“Crazy, Lupinus, that insane bastard!”

Huana Ardor gritted her teeth as she clashed blades.

Having faced a flock of eagles in one spot for hours, a few strands of hair stuck to her cheeks, soaked with sweat and feeling disgusting.

Of course, there was no time to mind such things as the opponent fiercely charged at her.

“Sure. He did rush out as if he’d gone mad. It’s to my advantage, so I feel I should even thank him.”

“Ugh, are you provoking me?”

“The same words can be heard differently depending on the situation.”

That annoying Aquila! Huana gnashed her teeth as she saw Terese Aquila smiling at her.

Already quite heated up, Huana’s entire face was flushed red.

The hilt of the sword kept slipping due to the sweat soaking her hands.

Enduring the pain, Huana gripped the sword with her nails and glanced back as she thrust her sword.

Damn it. It’s a mess back there too.

As if they had gathered all the eagles in the world.

Forming a black mass surrounding them, not even human figures could be seen among the birds of prey.

Clang!

In the moment she took her eyes off, Terese found an opening and stabbed at her.

After barely blocking the attack, Huana raised her voice and asked.

“Fabio! Are you alive?”

“…Don’t worry about this side and just focus on your opponent!”

If he’s using that annoying tone like usual, he must still be fine. Huana felt a tiny bit of relief and poured all her focus back into her sword.

Meanwhile, at the same time, a fierce conflict was in full swing on the ground, just as intense as the aerial battle.

If the aerial battle was between Aquila and Ardor, the ground confrontation was between Venenum and Fondo.

Clinging on like a bulldog, Carla shouted as she grabbed the ankle of the knight much larger than her.

“Bite! Spread the poison throughout his body!”

The snakes, receiving Carla’s command, slyly eyed the knight. They were looking for gaps to sink their teeth into to inject venom into his bloodstream.

The knight struggled desperately, but in the end, he was alone. Unlike him, it was impossible to avoid all the snakes swarming in groups.

A viper that found an opening to strike raised its triangular head and hissed, making a threatening sound.

“Enough. Back off.”

In an instant, the knight’s body was lifted into the air. The man who had approached from behind him like flying had placed the knight on the kelpie he was riding.

Carla glared with eyes wanting to strangle the hateful sight and shouted.

“Diego Fondo! You despicable bastard!”

The end of her voice, filled with resentment, cracked roughly.

She tried to push her body in recklessly to reach him, but the kelpie stopped Carla’s actions just by half-raising its front legs.

“Sneakily following others and snatching the flag? The noble successor of Fondo sure covets victory in a dirty way!”

“…The point of this competition is to seize the flag by any means.”

“So, are you really saying that action was justified now?”

Diego gave a look of deep thought to the back. Then the escort knight visibly flinched and shrugged his shoulders.

It was an unfair situation for him. He had clearly ordered the knight not to step forward and to wait quietly until he returned.

But the knight violated that and moved.

The knight overpowered Carla, who was left alone guarding the buried flag, and forcibly extracted the flag.

Carla tried to stop the knight to the end, suppressing her anger to the point of shedding tears, but it was too late.

The knight holding the flag arrived where Terese Aquila was, and soon after, Diego, who had gone elsewhere, also returned.

Now that it had come to this, retrieving the flag was out of the question. Knowing that, Carla poured even more bitter criticism at Diego.

“Merche won’t even spare a glance at someone as petty and cowardly as you! Say it, you like Merche, don’t you!”

As expected of Venenum of snakes and poison, her words were full of venom. Hit where it hurt, Diego frowned and tried hard to hide his agitation.

“…No, I don’t.”

“No? I saw those eyes filled with ulterior motives at the Lupinus castle banquet too! I saw your gaze constantly following only Merche even after coming here!”

“Objectively speaking, she has a strikingly outstanding appearance, that’s all.”

“Ridiculous…! I’ll tell Merche everything. I’ll tell her without leaving anything out about how sneakily you stole my flag, so just you wait and see. As long as I’m here, there’s no way Merche will ever see you in a good light!”

A critical hit, once again a critical hit. Diego, truly struck, hung his head with a hollow laugh.

“…If I return the flag now, will you speak well of me to Lady Merche?”

Intense gazes pierced from the front and back. The former was Carla’s, the latter was the knight’s.

Did he really fall hard for Merche? It was ridiculous, but quickly became suspicious.

“Well? I’ll think about it if you return it first.”

