The two chatted for a while longer, mainly about what to do next.
Goodwin suggested that Lynn return to the governor's mansion first to stabilize the situation.
The fighting is still ongoing at the Forbidden Wall, and the Noble Council also needs to be dealt with.
As for Luna, we shouldn't make any rash moves for now. She is now the "legitimate" Lord Regent. To touch her is to touch the St. Garus Family and to shake the foundation of Brevis.
Lynn indicated that she understood.
Before leaving, he asked:
"Archbishop, do you have any ideas about the Adeptus Mechanicus?"
Goodwin remained silent for a long time.
Finally, he said something profound:
"There's always a way, but it depends on the timing and the cost."
Lynn didn't ask any more questions.
He took Isolde and left the square.
Behind them, the mourning ceremony continued.
The pastor's chanting lingered in the cold wind.
Leo didn't know how he got back to the Forbidden Wall.
The two days and two nights on the run felt like a long nightmare.
Two thousand guards fell one by one.
They shielded him from bullets, blocked pursuers with their bodies, or turned back to rush towards their former comrades-in-arms.
It's all just to gain a few more seconds.
My last memory is of that earth-shattering explosion.
Quinn's mech embraced Aiden, golden flames and blue energy intertwined, engulfing everything.
He was thrown away by the shockwave, but was protected by the Ice Lotus. Finally, the wild men helped him to a safe place where he rested for half a day.
After that, they embarked on a silent journey home together.
The savages escorted him southwards, toward the Forbidden Wall.
There was no communication between them; they just mechanically followed along, and Leo's mind remained blank for a long time.
The wind on the icy plains was still biting, and the snow was still falling, but he didn't feel the cold.
He felt nothing.
Until the outline of the Forbidden Wall came into view.
Leo stopped.
The Forbidden Wall is still there.
That majestic barrier still stands in the wind and snow, unchanged from hundreds of years ago.
But the smell in the air was off—the smell of gunpowder, blood, and death.
That wasn't the smell of blood mingled with that of humans and Orks; it was only the smell of humans.
There was still fighting below the wall.
When Leo arrived, the civil war was nearing its end.
He squinted, peering through the wind and snow.
The Vanguard's blue-gray uniforms are surrounding a group of people dressed in gold uniforms.
That was the Knight Auxiliaries of the St. Garus Family, the family's most elite force, dedicated to providing support and protection for the Knight Mechs.
Even the valiant paladins need rest.
Their most vulnerable moment is when they dismount from their knight mechs to rest.
That will be the time for the Knight Auxiliaries to play their role.
How did they get here? Why are they fighting the Vanguard?
Leo strode forward.
The savages followed behind him, still silent.
After taking a few steps, Leo seemed to have thought of something.
His pupils dilated, his face filled with disbelief.
"The family... the family led the council to start the civil war?"
Leo, who had just returned to the Forbidden Wall, felt a pain in his heart.
On the battlefield, Hammond was preparing to issue the final order to wipe out the remaining enemy forces.
The Knight Auxiliaries had less than two thousand men left, trapped in ruins on the east side of the Forbidden Wall.
They put up a stubborn resistance, but without reinforcements, they couldn't hold out for long.
Hammond raised his hand, ready to give the order for a general offensive.
Then he heard a commotion behind him.
"Lord Leo is back!"
"It's Leo!"
He's still alive!
Hammond's hand froze in mid-air.
He turned around and saw the figure, tattered and covered in blood, walking towards him step by step.
Leo St. Garus.
He is still alive.
A complex mix of emotions welled up in Hammond's heart: relief, and a sliver of... doubt.
The soldiers of the Vanguard were also pleasantly surprised the moment they saw Leo.
But then, that surprise turned into hesitation, into suspicion, into something indescribable.
The Knight Auxiliaries in the ruins also saw Leo.
Their reactions were more complex.
Some were surprised, some were angry, and some lowered their heads, unable to look Leo in the eye.
Leo felt those gazes and slowed his pace.
He didn't understand.
Why were the Vanguard looking at him like he was a criminal suspect?
Why are the Knight Auxiliaries here, and why are they fighting the Vanguard?
He looked at Hammond, trying to find the answer in the face of the one-eyed Commissar.
Hammond remained silent.
He simply stared at Leo, his scarred face devoid of any expression.
" Leo St. Garus..."
From the ruins, a Knight Auxiliaries officer stood up.
He was covered in blood, and one of his arms was severed, simply bandaged with strips of cloth.
But he stood very straight, his eyes fixed intently on Leo.
You traitor!
Leo was stunned.
"Traitor?"
"You betrayed the family!" the officer roared, his voice hoarse.
"You colluded with outsiders, framed the High King, and caused the death of Lord Callum. How dare you return?!"
Leo's lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but he didn't know what to say.
Colluding with outsiders? Framed the High King? Killed Callum?
He didn't do anything.
He was just fighting at the Forbidden Wall when he was inexplicably hunted down by Aiden and forced to flee across the ice plains.
After surviving a near-death experience, he returned.
But after I came back, everything seemed to have changed.
He looked at the Vanguard soldiers.
The way those who once charged alongside him, defended the walls with him, and shared canned starch with him now looked at him chilled him to the bone.
Some people avoided his gaze, not daring to look him in the eye.
Someone was biting their lip, as if struggling.
They also had doubts, wondering if he had truly betrayed them.
Was he doing something shady while he was missing these past two days?
There was also the notification from the main hive: Leo St. Garus had defected to Chaos and his family had issued a kill order against him.
Countless suspicious and scrutinizing gazes fell upon him.
Leo staggered back a few steps.
He felt the snow beneath his feet swallowing him up like a bottomless swamp.
He felt the air around him grow heavy, as if it were about to crush him.
The hardships of escape, the indomitable spirit of fighting to the last breath, and the trials and tribulations along the way.
None of them could defeat this man.
But at this moment, faced with the incomprehension and suspicion of his family soldiers and comrades, this man, who had always been resolute and courageous,
For the first time, I felt like I was about to be defeated.