His body was pierced, and the immense tearing sensation and pain even rendered Lancer unable to make a sound, but he knew very well that his situation was very bad right now.
'Panel!'
Indeed, he was not 'data-ized', but these specific numbers were enough to tell him his current situation. Looking at the row of DEBUFFs like 'weakness', 'bleeding', 'broken arm', etc., he felt a wave of dizziness, but he knew this was because of excessive blood loss. However, what he didn't expect was that the 'Night Phantom [Alucard]' on his body, which was already riddled with holes, had not been completely damaged.
It was obvious that the reason Lancer could still hold on for now was because it was constantly feeding the stored blood back to Lancer, its master.
This 'cursed Imperial Armament' was Lancer last hope at this time.
And at this time, Lancer had already heard Honest's wild laughter. Although he didn't know exactly what happened, the reason he and Esdeath had almost died together must have been him.
However, hearing the other party's footsteps, he didn't feel the slightest sense of relief. Lancer had already noticed before that Honest himself possessed a not-so-weak martial ability, so a sneak attack on him was not a simple matter.
Severely wounded, the only thing he could rely on to sneak attack the other party was a 'sneak attack'.
In reality, Lancer at this time was being a bit overly cautious, because he had no idea how miserable he was at this time.
On the pure white ice field, his corpse 'stood' in mid-air. Four ice spears, each as thick as a grown man's forearm, hung him there. The pool of blood on the ground made from his blood had already spread for several meters. Although there was also Esdeath's blood in it, the amount of blood lost by the two of them was already terrifying enough, not to mention the blood that was constantly dripping from the ice spears at this time, which was like a spring.
It was only because Lancer had the Imperial Armament that he could hold on. A normal person with such a large amount of blood loss would have been dead long ago.
And although Honest was careful and cautious, at this time, Esdeath's heart had been pierced and she died with her eyes open, while Lancer on the other side was bleeding profusely and was hung in mid-air. After probing a couple of times, he walked over with a Minister's Armament that had a collection function.
The reason he wanted to trick and kill Esdeath was to make up for his previous mistake, so he had to collect Esdeath's blood so that he could collect 'Demon's Manifestation [Demon God's Extract]' again.
But at this moment, he sharply noticed that Lancer 'corpse' had moved a little. He, who was always careful and cautious, didn't go over directly, but instead took two steps back.
The shock from Lancer and Esdeath's battle before was still quite deep for him.
If Esdeath gave people a feeling of being unable to resist because of the power of her Imperial Armament, then Lancer gave people the illusion of being undefeatable by breaking through various blockades with his formidable personal strength.
At this time, even though Lancer was hung there, he was still incredibly careful.
"Crack~"
He kicked away the spear in Lancer left hand and at the same time tore off the 'cape' on Lancer shoulder, and only then did he truly breathe a sigh of relief. But then, a smile appeared on his face, because in his opinion, Lancer at this time had completely lost the ability to resist. He couldn't possibly turn into a zombie or a vampire and suddenly pounce on him, could he?
He crouched down and placed the Minister's Armament in the blood, but at this moment...
The left hand that had been hanging because the spear was kicked away suddenly grabbed the belt, and the originally cyan leather belt actually 'grew' into a spear.
He didn't know if it was the sound of the wind behind him, or the shadow of the spear standing up that attracted Honest's attention. He suddenly pounced forward, but how could Lancer, who had been preparing for this moment for a long time, let him dodge so easily? The originally hard spear suddenly seemed to come alive!
"What?!"
Honest, who had never expected this to happen, had his right shoulder pierced instantly, and Lancer manipulated the Quinque to attack the other party again! But at this time, the familiar crack appeared behind Honest again.
Honest himself looked at Lancer with a face full of hatred.
And when the other party disappeared again, the anger on Lancer face disappeared, replaced by deep mockery.
"How could I not have thought of a trick that has already been used once..."
That's right, Lancer had already guessed that Honest might escape, so he had deliberately applied poison to the tip of the Quinque.
Indeed, using poison in a duel was despicable, but Lancer was not in a duel right now. He was on a battlefield, and his purpose was just to kill! The poison refined from a bag of potent poison would even poison an ancient dragon that was dozens of meters long, let alone an ordinary person.
'It's a pity I won't be able to see that guy's corpse...'
Perhaps because his goal was achieved, his originally tense nerves completely relaxed, and his originally clear vision also gradually became blurry...
The center of the original battlefield was completely empty, leaving only two 'corpses'.
And what was strange was that the originally expanding pool of blood suddenly stopped expanding and even began to shrink, and the color of the cape scattered in the pool of blood gradually deepened, and the blood that had been constantly dripping along Lancer arm, which had turned into ice crystals, had also stopped flowing at some point, and the crystal clear ice crystals also gradually became murky, and finally turned blood-red...
