about to quietly move her hands to her waist,
“Just so you know, I also have sensing abilities.”
Suddenly, Meiri froze.
He had caught on to her sneaky little plan to ambush him from behind!
With a sigh, she slowly pulled her hands away from her waist.
She knew she had no chance against Kraush.
At the same time, Meiri realized that the bracelet around her wrist had already been taken by him.
She promptly gave up on retrieving it.
“…What do you plan to do with me?”
“You’re the head of the White Ghosts. I plan to keep you somewhere safe until the White Ghosts are sorted out.”
Kraush said as he sprinted down the corridor.
But there was an unpleasant expression on his face.
Meiri quickly figured out why.
The place was engulfed in chaos and fighting.
The White Ghosts had teamed up with the Lion’s Order and the Inma Sect.
While Felray had shown up alone to support, the Inma Sect had their full force in play.
They needed to crush the Lion’s Order together without fail.
It seemed that the Lion’s Order was struggling considerably.
With the Inma Sect’s reinforcements added to the already large number of White Ghosts,
it was a battle they only barely managed to hold on to.
So, the Lion’s Order was facing at least three opponents each.
And Kraush’s grimace had another reason.
He was looking out the window.
“Tsk, so many have come.”
Because outside, a horde of challengers was gathering.
They were other groups, no less!
It was a chance to deal with the White Ghosts and Lion’s Order all at once.
As soon as they detected the battle unfolding, they had stopped fighting among themselves and had decided to attack first.
Meiri realized this too late, her eyes going wide as she looked at Kraush.
Even though she had the best sensing abilities this side of Rahern Academy,
there weren’t many who could keep up with her skills across the globe.
Yet now, Kraush, too, could sense the presence of those at a distance with almost the same capability.
While he may not have pinpointed the details as she could, his awareness was just as ridiculously wide.
To prove it, the other groups were still significant distances away.
“What…who are they?”
Meiri muttered blankly, and Kraush glanced at her.
“Kraush Balheim.”
Ironically, saying that single name explained everything.
Because he was Balheim.
Kraush shifted his gaze from the window and spotted a figure walking down the hallway.
As he spotted him, Kraush slightly furrowed his brows.
A man with flowing golden energy trailing behind like a curtain.
It was none other than Glen Diana, cousin to Mary Diana.
He had a shallow wound on his arm.
Kraush immediately deduced who had inflected that wound.
Karandis.
She was the one who had tried to capture Glen in his place.
It seemed like her handiwork.
“Glen, what happened with Karandis?”
If it was Karandis’ personality, she wouldn’t stop fighting unless she couldn’t move.
So, seeing Glen there with just a shallow wound meant one thing.
“What? I smashed her arms and legs. She tried to get up, so I stuck her against the wall with my sword.”
Glen casually relayed the fact.
However, Kraush sensed that Glen had mentioned it intentionally, not needing to say it at all.
It was a provocation.
A deliberate taunt aimed at getting Kraush to fight him.
But petty taunts wouldn’t work on Kraush.
He didn’t enjoy being the one getting provoked.
However, he decided to release his grip on Meiri.
“Eek!”
Meiri let out an unintentional scream as she rolled to the ground, surprised that he had let her go.
Kraush retrieved the Thunder Blade.
“Meiri, if you try to run away, I’ll chase you down to hell and drag you back.”
His voice echoed ominously through the corridor, filled with sincerity.
Meiri understood that if it was Kraush, he would surely act on it, and she shuddered, leaning quietly against the wall.
“….I don’t even have the energy to run.”
She had been through the wringer, starting with Charlotte messing up her sensing abilities and getting beat down by Kraush to boot.
As she said, she truly didn’t have the energy to escape.
So, she decided to just watch.
After all, running from Kraush seemed impossible unless someone came to save her.
“Glen, I was about to ask you something earlier.”
From Kraush’s sword, black flames began to rise.
Within those flames, Kraush quietly glared at Glen.
“Why did you end up looking like that?”
The Glen he knew was one who stood against injustice.
He had stood up against the Imperial faction during Kraush’s previous encounters.
But now, Glen appeared deeply distressed.
As if he were forsaking his beliefs.
“It’s for my family.”
Hearing the word ‘family,’ Kraush started to frown slightly.
His family was the renowned Diana family, known for their spearmanship.
They had consistently produced outstanding spearmasters and were even renowned for the ‘New Spear’ from Mary, who hailed from that very family.
However, the situation now was so different from before reincarnation.
Mary had been imprisoned for attempting to assassinate the Fourth Princess, Sigrid Ephania, and now carried the royal family’s mark of shame.
Naturally, the Diana family, having produced an assassin of their own, was now sidelined from politics.
