Chapter 315

Chapter 101 – Intent to Kill

“It seems that the gate here has been sealed off. When we left, the Ironclad Guards seemed to be planning to attack the weaker southern city gate; most of the defense force might have been moved to the south…”

Margaret pondered for a moment, then pointed at a tall watchtower on the distant city wall near the main gate of the north wall: “There’s definitely someone up there. It hasn’t fully dawned yet; perhaps no one can see us from here. We should go over there—”

“Margaret.”

I interrupted her, lifting my head to gaze at the imposing city wall ahead.

“Can you climb up?”

Margaret seemed taken aback and turned her head: “I probably can’t… What do you want to do?”

“I want…”

I lifted my leg, sidestepped, supported the Holy Maiden’s waist, and slowly climbed down from the beast’s back, landing, and tightening my grip on Captain Gray’s hand.

Soon, other cavalry would discover the issue and come. Margaret might need to deal with them. She didn’t want to move herself or let me move… There were certainly people at the main gate of the north, but during this special period, trying to get them to open the gate would only delay things further. I couldn’t wait any longer.

I needed to jump up from here.

“Let’s go up from here. I’ll carry you…”

Even without black flames, using the Ice Order could achieve it, though the Holy Maiden would freeze… She might even fall flat on her face, but she should be fine, right?

Isn’t there a Featherfall Miracle…

I anxiously looked at Margaret, but she hesitated, showing no intention of getting off the beast’s back.

“This is illegal entry. As the Holy Maiden… this is absolutely not allowed. Moreover, once anyone sees us, the defense force will treat us as invaders, which would cause unnecessary trouble.”

“We don’t have time to worry about that now!”

What else matters!

“Especially at this time, we must be more rational.”

“Rational…”

I gritted my teeth and stared at her for a moment.

Forget it…

Even if I carried her in, without the horned beasts, Margaret’s speed would surely slow down, and I couldn’t carry her all the time. Since she disagrees, we should split up.

“I’ll go in first.”

After making up my mind, I stepped toward the city wall. Frost mist rose from beneath my feet as I turned back: “First, find Victoria. Then, go to the church… to find you…”

“Wait—”

Bang!

Ice columns sprang up, and a petite figure leaped into the sky.

Below, Margaret shouted: “Emergency situation! Shoot ice spears into the sky! Try to make me know your location—”

“Okay!”

In the next moment, an ice platform formed beneath my feet. I stepped onto it and shot upward another dozen meters, accompanied by the howling wind, flipping onto the wall and standing steady.

Looking out over the city.

The north was quiet. Perhaps because it hadn’t fully dawned, the hazy streets were almost empty, and there were few people on the walls. In the distance, there seemed to be guards moving, but they were too far to see clearly, and it felt like they noticed me.

No matter, Margaret will explain to them…

I sprinted two steps, then leaped off the wall.

I had to hurry…

Where would Victoria be…

Houses and streets whizzed past beneath me. I ran across rooftops, wrapped in flickering ice crystals, like a bird flying swiftly over the city.

The loose nun’s habit flapped violently in the wind, and my jet-black hair danced wildly. I held my robe with one hand and gripped the giant scythe tightly with the other, biting my lip and jumping and running with all my might.

The city’s houses and doors were closed. The usually bustling streets and markets were now deserted. Occasionally, civilians ran by in the distance, seemingly heading towards the main gate of the north. Sometimes, overturned baskets and stalls could be seen along the roads, and startled faces flashed by the windows.

Something is very wrong…

My heart grew increasingly anxious.

What happened in the city…

Soon after, voices echoed from afar.

“…Get up, move on…”

Dozens of meters away, in the dim fog, someone dragged something backward, and after a few moments, others came to help, followed by the brief cries of men.

That was…

I stepped onto the roof and jumped again, quickly approaching the figures. Soon, I saw that they were the defense force.

Their armor was stained with blood, swords drawn, dragging their fallen comrades, filled with sorrow and confusion.

What’s going on…

I jumped down from a nearby roof, landing not far from them.

Thud.

“Who are you?!”

The defense soldiers were startled by the noise I made and quickly stood up, swords drawn, eyes wary.

“What happened?!”

I didn’t approach, shouting from about seven or eight meters away.

