Sophia leaned against the soft cushions of the spacious carriage, watching the falling snowflakes outside.
Even though Irene and Daphne were arguing endlessly inside the carriage over whether the Holy Light could be used as a Black powder propellant, she could still feel the grim, chilling air from outside the window.
After marching for about half a day, just as the troops were passing through a withered birch forest, Delilah, who had been vigilantly patrolling the flank on horseback, suddenly pulled hard on her reins.
Her sharp, falcon-like eyes stared fixedly at the edge of the horizon.
Amidst the sky full of wind and snow, a gray silhouette was desperately whipping the fast horse beneath him, attempting to bypass the marching army and gallop north.
"Stop him!"
Delilah let out a cold shout. Like a ball of raging red flames, she took the lead and galloped out.
In but a moment, several elite cavalrymen coordinated with Delilah to surround the panicked man in gray beneath a dirt slope.
"Spare my life, Lord! Spare my life, Lord!
This lowly one is just a pawn delivering a letter to Leighton!"
The man scrambled off his horse, kneeling in the snow and kowtowing madly.
Delilah dismounted, her combat boots crunching against the snow.
Without wasting any words, she directly reached into the man's inner lining and gave a fierce tug.
A parchment scroll, soaked in sweat yet sealed with a hidden wax stamp, was pulled out.
After Delilah clearly saw the contents, her face instantly darkened to the point of almost dripping water.
She took large strides back to the carriage, lifted the curtain, and handed the note to Sophia.
The secret letter read: "The Black Rose has deployed its full force, the Queen leads the personal campaign. The city is empty, quickly send deathsworn to detour behind and cut off their grain and forage."
"Your Majesty, it's addressed to Orr.
This person must be a rat planted in the Royal City, a running dog of Orr."
Delilah's voice suppressed an anger akin to a volcano about to erupt. If not for the need to consider the big picture and obtain Your Majesty's approval, she would have truly wanted to chop this piece of trash into mincemeat!
Sophia glanced at the note, a piercing chill flashing through her pale golden pupils.
"Since he is in such a hurry to deliver a message to Orr, then send him on his way," Sophia said, lowering the curtain, her voice as light as a falling snowflake.
"However, Orr will be moving soon. The Kingdom of Orr's new address is in hell."
"Complying with the decree!"
Delilah spun around abruptly, drawing her coldly gleaming longsword in front of everyone's eyes.
"Mason gave you medicine to survive and grain to fill your stomach.
Yet you want to use the blood of Mason's warriors to exchange for the bounty of that old geezer in Orr!"
Delilah pointed her sword tip downward, her heroic and imposing face full of grim killing intent.
"Traitor, your blood is not worthy of staining Mason's snow!"
Slash—!
An arc of bloody light bloomed in the vast white world.
The man's head rolled into the snow before he could even utter a sound begging for mercy.
"Good! Well killed!"
"Traitor, what difference is there between you and an Orr dog?"
An angry roar erupted from the infantry phalanx in the rear.
For these soldiers who had been saved from the depths of suffering and disease, their hatred for traitors had reached its peak at this moment.
"Did you see that? This is Your Majesty's resolve!
Beneath that cold and detached exterior hides the most ruthless judgment against traitors!
Your Majesty is using this scum's blood to sacrifice to the flag!
She is telling us that as long as we never abandon her, she is the most merciful King. If anyone dares to backstab her, then hell is their only destination!"
"Long live Your Majesty! Long live the General!"
Sophia tossed the note onto the table, and in the next second, it was burned to ashes by a tiny wisp of Daphne's fire magic.
"Do not be angry, Your Majesty. Soon, these bugs that annoy Your Majesty will all disappear," Daphne comforted.
"It is just a pity that materials are currently limited, otherwise I could have made even more powerful guns," Irene said, resting her chin on her hands and leaning on the table inside the carriage.
"But it is definitely enough for now."
"Rest assured, This Queen is actually in quite a good mood."
Sophia took a sip of wild berry juice before continuing, "A mere Orr is not worthy of being put in This Queen's eyes."
After speaking, Sophia briefly wondered if she had acted a bit too pretentious.
After all, in this era, conflicts between small nations were perfectly normal, but there were hardly anyone who would directly annihilate a nation like she was doing.
