A loud bang.
Immediately, there was a continuous harsh noise, accompanied by a sour sound, and a city gate slammed into the ground.
Everything happened so suddenly that the royal army in the city couldn't even react. The scouts on the city wall did not find any sign of the army approaching, but the solid city gate was destroyed in an instant.
The archers aimed at the rising smoke, the shield soldiers erected their giant shields, and the mages in the back row were ready to throw spells. The soldiers clenched their swords. Just waiting for the inexplicable intruder to reveal his figure.
But what appeared first in the smoke was not a human figure, but a huge emblem. Soldiers were all too familiar with that emblem—the emperor used this spell to start every big event.
Royal edict.
The esoteric spells of the Alban royal family are mainly used for the domination of the middle and lower clergy of the Ruddism. In peacetime, royal families who have been granted certain powers are also happy to use it to show their identity. Looking at the entire Alban at present, there are only two people who are qualified to use this spell - except for Princess Delia, who is not qualified to learn because she is underage, it stands to reason that only emperors and princes should use this spell.
And although the special coercion from it was not the same as what they had felt, the overall aura did not seem to be fake.
This is impossible.
Most people can guess the basic routine of the above big men's struggles, except for a few unrealistic romantics, everyone knows that the princess on Marshal Gallagher's side can't be the real thing. Andrea Alastair had long since passed away, and her body was sealed in a coffin, decaying in a tomb in the imperial mausoleum.
Where did this royal edict come from
"I know you're confused, I'll keep it short." A slightly hoarse female voice sounded.
"I'm Andrea Alastair, that's all." A slender and sturdy female warrior clenched her spear - while the smoke was scattered, she didn't know when she slipped to a nearby roof. At this moment, she was half-squatting on the edge of the sloping roof, smiling brightly at them, the spear entwined with lightning.
Terribly short, messy short hair, a long ugly scar on the right eyebrow, and amber eyes flashing like a beast. No matter how you look at this woman, she is a low-level person who has been rolling in blood all year round. Her heroic spirit is mixed with bandit spirit, and she does not have the "noble elegance" of royal blood at all.
And behind her stood an armored warrior. Although his face was covered by the helmet, and no skin could be seen, judging from the fineness of the high-end armor, the characters inside were definitely not simple.
"I'm not going to give a sad tearjerker speech," the woman dressed as a soldier continued. "Next, I'll rush into the palace to show you my eldest brother who died a long time ago, and by the way, beat my brother who is addicted to acting and has the same father and mother."
She stood up and threw the end of the hunting spear to the ground, and the white and purple thunder and lightning danced wider.
"Your king is dead. Now you have two choices - first, consider your own family, consider the recent abnormality of the emperor, and retreat wisely. Anyway, I played the banner of the princess, so it is reasonable Yuan, no one can pursue you with military orders."
The woman called the princess shouted, her voice soaked with sneer.
"Secondly, if some friends are really eager to get ahead, or have already regarded my incompetent prince brother as the real master. Then please, come and kill me, we will risk our lives and fight in an upright manner."
If there was no royal edict, the soldiers would have been happy to rush up and run over this nonsense woman. But the huge white emblem still remained in the air, and the majestic magic fluctuations continued. There was a brief confusion among the soldiers. Some commanders were still carefully observing the magic symbol, while others were impulsive—
"It's all lies!" one of the commanders shouted, "attack, I'll take care of it if something goes wrong!"
An grinned, and flew a kiss to the chaotic army below, jumped to the adjacent roof, and quickly advanced towards the royal palace in the center of the royal city.
The mage's spell smashed at her feet, and she deftly avoided it. Pure evasion doesn't matter, the princess of Alban carelessly exposed the royal emblem on her left arm, and by the way kept throwing the royal edict in the city, causing chaos.
Probably did not expect the other party to slip so fast, and the commanders who insisted on defending the city were all stunned for ten seconds before they reacted.
"Defend the palace!" Most of their instructions conveyed this meaning.
"They must be assassins, we have to defend Your Majesty!"
Although the enemy was in chaos, the female warrior's side was not too smooth.
"Where's the leather shop here?" An stopped at the edge of a building and turned to Marshal Gallagher beside him.
"I don't have the habit of buying skins in the lower city, Your Highness." Marshal Gallagher gritted his teeth.
"Oh, then I'll ask another question." An lowered his head and snorted at the pursuers under the house. "Do you know the nearest sewer entrance?"
I don't know if it was an illusion, but even through the thick armor, Ann could smell the panic of the other party.
"Of course not!" The marshal raised his voice unusually, his intonation a little sharper.
A huge fireball hit him head on, and the half-collapsed abandoned house in the lower city was completely turned into ruins. An landed beautifully, and then clenched the spear in his hand.
