The place where they had fought Caligula was already very close to the capital of Rome. Even on foot, it wouldn't take long to reach it.
As for why they weren't riding horses—Nero could only say that her dear uncle's Noble Phantasm was truly egalitarian. Once bathed in that eerie moonlight, the horses had fared no better than humans.
They had become so grotesquely distorted that none of them could be ridden anymore.
Only a handful of horses that had escaped the effect were retrieved by Nero's men.
As they approached the city near the Roman capital, Lin Qi realized this place was anything but peaceful. Scattered fragments of armor and bloodstains lay beneath the city walls—along with many discarded and uncollected severed limbs.
Judging from the scene, a brutal battle must have taken place not long ago.
"Seeing this, you must have already realized—my army is without a doubt on the losing side. They've already driven us back to the capital."
Looking at the wreckage beneath the walls, a trace of exhaustion flickered through Nero's eyes.
"If you regret your decision now, I can allow you to go and serve someone more suitable than me. Your ranks will be reserved for you anytime, of course."
Nero quickly composed herself and turned to Lin Qi with a teasing smile.
But with things already said this far, how could Lin Qi back out now?
"If I ran away at this point, wouldn't I get scolded to death by your soldiers?"
Lin Qi's voice was exasperated.
"Besides, I came here to help Your Majesty Nero from the start. So until this war ends—unless I die—I will remain by your side."
His voice was calm, but firm.
Anyone could hear the immovable resolve in his words.
And the reason Lin Qi could speak with such certainty wasn't only because Nero was someone he had to protect on this journey—but also because he had always liked her as a character back when he played the game.
If we're being honest—Lin Qi had actually liked Nero more than Jeanne before he met Jeanne in person.
Lin Qi's words hit Nero straight in the heart—right in her softest spot.
"Mmm! As expected of my loyal guard! Just a few words from you fills me with the burning spirit to face even ten thousand enemies!"
Nero's cheeks flushed, and she looked visibly uplifted.
"So—could it be that my guard also has the talent to lead an army?"
Nero stroked her chin seriously.
"I really don't think I have that talent..."
Jeanne had been a natural leader—but Lin Qi clearly hadn't inherited that part in the slightest. Even if he had some potential in that area, it wasn't worth mentioning.
"You won't know until you try! Everything must be trained! Once we return, I'll assign you a small unit!"
"Sigh..."
Lin Qi looked utterly drained.
Nero was too well known—not just by commoners, but even soldiers on the wall recognized her instantly from a distance. Their exhaustion from long hours of guard duty vanished in an instant as they eagerly opened the gates.
The army entered the city.
Nero stepped forward with Lin Qi and naturally climbed a wooden platform under the soldiers' watch.
"Mmm! You have done well! Just from the sight of the battlefield beneath the walls, I know how long you have held out. The enemy is indeed ferocious—no doubt you are all exhausted."
"To defend Rome and serve Your Majesty is our honor!" × many voices
The defending soldiers, as if sweeping away their fatigue, looked up at Nero with shining eyes.
"Good! Fine spirit! Whether or not any of you have felt close to giving up—you no longer need to worry. Because—I have returned!"
"OOOHHH!!!" × many
"And I have also brought back with me an exceptionally capable guest general—he will now serve as my personal guard and join us in reclaiming our Rome from those false emperors!"
Nero lifted Lin Qi's arm high.
"OOOHHH!!!" × many
Lin Qi awkwardly raised his free hand in greeting.
"Mmm! Now let us sound the trumpets of counterattack, raise our weapons—and take back Rome!"
"Before us lies only victory! Even if we must spill every drop of blood—we shall seize Rome's final triumph! For Rome!!!"
With her fist raised, Nero looked over the soldiers below—their answering roar shook the air.
"For Rome!!!" × countless voices"For Emperor Nero!!!" × countless voices
No one doubted her words or called them empty speeches.
Because despite being Emperor, burdened with countless duties, Nero had fought at the front lines—often ahead of even her soldiers.
Combined with her unique charisma—how could they not follow her with their hearts aflame?
