Those who have reached the 9th Circle can produce fleet-level firepower on their own.
Just looking at myself, I knew that was true. If I drew on all my power, I could unleash an attack similar to, or even slightly stronger than, a Dreadnought-class battleship's full salvo.
Considering the power of a battleship, being able to produce that much firepower with a bare body was truly tremendous.
And there was only one best way to subdue an opponent capable of producing fleet-level firepower.
"You bring a fleet."
As soon as I finished speaking, Charles, who had been charging toward me, flinched to a halt.
The 'intuition' that only outstanding knights possess.
An instinct that could not be explained in words had brought his body to a halt.
"Still, your instincts are good."
As soon as I finished speaking, the plain was engulfed in a violent explosion.
Kwaaaaaang-!
It took less than 0.1 seconds for a naval gun fired from 8 km away to devastate the plain in front of Forbin Fortress.
The ground was overturned, and the world shook. In an instant, the view before me turned pitch-black.
It was a strike that would have killed an ordinary knight instantly.
But I didn't think Charles would die so easily.
With a light gesture, the Imperial Guard members lined up behind me began to move.
Carrying heavy machine guns that could only be used when mounted on vehicles or emplacements, they advanced, pouring an overwhelming curtain of fire into the smoke.
The 76mm Anti-Air Gun unit did not remain still either.
"Open fire!"
At the battery commander's order, the twenty Anti-Air Guns lined up in a row opened fire simultaneously.
The bombardment continued for a while before finally stopping after about five minutes.
When I slightly raised my right hand, all the shelling stopped.
"The view is a bit obstructed."
With a light wave of my hand, a wind from somewhere cleared away the acrid smoke.
The hundreds of soldiers who had followed Charles had already vanished without a trace.
In their place was a massive crater.
It was the uneven scar left by the shells that had fallen on the plain.
And at the center of it all stood Charles Raymonds, who had drawn out his Aura to the limit and blocked every attack.
"As expected, Magic and Aura really are amazing."
I was half serious.
His personality and character were a wreck, but Charles Raymonds was outstanding in at least one respect: his qualities as a knight.
After all, even after taking a direct hit from a battleship's shelling, he still looked mostly intact.
"As expected, being at the 9th Circle makes a difference."
"Kehuk...!"
Of course, looking fine did not mean his insides were fine.
Leaning on his lance, which was planted in the ground, he coughed up blood and spoke as if he had been wronged.
"Cow...ardly bastard..."
"Hmm?"
"You're supposed to be the Grand Duke of the South, cough, and you don't even know what honor is...?"
From his words alone, he sounded terribly wronged.
That is, if you ignored the fact that he had built a fortress on the only overland route between the Sarsen Region and the Lutetia Region, called for talks only to launch an ambush, and even carried out a Night Raid.
"How dare you cowardly attack from a distance when I came out myself..."
"The cowardly one here isn't me. It's you."
"Cowardly?"
Honestly, having lived in the 21st Century, I couldn't understand the 'honor' he spoke of.
Modern warfare is a thorough contest of national strength.
The side with better equipment, a better-trained army, and more information assets wins.
From that perspective, the more cowardly one was Charles Raymonds.
After all, he was the one who had left the corrupt nobles alone, allowed the establishment to ruin the West, and, despite claiming to love war, had spent his time roaming around and fighting by himself.
Despite having made the worst choices and been backed into a corner, he still had the nerve to complain.
If, at the very end, he said, 'Let's settle this honorably with a one-on-one duel,' it would be nothing more than an ugly last-ditch struggle, no matter how you looked at it.
"While I seized real power from the hollow position of Grand Duke of the South, eradicated corruption, and normalized the South, what did you do?"
"..."
"You did nothing, yet you call me cowardly when I spent 10 years sincerely building a foundation, finishing preparations, and coming here? Do you really think that's right?"
Wasn't it more cowardly to insist that someone who had spent 10 years playing around and someone who had spent 10 years working hard should fight under the same conditions?
Charles Raymonds ultimately could not refute that.
"Guh...!"
Once again, he rose to his feet.
In response, I dismounted as well and stepped forward.
When I threw off the gloves on both hands, the released Magic hummed around me.
It was a different kind of pressure from the blast of naval gunfire.
"The cowardly one is this Empire."
Clap-
With a light clap, blue Magic particles gathered in the sky.
In an instant, five giant sword shapes formed.
"Corrupt nobles who cannot change with the times. Mages who cannot accept the changing times and struggle to hold on to power."
"And parasites like you who live by clinging to such an Empire."
The moment a Mage is weakest is when casting Magic.
Charles, an outstanding warrior, knew that better than anyone.
