As arrows and spells crossed the battlefield and the adventurers desperate to save Ivan fought Lucien's troops, he and Cassidy walked towards Ivan.
Ivan's ability allowed him to use his mana to create fire and magma. Despite being a very powerful ability, because he used so many crystals, his mana was unstable.
That, added to the fact that he is not used to this ability, caused him not to have much control over it.
So, in a state of fury, he created a lot of magma on his skin. And when Marie and Lena threw ice and water at him, that magma started to cool, becoming stone.
Ivan tried to use more mana to keep the magma warm, melting the ice and evaporating the water. But soon, his mana ran out, and now he was unable to move because his body was covered with a tough stone crust.
But he was still conscious and in great pain. Ivan knelt when he could no longer walk, and now the only part of his body that was not covered by the stone crust is part of his head.
Kneeling on the ground, Ivan could see Lucien approaching him, mounted on the brutal tigress.
"YOU DEVIL!!!" Ivan has never as angry at someone as he was at Lucien for killing his friends.
Lucien dismounted from Oya, stroked her ear, and approached Ivan. "Maybe I am. But you can only blame yourself for attacking my wife. You made me your enemy."
"WIFE?! Ivan was so furious that he forgot about everyone besides Lucien.
At that moment, Cassidy arrived behind him. "Yes, me. The one you said was weak and powerless. Well, even after you and your group plotted and use dirty means against me, I'm still here."
She passed by Ivan and entered Lucien's open arms.
"You know, Ivan... I spent a year waiting for this moment... you were responsible for the hell my daughter and I went through…"
Cassidy started to stroke Lucien's hands around her waist. "... but thanks to that, I was able to meet Lucien. I could torture you slowly, but I will give you a quick death because I am very happy now."
"Your bitch!! I will kill you!!! I will kill you all!!!!" Ivan started yelling as he tried to move his body, but he couldn't move even a muscle.
Lucien turned Cassidy's face, so he and began to kiss her lips tenderly. "Either way, we would have met. You can only belong to me, my Queen."
Cassidy and Lucien ignored the battle around them, and Ivan's screams as they kissed. His troops and wives defended them from any attack.
Reluctantly, she left Lucien's arms and walked over to Ivan, who was yelling. "Shut the f.u.c.k up!"
*BAM*
*CRACK*
Cassidy punched Ivan in the face, breaking his nose and teeth with her black steel gauntlet.
He couldn't even scream anymore because he was choking on his own blood, and he couldn't even move. That added to the pain of having used his ability to the fullest and now being trapped inside the stone crust was absurdly painful for him.
But the worst of it was seeing Lucien and Cassidy so happy that they even kissed while his people died around them. Ivan felt so helpless that tears appeared in his eyes that turned red from anger.
Cassidy can't help laughing. "Oh, do you feel impotent? I felt that way for a year, lying on a bed while that damn poison tortured me."
*BAM*
*CRACK*
This time Cassidy did not punch Ivan but kicked the middle of his legs, smashing his genitals and some of his bones.
"Don't worry. I'm going to find Bowen and Theodore to make them have a deplorable ending just like yours." Cassidy would also take revenge on her ex-husband, who abandoned her and the knight who betrayed her.
She enjoyed the sound of Ivan's m.o.a.ns of pain as he choked on his blood, so she held his head with both hands and spat in his face.
"Also, I will use your body like a statue to show everyone, maybe it will prevent people from planning against me and my family."
"Just an adjustment..." Then Cassidy started to turn Ivan's head. As his body was petrified, his neck started to make crack sounds as it began to break.
"Mmrmrmrmr..." Ivan could only m.o.a.n and choke while Cassidy turned his head.
The adventurers who were watching the brutal scene tried everything they could to get close to them and help. But Lucien's troops, and his wives, have already learned to be brutal and merciless to their enemies like he is. So they killed the adventurers without blinking.
"NOOOOOOO!!!" Hundreds of adventurers yelled when they realized they couldn't stop Cassidy and Lucien.
But it was the end of Ivan…
*SMASH*
The loud sound of his head being completely ripped from his body as his neck broke in many pieces, was a severe blow in the heart of everyone who considered Ivan as their leader.
Cassidy lifted Ivan's head as she paced back and forth, showing it to everyone.
"Your leader is dead!! Do you want to continue fighting and follow him into the afterlife, or are you going to stop this waste of time?!"
The adventurers looked at Cassidy with hate. Although they heard Scarlett, Ivan, and Olivia talking about how they planned against Cassidy, the adventurers still saw Ivan as their leader.
This is the reality for many people. A united group will always be on the side of their comrades and friends, even if they are wrong sometimes.
Most adventurers thought that Ivan wouldn't kill Cassidy unnecessarily, and he just made a mistake in the past, but they didn't expect him to lose.
So they could only hope that Cassidy didn't kill Ivan but banished him from the Kingdom or something similar, like some kind of noble act.
But that was not the legacy that the Brutal King and Merceliss Queen would leave... Lucien and his family would not spare their enemies, and many would see it as something unkind or even wrong sometimes.
That was the case for many adventurers who saw Ivan being killed in that horrible way and couldn't help hating Cassidy and Lucien.
An S-rank adventurer who was fighting a woman from Lucien's troops went into a rage, and in a desperate act, he managed to hit the girl in front of him, then he passed through the block and headed towards Cassidy.