"As expected of Your Majesty!" Willow immediately said.
Irene and Daphne naturally followed up with a barrage of flattery, making Sophia's originally slightly apprehensive expression become increasingly natural.
How could she have forgotten what kind of people her gathered confidantes were.
The march continued. When the Black Rose flags appeared on the horizon of Withered Willow Town, the entire town boiled over.
This was once the most severely affected area by the epidemic. Without Sophia's Potion, this place would now only be a land of dead silence.
Hundreds of subjects, regardless of age or gender, flooded to both sides of the main avenue.
"Your Majesty! Here are some freshly smoked sausages from home, please take them!"
"Lord General, here is a bag of clean spring water!"
A little boy, not even as tall as a horse's head, blushed as he desperately tried to stuff a still-warm boiled egg into the hands of a musketeer.
"Big sister, this is the egg Your Majesty sent before. I haven't eaten it yet, you quickly try it."
"Your Majesty! Here are fish caught in the river, take them to have a fresh taste!"
"Please stay safe, Lords!"
However, to the subjects' surprise, these soldiers, who didn't look particularly burly on normal days, now marched in perfect unison, with not a single person reaching out to accept the food.
"Fellow townsfolk, we appreciate the sentiment!"
Delilah rode at the front. Although her gaze remained strict, her tone was much gentler.
"Your Majesty has already prepared the most ample supplies for us.
Keep these for yourselves, live on well, and wait for our triumphant return!"
Although the soldiers couldn't help but gulp upon smelling the aroma of the cured meat, remembering the strikes from Delilah's long staff on the backs of their heads before departure, and looking at that flag symbolizing civilization on Sophia's carriage, they puffed out their chests and kept their eyes straight ahead.
They were no longer ordinary subjects; they were now Mason's soldiers, here to assist Your Majesty and protect this land!
This sense of discipline that transcended the era left the subjects by the roadside thoroughly astounded.
"Long live! Long live Mason! Long live Your Majesty Sophia!"
"The Black Rose is invincible! Take our prayers and drive all those bad people away!"
"Long live Your Majesty!"
"Our Mason is finally no longer a country others can bully at will!"
"Everyone, please be sure to be careful!"
The cheers shook the heavens and earth.
Sophia lifted a corner of the curtain, watching the receding Withered Willow Town and the desperately waving subjects. She suddenly felt that the hot water bottle in her hands had grown a few degrees warmer.
The wind on the wasteland howled like an enraged beast, whipping up a sky full of shattered snow, raging madly under the leaden-gray sky.
Looking far into the distance, at the border between Mason and Orr, the line that originally symbolized an impassable boundary appeared exceptionally desolate between the continuous snowy mountains and the withered dense forest.
The steel torrent of the expeditionary force slowly advanced, the sound of horse hooves crushing the ice echoing far into the silent wilderness.
The border fortress of Orr.
This fortress was once the King of Orr's proud 'Lock of the North', but at this moment, the soldiers on the City wall were in poor condition.
"How's the grub today?"
"Same as always. Won't fill you up, won't starve you to death."
A few soldiers chatted idly.
When the weather wasn't so cold, there was still trade traffic with nearby countries, but during these recent cold days, there was absolutely no one.
Sometimes they wouldn't see a single soul for half a month, so they naturally had no guard up whatsoever.
But when those flamboyant Black Rose flags crashed into view, a patrolling Orr soldier shuddered, cold sweat instantly breaking out all over his body.
"What is that?
Wait, Ma... Masonites? Is that Mason's army?!"
He screamed in horror, his voice twisting from fear.
"How did they get here?
Quick! Close the city gates!
Go report to His Majesty! That mob has come to kill us!"
No one would think Mason came with friendly intentions; after all, no friendly interaction required bringing so many soldiers.
He turned and tried to run down the City wall, attempting to ring the long-dusty grand alarm bell.
However, Delilah, standing by the carriage, merely raised her hand coldly.
"Fire!"
With her command, the elite archers who had been lying in wait within Mason's formation swiftly lined up.
These soldiers, who had been drilled on the Drill Ground until the skin peeled off their fingers, moved with a horrifying uniformity.
Swish—!
Swish!
Swish!
