CHAPTER 45: A SOLUTION

"Your Highness... are you truly going to stand there and let him do whatever he wants?" Garrick shouted, his voice strained as he struggled beneath Nyxrael’s mounting pressure.

Seeing Alexander remain indifferent, Garrick panicked further.

"I’ll accept any punishment the Kingdom gives me! I’ll go with you right now if you want—but don’t involve my son! He’s innocent!"

Alexander showed a troubled expression and looked at Rowan, asking what to do.

Rowan shook his head slowly in response, telling him to not intervene because there was no point in doing so.

With how stubborn Cassian was and the fact that his strength had surpassed him, Rowan was really helpless even if he wanted to intervene in this matter.

Corvin smiled faintly when he looked at this. He then unsheathed his sword and looked at the young man who looked a bit similar to Garrick.

"I’m coming." Corvin vanished into thin air and appeared in front of Darion.

He swung his sword casually—but the moment Darion raised his sword to block, Corvin’s strength surged.

Clang!

Darion was pushed a dozen meters away, sliding on the ground and stabilizing himself. His hands trembled just for one casual attack from Corvin.

A few Peak Platinum Knights were hesitant and wanted to step in but stopped the moment they heard Cassian’s voice.

"Do not interfere... unless you wish to die here as well. Today’s matter ends with their deaths."

Just as Cassian finished his sentence, Corvin directly made a move again as he appeared in front of Darion.

This time, he just swung his sword casually a few times before kicking Darion and broke a few ribs, throwing him a few dozens meters.

Darion had already accepted his fate, thinking that it must have been a karma for the things he had done. Naturally, he also fought as much as he could since that’s the only thing he could do in this situation.

After a while, Darion had already battered out from the relentless attack from Corvin.

Thinking that it’s already the time to end it, Corvin instantly used all of his strength and vanished into thin air. He appeared behind Darion and swung his sword swiftly, instantly severing Darion’s neck.

Then, Darion’s body fell to the ground with a thud.

Noticing the death of his son, Garrick instantly became madness even though he had expected it.

At this time, Nyxrael finally found an opening and managed to take advantage of it as he severed Garrick’s right arm.

Not long after that, Nyxrael finally killed Garrick by splitting his body into two from his shoulder to waist.

The moment Nyxrael killed Garrick, James was surprised to hear a notification from the system.

[Ding! You have successfully taken revenge for the original James by bringing justice and punishing the true culprits.]

[Ding! You have completed a Hidden Mission!]

[Ding! Calculating rewards based on the results...]

[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining a Special Rank Summoning Card.]

James raised his eyebrows as he was interested in the next summoned person. However, he put it aside for now because things were going to be interesting after this.

"Now that it’s done, do you have anything to say for yourself?" Rowan looked at Cassian as if asking for an explanation for the things that he had done so far.

Cassian laughed heartily, feeling satisfied and relieved as if a heavy burden in his heart had been lifted. "As I told you before, the Steelhearts would give you a solution. But before that, let us compensate the Kingdom for losing two Epic Knights."

He waved his hand casually and a severed head dropped into his palm. He then tossed it to the ground like garbage.

"One of Veylmar’s Grand Dukes," Cassian said with a faint smile. "A Legendary Rank Knight. His Majesty should feel quite compensated."

The onlookers turned into an uproar when they heard that Cassian killed one of Veylmar Kingdom’s Grand Dukes. Which meant that his strength could be considered extremely strong even in the Legendary Ranks to be able to kill someone of the same rank.

Let alone doing that inside the enemy’s kingdom where the reinforcement could arrive at any time and any other unforeseen situations might happen.

"As for the solution I mentioned... From now on, the Steelhearts will take responsibility for the border that the Wolfsblade Family has guarded for generations." Cassian said with a faint smile.

He turned toward the Wolfsblade estate. "You have three days to prepare. In exactly three days, we’ll send our knights to take over."

Another uproar shook the onlookers. Relief, fear, joy, anger—every emotion swirled among them.

However, in some sharp individual’s eyes, they knew what Cassian meant by declaring that the Steelhearts would now protect two borders at once. Naturally, Alexander and Rowan also knew Cassian’s true intention behind his words.

Alexander gave Rowan a helpless look as this wasn’t the result they wanted. If the Steelhearts expanded their influence now, the Royal Family’s original goal would be completely derailed.

Rowan closed his eyes briefly, then faced Cassian with an expressionless gaze. "Duke Cassian..."

"I advise you not to proceed. His Majesty will not be pleased. If you take a step back, I can guarantee with my own name that he will overlook everything that has happened here today." He said sternly.

""What do you mean? Isn’t it good for the Kingdom if the Steelhearts defend another border?" Cassian smiled faintly in response.

"It’s not that you can’t do this, but—"

Before Rowan could finish his sentence, Cassian cut him off as he waved his hand. "You’re overthinking things. We don’t desire power. We simply want to grow stronger. Guarding only one border feels somewhat insufficient. And since Grand Duke Eldras’s situation has been tense lately, I can lend a hand."

Rowan sighed as he shook his head helplessly. "Very well. I’ll report everything to His Majesty."

He turned to Alexander. "Your Highness, let’s return. There’s nothing more for us here."

"Have a safe journey, I won’t see you off since I still have matters to take care of." Cassian smiled.

...

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