But no one answered.

“Where is Her Majesty the Queen?!”

After I shouted this, I noticed their eyes became even more wary, pointing their swords at me and quickly retreating.

“I’m her friend!”

“Don’t ask us…” someone replied.

Seeing them willing to speak, I immediately shouted again: “What happened to you? Where is the battle?”

“South… other details unknown…”

They quickly retreated into an alley, disappearing from my sight.

I didn’t chase them. The soldiers’ alertness was too strong, their spirits in an extremely tense state. Such people are hard to communicate with, but their condition and reaction sank my heart to the bottom.

Why are the defense forces acting like this…

This is inside the city…

Those people were clearly fleeing somewhere. They had fought, their companions severely injured and dying, without treatment, and with no hope of victory. They just wanted to hide… What kind of situation would lead to this?

I didn’t want to think further, my heart full of shock and disbelief. My Order power surged wildly, flying swiftly over the city, heading south.

More civilians were fleeing in panic below.

Soon after, faint shouts of battle echoed ahead.

My heart jolted.

After flying another distance, the thin fog ahead cleared. I focused my eyes and saw soldiers running and shouting on the street dozens of meters to the left. They were retreating toward the north, and it was impossible to tell how many there were. On the other side, a flood of iron riders charged out from the alleys, raising their swords, killing everything in their path.

“Ahhh—”

As the cries of battle erupted, flesh and blood flew everywhere. The infantry, who had lost their fighting spirit, were powerless against the cavalry. The charging cavalry cut through the crowd like a sharp blade, leaving a trail of blood.

Soldiers scattered in retreat, screams echoing endlessly. People cried out: “Fight back! Fight back—” but few responded. Soon after, the person shouting clashed with the charging cavalry, and their head was sliced off by the second sword.

This scene sent a chill through me.

Soon, I discovered two other groups of soldiers clashing several streets away.

The situation there seemed to have reached a stalemate. People fought amidst chaos, countless swords clashing, horned beasts charging and falling with sticky blood, hooves scattering everywhere.

Kicking, the cavalryman trapped under the giant beast tried to crawl out but was stabbed through the chest by a soldier beside him with a sword. The soldier who had done so was then struck down by an arrow that came from nowhere.

The gruesome scene flashed past before me and I left it behind.

Flying further south, the battlefields became more frequent, with small and large clashes everywhere. Some were individual fights between three or five men, while others involved dozens of soldiers clashing fiercely. The once bustling streets were now filled with street battles, blood, and corpses. Among those who fell were civilians in plain clothes, but most were guards in full silver armor.

It wasn’t a breach of the city.

Whether they were cavalry or infantry, the living or the dead, both sides wore almost identical armor and wielded similar weapons, the only difference being the insignias on their cloaks and the ribbons tied around their wrists.

Those fighting the guards were not ironclad guards, but also guards.

I stood on a rooftop, watching the scenes unfold below in the streets, hearing the deafening cries of battle, my lips trembling as a single word echoed repeatedly in my mind.

Mutiny…

Bam—

An arrow shot into the wall beside me, its feather quivering slightly.

“Surrender!”

“We surrender—”

In the midst of the fighting, someone dropped their sword, wiped their blood-streaked face, and raised their hands high above their heads.

“Why… why is this happening?!”

“We’re all brothers—”

His cry was drowned out in the splattering of blood.

Nearby, someone broke through the wooden door of a civilian house with a loud bang, followed by several others who rushed in after him. Moments later, screams of terror came from within the house.

“Help! Don’t kill me, don’t kill me—”

“Drop your sword! Or I’ll kill her…”

“Aaah—”

Before I could react, the sounds inside the house abruptly stopped. A soldier covered in blood emerged, holding a bloody longsword, looking at me without expression before turning and charging towards the retreating soldiers.

Many civilians couldn’t hold back and ran out of their houses, only to be hit by stray arrows, trampled by beasts, or have their throats slit by frenzied soldiers. Women let out hoarse and desperate screams as they were dragged by their hair into dark alleys.

Seeing this, I instinctively leaped off the roof and charged into the alley.

The soldier already had the woman pinned down, roughly tearing at her dress. She struggled, but she couldn’t overpower the strong man, and her clothes were torn to shreds, exposing her flesh.