"It's not meant to be captured alive." She lowered her voice. "I'll confirm it one last time. You should know who I am, right?"
"The glory of the Alastair family cannot be stained, and I will always be loyal to Lord Eldric." The leading soldier roared. "Even if you're a real princess, you don't have the right to touch the throne—reduced to a woman sitting on the throne, Alban is all over! I'm sorry, you have to die here—"
"Very good, I see your enlightenment." An said.
"Someone is flanking behind." Marshal Gallagher whispered, "Although your strength is good, I still recommend you..."
"It's too long-winded." An spat, "Help me stand up to the people behind me, Mr. Wild Dog."
"you-"
Before Gallagher could start a sentence, the female warrior disappeared.
Lightning flashed, she ghostly flashed beside the soldiers of the soldier who had just spoken. Then a warm mist of blood slammed into the early morning air.
The soldier's body fell heavily in a pool of blood, while his head rested in Ann's hands.
"Is there anyone else?" She threw the head with her eyes open to the chasing team in front of her, her voice cold.
"I said, if you really want to kill me, then we will risk our lives and fight in an upright manner. Of course, you can go up together."
The white light of the royal edict lit up again. It couldn't control the soldiers in front of him who had nothing to do with the Radhist religion, but the oppressive feeling made it hard to breathe - the female warrior didn't seem to know what exhaustion was. Her killing intent was mixed with grief, thick and sharp.
The princess of Alban, dressed in ordinary leather armor, was sprayed with the blood of her enemies.
"Come on!" she growled. The high-level magic of the Alban royal family unfolded in an instant, and a thunder beam with a thick wrist was ready to go behind her like a serpent. "Warrior to warrior, cowards!"
Gallagher used a sword dance with a stun spell to eliminate most of the soldiers in front of him. After recognizing the opponent's iconic fighting style, the remaining soldiers lost their will to fight and retreated from the battlefield - I don't know if it was to call for reinforcements. , or simply escape.
Unfortunately, to guard the princess, Gallagher looked at the back of the group of deserters mournfully, grinding his back molars. Immediately he instinctively looked back at the princess—even after a long battle, he was shocked when Marshal Gallagher saw the scene behind him.
The situation on Ann's side was similar to his, and the battle was basically over, but she had no intention of chasing the deserters. The female warrior still had a broken sword stuck in her body, and a few deep stab wounds were added to her bare left arm. She didn't say a word, propped up the ground with her hunting spear, and there was a piece of intestines hanging from her leather armor.
"It's settled," she said coldly. "I recognize this place, come with me now."
"You need treatment!"
"Small injury, can't die."
An neatly pulled out the broken sword on his body and cast a hemostatic spell on the wound, as if he could not feel the pain. After making sure the blood won't continue to drip, leaving a traceable trail to the enemy. She grabbed Gallagher's arm with one hand and dragged him in a certain direction: "Quick, follow me."
After half an hour, the sewer.
Ann leaned against the wall wearily. She took out a simple treatment paper roll from her pocket and further treated the wounds on her body. Then he took out a piece of astringent and greasy dry food, ignoring the foul-smelling sewers, and just stuffed a few pieces into his stomach.
Marshal Gallagher stood restrained, obviously not wanting to touch the slippery and dirty sewer walls with anything other than the soles of his shoes.
"Sorry," Ann said. "There will be a tough battle at the palace. We have to minimize the number of battles. Sewers have always been the best option."
"I know," Gallagher said sullenly.
The two were silent for a while.
Gallagher picked up the sword as Ann frowned and threw the gut aside. The marshal did not know where to pull out a piece of cloth and carefully wiped the blood from the blade of the sword. As if smelling the smell of fresh meat, a fat mouse quickly slipped past the wall and rushed straight towards the blood-stained intestines.
It brushed against Gallagher's feet, who shivered visibly.
Another person may not notice it, but Alban, an unusually homey princess, is not an ordinary person. The moment the armor made a soft sound, she almost immediately realized that something was wrong with the marshal—
Gallagher sighed and closed his eyes for the taunts that the savage princess was about to throw.
"It's alright." Ann's tone was flat, "I killed it and threw it into the water. This thing has poisonous teeth, and a bite will kill you. If you don't know how to do it, just say hello."
Sounds like a complete chat.
"You really..." Gallagher didn't know what to say.
Gallagher Salter had always had no fondness for Alban's aristocratic women, and his father even thought he liked men at one point. At the age of thirty-seven, Gallagher was not without a lover, but it was not long enough, and both parties knew that it was what they wanted.
They don't love him, and he doesn't love them either. Very simple relationship.
While many people don't mind whether there is love in a marriage, Gallagher thinks he does. He doesn't want a wife who doesn't have anything in common, it's that simple. Compared with having a useless relationship with a weak and ignorant lady, he is more interested in galloping on the battlefield.
