“Why did you stop? You’ll get eaten at this rate.”

Albert said as he lowered his binoculars askew.

Next to him were a historian recording the Emperor’s every move, a guardian magician skilled in defensive magic, and the Imperial Knights.

They were the Empire’s elites, but under the Emperor’s orders, they couldn’t move an inch and were observing the situation.

They tried to keep their expressions neutral, but in fact, they were all thinking the same thing.

‘What a pathetic fellow.’

Indeed, Albert was a pathetic Emperor. He had no thoughts even as he saw the mountain of corpses piled beneath his feet.

He didn’t care about the tragically deceased people and only focused on the Lycan.

Albert clicked his tongue regretfully as he looked down at Raoul, who had become a rag.

“Stupid guy. I was going to give you the title of Count if you had just killed the Queen.”

The magician beside him asked, slightly surprised.

“No matter how outstanding his achievements are, he’s still a slave of a different race. Wouldn’t the rank of Viscount be more appropriate?”

It was a question anyone from the Empire who had observed Albert’s actions would ask. He treated war slaves, especially those of different races, worse than insects.

It was Albert who said that since the filthy barbarians were like beasts, the empty livestock pens should be used as slave quarters.

And now the Emperor was going to give a Lycan the title of Count? There must have been a hidden motive.

As expected, Albert laughed, his eyes glowing redder with greed.

“Would that be sensational enough? It has to be at least a Count to be a proper carrot.”

Ah, of course. He clearly intended to extravagantly praise the slave of a different race to quell the sparks of rebellion.

The Empire embraces different races. Anyone who is loyal to the Emperor can become a noble. That’s what he planned to proclaim to the world.

The magician smiled bitterly and shook his head.

‘Can you really cover up all the sins committed so far with just that level of carrot?’

The whip wielded by the Empire had already shaken the pride of the dignified Dwarves and grabbed the hair of the noble Elves.

In addition, countless beastmen had lost their homes and families, becoming prisoners of war or refugees.

Not only that, even the Imperial citizens who should have been on his side criticized that the cause of the great disaster lay in the current Imperial family’s reckless territorial expansion.

Albert judged that violent suppression was no longer effective and was seeking ways to regain the lost hearts of the people.

Perhaps the Lycan hero would be the first button in the plan he had set up.

The Knights, who were once again disappointed in the Emperor who only cared about his own well-being, barely curled their lips as they suppressed their anger.

“Wait! Didn’t it just move? I’m sure the right arm twitched and…”

Before the exciting sentence could even end with a period, zap! Blue electricity flowed through the ravine.

If the magician had not quickly deployed a defensive barrier to block the rising light from the cliff, Albert and the horse he was riding would have died from electrocution.

Chik.

Having fallen from his horse, Albert lay face down in an undignified manner and stared down the cliff.

Through the hazy vision caused by the collapsing rocks, the blue current that was fiercely expanding its influence flashed.

Someone asked what it was, but no one could answer. It was because their animal instincts sensed the appearance of a transcendent being.

As his vision cleared, Albert’s cheeks flushed red with excitement.

“Is that… Lycan’s Wrath…!”

The body reflected in his greedy pupils was truly admirable.

The boundary between human and beast, perhaps a physique close to a god. Albert licked his lips with his tongue and leaned his body further down the cliff.

“It’s dangerous! Please step back!”

“Ah… Everyone, look! Can you feel this overwhelming power?”

He grinned with an enraptured expression. The sight of him crawling on the ground like a madman made the Knights momentarily forget their fear.

It was because the Emperor’s unsightly behavior was even more shocking.

Albert repeatedly thrust his fist forward and muttered.

“It’s mine! That guy is mine!”

As if responding to his words, Raoul once again discharged a long current.

Cracks appeared in the barrier, and kwaeeeek! A scream so terrible that it could rupture eardrums shook the ravine.

“We must evacuate!”

“Catch that beast and bring it to me! No one can leave until then!”

“…It’s impossible right now! The ground is too weak. We need to step back for now and wait until the fight is over!”

“Let go of me!”

Albert roughly shook off the magician’s arm. He couldn’t hide his laughter as he took in every moment of Raoul’s fight.

‘I finally have the power to rival the Duke. I will make that beast the sword of the Empire.

I will thoroughly tame it so that the Duke can’t move an inch in front of me…! Ah, he’s useful in many ways! He’s really amazing!’

The Lycan, who had jumped up to the height of the cliff with the rebound of bending and straightening his knees, instantly drew out his hidden claws.

Raoul, who fell as lightly as a butterfly but with a formidable force like a shell, precisely pierced through the point of impact like a sharp arrow.

Kwaeeeek!

The heart of the Queen writhing under his hand was touched. And soon, the struggling Queen collapsed to the ground.