Besides—this was a war to defend their homeland.
They believed—firmly—that the path beneath their feet was the only correct one.
Amid this roaring sea of red passion, Lin Qi alone stood silent—feeling somewhat out of place.
So this is the existence known as Nero...
He stared at the scene before him, lost in thought.
He didn't know what Nero had been like in real history—but the Nero before his eyes, in this Type-Moon world—she really did shine.
——
Once patrol shifts were confirmed, Nero and her group finally had time to rest for the first time after several nonstop days on the move.
Returning to her luxurious imperial chambers, Nero stretched and relaxed.
As her private quarters, the decorations were exactly what one would expect—extravagant and unmistakably hers. Red and gold everywhere, and roses—lots of roses.
"Mmm, finally home. After sleeping in tents for so long, my sleep quality has been terrible..."
She threw herself face-first into her soft bed with a look of bliss.
"Hm? Do you want to try it too? This bed was crafted by the most skilled artisans in all of Rome. It rivals even what the gods use!"
She tilted her head toward Lin Qi, who had stopped at the doorway, and casually invited him inside.
"I'll pass..."
Lin Qi felt Nero was being too nice to him—and it honestly made him a little uncomfortable.
"Let me warn you—my gifts only come once. If you miss this chance, I won't offer it again!"
Nero patted the space beside her with a smile.
A trap!!
"Even if you say that—it would be totally inappropriate..."
Lin Qi said helplessly.
"Your Majesty! There are enemies at the gates again!"
Before their back-and-forth could go any further, a panicked voice came from outside.
"Hah?! How do they still have this many troops? After all that, they still have the strength to attack?!"
Nero immediately sprang up from the bed, stunned.
Logically, this was her own era—she was the emperor. Her army should have had the advantage.
But reality was unforgiving. On the way back from the front line, she had already encountered two or three enemy battalions that outnumbered hers. Combined with casualties from defending the city...
Nero really wanted to ask—do these people get their soldiers for free or what?!
The two of them hurried back to the city wall and looked out from above.
What they saw—was a sea of enemy troops. Endless. Fully equipped with siege weapons. One whole wall surrounded.
"Sigh... my guard—it seems rest will have to wait..."
Nero massaged her forehead.
"I'm not actually tired right now. If it's just ordinary soldiers, they're no trouble for me."
With the physical strength of a Servant, Lin Qi's stamina in battle was impressive.
Plus, since arriving at this Singularity, he had only seriously fought once—with Nero, against Caligula. He still had energy to spare.
"Excellent! That is the spirit I like to see!"
Nero gave him a thumbs-up.
—— Lin Qi officially joined the war.—— Lin Qi regretted everything.
Standing on the city wall, his eyes lifeless, he continued drawing rune after rune—like a student doodling nonsense after copying homework for hours.
Night had fallen. A crescent moon hung high. Stars faintly glittered.
No one knew how long Lin Qi had been drawing runes like this.
From noon—To afternoon—Then evening—Now night—
He had never imagined rune inscription could actually make his hand hurt.
If I could help it—I would never draw another rune by hand again—
He rubbed his trembling hand bitterly.
Now Lin Qi shared a question Nero had once asked—where in the world were all these soldiers coming from? Why were they attacking endlessly, wave after wave?
Were they... respawning from the ground?
If not for the very real corpses piling up, he would have believed that theory.
But the enemy wasn't completely brainless. They weren't just throwing soldiers—they occasionally used skeleton troops for their assault.
He was very familiar with those things. Compared to normal soldiers, they weren't even that strong.
But the other enemy unit was far more annoying—
Clay golems. Clearly made by magi. Bodies of stone. Massive size.
They didn't charge in like infantry—they stood far away and lobbed boulders from a distance.
For Lin Qi, those stone projectiles weren't too threatening—but to the soldiers defending beside him, they were devastating. Anyone hit was crippled or killed instantly.
Which meant Lin Qi had to jump off the wall again and again—charging into enemy lines just to smash those golems.