Hundreds of arrows pierced through the wind and snow, carrying the howl of the God of Death as they accurately nailed into the throats and chests of the City wall guards.
That soldier hadn't even run two steps before his back was instantly turned into a pincushion. His entire body pitched forward from the momentum, and fresh blood instantly dyed the blue-gray stone bricks red.
In an instant, Orr's Gray Crow Fortress devolved into total chaos.
"All forces assault! Battering ram ready!"
Although Valery was not present, Delilah's mastery over the rhythm of the siege was perfect.
She didn't lightly deploy the precious black muskets, because in her eyes, using them against this dilapidated, long-neglected city was a waste.
The King of Orr had indulged in pleasure for years, embezzling massive amounts of military funds to build gardens and purchase expensive spices.
The Gray Crow Fortress before them even had dry grass growing from the crevices in its walls, and the binding clay between the stones had long since weathered and cracked in the frost.
"Heave! Ho!"
Dozens of incredibly strong soldiers carried the iron-headed battering ram. Leveraging the downward slope's momentum, they viciously smashed into the two tottering ironwood main gates.
Boom!
With the first loud crash, the entire city gate shook violently, and large flakes of stone crust were actually shaken off the City wall.
Boom!
A second loud crash.
The cracks in the City wall instantly widened. It was like a dying old man unable to hold his spine straight any longer.
In less than ten minutes.
Accompanied by a teeth-grinding sound of collapse, the main gates of the entire Gray Crow Fortress, along with that decayed section of the side wall, crashed down amidst the thunderous cheers of the Mason soldiers!
Dust and pulverized snow flew everywhere, thoroughly burying the final dignity of the people of Orr.
"It's breached! The city is breached!"
"Mason immortal! Black Rose eternal!"
"Little Orr, I've come to take your dog heads!"
Morale boiled like magma; the soldiers even felt their bodies brimming with inexhaustible strength.
The routed Orr defenders fled in all directions. A few clever ones had seized fast horses before the walls collapsed and fled south, attempting to deliver this nightmare news to the Royal City.
Inside the carriage, Irene excitedly slapped her thigh.
"This is way too brittle! If I had known these walls were like biscuits, I would've just made some hand grenades and blown it into fireworks!"
Daphne took the opportunity to shrink into Sophia's embrace. While nuzzling the warmth of the fox fur, she said somewhat groggily, "This City wall really can't take a beating..."
Sophia rubbed her temples, looking at the passing ruins outside the window, her gaze remaining chillingly cold.
"There is no need to pursue the routed soldiers; their mission is to spread fear to the Royal City."
Sophia's voice rang out in the carriage.
"Pass down the order: maintain formation and head straight for the Royal City.
No one is allowed to harass the farmers along the road, no arson, no killing, no looting.
Mason's army will not stain its hands with the blood of these pitiful people."
Half an hour later, the troops passed by a settlement within Orr's territory named Bitter Water Village.
The scene by the roadside instantly caused the air inside the carriage to freeze.
The houses here were low and dilapidated; even the straw mats used to fend off the cold were incomplete.
If Kree Village from before was considered heavily ruined, then this place was not even half as intact as Kree Village.
Beneath the withered tree at the village entrance, dozens of emaciated villagers were huddled together, shivering uncontrollably.
The men's eyes were vacant, while the women tightly covered the ears of the children in their arms. The children's eyes were astonishingly large, their ribs clearly visible beneath their tattered linen shirts.
Their exposed skin was frozen purple and black, with the flesh in some areas already necrotic.
They were using a gaze that mixed extreme terror, vigilance, and the despair of waiting for death to stare fixedly at this elite, armed-to-the-teeth army.
"Is there going to be a war..."
"Are we all going to be killed?
Just like during the tax collection last year..."
"Shh! Don't make a sound! Don't look at the eyes of those lords, otherwise you'll be hung from the trees..."
"Who can... who can come save us?"
"Stop dreaming, who could possibly come save us."
Fragmented, fear-filled murmurs continued intermittently in the cold wind.
In their understanding, an army entering the village meant looting, slaughter, and complete destruction.
Some were even thinking that if these foreigners could slaughter their corrupt Kingdom of Orr entirely, and slaughter them as well, would their lowly and painful lives finally come to an end?