The area was stained with sticky blood as the heart burst, and the flesh burnt by the current turned to ash and scattered.

Raoul, who had taken a step forward, leaving the massive body behind, lost consciousness and collapsed after only three steps.

Only then did Albert turn around and shout.

“Go down and bring him to me! Right now!”

But his words were not carried out. It was because the Knights’ attention was drawn to the spectacular sight of a huge flock of birds appearing from somewhere and darkening the sky.

Caw! Caw!

Giant birds flew above the ravine as if performing aerial acrobatics.

One, two, three, no, ten! The magician was the first to come to his senses at the appearance of countless bird people that couldn’t even be counted.

“It’s the rebels! Prepare for battle!”

Simultaneously with the urgent cry, arrows poured down from above. Bang! Bang! Arrows imbued with magical power exploded, creating gaps in the transparent barrier.

“We can’t hold out for long! We must evacuate!”

“No! We’re taking the Lycan with us!”

“Give up on that! There are too many rebels!”

“It’s the Emperor’s order! Hurry up and go down to bring him!”

Anyone who laid a hand on Albert’s body here would not escape execution. But what difference would it make even if they were caught and killed by the rebels?

In the end, two Knights mustered up the courage and put their arms under Albert’s armpits.

“Let go of me! Who dares to touch my body…!”

“Let’s go.”

As soon as the magician cast a sleep spell on the Emperor’s forehead, the Knights began to move freely.

They shot down the birds using sword energy and rode their horses.

The Emperor would be furious when he woke up and found out that they had left the Lycan behind, but there was no other choice at the moment.

Raoul wandered through his consciousness for a long time.

‘I must be undergoing the final awakening.’

Fortunately, he could clearly recognize the situation he was in. He roamed the universe of his unconscious mind, repeatedly opening and closing the doors of memory.

‘The key to return must be in here.’

Every time he opened a door, he had to face his past self.

In his earliest memory, he was with his beloved parents, and after leaving his hometown past childhood, he was with Diana.

It felt strange to observe the two of them from a third-person perspective. Looking back now, young Diana was much more mature than him.

The girl diligently took care of the young boy who didn’t even know how to say thank you.

Perhaps this was the memory where the care began. Raoul smiled as he looked down at the first meal Diana had prepared.

The wide table was filled with tenderly cooked veal steak, sweet and savory braised potatoes, and obviously luxurious foie gras and salmon sandwiches.

However, despite such devoted treatment, the boy growled with his fur bristling.

It made the flustered Diana hurriedly make excuses.

〈I have no intention of asking you to like me.〉

〈…Liar.〉

〈Isn’t that what unrequited love is like? Continuously being nice even though there’s nothing to gain…!〉

Yes, that’s right. Diana had firmly stated from the beginning that it was unrequited love.

How pathetic to forget this…

Raoul smiled bitterly as he watched his young self doubt Diana’s feelings.

He had coldly rejected the hand Diana had sincerely extended. The following words were so embarrassing that he wanted to close the door.

〈I intend to win even if you don’t beg me like that. I don’t want to be ridiculed by nobles. So don’t misunderstand. I’m not winning for your sake.〉

〈Okay! Don’t worry. There’s absolutely no chance of misunderstanding!〉

The sight of her smiling and brushing off the sharp words made him pity her.

‘Did you have a steel heart or something? Why can you only speak like that?’

If he could turn back time, he wanted to smack himself on the head.

His father had proudly said that he fell in love with his mother at first sight, so why did he advise his son to carefully choose a bride?

Because of that, Raoul put Diana on a testing ground and monitored her for years.

While fully enjoying that affection as Diana’s heart ached with unrequited love for a long time.

It doesn’t make sense for a Lycan to carefully choose a bride in the first place.

Even if you deny and deny again after meeting your destined partner, you end up accepting it anyway. Sometimes, mischievous adults would advise grumbling children.

〈If you keep acting like that, you’ll get beaten by your wife later on.〉

Wasn’t there anyone to tell him more seriously? He found himself so resentful that he couldn’t stand it.

Even during that wasted time, Diana was always kind and gentle.

Whenever she waved her hand shyly while keeping a proper distance, a storm of flower petals would blow through his heart.

The distance he had maintained while repeatedly telling himself that she was a friend made his heart ache, and he wanted to run two steps, three steps ahead first. He wanted to hug her so tightly that he could burst.

He slowly opened the door of memories and became immersed in nostalgia.

Some memories were bitter, and some memories were so sweet that he wanted to stay in them forever.

As he wandered through the endless dream, he sometimes had the terrifying thought that this might be his life flashing before his eyes.

The fear that after opening all the doors of memory, the next thing would be death overwhelmed him.

So perhaps he tried to create even non-existent memories to enjoy this moment a little longer.

He opened a door and faced an unfamiliar memory he had never seen before.

There, Diana was crying silently.