Without hesitation, he gripped his lance and tried to charge.
Kwaang-!
At that moment, the 76mm Anti-Air Guns began hammering his Aura barrier in unison.
"Kuh...!"
"In the world I will build from now on, the likes of you are not needed."
[Magic Sword Maximum Acceleration]
Kiiing-!
Circular blue rings spread outward around the swords floating in the air.
[Coordinate Fix]
Then the swords plunged down at a speed the eye could not follow.
Charles was frantically blocking the 76mm Shells, leaving him no room to defend against the giant swords falling toward him.
Kwaaaaang-!
A flash of blue light engulfed Charles's body.
When all the light vanished, Charles Raymonds's red Aura was no longer visible.
Five blue greatswords had pierced Charles's kneeling body.
The greatswords, once as large as buildings, had been shrunk to ordinary sword size to pin his body in place.
"Ghk, ghhk..."
"Don't worry. I won't kill you."
I spoke coldly as I approached him.
"It's Magic that pins your body so you cannot move. Even for me, it's difficult to destroy an Aura User who has reached the 9th Circle in one go."
A plain death would be far too merciful for the deeds Charles Raymonds had committed.
Building a fortress in the Sarsen Region.
Launching surprise attacks twice.
And the fact that our Southern citizens had died in those surprise attacks.
Compared to that karmic debt, a simple death would be far too easy.
"So, first, I'll destroy your Aura Core."
Wooong-
My right hand turned blue.
Only then did he seem to realize what I intended to do, but it was already too late.
Squelch-
My hand, half-transformed into particles, pierced his lower abdomen.
Inside his body, I felt an irregularly shaped crystal in my grasp.
Its identity was the Aura Core.
It was the organ that gathered Aura in the body through the Aura Breathing Technique and circulated the gathered Aura throughout the body.
When I tightened my grip, I felt the crystal crack.
"Ghk, ghhhk... ghhk...!"
"Don't worry. It will be over soon."
As soon as I finished speaking, the Aura Core in my hand was literally crushed.
When I pulled my hand out, a gemstone crystal resembling a ruby remained in my hand.
I raised my Magic and completely melted the gemstone crystal, then turned back toward Charles.
"He fainted."
When I released all the Magic Swords piercing his body, he collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
For a knight who had reached the 9th Circle and was Grand Duke of the West, it was a rather pitiful end.
Of course, I had no intention of ending things here.
Destroying his Aura Core was merely a measure to make his capture easier.
"Call the Imperial Guard's field medics."
During the march to the West, I had pondered what the most miserable end for Charles Raymonds would be.
And I had reached only one conclusion.
To take away everything he had.
Now that he had lost the lands of the West and even his Aura, all Charles Raymonds had left was Aria.
And what must be done to make the male lead of a romance fantasy be abandoned by Aria?
The answer was simple.
"Bite down. This is going to hurt a bit."
A blue magic circle appeared on his wrist, and Charles Raymonds's mind snapped awake.
Immediately, I summoned a Magic Sword in my hand and swung it.
"Grrrgh!?"
Shhk-!
The sharp sword strike severed the tendon in his arm.
When he writhed in pain and tried to faint, I used Magic again to force him awake.
Then, without giving him a moment's rest, I cut the tendon in his leg.
"Gaaah!?"
By then, Charles Raymonds seemed to have realized what I intended to do.
"I-I was wrong... ghhk, I was wrong..."
He begged desperately, trying somehow to move his unresponsive arm.
Of course, it was already too late.
"If you wanted to apologize, you should have done it sooner."
Right after the Albion Air Raid. Right after the Sarsen Harbor raid. And before the Sarsen Fortress incident happened.
There had certainly been plenty of chances.
The one who had thrown those chances away was Charles Raymonds himself.
Two successive blue slashes severed the tendons of his remaining arm and leg.
Then the Imperial Guard members who had been standing back approached.
"Make sure he cannot regenerate the tendons in his limbs, then send him to the Imperial Center."
The unconscious Charles was dragged away by the Imperial Guard members.
"The remaining army will enter the capital."
Judging from the fact that Charles Raymonds had only been able to lead out a few hundred troops, the capital was clearly already half empty.
Now all that remained was to occupy the capital, station our army, and establish a Puppet Government.
Full-scale annexation would begin after the Puppet Government was established and public sentiment had stabilized, once railroads had been laid, factories had been built, and the West had been assimilated to some extent.
Thus, the Southern Army passed through Forbin's gates without any resistance.
And a few days later, news of the fall of Forbin, the Western capital, reached the Imperial Center.
Immediately, the Center was thrown into an uproar.