——————
"Clack~!"
Honest, who landed on the ground, looked a bit pathetic.
"Antidote!! Get me the antidote!!"
Although only a few seconds had passed, Honest had already noticed that something was wrong with his body. His purplish-blue lips showed that he had been severely poisoned at this time.
And the Imperial Armament user who used 'Shangri-La' also brought over the various antidotes that Honest had treasured without hesitation.
Useless! Useless! It's useless!!
Honest, who had taken several kinds of medicines without any signs of slowing down, suddenly felt a death threat.
No! He can't die yet! He hasn't taken over the entire empire yet!!
"Stylish!! That's right! Go find him for me!!"
Indeed, normally, it would be too late for an antidote, but Stylish's method was different. He could perform human modification through Imperial Armaments, so maybe he could survive!
The Imperial Armament user who used Shangri-La was worthy of being Honest's confidant. He brought Stylish over without hesitation.
And DR. Stylish, who appeared on the scene, saw that Honest was severely poisoned and his eyes suddenly began to flicker.
"I think... I might have a way."
"Then hurry up and do it!"
"Wait, I also need you to get me something."
"No pro... Ahhhh!!"
Mid-sentence, the Imperial Armament user looked at his own body, which had been disemboweled, with a face full of disbelief. He looked straight at DR. Stylish, as if he couldn't understand why he would do this.
And DR. Stylish himself completely ignored the person who was already a corpse, but instead looked at Honest, who was breathing more out than in at this time, with a grim smile.
"Lord Honest, I have to thank you~ If it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't have been hunted down like this, so I believe you should also be willing to lend me a hand, right?"
——————
The first battle of the North-South War ended with the empire's victory, but the empire also sacrificed a lot. General Lancer, who was called the 'Imperial Executioner', died in battle.
But after this battle, the rebels were annihilated and 4 Imperial Armament users were killed: 'Shangri-La', 'Murasame', 'Demon God's Extract', and 'God's Hand'...
And with the death of the 'Imperial Executioner', the emperor of the empire personally presided over his funeral, and countless officials and common people attended this funeral.
But in reality, how many of the people who attended the funeral this time were there with a feeling of remembrance? No one knew, but the only thing that could be confirmed was that many of the nobles who attended had smiles on their faces. Although even if Lancer was dead, the emperor would not give up on his previous 'cleanup plan', they still couldn't hide their happiness at the death of an 'executioner'.
But just as everyone was running around for Lancer 'death', a figure was walking in the ice field...
The battle between Esdeath and Lancer had completely turned the entire battlefield into a world of ice and snow. This world was filled with the 'ice dangerous species' that Esdeath had created, but that was not the most terrifying thing. The most terrifying thing was the seemingly endless 'maze', and after losing several waves of search and rescue teams, and even several Minister's Armament users, the empire had to give up on the rescue plan. But there was one person who had not given up.
Ever since she 'woke up', Leone had been silent, and after she learned about the battle between Lancer and Esdeath, she made a decision that no one had expected!
She was going to rescue Lancer!
She believed that Lancer was not dead!
But maybe no one expected Leone to do this. By the time people found that she was missing, she had already gone deep into the ice field.
In this ice field, Leone was wandering around like a headless fly. She even felt that every place she walked seemed a bit familiar. Even though her limbs, which were enhanced by the Imperial Armament, were frostbitten, she still didn't give up, because she firmly believed! Just as she firmly believed that Lancer would save her, she believed that she could definitely find Lancer! Even though this so-called firm belief had no reason, she still self-hypnotized herself into not giving up.
After walking in the ice field for a day and a night, whether it was luck or she really heard some kind of call, she finally saw Lancer hanging in mid-air by the ice spears.
Her eyes, which had been squinted from fatigue, instantly widened, and she unconsciously quickened her pace and rushed to Lancer 'corpse', but when she lay on Lancer chest, she suddenly exhaled.
'Thankfully, there's a heartbeat...'
But then she found that Lancer situation was not very good. His missing right arm was flashing with a crystal blue light, and on the other side, blood was constantly flowing from Esdeath's corpse into his body through the cape.
Seeing this scene, Leone instantly guessed a possibility.
The face that had been stiff from the ice and snow suddenly became gentle. She gently held Lancer cheek and did something that no one had expected. She actually kissed him.
In this world of ice and snow, time also seemed to stop flowing. No one knew how long it had been, until Leone let go of her lips, her originally gentle expression had also disappeared, replaced by an incredible determination.
"Master, this might be the only thing I can do for you..."
In a whisper, Leone cut her own wrist, and the bright red blood flowed into Lancer Imperial Armament. With the addition of this fresh blood, Lancer originally pale face also seemed to become a bit rosy, but Leone face quickly turned pale...