The Final Guardian!

The Bloodblade Family had really struck a nerve with every baron. Good grief! They dared massacre civilians today—would they massacre us dirt-poor barons tomorrow? Those youngsters had some nerve!

And so, the Bloodblade Family received the grand gift package of a joint crusade by the border barons. Dozens of border barons, along with nearby Imperial garrisons, stormed them directly! They had not even waited for an order from the Human Emperor. The moment they learned the news, they had gathered their troops on their own and wiped those bastards out. Forget calling yourselves nobles—there was no room among the nobility for people who slaughtered Imperial civilians. Anyone capable of that was not a noble, but a beast...

All high-ranking nobles, as well as the imperial and royal families, remained silent over this. After all, this matter had crossed the bottom line of those barons with real power. The subjects of old-established barons and border barons were, plainly speaking, their own people. Open up the family records, and everyone shared the same surname. After centuries of intermarriage and assimilation, those families' bloodlines had seeped into every corner of their territories. That was why barons were so cautious when waging war. After all, the soldiers you led out were not soldiers—they were your entire clan! The one shielding you from arrows was your cousin, the one charging ahead was your nephew, and the one dying before your eyes was your maternal uncle. Under such circumstances, no old-established baron would dare mistreat his subjects or soldiers. Even when collecting taxes, they had to greet them with a smile. If the people had no money, the baron had to pay the difference himself... How could barons who were humble to this extent not love their people like their own children? Were they mere crops