Chapter 297: One Word: Kill
"Futile struggle."
Seeing Friedrich unleash his mana completely, Serie unfolded a magic circle, powerful energy beginning to gather in her hand.
She had full confidence she could kill this Friedrich with a single strike.
But Rhodes gently pressed her hand down, shaking his head slightly.
This wasn't to spare the opponent, but because Rhodes intended to act personally.
As the God-slayer Rhodes, he would send this elderly and powerful mage on his final journey. If anyone was to blame, it was Friedrich for making the wrong choice.
"Do you have any last words?" Rhodes asked indifferently.
"None. It is my honor to die at the hands of the God-slayer, Lord Rhodes."
Friedrich's words caused Legate's pupils behind him to dilate violently. He looked at Rhodes in the air with disbelief.
God-slayer.
This title had belonged to only one person since ancient times. And now, it was placed upon this man he had thought merely shared the name.
Legate didn't think his teacher was lying. In fact, he had suspected it too, but all his focus and killing intent had been on Serie, so he had subconsciously ignored Rhodes's existence.
So that is it.
No wonder these two could annihilate my vanguard legion. The God-slayer is still alive!
Damn it!
This damned guy used some unknown method to live until now in a human body, deceiving everyone on the continent.
"If you had realized earlier, perhaps things wouldn't have reached this point," Rhodes said.
"My apologies. I had no choice. No matter what, Legate is the person I must protect."
"Be more careful in your next life."
After speaking, Rhodes abandoned the thought of further conversation. He slowly raised his right hand, pointing his index finger at Friedrich.
Extreme light condensed at his fingertip, filled with the aura of destruction.
A simple energy beam spell.
But depending on the user, the power naturally differed.
Seeing the energy beam in Rhodes's hand, Friedrich dared not be careless. He immediately erected several layers of magical shields while preparing to counterattack with magic.
Of course, that was assuming he could block Rhodes's attack first.
"This is a move once used by a goddess. You should be honored to be the first human to see this magic!" Rhodes declared.
Then, the light at his fingertip flashed and vanished, instantly rushing toward Friedrich.
The opponent had no room to ponder Rhodes's words, because the energy beam shattered all his shields in an instant, punching a fist-sized hole directly through his chest.
The spell was forcibly broken, and his life force withered instantly.
The strongest mage of the Southern Unified Empire couldn't withstand even a single move from Rhodes.
Friedrich spat out a large mouthful of blood. His body slumped like a puppet with cut strings, the light in his eyes dimming rapidly.
But in the moment before losing consciousness completely, he used the last of his strength to turn his head with difficulty toward Legate. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately, he said nothing.
"Teacher!!!"
Legate let out a heart-wrenching scream, throwing himself beside Friedrich, looking at his lifeless body.
However, everything was irreversible.
His greatest reliance, his most loyal teacher, had died before him to fulfill his final duty.
It was all due to his own stupidity, provoking an existence he should never have provoked.
Legate raised his head, looking at Rhodes and Serie, who were now close at hand with indifferent expressions. He looked at his teacher's cold corpse in his arms, and the deathly silent palace around him...
Madness reappeared on his face. He forcibly drove his connection with the Holy Sword, attempting one final gamble.
However, his connection was like a stone sinking into the sea—he received no response.
Rhodes seemed to see through Legate's actions and smiled. "Are you looking for this?"
He beckoned, and two—no, three—Holy Swords appeared in the air.
One was the Imperial Holy Sword Legate had forged, but at this moment, it was firmly suppressed by two other Holy Swords whose auras were in no way inferior to it.
"Org and The Light of Ersten?" Legate muttered to himself.
As the three Holy Swords most associated with Rhodes, since Athos was in Serie's arms, these two were naturally Org and The Light of Ersten.
"Thank you for your Holy Sword. I have thought of a way to deal with that Demon King. Humanity will remember your contribution."
Rhodes spoke with a smile. This demeanor made the corners of Serie's mouth curl up as well.
Robbing someone of their Holy Sword and then specifically thanking them... truly murderous to the heart.
"Should I thank you?" Legate looked at Rhodes with complicated eyes.
"No need to be polite. We are achieving mutual success. A pity the Bloodline Magic on it is a bit troublesome; I will have to spend a few days cracking it."
Legate didn't respond further.
At this moment, anger, fear, regret... all emotions vanished from his heart, leaving only a despair of total ash.
His ambition, his empire, his dream... in this moment, with the death of his teacher and the seizure of the Holy Sword, collapsed completely and turned into nothingness.
He had lost. Lost utterly and completely.
With Legate's silence, a deathly stillness spread through the palace hall.
In the place that once symbolized the highest power of the entire empire, now only the collapsed Emperor remained, along with the two figures who had descended like gods to judge his life and death.
Serie put away the Holy Sword Athos. Her golden eyes glanced at Friedrich's corpse on the ground, then at the ashen-faced Legate.
Subconsciously, she felt that given Rhodes's consistent leniency toward humans—especially his tolerance that always sought to give others a chance—he might spare Legate's life, perhaps just imprisoning him.
"How do we handle this guy?" Serie asked directly.
She actually wanted to end this annoying fellow with one sword strike. Or at worst, use a sealing spell and throw him into a dungeon until he died.
But unfortunately, that was likely impossible.
The opponent's status was too special. Based on her understanding of Rhodes, he would probably let him off so he could continue maintaining this country and focus his energy entirely on fighting the demons.
However, Rhodes's answer stunned her slightly.
"Kill."
One word. Calm, without a shred of hesitation, as if it were a decision made long ago.
Serie looked at Rhodes in surprise.
She remembered clearly that when the Southern Empire invaded Ersten last time, although Rhodes repelled the army, he had only heavily injured the commander and not taken his life.
Yet this time, facing the Emperor with an even higher status, he chose the most thorough solution so decisively?
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