They were too hungry, too cold.
They didn't want to resist anything, and didn't even want to speak.
However, a scene they would never forget for the rest of their lives occurred.
That Mason army, with brand-new armor and even their horse hooves wrapped in leather, shot past the village entrance like a black flash of lightning, looking straight ahead.
No soldiers rushed into the houses to rob grain, and no knights brandished longswords to drive away the old and weak.
Even as the last soldier passed by, a young soldier looked at a freezing, purple-faced little girl by the road. Gritting his teeth, he swiftly dropped a small piece of hard Black Bread the moment Delilah turned her head.
Your Majesty didn't plan on killing them, which meant that after conquering Orr, these pitiful people would also become Mason's subjects.
Therefore, a small piece of bread was not considered a waste.
Inside the carriage, Sophia watched this scene through the gap in the curtains, a wave of bitterness welling up in her heart.
Looking at the eyes of these people, she truly felt the King of Orr deserved to die ten thousand times.
In this era, Sophia might not be able to become a saint, but she absolutely did not want this kind of luxury built upon white bones.
"Target the Royal City. Since we are going to pry open the coffin lid, we might as well excise the festering sores inside along with it."
"Yes!"
Victor, sitting in the carriage at the rear, had red eyes.
He knew Your Majesty must have seen those soldiers giving alms, but she completely refrained from punishing them, nor did she even stop them! This was their noble Your Majesty the Queen!
The quill pen in Victor's hand practically struck sparks against the paper.
A Journey of Divine Miracles! What magnificent civilizational restraint!
Look at those subjects of Orr; they had long grown accustomed to being ruled by beasts, yet at this moment, they beheld a True God.
Your Majesty wasn't just passing by; she was using this disregard to grant them the most expensive dignity!
Mason's iron hooves do not trample on ants; the flag of the Black Rose only beheads false kings.
This ironclad rule of 'passing villages without entering, and committing no offenses' was precisely Your Majesty's first step in saving them from the darkness!
Just watch, when those villagers pick up the bread from the ground, the foundation of the King of Orr's rule will have already turned to ashes alongside that collapsed City wall!
Royal City of the Kingdom of Orr.
This ancient capital, once renowned for its gloom and political machinations, was currently shrouded in a suffocating chaos and absurdity.
Inside the Council Hall, those expensive yet cracked pieces of furniture seemed to writhe in the flickering candlelight, as if possessing lives of their own.
The King of Orr slumped on his throne. His face, twisted from stroke and fury, was currently presenting a bizarre flush under the continuous effects of Daphne's Potion.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Gray Crow Fortress... Gray Crow Fortress has collapsed!"
A blood-soaked herald stumbled into the hall, his mournful voice shattering the deathly silence.
The King of Orr abruptly raised his head. On his retinas, the herald's head surprisingly morphed into a massive, purplish-red mushroom constantly spewing spores.
He shook his head, only feeling waves of buzzing in his ears, as if countless cattle and sheep were singing in unison within his brain.
"Collapsed?"
The King's voice was as shrill as a rooster whose neck was being stepped on. He suddenly grabbed the golden goblet by his hand and threw it.
"That was the Lock of the North! That was the iron wall This King spent tens of thousands of gold coins piling up! And you're telling me it crumbled like a biscuit?!"
"Y... Yes!
Mason's soldiers held a massive log and only smashed it twice... twice, and it shattered!"
The herald cried out.
Beside him, Finance Minister Morgan and Poison Master Green were also at the peak of the Potion's effects.
Morgan was staring at his fat fingers, feeling as if they were sweet, delicious sausages, while Green was waving his arms at the empty air, attempting to catch non-existent, fluttering colorful butterflies.
"What is there to panic about! We still have heavy crossbows! And soldiers!"
The King forced himself up with his scepter. His vision flickered between bright and dark; one moment he saw the carpet turning into surging ocean waves, and the next he soberly realized that the God of Death was knocking on the door.
That hyper-excitement brought by the Potion made him completely mad.
"Relay This King's secret decree! Seal all city gates immediately! Pour molten iron into the crevices!"
The King roared hysterically, spit flying everywhere.
"Drive all the lowly commoners in the city up onto the City wall for This King! Men, women, the elderly... tie them all to the battlements!"
