The harsh breeze blew right onto the thin robe draped around Kazimir, he was standing in a daze witnessing the ruthlessness of his younger brother who was fighting against the perpetrator without hesitation.
The Empire's Mad Dog… Barbaric Blood Prince…
What he witnessed earlier had truly justified the names given to Leon and it made him shudder. However, he still dragged his unstable body and rushed towards the direction of their battle.
Kazimir saw Leon's opponent, his identity was also a shocking revelation for him yet again.
Roman, one of his Father Emperor's junior aides. He will never forget that seemingly gentle and scholarly demeanor of his because whenever he visits his Father Emperor's office, Roman would always respectfully greet him and entertain him in the Emperor's waiting area.
To think that an aide of the Emperor, one that has been frequently interacting with him would be the perpetrator was yet again a violent slap against Kazimir's face.
He never knew that the traitor was even inside the palace and was very close to him and his Father Emperor!
"That is why I must go there and help Third Br… Leon…" Kazimir mumbled with determination, however, he could not find himself deserving to even call Leon his brother.
He had failed to protect Antoine and caused his death… now he only had one brother… the one he hates and bullied the most.
It might be late for him to show a form of concern, but remembering what he failed to do for Antoine, Kazimir swallowed all his shame and guilt to move forward and help Leon in the battle.
But just as he stepped forward in the direction of the battlefield, he felt like his ears were suddenly opened and immediately heard the sound of chaos and crying around him.
"Waaaaaah!!!" The sound of children who were injured by the explosion… The shout of grievances and confusion of the women who tried their best to search for their children. The desperate shouts of the Men trying to find their families under the burnt rubble.
This all made Kazimir stop and become unable to take another step forward. To help his brother or to help his people? What would he choose?
Will he choose to finally be a brother?
Or will he close his eyes and choose to be the Prince of the Empire?
The one and only chance for him to act like a brother to Leon was waiting if only he would take another step forward. He would have more chances in the future to display his passion and concern to his people anyways.
However, the cries of the people kept haunting him. What if the one who cried was his son Monti? His wife, Arielle?
What if this was also the last chance for him to act as the Prince of the Empire? For he would soon be deposed to the throne because of his maternal family's sins?
Too many what-ifs were pressuring him, who was yet to recover from the pain of failure and betrayal. Both sides seemed to be the right thing to do, however, he could only do one.
Kazimir looked at the heavens, with his shoulders downcast and his sword on the ground.
With pleading eyes and a quivering tone, he asked, "I know that I do not deserve mercy… But heavens, I implore you to show me the right thing to do!!! In this time and place, I know you made me able to stand here on this ground. Would you look upon me and let me know, why am I standing here in the first place???"
Brrrrrrr!
The next thing he witnessed almost made him fall to his knees and prostrate himself in the heavens. He asked and the heavens answered…
The path that Leon made earlier was suddenly closed by the rubble of stones completely cutting off his route to Leon's battlefield unless he takes a detour to the main gate of the city.
This only meant one thing, right here right now, the heavens wanted him to help the people.
But his heart was not at ease, knowing that he might lose another sibling again! This, he once again pleaded in the heavens and uttered, "Oh then will you manifest your mercy again and hear the prayer in my heart? My brother, please keep him safe from harm…"
The heavens were silent and he had not received an instantaneous response like his first inquiry
However, he felt that his body became stable and the trembling in his body gradually calmed down. The previously gloomy vision his eyes could see was now clear. What he could still see was chaos but he could now see what he had to do.
The people need him the most. The heavens would be the ones who would protect his brother.
And so, Kazimir for the first time ever since the encounter with the criminals displayed a gentle and peaceful smile at the same time.
The first prince Kazimir, the prince with the noblest origin among the three princes of the Seirende Empire returned his sword to his belt and used his hands to directly touch the dirt on the ground and lifted a wounded man which was lying helpless under the rubble.
Meanwhile Leon and Roman finally reached an area significantly away from the innocent people.
"Gaaaah!!!" The barrage of attacks that he received from the seemingly trashy third prince was now finally being recognized by Roman's body.
Every muscle in his body shuddered in pain, so much that he was not able to stop his guts from spilling out of his mouth. "Gaaaah!! Curse you, third prince!! Who do you think you are!!!"
His hands clung to the ground as he tried to contain the pain he was feeling while he frantically used his cursed magic to circulate all over his body and try to recover some of his pain.
Leon on the other hand stood from afar and took this time to take the time to breathe. A one-kilometer flight earlier with Avion was not enough for the potion to fully take effect.
He decided to attack right away after realizing what Roman was doing to the lives of the victims of the explosion. If taking a second away from Roman would mean saving a single person, then he would not hesitate to do so.
But now that he had already achieved his first goal, he did not immediately engage with the opponent recklessly. As much as he wanted to continue, his body was yet to recover. The fact that he might still encounter the spirit fragment after defeating Roman made him feel extra cautious.
"I still need half a minute…" Leon thought to himself, but he could not afford to also give time for the enemy to take advantage and notice his situation. Thus, using his sword, he swung a few powerful sword strikes that forced Roman to stand up frantically and dodge.
"D*mn you!!!D*mn you!!! D*mn you!!!" Purple veins appeared on his temples as he wore a frenzied and irritated expression. Leon's sword strike was so powerful that it would break the ground open and extend more than ten meters behind him.
"F*ck this! Is this the power of a devourer?" He could not help but hurl curses as he tried to evade Leon's attack.
Everyone in the Empire thought that his luck on the battlefield was all brought upon by his bright and incredibly talented vice-captains - Blaze, who was once the top contender of his batch, and Olivier, who came from the renowned family of the strongest summoners.
He never thought that Leon himself could effectively land successful blows on him and even force him to be on his toes for every second on the battlefield, "Tssskk… this is getting irritating!"
He was not really pleased by the fact that Leon disturbed him from absorbing a lot of life essence, that is why Leon's delaying tactic was really getting on his nerves.
"I have no time for you… Third Prince!" He finally said as he used his newly absorbed essence to convert into curse power making his appearance be covered by a layer of purple light. The wounds on his body visibly healed that even Leon could see them with his bare eyes.
Leon put his guards up, his body needs a few more seconds to recover but any second, Roman might attack.
True enough, as soon as Roman finished gathering this cursed power, he took out a purple scythe and waved it in the air.
As the scythe sliced through the air, three purple lotuses immediately appeared. The lotuses hovered and twirled in front of Roman and finally at his command, it charged in the direction of Leon.
Siiiiiyaaaaaa!
Leon immediately dodged the three lotuses with ease however, there was a strange movement coming from them.
As soon as the lotuses failed to touch Leon, it immediately sunk into the ground and caused it to shake.
Rumble!!!
In the next instant, a gigantic vine-like plant emerged from the spot where the lotuses sank. In the center of each plant were the same lotuses that were thrown earlier and each of the vines from the plants was filled with purple thorns!
"Now, Third Prince… Let's see what you can do about these!" Roman taunted.