There are so many women. And no matter what, they are inseparable from moodiness and sentimentality. They are weak and can't do anything great.
He had always believed so.
To be honest, Gallagher Salter didn't like the rude princess at all. She exists outside of his cognition, which makes him feel uncomfortable and panic from the bottom of his heart. He was loyal to her simply because she had the blood of the Alastair family in her veins, and she could help him fulfill the Emperor's will.
Also a very simple relationship.
Gallagher, on the other hand, could sense the princess' disgust for him. In every respect, they are two completely opposite types of people. At the moment, it's just two mature people working together rationally and calmly to get what they need in this war.
He had been waiting calmly for a taunt.
Gallagher didn't like to expose his fear of mice very much, and even his cleanliness was carefully controlled. Although his subordinates won't say much, the nobles love to talk a lot, and insiders always like to mix this with contempt. And those who have a little affection for him tend to comfort him—
"This little weakness will not affect your merits," they said.
No one ever told him that it "doesn't matter".
But the rude woman in front of her ignored this topic very indifferently.
"What's wrong with me?" Ann stood up, blood still on the leather armor. "I said, are you waiting for me to laugh at you... I don't see that you still have such an interest, Master Marshal."
"... I just don't think this reaction is like yours." Marshal Gallagher kept a distance of about three steps from the female warrior walking in front.
"There's nothing wrong with fear." Ann's tone was very serious, and she quickened her pace without looking back. "Besides, who would like to have nothing to fear—why should I laugh at you when you can't control yourself? I'm annoyed by your chin that's raised too high."
"I need to apologize to you for this. You are different from other women, and it is my attitude that is wrong."
This time it was Ann's turn to be silent for a long time.
"So I still hate you. Listen, everyone is different."
Then there was a bit of anger in her voice: "...but most people never get the chance to 'choose'."
Willard Frontier.
Jesse Dylan, with his blond hair ruffled by the wind, groaned in grievance and slowly chewed a small cake mixed with tea leaves on his horse. Adrian followed him silently, looking at the border line not far away.
"This is abuse," Jesse said indignantly after eating the cake. "The capital is so good, this place can't even catch a fat rabbit. Ed, do you want some cake? I specially reserved the last piece for you."
"No." The knight commander deftly refused. "And you've said it three times. We obviously have very different definitions of what 'the last piece' means."
"Oh, don't do that. How could I have the heart to lie to you!" Jesse pouted. "It's like, every time I break off half of what's left—there's always a piece left, dear, why not Promise me quickly."
"I don't like to eat cake crumbs." Adrien was calm.
"I... oh, it's that little girl." Jesse raised his eyebrows at the black communication crystal, "Our deputy head will play more and more tricks, and this thing really works."
"Jesse Dylan?" Delia's voice came from there.
"Yes, yes. Little Highness. What are your orders?"
"Willard will attack our defense line today. I hope you can pass this information to the generals on the frontier. If possible, I hope you will also help defeat Willard's army."
"Oh—" Jesse stretched his voice, "If I'm not mistaken, Marshal Gallagher has already hit the royal city, shouldn't you be concerned about something else?"
"I'm caring about what I should care about most." The communication through Cat Beard was a little vague, but they could still hear the firmness in the little princess' voice. "Mr. Cross is a Garlander, but you are registered in Alban. I think I have the right to order you, Mr. Dylan."
Jesse burst into a good laugh. "Of course, my little highness, I will not disappoint you."
The black communication crystal went out, and Adrian frowned. "Enemy attack?"
"That little girl has some skills, Ed. Guess what?"
Jesse wiped the cake crumbs from her mouth, sounding very pleasant.
"As a 'fortune teller', I totally agree with her guess."
Delia was not very skilled in interrupting contact, and bowed her head in front of the cleaning maid. She hid the cat's beard in the palm of her hand—even though she was terribly afraid of spiders, a maddening emotion now overwhelmed the fear. The itching in her palms would no longer make her tremble, but instead made her feel a strange warmth.
She could feel the emotions of this little thing, innocent and ignorant, without any malice at all. She liked it, very much.
No wonder the mother wanted to get close to the prince as soon as possible, perhaps this is the reason why Prince Eldric kept himself alive.
pity…
After the maid left, Delia stood up straight. She took out the long-hidden sharp knife from the fruit basket—it was just a harmless knife, she stole it from the dinner table, and Catbeard helped her make some small adjustments.
She lifted her heavy skirt and fixed the knife beside her lace-up stockings. For the day, she wore a dress with a huge bow on one side that could be slipped on and off at the side.
If she was right, it's time.
"Goodbye, dear uncle," she said softly, with a sweet smile on the air.