"Your Majesty?"
The faces of a few clear-headed close guards turned deathly pale, looking at each other in terror.
"That is several thousand subjects..."
"Shut up! Since they have received This King's protection, now is the time for them to repay their debt!"
A near-destructive madness flickered in the King's eyes.
"Doesn't that little girl boast about removing the title of Tyrant?
This King wants to see if, facing those faces she wants to save, she will still dare to fire those iron tubes in her hands!"
This move was incredibly venomous.
He intended to use the Masonites' mercy to strangle the Masonites' attack.
"Go quickly! Prepare for battle!
Deploy all the iron thorn heavy armor squads to the main gate!
Chop those little brats of Mason into pieces and make them kneel and beg for mercy!"
The King laughed maniacally, as if he had already pictured the scene of his victory in his mind.
Meanwhile, he turned to look at the herald. That smiling face, twisted by excitement, appeared exceptionally hideous.
"The people of Mason... that little bitch who killed her father and usurped the throne, how long until they arrive?"
The herald knelt on the ground, his body shaking like a sieve, his voice as soft as a mosquito's:
"To... to reply to Your Majesty, after breaching the border checkpoint, they didn't rest. They are advancing at full speed...
Going by the horse hooves just now, I'm afraid... I'm afraid they have already reached Ten-Mile Slope."
"Ten-Mile Slope?!"
The King acted as if stung by a poisonous wasp, jumping up violently and kicking the herald heavily in the chest.
The herald was kicked to the ground, clutching his chest with a face full of agony, but didn't dare utter a word.
"Trash! You bunch of ungrateful dogs!
Ten-Mile Slope is less than half an hour's journey from the Royal City, and you're only reporting it now?!
If I had known you were this useless, I should have killed you all sooner, killed you all!"
The King's mental defenses completely collapsed. He grabbed an expensive ivory ornament from the table and smashed it viciously onto the ground.
He paced frantically in the narrow space like a trapped beast, spewing foul insults:
"Sophia, that bitch! And Vasha, that ungrateful bastard!
How dare they... how dare they be this fast?!
Did they fly over riding the wind?! Ah?!"
As he cursed, he felt the ground beneath his feet softening, and even felt the surrounding walls pressing in on him.
"Quick! Bring me my armor! Pour all of Green's poison powder into the moat!
If This King dies, I will drag all the lowly commoners in the Royal City down with me!
This country is mine! No one even think about snatching it away!"
Outside the Royal City of the Kingdom of Orr, the wind and snow were heavy.
As the sky full of wind and snow sketched the silhouette of the Orr Royal City increasingly hideously, Mason's expeditionary force slowly pressed forward on the frontline battlefield.
However, just as everyone's attention was drawn to that steel torrent, an elite squad personally led by Vasha had already transformed into several silent, traceless shadows.
"Keep up!"
On the west side of the Orr Palace, at a long-abandoned underground drainage outlet covered in withered moss.
Vasha expressionlessly wiped the blood off her short blade. The hundred black musketeers following behind her moved with extreme agility, like felines walking through the dark night.
Just as she had said, she knew the thickness of every single brick and stone here like the back of her hand.
This was the place where she had lived for over a decade. Aside from the places the King of Orr forbade her from going, she clearly remembered what every brick and stone looked like elsewhere.
They bypassed the guards who were trapped in hallucinations and giggling at torches, heading straight for the stables in the rear palace.
"Move faster! Are the carriages ready? His Majesty is taking the secret passage!"
Near the stables, a few close guards loyal to the false king were frantically harnessing the carriages. The cabins were stuffed full of gold bricks hurriedly swept from the National Treasury.
"Who goes there?!"
A leading guard noticed the piercing chill in the air and abruptly turned around.
Answering him was a pitch-black blur.
Pfft—!
Vasha's short blade swiped past. Noticing the opponent wasn't completely dead, she immediately followed up with a precise slash to his carotid artery.
Fresh blood sprayed onto the snow, like a blooming Black Rose.
She was somewhat nervous.
After all, unlike Delilah, she was still relatively green when it came to combat. Being able to find the right spot on her second try was already quite good.
"Orr no longer has any carriages available for departure."
