Whilst the army of 5,000 was being gathered, Charles spent his time in the palace gardens and in the city streets.

It was important for Charlotte to spend a bit of time with her family and fill them in on the fake reason behind her disappearance.

Her plan was to tell them that she had been captured by an unknown man.

She wouldn’t say his name or give too many details about him.

The only important thing was that they became aware of the existence of an overwhelming threat.

If they didn’t believe her, she could simply use her power to rewrite parts of the story, forcing them to.

During this wait, Charles went over his skills and his items.

During the descent of the tower, Charlotte had helped him out in a few ways.

His makeshift dragon-scale dagger had been crafted into an official sword using her notebook.

Now, it was a metre-long katana made from red, unbreakable dragon scales with a black handle. It had enhanced cutting power and flame enchantments.

In the novel Fourth Apocalypse, weapons could earn systems of their own, similar to items in video games.

This Dragonscale Katana was classed as an A-Tier weapon, with an Unbreakable Attribute and a Flame Attribute.

As for the rest of Charles’ system, it remained the same.

...

A few hours later, Charles found himself in a royal carriage heading towards Greyford Plains.

Sitting next to him was Charlotte, who now wore an all-blue suit of armour that had somehow been styled to look like noble attire.

Sitting across from him was Prince Cain, who was dressed in his silver suit of armour and had a serious look on his face.

Charles was dressed only in a black suit. He wore no armour, but had his sword sheathed on his back.

As the carriage rolled along at the head of the enormous army of Silverblessed soldiers, Cain broke the silence.

"So, how do you know so much about war tactics and politics?"

The question was clearly directed at Charles.

He laughed slightly before answering.

"Wouldn’t you prefer to know the secrets behind my strength? It’s obviously not normal for an Adept to be able to climb any tower, let alone Elurion Tower."

"No," Prince Cain replied. "Father said not to pry into those secrets, as you clearly have your reasons. I just hope that your confidence is warranted."

Charles leaned back in his seat and crossed one leg over the other.

He didn’t want to come across as arrogant, but sometimes he couldn’t help it, especially when speaking to stuck-up royalty.

"You should know firsthand how strong I am. Why didn’t you climb the rest of the tower?"

The prince suddenly stiffened and went red with embarrassment.

Deep down, he knew that Elurion Tower was too powerful for even him, an Elite Grade ranged swordsman.

Not to mention, he had his two greatest knights, Ruth and Mary, with him, who were currently riding ahead on their own horses.

The prince looked away and remained silent for the rest of the ride.

Charles and Charlotte shared a glance with one another and couldn’t help but smile.

...

In the Elurion Throne Room...

King Brandon sat on his throne, drinking from a goblet of wine as he looked at the map in front of him.

His advisor, Lady Larissa, stood beside him, looking at the man over his shoulder.

"Do you really trust that man, my king?" she asked, brushing a strand of brown hair away from her face.

The king didn’t answer at first.

Then he downed his glass in one go and wiped the red liquid from his mouth.

"My daughter told me a lot about him. According to her, he is our kingdom’s last hope," he replied.

"But what about Prince Cain?"

"Weak," the king said immediately. "All of my sons are weak, and so are our generals. Especially when compared to our enemies. As foolish as it sounds... that Adept is our last hope."

...

On Greyford Plains...

Charles kneeled down and lifted a flower into his hands.

It had red petals with a golden outline.

「Starfall Flower」

Afterwards, he turned towards Charlotte, who was standing behind him, and offered her the flower.

Behind her, the Silverblessed Army was setting up camp. Far ahead of them, the Blackrain Kingdom would be doing the same.

Charlotte tilted her head slightly before accepting the flower.

"Why are you giving me this?" she asked.

"It feels appropriate," Charles responded.

It was a rare flower that could be consumed for enhanced clarity and intelligence.

Charlotte looked down at the beautiful flower and smiled.

"Haven’t you given me enough gifts already?"

After all, Charles had already risked his life numerous times to help heal her.

"I..."

Before he could respond, Charlotte tried to hand the flower back to him.

When he refused to take it, she plucked one of the petals from the flower and tried to press it into his mouth.

The two began laughing amongst themselves, drawing the attention of their soldiers.

...

Prince Cain watched this from afar with a frown growing on his face.

How can they be laughing when death waits for us across the field?

He forced himself to ignore it for the time being and continued erecting his tent.

However, he seemed to be the only one annoyed by the sight.

As the other soldiers saw the princess laughing and joking with this infamous man, the situation seemed to lighten in their minds.

They stopped worrying about the battle so much.

If the princess and this infamous adventurer can laugh in the face of battle, then doesn’t that mean they are confident in their victory?

Prince Cain even saw other soldiers trying to find their own flowers to give to the female nurses.

His fists clenched.

They are already trying to follow in his footsteps?

He glanced back at his future brother-in-law once more. Then at his sister, who stood with him.

Despite everything, there was one thing that he could not ignore.

Charlotte looked happy when she was with him.