Antoine's Identity

"Please forgive these soldiers' crimes. I am willing to offer you my life and loyalty." Pale-faced, Antoine was too weak to stop them. He knelt on the ground and pleaded dejectedly.

Among the bound Syndicate prisoners, some began kneeling and begging for mercy; some wept in terror; others simply closed their eyes and resigned themselves to fate.

The bolder prisoners, however, decided to go all out. They cursed loudly and charged at the watchful guards nearby, trying to resist their fate of being slaughtered.

The most cowardly Syndicate soldiers had even wet themselves in fright, their legs trembling as they stood at a loss.

Under Roderick's cold command, the guards knocked every prisoner who tried to resist to the ground. Heavy scabbards and wooden clubs battered these pitiful people—unarmed and with their hands tightly bound behind their backs—until their faces were covered in blood and they could no longer resist.

Once the prisoners' unrest had been suppressed, some hot-blooded Syndicate soldiers were also frightened out of their courage by the brutal sight before them. They placed all hope of survival in the mercy of the Raven Guard Knights' commander.

"Roderick, you once said you would never turn your blade against your own people! That is a knight's oath!" In his despair, Antoine roared at the unmoved knight beside him.

"Ahem. I did say that the Raven Guard Knights' swords would not be lightly raised against fellow humans. But I already sent your leader a letter proposing peace. You were the ones who abandoned peace and brought swords, so I had no choice but to fight you."

"This was never my wish, but your current fate is the Syndicate's own doing!" Roderick said coldly to the kneeling crowd before him.

"Since so many people have pleaded for you, I am willing