Kareda had no choice but to sigh. More than a decade ago, they were both lucky enough to be fighting on the same level. At that time, he was still a level-one Magister, and he looked down on Romm, who was only a level-one Erdritter.

A caster had much higher status than a knight as they were much more powerful.

He couldn’t believe that more than a decade later, the knight whom he used to look down upon had already surpassed most of the knights and even took the step that most knights could’ve never achieved in their lives.

Kareda wanted to laugh as he recalled from a week ago that Romm had even told him straight to his face that he hadn’t taken that step.

Romm just didn’t want to bother with fighting a level-one Magister like Kareda. He had just become a level-two Erdritter not long ago, after all. Not to mention, a caster had unpredictable abilities and various magic items, so Kareda might be able to beat Romm in a fight even though he was just a level-one Magister. Should that happen, the common folk would be the ones to take the brunt from the battle.

Since Romm was already a level-two Erdritter, it was pretty much self-explanatory. The Hall of Knights would never cause trouble for a level-two Erdritter just because of the death of a level-one Erdritter.

There was a huge gap between level one and two. Romm had just made the breakthrough; once he’d adapted to the strength of a level-two Erdritter completely in a few years, Kareda would be no match for him.

Kareda was already old and he probably only had less than 150 years to live. If he could no longer make a breakthrough, he would just fade away a hundred years later.

But it was different for Romm, who’d just become a level-two Erdritter. He had fundamentally changed.

Although Erdritters didn't have unlimited lifespan, their lifespans were five times longer than level-one Erdritters, who could only live for about two hundred years.

The theoretical lifespan of a level-two Erdritter was 1500 years. Most of the well-trained Erdritters could live up to more than a thousand years.

......

The Kingdom of Faustian rejoiced! The battle had already ended.

The Shalorian king was drawn and quartered by the Faustian soldiers. Many soldiers grabbed a piece of the king’s body and were ready to receive their reward after the war excitedly.

Those who didn’t manage to get a piece of the body either part of it away from the soldiers when they weren’t paying attention or fought for it. The scene was chaotic.

Surprisingly, Felippe’s body remained intact during this chaotic moment. There was a deep cut from his jaw to his neck. He didn’t suffer much pain and lost consciousness just like that.

It was dawn. The first ray of sunlight coming from the east shone on Kenzir as he walked towards the palace hall, casting a long shadow across the ground.

A sabre was inserted into the throne, and with the aid of a caster’s Amplification spell, Kenzir’s voice echoed throughout the whole of Audis. “The Kingdom of Shalor is gone!” Impetus circulated throughout his chest cavity, and his voice was filled with passion and excitement.

The war between the two kingdoms finally came to an end with the destruction of Shalor.

At this moment, news about Audis’ destruction spread to the neighbouring kingdoms via various channels.

The Aomar Empire was the first to receive the news. Approximately half a day after Kenzir’s voice had been heard, a convoy of Aomar’s representatives headed towards Faustian.

Faustian intended to expand its territory in Shalor with Aomar's approval.

The Faustian soldiers threw their weapons and cheered as they heard Kenzir’s declaration.

This war had been ongoing for too long. Almost all of Faustian’s younger generation had dedicated their lives fighting for their country.

The average life expectancy of a human was only 50 years. The six-year war was enough to see teenagers growing into adults.

Every Faustian soldier who’d heard Kenzir’s soul-stirring declaration, especially the veterans, let out a long scream to release their pent-up frustration.

Soldiers like Locke who’d been in the army since the beginning of the war felt deeply moved.

“It’s over.” Locke, who was outside the city, looked at the sky and sighed. He was facing the west and his vision covered the mountains, fields and forests. He was now looking in the direction of the small village in the southwest of Faustian.

He couldn’t help but wonder if his parents and sister were waiting for him at the entrance of the village.

The war was about to end in the blink of an eye. For some reason, Locke started to tear up.

The Shalorian remnants who were in the palace gave up resisting. The Faustian soldiers wouldn’t make it difficult for the Shalorian remnants as long as they put their weapons down and squatted in the corner obediently.

The soldiers were all very rather busy looting the palace. The palace was indeed the place with the best loot; anything they’d picked up from there couldn’t be found outside.

It was chaotic, but most of the soldiers were well behaved. After all, they were regulars in the military. Although they’d taken something from the palace for themselves, they didn’t make it too obvious, only daring to stuff their pockets at most.

Kenzir had already ordered the three major corps to retreat from the palace in an orderly manner. Only one or two divisions were left there to plunder the palace. The Faustian army could plunder as much as they wanted in the vast urban sectors of Audis outside the palace.

After Kareda left, he flew straight to an underground crypt that was located at the deepest part of the palace.

The underground crypt was empty and a complete mess. It seemed like many people had been there before.

Kareda entered the crypt without uttering a single word. The stone gates that were blocking his way rose and fell simultaneously, creating a path for him to walk. The way it unfolded was almost magical.

When he finally reached the innermost part of the crypt, he heard a faint voice.

As the last stone gate opened, he saw what was inside.

There were many weird metal racks in the 50-square-metre hall and tadpole-like runes were carved on the walls around the room. Three black-hooded casters stood in the centre of the hall.

Their leader greeted Kareda as soon as he walked in. “Meister.”

Kareda hummed in response. The one who’d greeted him was his last disciple, Yellow White Sorcerer Maris. He was a disciple that Kareda thought very highly of.

The other two were Maris’ alchemy apprentices; they were considered as Kareda’s grand- disciples.

“Have all the royals left?” asked Kareda.

“They’re all gone,” replied Maris. The reason the underground crypt was so messy was the royals that fled while bringing as many of Shalor's treasures with them as they could using the teleportation array.

“Well...” After a few moments of silence, Kareda said, “Let’s leave as well!”

Kareda cast a mysterious spell, causing the elements around him to fluctuate suddenly. They were deep underground in a highly defended area, so the Faustian soldiers who were busy plundering above didn’t notice anything unusual.

A white luminous spot emerged from the centre of the metal door that was in the middle of the hall. The spot grew bigger gradually and eventually turned into a white vortex which stabilised in the metal door frame.

The portal could only be activated five times a day by ordinary casters, though Kareda was an exception.

Kareda looked at his surroundings for one last time. He then stepped into the teleportation array first, followed by his two grand-disciples. Maris was the last to go in.

Maris was a fully patriotic Shalorian, having always wanted to contribute to his motherland ever since he’d started practising spells.

In the past ten years, Shalor's magic prowess grew really powerful mainly due to Kareda, but Maris was also responsible for at least thirty percent of the gains.

Maris touched the Shalorian ground with complicated feelings. He grabbed a handful of soil, put it in his spatial ring and then entered the teleportation array after his master.

As soon as Maris stepped into the teleportation array, the white vortex disappeared.

A carnival to celebrate the Faustian victory was held in Audis. It went on for three whole days, during which the old dynasty was finalised through the establishment of the new ruling order.