Vasha's voice was as cold as old snow in an ice cellar. She slowly stepped out from the shadows, looking at the terrified soldiers without a ripple of emotion in her eyes.
"Because this place is about to become a grave for all of you."
In less than three minutes, only a floor of cold corpses remained in the stables.
Vasha looked up at that towering yet rotting Bedchamber, her fingertips gently rubbing the hilt of her blade.
She had severed her 'Royal Father's' only path to survival.
Meanwhile, outside the main gates of the Orr Royal City.
Sophia's carriage came to a steady halt at the edge of the heavy crossbows' range.
When she lifted the curtain and looked up at the towering City wall, her originally placid pupils abruptly constricted. An unprecedented rage surged from the bottom of her heart.
"These animals..."
Delilah's knuckles, gripping her long staff, turned white, emitting a creaking sound.
They saw that the frost-covered battlements of the City wall were densely packed with several thousand subjects suspended by ropes!
Men were tied to the fronts of arrow towers, the elderly and women were roughly locked into the crevices of the wall bricks with iron chains, and what was worse, some terrified, crying children were hung in mid-air, becoming the most natural meat shields.
These subjects had purple faces, shivering in the freezing wind. Those desperate eyes were staring fixedly at the Mason army below the city.
"Sophia—!"
A young man wearing ornate armor, whose features bore some resemblance to the King of Orr.
The First Prince of Orr was standing at a high point on the City wall, wearing a near-maniacal, sinister smile on his face.
"Didn't you boast about being merciful?
Didn't you want to remove the title of 'Tyrant'?!
Come on! Fire!"
He viciously shoved an old woman hanging in front of him, letting her utter a mournful shriek in mid-air.
"As long as you dare to use those iron tubes, these lowly commoners you want to save will be blown to pieces first!
I want to see what face you have to call yourself a wise ruler after entering the city carrying the lives of several thousand people!"
As his words fell, the First Prince abruptly swung his hand down:
"Shoot! Turn these hypocritical Masonites into pincushions!"
Swish—! Swish—! Swish!
Countless poisoned arrows enveloped in chilling air poured down from the City wall like a dark cloud.
"Shield formation! Protect Your Majesty!"
Delilah let out a furious roar.
The eight hundred infantrymen quickly closed in, interlocking their refined steel shields with muffled clangs.
The arrowheads struck the shields, clattering to the ground with a cascade of pings.
"Your Majesty, what do we do?"
A herald braved the pressure to rush to the side of the carriage, asking anxiously.
"Our black muskets have their line of fire blocked by those subjects. If we don't clear the City wall, the casualties of a forced assault will be massive!"
Sophia sat inside the carriage, surrounded by the Holy Light fluctuations Daphne was emitting out of anger, and the sound of Irene gritting her teeth while fiddling with detonators.
Victor hid beneath the shields in the rear, looking at the bloody City wall ahead, his pen tip carving deep marks into the paper.
Evil... this is the most shameless dying struggle of the old era!
The false king is actually using the lives of living beings as chips, attempting to hijack Your Majesty's divinity.
The entire army was holding its breath, waiting for that Girl Tyrant... no, waiting for the final judgment of this Lord of Civilization.
Confronted with this multiple-choice question between mercy and victory, even gods would feel hesitant.
Your Majesty, how will you carve a path of salvation in this asura arena?
After finishing his record, Victor spat outside through the curtains.
This King of Orr was truly disgusting.
Sophia listened to the sound of arrows striking the shields outside the window, her golden eyes flashing with a cold light.
"Mercy?"
Sophia suddenly curled the corners of her mouth in self-deprecation, her tone exuding a domineering aura that made the hearts of everyone around her pound:
"Did he think This Queen would become timid just because of a few meat shields?
Since when did This Queen ever want the title of a wise ruler?
Has my moniker to the outside world not always been the Tyrant?"
Sophia's voice was amplified by Daphne's magic, making it so that even the First Prince far away on the City wall could hear it with absolute clarity.
Seemingly not expecting Sophia to be so arrogant, he still forcibly maintained his psychological defenses.
He laughed maniacally: "Stop pretending, those are human lives!
Even if you conquer this place later, having killed so many people, the subjects here will never submit to you!"
"Human lives?"
Sophia's words were weightless, as if she were discussing throwing away a few pieces of garbage.