The prestige they had built over the years as a famed spearmanship family was shattered in an instant.
That fame had not even thought of returning and was beginning to rot away.
For a time, things were just okay as long as Mary was with Sigrid.
Sigrid had somewhat supported the Diana family in her own way.
But after Sigrid had completely abandoned Mary…
Sigrid no longer offered protection to the Diana family.
It was both a remnant of vengeance for Mary and a calculated move on her part.
Even if Mary was unnecessary, the Diana spearmasters were still useful.
That was Sigrid’s reasoning for cutting ties with Diana so suddenly.
If the Diana family fell like this, they would probably turn to the one who had helped them until now.
Realizing that at the moment Sigrid’s support had vanished from the Diana family…
This was when they started their rapid descent into ruin.
The nobility and merchant clans began severing ties and contracts with the Diana family one after another.
And as resources and merchants stopped entering the lands, the citizens in their baronies began to turn away from the Diana family.
The Diana family was located in the rough northern region of the empire.
So, with their helpless baronies unable to sustain themselves, they quickly crumbled with the mere absence of trade.
Naturally, the Diana family went into a crisis.
And according to Sigrid’s intentions, the first person they turned to was Sigrid herself.
After Mary had committed the royal assassination, the merchants and nobles who had traded with them were now in Sigrid’s control.
This was exactly why the Diana family attempted to create a connection with her.
One of those making overtures was Glen Diana, who was still enrolled at Rahern Academy.
Glen had to become Sigrid’s lapdog.
“You, wielding a spear for the sake of the Diana family, must know that to revive the family, you need to surpass Mary.”
Glen couldn’t deny that statement.
Despite his current condition, the reputation of Mary, born of the Heavenly Body, remained formidable.
Her one-woman victory against the Empire’s Knights at such a young age was deeply ingrained in his memory.
Though she was undervalued now, Glen knew he couldn’t defeat Mary.
“If I told you I could make you stronger, would you follow?”
His parents had knelt and begged before him.
Seeing his once-proud parents begging like that was a first for Glen.
He couldn’t just look away from the downfall of a family they had devoted their lives to.
Therefore, he stamped on his own beliefs.
No matter what it took, he would become strong enough to meet Sigrid’s expectations.
And he would rebuild the family.
“Yes, gladly!”
That was why he had chosen to become Sigrid’s lapdog.
A golden energy began to surge from Glen’s spear.
The walls around him began to crack as that turbulent energy washed over them.
The glass windows shattered with a loud crash!
The force emanating from Glen was nothing short of immense.
“Kraush.”
Glen aimed his spear at Kraush.
“I must defeat you!”
Sigrid had told Glen to defeat Kraush in this match-up.
Sigrid was well aware of Kraush’s strength, realizing Glen currently couldn’t win against him.
Yet she sent him anyway, at least intending for him to at least hold Kraush’s ankles.
Kraush caught on to that fact and squinted.
‘Sigrid, you scheming little…’
Sigrid had turned a future talent she could have nurtured into merely a disposable pawn for her own benefit.
It was all purely for her selfish desires.
‘I had noticed you were heading towards ruin long ago.’
This lady truly didn’t seem to have an ounce of concern for preserving the world.
Kraush felt compelled to ask Sigrid.
What, exactly, was she trying to keep defending while rampaging through everything else?
In the end, no matter how hard she tried to maintain her illusion of control, she had been watching the world crumble right before her eyes.
Wasn’t she the one who picked up a sword next to Arthur to save the world?
Kraush swallowed the instinctive words bubbling up from deep within.
‘In the end, Sigrid, the paths you and I walk surely don’t align.’
Sigrid Ephania.
She truly had no intention of preventing destruction.
Even though she knew of the impending ruin, instead of seeking change, she preferred to wield her power to keep her position intact.
It was foolish to think she’d move towards the same goal as Arthur simply because she was an individual he had chosen.
Arthur had genuinely put forth efforts to prevent destruction.
‘Well, I always knew as much.’
Sigrid struggled with leadership.
To put it precisely, she lacked both goals and means to pursue them effectively.
Since she couldn’t find a way to progress towards her goals, she merely followed Arthur, enchanted by his resolve.
In her eyes, Arthur must have seemed remarkably radiant.
And secretly, she must have felt a sense of satisfaction and elation as well.
Just being by Arthur’s side, she was praised, and they spoke of her as a harbinger of justice.
Yet in reality, her qualities didn’t even begin to measure up to that.
“So be it.”
Kraush dismissed all hope for Sigrid and turned to Glen.
All that Glen was pouring into this moment, sacrificing his future,
the only thing Kraush could offer him now was one thing.
“Then go ahead and win.”
It was the force to counter his all-out effort.
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