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Chapter 247: 247
No matter how many archers may surround and fire arrows, a Master’s force can’t be stopped. He quickly swung his sword, blocked all the arrows, and even managed to cut off the rope around Claudia.
“Honey
”
“Claudia.”
He held his wife with one arm while using the other to block any arrows that may come flying at them at any moment.
“I missed you. I really
”
McCarthy breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at Claudia’s tearful appearance. Although she had lost a lot of weight, she was still his beloved wife.
“I’ll get you out of here. Just follow behind...”
McCarthy trailed off as he felt a burning sensation in his stomach.
He couldn’t believe it. His beloved wife
 Someone he loved so much that he had even betrayed his own country
 Had stabbed his stomach with her dagger.
“I’m sorry, Honey. But I have to stay alive.”
“Cl
 audia
”
“But you’re not the first. I mean, you’re not the only man to die and become my stepping stool.”
She smiled as she separated from McCarthy.
With this, she had kept her promise to Leila. Using his weakness, she had killed McCarthy. She was free now.
But

“You tricked me?”
McCarthy was bleeding from his stomach, but he wasn’t dead yet.
“......”
“Answer me. You tricked me?”
“...I 
 I 
 I 
”
Claudia was dumbfounded. She had definitely stabbed him with the dagger. Not to mention, the dagger had been liberally coated with a lethal poison. So why was he still alive? She couldn’t understand it.
The reason was simple, she had miscalculated. This evil and wicked woman had killed countless people in her life and had even dirtied her own hands before.  But she had never killed a Master herself.
A Master’s physique was different from ordinary people's. From resistance to poison to the body’s durability.
How deep could a dagger stabbed by a slender woman go into McCarthy’s body when he had worn armor to go into the battlefield? No matter how defenseless he might have been, the dagger had only poked his abdominal muscles and hadn’t reached his gut.
Claudia was greatly flustered once she realized that her plan hadn’t gone the way she intended.
And McCarthy

“Fine. So that’s how it is?”
His eyes showed that he had given up on everything. And then

Slash!
A flash of light.
For a second, Claudia didn’t know what happened. She didn’t know but
 Somehow, the world was tilting.
‘Huh
 why
?’
Thud!
That was the last thought that crossed her mind before her head hit the ground.
Claudia Vamos, an evil woman who used her beauty to seduce and manipulate countless men, and at one point in time, a woman who had the Lester Kingdom’s politics in her pocket, met her end at the hands of a man who she used. The phrase, ‘reaping the fruits of one’s labor’ was fitting for her end.
***
“......”
McCarthy felt like everything was pointless.
He was a genius with a sword and even though he had been born of ignoble origins, he had soon risen to prominence with only his skills. However, that was just his ability.
In reality, McCarthy had nothing that he considered precious, he was just an empty husk of a human. But for the first time, someone had entered his heart; Claudia had managed to approach and burrow her way into his heart.
He had even betrayed his country and changed his status for her. He had jumped into the war zone and risked his life to save her.
But she had attacked him.
In all honesty, even if he died at her hands, he wouldn’t have regretted it. He truly did think that as long as it was for her, it was alright to die. For McCarthy, Claudia Vamos was the only person he could not lose.
But if she didn’t love him? If all the love and fond memories were all lies?
It was unacceptable. It felt like the world was crumbling down around him and his entire life was disappearing in front of his eyes. It was painful.
By the time he came back to his senses, he had swung his sword unconsciously. Almost as if he wanted to deny the cruel reality in front of him, he sliced Claudia’s head off.
“......”
McCarthy started blankly into the air, helplessly and despondently. As if he was a lost child who didn’t know where to go, McCarthy didn’t know what he should do now.
But then, a man approached him.
“McCarthy O’Brian.”
The man was someone who had called out his name during his days in the Strabus Kingdom. That man was the knight who covered his face with an iron helmet.
“You’re
”
McCarthy knew his voice. It was the voice of a man who was unforgettable.
“Lift up your sword.”
“...I see. So this is how it ends?”
McCarthy thought a man who would be perfect to embellish and enhance his last moment had appeared.
“So you were alive.”
McCarthy raised his sword as he spoke to the knight in the iron helmet.
“Ryan Catel.”
At those words, the iron helmeted knight took off his helmet. Underneath the helmet was the face of Marquis[1] Ryan Catel, previously known as the Strabus Kingdom’s guardian deity.
With the flames of revenge burning brightly in his eyes, Ryan Catel stared at McCarthy.
“I will have your head and avenge my country.”
McCarthy’s betrayal had been the biggest blow that led to the collapse of the former Strabus Kingdom. Marquis Ryan Catel had never forgotten that.
Seeing him like that, McCarthy smiled bitterly as he spoke.
“Faithful to a country? I thought that was all meaningless bullshit, but I might have been better off if I believed that as well.”
“I’ll kill you.”
Marquis Ryan Catel and McCarthy clashed.
***
Ryan Catel.
He had been such a great knight that he had been called the guardian of the Strabus Kingdom. However, due to the betrayal of his ally, his country had crumpled. But he managed to save himself and sought asylum in the Empire.
The only thing he had asked from the Emperor was to seek revenge against the Republic that had destroyed his country. He believed that with the Andrews Empire’s strength, it would be possible and threw himself at the cause