"I certainly cannot let my own people get hurt because of a few subjects of an enemy country.
If they do not submit, then just kill them all."
With Sophia's order, although it might sound incredibly heartless at first listen, only the soldiers fighting desperately for the country knew the true weight of those words.
Your Majesty did not care about the people of other countries.
What Your Majesty cared about was the safety of these people right here!
"Did you hear... what Your Majesty just said?"
"She said she doesn't care about the lives of the enemy's subjects; she only cares about our safety!"
In this world, what king didn't constantly preach benevolence and morality, only to casually throw soldiers into pits of corpses to buy themselves a good reputation?
Only our Your Majesty, she would rather bear the infamy of a Tyrant herself to protect our lives in the palm of her hand.
She disdained to even put on a show of pity to expend our blood.
For such a King... even if it meant descending into hell, we would willingly pave the way for her!
Delilah's hand resting on the long staff at her waist suddenly tightened, a flash of profound appreciation appearing in her fiery red eyes.
"As expected of Your Majesty. At a time like this, showing even a hint of hesitation would have completely shattered the army's morale.
Since the enemy wants to play despicable tricks, we will use the utmost martial force to show them what absolute power means."
Upon the City wall, the First Prince, who was originally certain of victory, had his smile instantly freeze on his venomous face.
He was so astonished that he even let go of the rope he was holding, letting the suspended old woman sway in the cold wind.
"Madman... you madwoman!"
The First Prince roared hysterically, his voice cracking horribly due to extreme terror.
Gripping the cold battlements, he leaned half his body out, pointing at the rock-solid shield formation below and loudly trying to sow discord:
"Soldiers of Mason! Open your eyes and look! This is the Queen you serve!
She completely disregards the lives of civilians! Today she can watch helplessly as these several thousand people are shot to death, and tomorrow she can send you all to the guillotine for the sake of her so-called victory!
Are you still going to sell your lives for this kind of cold-blooded monster?!"
However, the response he received was not the mutiny or hesitation he expected.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
That was the sound of Mason's infantry rhythmically striking their refined steel shields with the hilts of their swords. The synchronized impacts sounded like muffled thunder, forcefully choking off the First Prince's clamor.
Not a single person replied, and not a single person even looked up at him.
Those pairs of eyes hidden beneath the shadows of their helmets merely stared fixedly at the city gates sealed with molten iron.
"Battering ram team, advance!"
Delilah's voice was calm and decisive.
Under the tight protection of dozens of heavy refined steel shields, a team of brawny Mason men with bulging muscles carried the giant battering ram—tipped with refined steel and as thick as two men's embrace—and charged madly toward the city gates.
"Heave—!"
Boom!!!
With the first loud crash, the ground of the entire Royal City seemed to tremble.
That immensely heavy city gate, originally sealed with molten iron, actually emitted a teeth-grinding groan of distortion under the impact.
"Stop staring! Quick! Bring things to brace it!"
Seeing the stone dust rustling down from the city gates, the First Prince's face turned deathly pale from extreme terror.
"Quick! All soldiers, take up your weapons and guard the gates!
If anyone takes a single step back, I'll kill their whole family!"
The Orr soldiers inside the City wall had already fallen into total chaos. Some were trying to transport stones down from the wall, while others, terrified by the First Prince, were scrambling and crawling to shove iron bars into the gaps of the gates.
"Boom—!!!"
The giant ironwood-composite gate finally couldn't hold out against the absolute brute force.
An iron hoop in the center of the door snapped with a crack, and splintered wood shards flew wildly in the air.
"Boom—!!!!!"
Accompanied by an earth-shattering crash of collapse, that gate, which symbolized the final dignity of Orr's royal authority, had a massive hole smashed right through it!
The Orr soldiers originally piled behind the door to resist the impact were like a swarm of kicked ants, blown backward by the immense shockwave. The sounds of breaking bones and screams instantly blended together.
"The city gate is breached! Warriors of Mason—kill!"
Delilah swept her long staff horizontally and, taking the lead, darted through the breached gap like a flash of red lightning.
"Kill!!!"
The new recruits, who could no longer hold back, surged wildly into the city like beasts released from a cage, brandishing their longswords and black muskets.