“I will return it if you swear to it first.”

“…How can I trust you!”

“How can I trust you and return the flag on my side?”

“Forget it, let’s just drop everything! Let’s drop it−!”

Carla sat down as if throwing everything away.

It was already over. No matter how you look at it, isn’t this side’s defeat!

Her flag was taken, and no one on the opposing side had their flag seized.

The Ardor twins, they’re holding on somehow, but it’s obvious they can’t last long. They’ll soon have their flag taken by Terese Aquila.

Now that the situation had come to this, the resentment flowed towards Rude, who wasn’t present. Where the hell did he go and why isn’t he coming back….

The tip of her nose heated up, feeling like she would burst into tears soon, but she suppressed it tightly. She held back even the sniffles.

“Where are you…”

The defeat before her eyes, the flag helplessly taken away. They were not the main reasons that drove Carla to despair.

What truly drove Carla to the edge of a cliff and pushed her into the pit of despair was Merche’s absence.

Was it pointless to say they had to catch the eagle? Maybe that was a trap.

If she had urged Merche into a trap and this happened because of that, if Merche was in danger because of that.

Endless hypotheses and terrible imaginations grew in size.

Guilt stabbed her throat, making her retch.

That’s why. When her heart was pounding with anxiety, the figure crossing the sky above seemed like a miracle sent by God.

Upon seeing the identity of the one flying, Carla burst into tears.

“Merche…!”

As soon as she saw the face she had missed, she couldn’t hold back and let out a sob.

My close friend. My sister. And… my kind lord to whom I want to pledge my loyalty.

The golden hair tinged with the color of the setting sun sparkled exceptionally brightly. At that dramatic entrance, silence fell upon the fierce battlefield for a moment.

“Using authority in the competition is not restricted…”

The moment one of the rules of the competition was mentioned in Merche’s monotonous tone, the gloomy despair Carla had felt was transferred to Terese instead.

Terese’s face crumpled in an indescribable way.

She was not yet as skilled as her mother in controlling her emotions.

“So what? Are you going to use the dominance of royalty to take my flag?”

Even before hearing the answer, she felt a suffocating pressure. Her body had somehow fallen to the ground, lying face down.

The legion of Terese’s eagles that had been flying in the sky also stood frozen like stones, unable to even clack their beaks. No, not just the eagles and her, but everyone…

A chill ran down her spine. How could this be possible?

Only Merche and those on her side, Carla, were free, while everything else was placed under powerful control.

A scene as if time had stopped. Merche leisurely walked across that quiet space.

Up close, her appearance was even more astounding. Even in a humiliating and degrading situation, one couldn’t help but have such an impression.

Terese barely managed to roll her eyes and look up at the woman who had come right in front of her.

“Yes. I intend to take your flag.”

The calmly outstretched hand lifted Terese’s robe and grabbed the end of the flag, whose outline was not hidden.

The flag, easily pulled out, was held in Merche’s hand.

The flag bearing the Aquila emblem, before her very eyes.

Feeling toyed with, a sinister hatred boiled up from the bottom. The dominance that had disappeared at the right moment also fanned the flames of anger.

“Now I see you have a tremendous ability to deceive your opponents.”

She wanted to scratch red lines with her nails on that expressionless white face looking down at her, her hands trembling.

“But what to do? Before you arrived, I obtained this.”

Terese defiantly raised a hand holding a flag for her to see.

Although more than half of the flagpole with the banner was cut off, there was no difficulty recognizing its shape – it was a flag with the Ardor emblem.

The flag, missing the pointed corners it should have had, fluttered in the wind like rippling waves.

“Since our side collected both flags, the competition is over. It’s our victory.”

You’ll have to concede to the results, even if it’s regrettable, right? Terese deliberately narrowed her eyes more affectionately and smiled.

“From whom did you get that flag?”

“…Why do you ask that?”

“Did you perhaps get that flag from Lady Huana?”

The smile faded from the confident face. Terese checked the flag she was holding again with an uneasy heart.

What? It’s definitely the Ardor emblem. But why isn’t she shaken and asking such a thing?

The fingertips fiddling with the innocent flag became rough. Accordingly, Terese’s voice also sharpened fiercely.

“So what if that’s the case? What does that matter? If you’re trying to find fault with absurd reasons…”

“The flag must be directly held or hidden by the successor.”

“…What are you suddenly.”

“Lady Huana is a person of Ardor, but she is not the successor, Lady Terese.”