From Trash to Villain Master of Card: With Harem of Evil women-Chapter 81: The Final Sacrifice 1

Northern Border — Third Day, Dawn

Seven hundred Kalthor soldiers emerged from the mountains like an avalanche.

No, Kaito corrected mentally as he watched from an elevated position.

Twelve hundred.

The intelligence had been wrong. Or Kalthor had received reinforcements.

Which one it was didn’t matter.

The result was the same.

Six hundred Neudämmerung soldiers — exhausted from the battle three days ago — against twelve hundred fresh and rested troops.

Two to one.

Worse than at Meridia.

Adelheid stood beside him, studying the enemy formation with an increasingly grim expression.

"Heavy infantry. Pikemen on the front line. Archers behind. Cavalry on the flanks."

"A configuration designed to break defensive lines through pure pressure."

She lowered the spyglass.

"We can’t use the same trap. They saw the reports from Meridia. They expect that."

"So?"

Adelheid traced lines in the dirt with a stick.

"Staggered defense. Three lines. The first absorbs the initial impact. The second counterattacks when the first is exhausted. The third — the four of us — breaks anything that penetrates."

She looked at Kaito.

"It’s brutal. Casualties will be high. But if we execute perfectly..."

"Probability?"

"Thirty percent. Forty if we’re lucky."

It wasn’t enough.

But it was what they had.

"Do it."

---

First Line — Battle’s Start

The initial clash was like two waves of steel colliding.

Two hundred Neudämmerung soldiers against Kalthor’s vanguard.

Pikemen with four-meter spears against swords and shields.

Immediate range advantage.

The Neudämmerung soldiers fell — ten, twenty, thirty in the first minutes.

But they held.

Because they knew that if they collapsed, the second line would be exposed.

The first-line commander — a veteran captain named Heinrich — shouted orders.

"Hold your positions! Don’t retreat a single step!"

A pike pierced his shield, splintering it.

Another struck his leg, knocking him down.

But he got up, limping, and continued fighting.

Until a final pike found him.

He fell.

He didn’t rise.

The first line began to collapse.

---

Second Line — Naporia

Naporia saw the first line breaking.

"Now! Second line, forward!"

Two hundred fresh soldiers charged.

Naporia at the front, sword raised, eyes completely red.

Her blood fury at maximum.

She struck Kalthor’s vanguard like thunder.

Her sword cut, destroyed, unstoppable.

But there were too many.

For every soldier she struck down, two more took his place.

She fought like a demon — thirty minutes without stopping.

Sixty soldiers fell to her sword.

But even she had limits.

Her breathing became heavy. Her movements, microseconds slower.

A cut on her arm. A blow to her side.

Blood — her own — dripping.

But she continued.

Because if she fell, the line collapsed.

---

Center — Valeria

The pressure in the center was absolute.

Fifty Kalthor pikemen had penetrated the second line.

They were advancing toward the third.

Valeria was there.

Alone.

Axe raised. Empty expression. But with absolute determination.

"This position is not surrendered."

The first pikeman charged.

Valeria cut the pike in two. A follow-up strike hit the man’s shield — shattering it and hurling him backward.

Second. Third. Fourth.

All fell.

But they kept coming.

Ten. Twenty. Thirty.

Valeria fought them all.

The axe moving in patterns that were mathematically perfect.

Every strike calculated for maximum efficiency.

But even machines have limits.

A blow pierced her defense — cutting deeply into her shoulder.

Blood flowed.

Valeria didn’t flinch.

"Damage acceptable. Continuing function."

Another blow — to her side this time.

"Damage accumulating. Function at sixty percent."

Thirty soldiers became forty, then fifty, then sixty.

And Valeria began to retreat.

Step by step.

Holding, but yielding ground.

She knew the mathematics.

She couldn’t win this alone.

But she could delay them long enough.

She hoped.

---

Command — Adelheid

Adelheid observed the battlefield with growing horror.

First line destroyed. Second line collapsing. Valeria holding alone, but not for much longer.

They needed reserves. They needed reinforcements.

They had none.

She turned to Kaito.

"Commander. We need..."

She saw his expression.

And she knew.

"No. Kaito, no."

"There’s no other option."

"There is ALWAYS an option!"

"What? Look at the field!"

Kaito pointed.

"Naporia is bleeding. Valeria against fifty, alone. The first line, destroyed."

"We’re losing!"

Adelheid wanted to argue.

But she couldn’t.

Because it was true.

They were losing.

Kaito touched her shoulder.

"Cover my retreat. It’ll take me twenty minutes. Maybe thirty."

"Kaito..."

"Not negotiable."

He kissed her quickly.

"I love you. Remember that."

And he left.

Running toward Aschenfall.

Toward the cards.

Toward the decision that would change everything.

Adelheid stood frozen for three seconds.

Then she shouted.

"Drake! Take command! Hold the line for thirty minutes!"

"Where are you going?"

"To stop that idiot before he destroys himself!"

And she ran after Kaito.

---

Aschenfall — Kaito’s Private Room

Kaito arrived gasping.

He closed the door. Threw the bolt.

He took out the chest from its hiding place.

The cards glowed — waiting.

He took Aurelia’s.

Brighter than the others. Almost pulsing with power.

A pounding on the door.

"Kaito! Open up!"

Adelheid.

Then another voice.

"Commander! Stop!"

Naporia. She must have left the battle.

A third voice.

"Don’t do this!"

Lilith.

And a fourth.

"Intervention function required!"

Valeria.

All four.

