"Roar—!"
As the runes of the Heart of God on Wood's chest erupted with a dazzling silver light, the Snow Maiden Dragon Knight, which had been pushed to the brink, suddenly surged with renewed vigor, as though injected with a powerful stimulant.
The massive ice dragon Skasa expanded rapidly, growing to more than twice its original size with a thunderous roar.
Atop Skasa's head stood the Snow Maiden, wielding a longsword, her figure glowing with radiant silver light. Her ethereal presence became even more captivating, and a suit of pure silver dragon-scale armor materialized on her body, accentuating her already stunning figure and making her appear both seductive and otherworldly.
Empowered by the Heart of God, the Snow Maiden Dragon Knight's strength and aura surged. With a single slash of her blade, she cleaved through the massive crimson laser before her, and the ice dragon Skasa charged forward with a deafening roar.
What had seemed like a hopeless situation for Wood moments ago now shifted dramatically. From near defeat, he gained the upper hand.
The tide of the battle had turned, and it was now the young Emperor's turn to feel the crushing pressure Wood had just endured. The Snow Maiden Dragon Knight closed the gap, now mere meters away from Shikoutazer.
However, just as Wood thought he was on the verge of victory, Shikoutazer's shoulders opened to reveal an array of smaller cannons, which unleashed a barrage of miniature lasers.
The sudden assault forced the Snow Maiden Dragon Knight to retreat, the overwhelming advantage slipping away as the fight returned to a tense stalemate.
Seeing this unfold, Wood couldn't help but curse the young Emperor inwardly. "This guy's cheats are just ridiculous!"
He knew that if the stalemate continued, he was doomed.
Both the Heart of God and the Winter Knight's secret technique were immensely powerful, but their cost was equally severe. Like a scythe wielded by death itself, each passing second drained more of Wood's life force. He couldn't hold on for much longer.
Just as Wood feared he might die before taking down Shikoutazer, a sudden turn of events gave him yet another chance.
As Wood had suspected earlier, while Shikoutazer was unparalleled in terms of offense, defense, and capabilities, it was still an Imperial Arm—a tool that required an operator to function. Without someone to wield it, it was nothing more than a pile of scrap metal.
Shikoutazer's immense power came with immense consumption. Its energy source was finite, and every action drained its reserves. Although the energy system had been designed to mitigate the side effects on its user and lower the operational threshold, a thousand years had passed since its creation. The knowledge to replenish its energy had been lost to time, along with much of the Empire's legendary 48 Imperial Arms.
This meant that every activation of Shikoutazer consumed a portion of its limited energy reserves, making its power finite. This limitation was why the Empire had sealed Shikoutazer and rarely used it, even in times of crisis.
If Shikoutazer truly had no drawbacks and was as powerful as a mobile fortress with no operational barriers, the Empire would have deployed it against border invasions or the Revolutionary Army long ago. Its sheer destructive potential would have easily quelled any opposition.
However, Shikoutazer's energy problem was its Achilles' heel, and now, after nearly an hour of intense combat at maximum output, its reserves were finally depleted.
Inside the cockpit, the young Emperor panicked as warning lights flashed red across the control panel, and an "Energy Insufficient" alert appeared on the screen.
As Shikoutazer's power waned, the crimson laser began to weaken, and its suppressive force diminished. Seizing the opportunity, the Snow Maiden Dragon Knight, like the final straw that broke the camel's back, unleashed her full strength, pushing the laser back with overwhelming force.
Wood, who moments ago had believed himself doomed, found himself stunned by the sudden reversal. The rapid twists and turns in the battle left him momentarily bewildered.
But as he quickly pieced things together, he realized the young Emperor's critical mistake: he had positioned himself on the left side during the beam struggle.
Across countless worlds and dimensions, an unspoken rule seemed to hold true—those who stood on the left side of a beam struggle were destined to lose. The young Emperor, oblivious to this ancient adage, had sealed his fate.
With Shikoutazer's lasers weakening as its energy reserves dwindled, the Snow Maiden Dragon Knight launched her final assault. A white beam of light, surrounded by swirling snowflakes, pierced through Shikoutazer's chest, creating a massive hole in the colossal machine.
The attack culminated with a triumphant dragon's roar, echoing across the battlefield as it tore through Shikoutazer's body and ascended into the skies, vanishing beyond the clouds.
On Wood's side, he deactivated the Heart of God, and even the Winter Knight's armor dissipated, leaving him in his normal form, visibly drained and utterly exhausted.
Though the duration of the Heart of God's activation had been brief, it had pushed Wood's life force dangerously close to depletion. He knew with certainty that using the Heart of God again would leave him with no chance of survival.
Despite his weakened state, Wood was still far more capable than the ten-year-old Emperor, who was powerless and unarmed.