The narrow corridor behind the city gates instantly transformed into a meat grinder.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Those were the sparks produced by sword blades colliding with armor at high speeds.
Amidst the chaotic melee at the gates, a few Mason rookies who had just put down their hoes a few days ago were clearly still unaccustomed to this rhythm of drawing blood with every strike.
"Ouch! Where are you thrusting that spear!"
A short rookie rolled awkwardly on the ground, his helmet knocked askew.
Before him, two veteran heavy armor infantrymen of the Kingdom of Orr were pressing forward step by step, their eyes full of mocking amusement as if watching a play.
"Is Mason truly out of men?"
One of the Orr veterans let out a gruff, sinister laugh. He looked at these few rookies whose hands holding swords were even trembling slightly, as if looking at lambs waiting to be slaughtered.
"You dare come besiege a city wearing such weird-looking armor?
Little babies, go home and drink milk!"
The longsword chopped down with a whoosh, directly knocking the iron sword out of a Mason rookie's hand.
"Die! In your next life, remember to reincarnate under a rich King!"
The Orr soldier grinned from ear to ear, raising his broadsword high, looking as if he were about to cleave the young man in front of him in half.
However, at this critical, life-or-death moment, the Mason rookie, who had originally been backing away in terror, stopped moving in a bizarre fashion.
Not only did he not dodge, but he actually reached into the massive pocket of his baggy sportswear with an expression of relief.
"It's stuck... Lord Irene just had to make these pockets so deep!"
Right when the Orr soldier's blade was less than ten centimeters from his forehead, the young rookie finally pulled out that pitch-black 'black tube' radiating a metallic cold light.
Bang—!!!
A deafening explosion rang out, and gunpowder smoke instantly permeated the air.
That Orr soldier who had just been laughing arrogantly had his entire head burst open like a smashed watermelon by a heavy hammer. His laughter stopped abruptly, and his heavy body knelt onto the ground with a thud from momentum, shaking up a ring of snow dust.
The remaining Orr soldier's smile instantly froze. He completely petrified on the spot, still maintaining his thrusting posture, his eyeballs nearly popping out.
The Mason rookie somewhat disdainfully fanned away the black smoke in front of his eyes while rubbing his wrist, which was numb from the recoil.
He looked down at the thoroughly dead corpse on the ground, revealing an extremely innocent, almost naive smile:
"Brother, why aren't you laughing anymore? Weren't you pretty happy just now?"
Seeing this, another rookie nearby who was being suppressed also followed suit. He backhandedly drew the short fire gun hidden at his waist and fired a shot directly into the armor gap of the enemy in front of him.
These few foolish-looking fellows exchanged glances. Looking at the surrounding Orr veterans trapped in petrification and horror, they once again pulled out spare gunpowder from their pockets and clumsily reloaded.
As they reloaded, they kept their eyes fixed ahead, deeply afraid the people in front of them would run away.
This scene fell into the eyes of Delilah in the distance, making the corner of her mouth twitch involuntarily.
Although these rookies' swordsmanship was an absolute mess, this method of reasoning through physics truly had a bit of Your Majesty's charm.
Although there were quite a few Orr soldiers, after experiencing the terror of the black muskets and witnessing the city gates being smashed to pieces with their own eyes, their morale had long plummeted to the freezing point.
Due to the crowded corridor, many Orr soldiers couldn't even manage to raise the spears in their hands before being pushed to the ground by their surging comrades from behind.
The Mason soldiers showed no mercy. The sounds of longswords piercing flesh rose and fell, and fresh blood spread across the icy ground, emitting steam.
"Hold them! Hold them back for me!"
The First Prince waved his hands frantically on the City wall, only to find that the defenders beneath his feet had already begun a large-scale rout.
Sophia sat inside the carriage, listening to the continuous sounds of metal clashing and the roars that only victors possessed echoing from afar. She gently smoothed out the creases on her fox fur.
____
________________________________________
🌸 Help Love Bloom!
Our girls need a little push... and you can help!
💖 Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 50 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter to warm your hearts.
🚀 Community Reward: If we reach 20 supporting members, we'll have a +5 chapter marathon across all stories! The romance won't stop.
👻 Come to our secret corner: Search for GirlsLove on (P). You know that's where the magic happens... 😉