All abandoning the battle to stop him.

"Don’t come in!" Kaito shouted. "I need to do this!"

Adelheid pounded the door.

"Kaito, please! We can find another way!"

"There is no other way! I saw the soldiers die! I saw Valeria against fifty!"

"I saw everything collapsing!"

Naporia spoke, her voice cracking in a way he had never heard.

"Then let us die! That’s what soldiers do!"

"NO!"

Kaito screamed.

"I won’t watch you die! Any of you!"

Lilith, with a softer voice.

"Kaito. My king. If you do this... you’ll lose a part of yourself that you might never get back."

"I know."

"And still...?"

"I’d rather lose a part of myself than lose all of you."

Silence on the other side.

Then Valeria.

"Commander. If you decide to proceed... we will respect you."

"But we ask to be present. As you promised."

Kaito remembered.

He had promised.

To consult them before summoning.

He opened the door.

The four entered — all bloodied, exhausted, desperate.

Adelheid approached first, taking his hands.

"Kaito. One last time. Are you sure?"

Kaito looked at each of them.

Adelheid — his first. His anchor. Slightly wounded on her arm from the battle.

Naporia — his warrior. Bleeding from multiple cuts, exhausted.

Lilith — his counselor. Clothes stained from helping the wounded.

Valeria — his wall. Shoulder deeply cut, still bleeding.

"Completely sure."

Naporia closed her eyes.

"Then do it quickly. The battle still continues."

Lilith touched his cheek.

"Remember who you are. No matter what you lose."

Valeria nodded once.

"We’ll be here. When it’s over."

Adelheid kissed him.

"I love you. The complete version of you. But I’ll love what remains too."

Kaito felt tears, but ignored them.

He turned to the chest.

Took Aurelia’s card.

And began the summoning.

---

Without thinking, Kaito placed the card on his gauntlet. It shot into the air and, at that very instant, a pink smoke covered the entire kingdom.

And somehow, everyone could hear a terrifying voice, thirsty for destruction, reciting what seemed to be a ritual in their heads.

The words came naturally — as they always did.

Ancient. Powerful. Resonating with a magic that predated civilization.

"From forgotten worlds, you called.

From sealed histories, you summoned.

She who builds wonders.

She who fuses the impossible.

Aurelia Nobelford, The Architect of Progress.

Answer my call!"

The card exploded in light.

Pink, gold, and silver, all mingling.

Energy filled the room.

And Kaito felt it.

Something being ripped from his core.

It wasn’t painful. But... deep.

As if a fundamental part was being cut away and taken.

What is it?

What am I losing?

He didn’t have time to process it.

Because the light condensed.

Taking form.

---

The figure that emerged was... chaotic.

A young woman — mid-twenties. Pink hair in messy pigtails that defied gravity.

Practical clothing — pants, shirt, a vest full of pockets. Everything covered in stains that could be oil, blood, or something worse.

Goggles on her head. Gloves on her hands, stained.

Eyes — bright green — that scanned the room with manic intensity.

And a smile.

Wide. Genuine. Slightly terrifying.

"WHOOOOA!"

Her voice was high-pitched, excited, full of an energy that seemed barely contained.

"A summoning! Finally! I’ve been waiting CENTURIES in that boring seal!"

She spun in a circle, looking at everything.

"A new world! New materials! New possibilities!"

She stopped in front of Kaito.

"And YOU must be my summoner! Hello! I’m Aurelia! But you can call me Auri! Or The Architect! Or ’That Crazy Scientist’!"

"Lots of people called me that in my world. I don’t know why! My experiments only exploded SOME of the time!"

She laughed — a sound that was half joy, half something darker.

The four queens stared at her with a mix of fascination and apprehension.

Aurelia noticed them.

"Oh! More summoned ones! GREAT!"

She approached Adelheid first.

"You! You’re a strategist! I can see it in your posture! Tactical mind!"

Then to Naporia.

"A pure warrior! Impressive physical strength! Interesting!"

To Lilith.

"A manipulator! Altered brain chemistry! Fascinating!"

And finally to Valeria.

She stopped.

Studied Valeria for a long moment.

"Ohhhhh. You’re... a mix. Organic and inorganic. AMAZING!"

She touched Valeria’s arm without asking permission.

"Who made you? I need to meet them! The work is MASTERFUL!"

Valeria, confused, responded.

"A military experiment. Decades ago."

"Then they’re probably dead! Too bad! But I can study their work through you!"

Aurelia turned back to Kaito.

Her energy still vibrating.

"So! You summoned me! That means TROUBLE!"

"What kind of trouble? Construction? Destruction? Both?"

"I hope it’s both! I’m GOOD at both!"

Kaito tried to process the whirlwind he had just summoned.

"There’s... a battle. Outside. We’re losing."

Aurelia blinked.

"Oh. AN IMMEDIATE PROBLEM! That’s PERFECT!"

She pulled something from one of her pockets — a small device Kaito didn’t recognize.

"Give me five minutes to scan the battlefield!"

"Then I’ll build something SPECTACULAR!"

"Or destructive. Probably both!"

She ran to the window, looking toward where the battle continued.

"Twelve hundred against six hundred! Unfavorable math!"

"But PERFECT for a power demonstration!"

She turned, her smile even wider.

"Kaito! Give me thirty minutes and materials!"

"I’ll build you a victory!"

And at that moment, despite the chaos, despite the cost.

Kaito smiled with amusement and knew.

He had made the right decision.

Terrifying. Costly. Irreversible.

But right.