“Scoundrel!”

With a surge of rage, I stepped onto the moon step like a hurricane, swinging my scythe in front of the stunned soldier. Amidst her screams, I cut off his head.

His head flew up high.

Blood gushed from his neck like a fountain, staining the woman’s hair and face. His body swayed, falling on top of her.

“Are you alright…?”

I reached out to help her up.

“Aaaah, aaaah—”

The woman screamed frantically, struggling to crawl out from under the soldier, ignoring me completely. Half-naked, she fled for her life.

Only a headless corpse twitched alone.

My hand was trembling.

All around me were the sounds of clashing weapons and the cries of battle, my mind blank. Suddenly, footsteps sounded behind me.

I jumped, turning sharply to face two soldiers who had run into the alley. They froze when they saw me, stopping their retreat.

Their sudden appearance caught them off guard. Before they could react, they saw the blood-stained scythe in my hand and the headless corpse ahead. They turned to flee again.

I immediately lunged forward, grabbing one by the collar.

“Aaah!”

The soldier cried out, instinctively swinging his sword, which I dodged by sidestepping. I released my grip, raising my hand to slap his helmet.

Clang!

“What’s going on!” I shouted.

“What happened!”

The soldier was dazed by the blow, staggering a few steps, clutching his head and shaking. “I don’t know… I don’t know… Everything went crazy… We started fighting… We received orders to defend the city ten minutes ago… Then ten minutes later we were ordered to ambush the cavalry… It all went haywire… I’m not fighting anymore… I’m not fighting…”

“Where is Her Majesty!”

“I don’t know… I’ve never seen Her Majesty… I haven’t seen anyone… Everything’s chaos… God, have mercy on me…”

He dropped his sword with a clang, his lips trembling as he looked at me a few times. Seeing I didn’t intend to stop him, he fled.

I didn’t chase him.

Turning to look at the direction where the woman had fled, I stood there for a moment, ice crystals bursting beneath my feet as I leaped back onto the rooftop.

Continuing to fly south.

Dazedly, I arrived at Longdor Street.

Standing on the road stained brown with blood, I looked at the corpses lying across the street. My feet felt sticky, and the stench of blood was nauseating.

Victoria…

After a while, I hurried toward No. 2 residence.

The guards’ bodies lay haphazardly in front of No. 2 and No. 3 residences, but this side was quiet; the fighting had been over for some time.

The main gate was open. Not wanting to step on the bodies, I used the moon step to jump over them, gazing at the blood-soaked lawn in the courtyard. Besides countless guards’ bodies, there were also three corpses of the Canny Blades.

They had been here…

They must have come looking for Victoria…

But there were no signs of wind blades cutting through anything.

The inner doors were also open.

I walked in trembling, stepping over a maid lying in a pool of blood, passing through the devastated living room, and climbing to the second floor, entering Victoria’s bedroom.

This place had been ransacked.

The wardrobe was overturned, drawers were pulled open, jewelry was gone, bedding was slashed, but there was no one on the bed.

She’s not here…

“Huuu—”

My legs gave way, leaning against the wall, panting heavily.

How could she be here…

What am I doing…

Dazedly, I walked to the balcony, about to leap away when my gaze inadvertently swept over our own courtyard.

The soil in the lawn had been overturned.

Walls had collapsed, flower beds and fountains were shattered, water poured onto the soil, seeping into the ground. Nearby lay a corpse of a Canny Blade and two people in cloaks.

The honey tree had fallen.

It seemed as if someone had manipulated the soil, overturning the entire courtyard. I could picture the scene: the Canny Blades fighting, leaping onto rooftops, the battlefield gradually shifting to No. 3 residence. They landed in the courtyard, using the power of the soil to throw everything aside…

Bam—

Ice pillars rose beneath my feet, my body arcing through the air. In the next moment, I landed in front of the fallen honey tree.

A few unripe fruits lay scattered at my feet.

I picked one up, brushed off the mud, opened my mouth, and took a bite, chewing slowly.

…It’s so sour.

It’s not ripe yet.

I stood there for a long time, thinking many things.

A feeling named “kill intent” gradually welled up from my heart.