But in the end, the Empire had failed. Although powerful, the arrogant and indolent Empire lacked the ability to wage war and was defeated.
At that time, he had volunteered to help his allies retreat. He had remained behind and dragged things out with Siegfried in order to buy time for Duke Sebastian to retreat safely. And just as he was about to die, Milton’s Lester Kingdom’s army appeared in front of him.
Milton had defeated Siegfried and saved Ryan Catel’s life, but his injuries were serious enough to be fatal. Miraculously, he survived. However, the doctor had told him that he would never lift up his sword again. He was someone who had reached the level of a Master, to be told that he would never be able to hold his sword again was deeply disappointing.
But Milton had said something to him then.
[I will spare no efforts to help you recover. But whether you can or you can’t, that depends on your will.]
With that one sentence, Marquis Catel rose again. At first, it had been hard to just stand on his two feet and walk. Six months later, he was able to lift up his sword again, but his body didn’t listen to him. He couldn’t even beat a third-rate knight.
However, Marquis Catel just gritted his teeth.
‘I can’t give up yet.’
He had to avenge the loss of his country. Although the Strabus Kingdom was gone, it was still his country. He was a knight that had once given his allegiance to the country and raised his sword for it. He couldn’t forgive the traitor who had made the decisive blow that led to his country’s demise.
As Marquis Catel clenched his teeth and continued to stand up, he gradually recovered. In the middle of the process, Bianca had created a recovery elixir while researching the Republic’s elixir. With its help, Marquis Catel gradually recovered and in two years, his body was what it had once been.
Wearing his helmet, he swore to Milton.
[As long as I am wearing this helmet, I will hide the name Ryan Catel. I pledge my loyalty to the Grand Duke as a nameless knight.]
At that time, Milton had asked him how long he planned to wear the helmet.
Ryan Catel had firmly answered like so:
[I will wear it until the day I take either Siegfried or McCarthy O’Brian’s head, sir.]
[Very well. Then until that day, I will take you on as a nameless knight.]
Until this very moment, that was how Marquis Ryan Catel spent the years under Milton’s command.
***
“I have been waiting for this moment, McCarthy O’Brian!!”
“......”
Compared to Ryan Catel, who was aggressively attacking, McCarthy was just defensive. Although he held a sword in his hand, he was in no condition to fight normally. While the wound wasn’t deep, Claudian’s poison was eating away at his body

But more than anything else, he wasn’t thinking properly right now. In fact, he didn’t think it’d matter if his head was cut off by Marquis Catel’s sword. However, he was still fighting; it was all thanks to his ingrained instincts.
But at this rate, the outcome of the fight was obvious. Not to mention, Marquis Ryan Catel had zero intentions of taking McCarthy’s condition or injury into consideration.
For him, this wasn’t a duel; it was revenge meant to punish the traitor.
“Die!”
Marquis Ryan Catel’s sword flashed without missing the opportunity when McCarthy’s sword lowered.
Clang!
As a result of the intense collision, the sword flew out of McCarthy’s hands and Marquis Ryan Catel slammed McCarthy’s torso with his shoulder.
Bang!
“Keughh
”
An exquisite shoulder hit while simultaneously strengthening out one leg and hooking it around the opponent’s ankle.
McCarthy slammed into the ground.
Marquis Ryan Catel immediately stepped on McCarthy’s chest, hard, with his steel-clad feet.
Stomp!
“Ugh
”
Cough
Blood came trickling out of McCarthy’s mouth.
Marquis Ryan Catel spoke to him with grim eyes.
“Repent your sins against His Majesty in hell.”
“......”
Marquis Catel wanted him to say at least one word of regret before he died but
 McCarthy’s eyes were dead.
“Damn it.”
Stab!
Marquis Catel uttered a brief curse before stabbing McCarthy in the neck with his sword. It was a sad ending for a traitorous knight who had driven the former Strabus Kingdom to extinction and had risen to the rank of General in the Republic.
***
The death of McCarthy O’Brian. The consequences of his death were quite significant.
“The Republican McCarthy is dead!”
“Marquis Ryan Catel of the Lester Kingdom killed McCarthy.”
“Wahhhh!!”
The soldiers’ morale rose tremendously and the two groups of the Ghosts, who had been fighting in full swing, suddenly faced aggressive counterattacks from such soldiers.
“Keugh
 Hold on! Don’t give up our foothold! Hold on until our comrades come up!”
In order to fulfill their roles, the leader of Ghost Group 6 had his men take the elixir.
After all, no matter how high the soldiers’ morale might be, they were just soldiers. And even if the Northern Knights were said to be of a fairly high level, they couldn’t be as strong as the Ghosts who had drunk the elixir.
‘If we hold out like this and increase our forces on the walls
’
Clang!
While the Ghost Leader 6 had been thinking that, he suddenly heard a loud roar. He quickly turned to the place he heard it coming from.
“I am Ryan Catel of the Lester Kingdom and I’m here now!”
“God damnit
”
Now that he had taken off his helmet and proudly shouted his name, Marquis Ryan Catel was unilaterally pushing the Ghosts. If it was just him, they might be able to deal with it
 somehow. But

“Hahahaha!! Rick Storie, a loyal subject of Grand Duke Forrest, is also here!”
“Northern Knights, don’t back down! If you don’t want to hear from this young master, then grit your teeth and fight!”
Rick, leading the way with big flashes of light, and Tommy, arranging the ranks of the Northern Knights, pressed back the Ghosts. For a long time, these two men had fought in wars by Milton’s side. But now, they had somehow become knights who held their own and did they part.
Led by the two of them, the Northern Knights pressured the Ghosts in all directions and the Ghosts Groups 6 and 7 slowly collapsed.
“Damn it!”
Now that it had come to this, the leader of Ghost Group 6 decided to risk his life and kill Ryan Catel.
In the past, Group 6 had once been annihilated by Jerome. Since then, Siegfried had brought in new members to create another Group 6, but it was internally judged that their skills were a bit worse than the previous Ghosts.
But the leader was the exception. Even if he was compared to the other Ghost leaders, his skills never fell short.
He drank the elixir and used a skill that was reminiscent of an Expert.
1. Originally a duke in the Strabus Kingdom, then I think he became a Marquis in the Empire
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