Liltotto looked a bit strange upon hearing this and said, "That's truly unfortunate. I reckon that guy BG9 will be there again this time."
So, this is the benefit of not taking action.
As long as you don't act, you won't be defeated. If you fight with all your might, you might lose, and losing is disgraceful. If Yhwach finds it disgraceful, he'll kill you.
In that case, it's better not to fight at all.
That's why Liltotto didn't want to exert herself for this country. Working herself to death for no benefit—it was better to just slack off on the side.
However, the one who slacked off the most was that guy Askin. At least she went to the battlefield later; Askin didn't even try to pretend, just standing there drinking coffee.
But a country gets the soldiers it deserves; it's a match made in heaven, one might say.
"Is that so... then that really is quite unlucky."
Beltz was also somewhat surprised. That robot was really unlucky; he was among those beheaded in the Thousand-Year Blood War, and now it was happening again.
"Who else?"
"I'm not sure either. We'll find out when we get there. You'll probably be called over too, to witness the scene of the defeated."
Working for such an emperor is truly eight lifetimes of bad luck.
Beltz lamented from the bottom of his heart.
He followed Liltotto down and saw many people on the streets hurrying toward Silbern.
When he arrived at the Central Palace, many people were already waiting there.
Naturally, Beltz couldn't sit with Liltotto in the Sternritter section.
Mingling with the crowd, he saw three Sternritter tied to pillars.
"Sternritter... the execution of the losers will now commence."
Since Yhwach was still unable to appear in person, the execution was handled with full authority by the Master of the Sternritter and the next Emperor of the Wandenreich, Jugram Haschwalth.
The blonde Haschwalth stood on the high platform with an indifferent expression, looking down at the three individuals.
Beltz watched them as well.
Sternritter K, BG9, was a confirmed figure. During the war, he had been sent flying by Fengxi's headbutt and his body was corroded by Gyūki's venom, rendering him unable to rise again.
Sternritter Q, Berenice Gabrielli, had also lost to his opponent in battle.
The last one was Sternritter S, the Mask De Masculine who had previously fought Fengxi, Mask de Masculine.
Although James was the true body, since he hadn't been resurrected yet, the one being executed was naturally this imagined hero.
"Wait, wait a minute!"
The Mask De Masculine couldn't accept it, shouting, "I still had the capacity to fight until the very end!"
"Is that so?" Haschwalth said calmly.
"Then that truly is quite lucky."
At the end of the battle, the Mask De Masculine had been swallowed whole by Peter, who had transformed into a Sandworm, and should have been dead for sure.
But Haschwalth had intervened at that moment. His instantaneous strike sliced Saint Peter in two, and the swallowed Mask De Masculine fell out from the Sandworm's body.
Thus, the Mask De Masculine had managed to save his life.
But clearly, Yhwach could not condone such a disgraceful survival.
Haschwalth also considered it a form of luck.
Since it was luck, it had to be balanced with misfortune.
Haschwalth showed no mercy toward the Mask De Masculine; there seemed to be no emotional ripple in his eyes.
What a cold man, Haschwalth.
Beltz stood below, watching Haschwalth draw his sword.
"Bas..."
The three about to be executed could not accept it, desperately trying to save their own lives.
BG9 believed he still had his Vollständig unused, while Berenice's ability was The Question—he was naturally the type to object to others' actions, and certainly wouldn't just accept the decision to be executed.
The Mask De Masculine also believed he still had the ability to fight again and shouldn't be executed like this.
But this was the cruelty of Yhwach.
Liltotto stood above, listening to their final arguments, and looked over at Bambi with boredom.
Bambi was trembling with fear at this moment. Actually, she had also been defeated initially when that Fengxi's Conqueror's roar blasted her, but at least she eventually stood back up and went on to fight that Gyūki.
She was truly grateful now that she hadn't just stayed lying on the ground waiting for the war to pass.
If she hadn't stood up, Yhwach would have certainly considered her a loser, and she would have been added to the execution list!
"But is this really okay?"
Candice couldn't bear to watch and couldn't help but say, "Even though they did lose, they are still important combat assets. Killing them like this harms the Empire's interests, doesn't it?"
"You're overthinking it. The one thing the Empire doesn't lack is people." Liltotto took a piece of chocolate from her pocket, tore open the wrapper, and tossed it into her mouth.
While chewing, she said, "As long as the Empire exists, there will be as many Sternritter as needed."
Though the words were a bit harsh, the logic was sound.
There were actually many excellent Soldat in the Empire.
Many adjutants had reached the level of a Sternritter in strength; all they lacked was a Schrift.
It's just that the Sternritter roster was full. Unless a spot opened up, no matter how powerful a Soldat was, they would remain just a Soldat.
"Lily's words are so cold."
"Yeah, just like a demon."
"Making it sound like we're some kind of replaceable trash."
"We just finished a battle; say something nice for a change."
The others couldn't help but complain about Liltotto.
Heh, am I not a demon right now?
Liltotto could be considered... a traitor now, right?
After all, she was the one who brought the enemies in, and she had even taken out two 'comrades' before the war started.
But aside from the few people here and Gremmy, she didn't consider the other Sternritter members as comrades anyway.
Splurt!
The atmosphere here was relatively relaxed, but that clearly wasn't the case on the high platform.
Haschwalth didn't care at all about the trio's excuses.
With a single strike, he took Mask's life. This shining Mask De Masculine, in the absence of his true body, was slain by Haschwalth as a mere fantasy.
His body even began to dissolve at that moment, turning into a phantom like a popping bubble!
Below, Beltz saw this and couldn't help but feel a bit of pity.
After all, the Mask De Masculine was an important part of the Shinigami universe's power scaling, contributing a famous unit of measurement and making outstanding contributions to power-level debates.
But as long as Kensei is still around, someone will eventually make him provide another iconic scene.