And so—one or two more hours passed.
Lin Qi stared at yet another wave of enemies charging the walls—and finally snapped.
He leapt from the wall, and subconsciously activated a summoning spell he hadn't even realized he had.
A wyvern appeared beneath him—and he landed right on its back.
The wyvern beat its wings, and within seconds Lin Qi was soaring high into the sky.
Technically, his Riding skill was only high enough to control trained mounts—so he shouldn't have been able to command something as wild as a wyvern.
But—he had inherited the Dragon Slayer skill from Siegfried. Even if it was low level right now, handling a wyvern was easy.
I want to see—are you people actually respawning from the earth!?
He growled internally, holding a farsight rune as he carefully scanned the land.
"Ha. Got you."
Humans needed light. In the pitch-black night, firelight betrayed them. Their camps—glowing with torches—were easy to spot even from far away.
And there—dozens of magi were busy constructing more golems.
Lin Qi didn't even hesitate—he descended like a meteor and burned camp after camp to ashes.
For each magus born—burn one magus to death.
Brutal—but these soldiers weren't infinite after all. After a fight this long, their numbers were nearly spent.
After destroying everything, Lin Qi circled twice more overhead—just to make sure no enemy force remained capable of regrouping—and then returned to Rome.
He leapt from the wyvern and landed steadily on the wall.
He dispelled the summoning technique—one he still barely understood—and sent the wyvern back to wherever it came from.
After tidying his wind-blown clothes, he noticed a familiar-looking soldier rushing toward him with relief on his face.
"Sir Guard! You're finally back—I've been looking for you everywhere!"
"Uh—enemy attack again?"
Lin Qi asked instinctively—after nearly fighting nonstop for a full day.
"Haha, no sir, quite the opposite. Thanks to you, the enemy has been routed—we haven't seen a large force in a while."
"Good. Looks like I did find the right people just now."
Lin Qi exhaled. At last—the seemingly endless battle had stopped.
"Ooh—so you destroyed the enemy main camp earlier, Sir Guard? As expected—you always find the key to victory!"
The soldier's face was full of admiration.
Do Romans just... enjoy praising people this much?
Lin Qi scratched his cheek awkwardly.
To him, he was only doing what he felt necessary. But to ordinary soldiers desperately fighting to survive—it was nothing short of a miracle.
During Lin Qi's time on the walls, not only had casualties dropped dramatically—something unbelievable had happened.
Despite the enemy attacks growing even fiercer—only a few dozen soldiers had been injured.
Not one had died.
If Lin Qi walked through the camp right now, he would be showered in reverent gazes.
"It wasn't that much... Right—you're the one Nero said she'd promote to Intelligence Officer?"
"Sir remembers! Yes—just earlier today, Her Majesty formally appointed me as the Imperial First Battle Intelligence Officer!"
The man gave a humble smile.
"Not bad at all..."
Lin Qi's expression was complicated—Nero really did like handing out titles.
"So—what did you need me for?"
Lin Qi asked, steering back on topic.
"It's nothing serious, sir—I was just sent to bring you back to rest. Your room has already been prepared—actually, Her Majesty has been urging it for quite a while."
"It's just—seeing how busy you were defending the walls, I didn't dare interrupt."
The officer looked embarrassed.
The moment rest was mentioned—Lin Qi felt exhaustion crash over him.
He was tired.
"You've done well. Lead the way."
"Yes, sir!"
They had just walked a few steps when Lin Qi suddenly realized something was missing.
"Wait—where's Emperor Nero? I don't see her."
"Oh—Her Majesty returned to rest earlier this afternoon, after seeing you had things well under control."
"I see."
"Please don't misunderstand—Her Majesty has been marching with us from the front lines for days now—she's rested even less than we have. She only withdrew because she truly needed it."
The Intelligence Officer quickly explained, worried Lin Qi would take it the wrong way.
"...Do I look like someone who would care about that?"
Just like he said at the beginning—as long as someone fought alongside him on the battlefield, even a useless ally—Lin Qi would never despise them.
...