When Wood placed the hilt of the Winter Knight's longsword against the young Emperor's neck, it marked the end of the final battle.
With Shikoutazer defeated and the Emperor captured, Kurome and Mine eventually arrived at the scene. Seeing that all members of their group were accounted for, Wood let out a deep sigh of relief. However, noticing that they were empty-handed, he couldn't help but ask, "You had so many people—don't tell me that bastard Honest managed to escape?"
"He didn't," Kurome replied, her tone calm but with a hint of frustration. "We killed him. Circumstances didn't allow us to capture him alive.
"Honest wasn't just a manipulative politician; he was also an Imperial Arms user. His weapon was exceptionally powerful—practically a nemesis to other Imperial Arms.
"It was a ring-shaped Imperial Arm with the ability to unconditionally destroy other Imperial Arms. My Yatsufusa was destroyed by it.
"Without my undead puppets, we only barely managed to defeat him, and even then, capturing him was impossible due to his strength."
Wood blinked in surprise, caught off guard by this revelation. Honest, it seemed, had been hiding his true capabilities all along.
Not only had Honest trained at the Temple of Fists, making him a formidable martial artist, but he also wielded an immensely powerful Imperial Arm capable of shattering others.
Reflecting on the fight, Wood realized he had been fortunate. When he first encountered Honest, the minister must have been confident Shikoutazer would crush Wood, which was why he hadn't used his Imperial Arm. Otherwise, Wood might not have survived the encounter.
Kurome continued explaining how they had initially gained the upper hand by converting General Budo into a puppet, which had given them a significant advantage. However, the tide turned when Honest revealed his Imperial Arm's destructive ability.
Fortunately, Honest's Imperial Arm had a limitation: it could only be used once per week. After destroying Yatsufusa, it was rendered inactive, forcing Honest to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the group.
Although the loss of Yatsufusa severely weakened Kurome, they still had Mine's Pumpkin and Run's assistance. Chelsea, however, had contributed little during the fight, acting more like a mascot than a combatant.
Ultimately, it took the combined efforts of Kurome, Mine, and Run to defeat Honest, who was far too strong to be captured alive. To prevent him from escaping, they had no choice but to eliminate him.
"No big deal," Wood said after hearing Kurome's account. "Dead is dead. Given all the atrocities he committed, there was no way that guy was going to live long anyway. If anything, dying so easily is letting him off the hook."
With General Budo slain in battle, Honest dismembered and dead, and the young Emperor captured, the Empire's leadership was effectively annihilated. The once-mighty Empire was now little more than a hollow shell.
Hearing of Honest's death, the remaining nobles in the capital scattered in all directions, fleeing for their lives. Wood, however, had no energy to chase them down, nor the desire to do so.
He reasoned that once the Revolutionary Army took control, these fleeing nobles would eventually be hunted down, provided they didn't escape the Empire's borders.
The Empire's military, having suffered heavy losses during Shikoutazer's rampage, lost all will to fight upon seeing the Emperor captured.
The next step for Wood and his companions was clear: they needed to transport the young Emperor back to the Revolutionary Army's headquarters before the Empire's remaining forces could regroup and counterattack. This would cement their victory in the war.
While Wood, in peak condition, might have been able to take on the entire Imperial Army single-handedly, his current state left him utterly spent. With Kurome's Yatsufusa destroyed, and Mine and Run lacking the strength to challenge the Empire's vast military, their only option was to flee.
The group's escape was arduous. Run carried the captured Emperor, while Kurome and Mine supported the weakened Wood. Over two grueling days, they evaded the Empire's pursuit, finally crossing its borders and reaching safety.
Throughout the journey, the young Emperor transitioned from struggling and hurling insults to a resigned silence.
His change in demeanor was unsurprising. The scenes he witnessed during their escape profoundly impacted him.
Unlike Honest, the young Emperor wasn't inherently malicious. He was simply naïve and overly trusting of Honest. At only ten years old, his ascent to the throne had been orchestrated by Honest, who had filled the court with his own loyalists. Having never set foot outside the palace, the young Emperor had no understanding of the people's suffering and genuinely believed Honest's actions were just.
However, the journey forced the young Emperor to confront harsh truths. Passing through villages, he saw people celebrating. When Wood inquired about the festivities, the villagers explained that they had heard of Honest's death and the Emperor's capture.
With the corrupt minister gone and the naïve Emperor deposed, they believed the Empire was finished, and the Revolutionary Army was on the brink of victory.
The young Emperor was stunned. He had always thought of himself as a benevolent ruler, loved by his people. The villagers' jubilation shattered this illusion.
At first, he dismissed the villagers' reactions as isolated ignorance. But upon arriving at the next village, the Emperor, desperate to prove himself, cried out for help, proclaiming his identity as the captured ruler of the Empire.