"I'm going to kill you!!!" The man furiously screamed as he tried to attack Cassidy.
*ROAR*
Oya jumped on the man before he got close to Cassidy. Still, she didn't kill him quickly, and waited for Lucien's order.
Lucien looked at the adventurers nearby but spoke loudly for everyone else to hear.
"Even after you know what Ivan and his group did to my wife, you still attack us... I understand that because I would also stand by my wives' side in whatever situation they need my help."
"Although you are a large group, you are weak and disorganized. You lost this battle before it even started…"
Then Lucien looked at the man on the ground, under Oya's big paw, which was making his bones crack by the second.
"I will only speak once. Surrender now and kneel before your Queen."
"F.U.C.K YO-" The adventurer under Oya's paw tried to speak, but before finishing his words, his head had already been torn off by the tigress's brutal bite.
The poor man died in less than a second in a cruel and bizarre way just as many of his friends had already died and would soon die if they did not surrender.
The adventurers looked at the powerful women in black armor. They were not invincible because they had already injured many of them.
But in addition to the fact that the wounds of Lucien's troops are not fatal, with each adventurer they kill, they go on killing more and more. The adventurers could not help thinking that they had infinite vigor.
How many more of their friends will these women need to kill before they had to surrender or all died?
Although most of the adventurers there wanted to continue fighting to avenge Ivan and their other friends, they understood that they were unable even to kill a single one of these women in black armor... not to mention hurt Cassidy or Lucien.
While many adventurers were still fighting Lucien's troops, a woman threw her sword on the ground and spoke in an annoyed tone. "I surrender."
*BAM*
Maggie gave a mighty punch in the face of that adventurer, knocking the woman to the ground. "He told you to kneel for your Queen."
After the woman rolled on the ground, she was barely able to get up, but everyone around her started to kneel while throwing their weapons on the ground.
When one adventurer knelt, the others beside them realized that it was not worth it to keep fighting, especially when their group was giving up, so they all started to kneel.
The first to kneel was the infantry, which had already lost more than eighty percent of its members. Then the archers also knelt down.
The wizards and mages knelt even faster than their friends because they were already exhausted. They did their best and used all of their mana trying to attack Lucien's troops, but none of their spells went through the magical walls made by Lucien's wives.
While the adventurers surrendered, Lucien's troops grouped in a straight line and maintained their formation. Even though many of them were injured, they prioritized maintaining unity and keep calm just as they trained with Lucien.
When the last adventurer knelt, the last mercenary of the Black Hand group died under Mia's dagger. Arie and Ella were at her side as they were helping her fight the last group of mercenaries Lucien left when he went to help Kylee.
Aria had fought before, but even so, she was a little shaken by killing someone again. Ella had taken a life for the first time today, and she was very sad about it. Still, she felt it was the right thing to do, killing their enemies to keep her beloved family safe.
Mia and Aria hugged Ella while they sent Lucien a mental message saying they were fine, and no one in their group had been hurt.
Lucien's other wives had not been hurt either. Most of the girls were in the Mortal Realm, while those who were not, fought very carefully.
Of Lucien's troops, approximately one hundred had minor injuries, while less than ten had more serious wounds, but not fatal.
But for adventurers, the loss was numerous. Out of the eight thousand who fought, half had died while many others were injured.
Cassidy put Ivan's head in his petrified hand and then walked towards Lucien, who hugged her.
He kissed her gently. "It's done."
She smiled. "It was easier than I expected."
Lucien laughed. "We trained hard for this."
Astrid approached them and couldn't help but laugh at Lucien's words. "Oh, we really trained... a lot of training... hahaha..."
Lucien released Cassidy and kissed Astrid too. "Don't worry. Our challenges are just beginning... so, we will resume hard training soon."
Olivia also approached them. "Does everyone get an after-battle kiss?"
He laughed and hugged her too. "Of course."
Olivia enjoyed the kiss, but she quickly got to the point while talking in a concerned tone about the adventurers who surrendered. "What are you going to do with them?"
L.u.s.t materialized beside Lucien as he answered Olivia's question. "We're going put black marks on all of them to avoid further problems, right? By the way, I want a kiss too."
Lucien kissed L.u.s.t. "Yes, the black mark is the best solution."
Lucien's other women were approaching him, and Scarlett quickly asked. "Is it also necessary to cast the black mark on the mercenaries?"
He shook his head. "I don't think it will be necessary as they're really loyal to you after all."
"Still, now everyone will have to swear loyalty to the only Queen."
Lucien hugged Cassidy's waist again and looked at everyone on the battlefield and on the city walls.
Then he focused his demonic energy only on his throat, greatly enhancing his voice so that everyone within a three-mile radius could hear his next words clearly.
"Kneel and hail your Queen."
Lucien spoke in a calm tone, but his voice boosted by demonic energy sounded like thunder that made everyone tremble with fear.
After the demonstration of power and brutality that Lucien's group showed and the fact that Cassidy is rightfully the Queen, no one thought twice before kneeling down like the adventurers.
"Long live the Queen!" More than twenty thousand people spoke together.
Cassidy smiled as she hugged Lucien tightly.
Lucien smiled too, then spoke again. "Now, hail your new King."
No one thought twice about obeying Lucien.
"Long live the King!!"
*ROAR*
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