### Chapter 31: The Choir of Saints’ Operation (Part One)
“I’m telling you—”
On the snowy hills, the wind howled through the torches, making them flicker and dance. The burly warriors of the Northern Army were laughing and joking, their spirits high. The Squad Leader, nearing thirty, felt a hand clasp his shoulder and turned to see a familiar comrade.
The man, about the same age, was a seasoned veteran with quite a few kills under his belt. He was currently chewing on some stimulating herbs when he said with a grin, “Leader, it’s about time, don’t you think? Let’s take one last circle around the south of the city, hand things over to Kantar, and then go grab a drink, how about it?”
“Sounds good!”
The Squad Leader beamed and nodded. Just then, a young warrior, shouting for the refugees to collect their soup, piped up, “Count me in, Boss! I want to kick back with you guys too.”
“Me too! Me too!”
“If there’s wine, count me in! Oh, and Staf, I remember you did particularly well during this siege, didn’t His Majesty Skarlij personally commend you? Didn’t you even get a barrel of snow wine as a reward? Hehehe…”
“Shush! What snow wine? That’s just nonsense…”
Several warriors chimed in, one playfully ruffling the young warrior’s hair, making his helmet go all crooked. “Hey! What are you doing mixing in here, you little rascal? We’re off to the adults’ realm; those famished beauties in the Royal City are probably anxiously waiting for us heroic warriors to show them some love…”
“Who knows, we might pinch a few cheeks from those haughty noble ladies. You know, the ones with the soft, round features… This whole thing was already on your lips when you were at Baihao City.”
“And then it’ll be one beauty in each arm, a drink in hand—good heavens, can you handle that scene? A true rookie!”
The young warrior flushed a bit but puffed up his neck, trying to look unbothered. Before he could retort, someone else chimed in, “Well, perfect! Tonight, we’ll show him the ropes—”
“Hahahaha!”
The warriors laughed as they packed their things and climbed down the snow slope, linking arms and heading toward the southern city wall. Just a few steps in, they suddenly spotted a figure approaching from afar.
In the hazy orange light, it looked like a woman.
She wore an unassuming cloak, her hair disheveled, moving slowly with her head down, clearly portraying the image of a cold, hungry refugee. With so many similar souls roaming the city, the warriors barely paid her any mind, allowing her to pass. One even wolf-whistled and teased, “Hey, little girl, lift your head so I can see your face. If you’re pretty, Grandpa will cover your food and drink tonight!”
The speaker was just messing around—how good could a woman wandering outside the city possibly look? The slightly decent ones probably found a way to survive by now, while the rest were just waiting for a bad end.
To their surprise, the woman stopped beside him, lifted her head slowly, and said, “R-Really…?”
A fair, healthy face with tanned skin, wearing a touch of light purple lip color, and her lively, deep brown eyes were clearly illuminated by the torchlight.
“Whoa!”
The man was momentarily stunned, his lips curling up into a playful smirk.
“Hey now, this is starting to get interesting…”
He reached out, brushing her hair back to get a better look, making sounds of approval before turning back to his comrades. “Hey, this girl’s not bad!”
“Let me see! Let me see!”
That soldier took a couple of steps closer, inspecting her face. “Hmm, she’s a bit thin, but her features are simple and clean… Which noble house does she belong to, and how did she end up here?”
He then shouted ahead, “Hey, Boss! Don’t leave—let’s give this girl some water! First, let’s ask some questions. If she’s innocent, we might just save her!”
He was clearly in a good mood, and everyone knew what he meant by “saving a life.”
But just as they all relaxed, a dull thud echoed out, sounding like someone heavy striking armor. They turned to see the comrade who had just been brushing the woman’s hair go limp, collapsing like a rag doll.
Thud!
The torch went out, burying him in the snow with his face down, completely motionless.
The remaining soldiers froze, their eyes instinctively darting to the small, frail woman who had just passed by.
Then, they watched as she smiled strangely at them.
“Why don’t you go play with your mother in the city?”
Whoosh—
The punch sliced through the air, hitting one soldier squarely in the face.
He only felt a dizzying rush, his cheeks going numb before everything went black, the only realization being that a few of his teeth seemed to have flown out—the pain arrived too late; his consciousness faded immediately.
In just one second, two men were down. The five remaining Northern warriors snapped into action. They were battle-hardened; even though they weren’t originally part of the Shanter Army and had joined only two years ago, they were skilled warriors from the North.
After two years of training and learning from powerful hunters, their instincts for danger were highly honed. Even without clearly seeing how she struck, and despite her being just a woman, the moment they heard the sound of swords being drawn, the man known as the Captain led the charge, anger flashing across his face as he hurled the torches at her and swung his sword at the mysterious woman, aiming to end things in one blow.
However—
The woman sidestepped the incoming torch, standing still, showing no intention of moving. Shadow obscured her face, making it hard to see her expression. As the Squad Leader’s sword advanced, she slowly raised her hand and, with a clang, squeezed the sword with just two fingers, trapping it with unreasonable strength—no matter how red-in-the-face he got, he couldn’t push it any further.
“d*mn it…”
The Squad Leader gritted his teeth, muttering a curse. In that moment, he recognized this was no ordinary situation.
She’s strong…
This strange woman was clearly not someone they could handle. He figured they wouldn’t last long; they were clearly outmatched.
For someone like this to appear disguised as a refugee was a very dangerous signal…
In a flash, the man turned to look back—by this time, the other three comrades had already circled around him, launching a furious assault aimed straight at the woman’s head. The only one lagging behind was the young warrior, still a few steps from joining the fray.
“Sound the horn!”
The Squad Leader’s eyes widened, barking the command.
But the young warrior, having seen the Captain’s sword easily blocked by the woman, already knew what to do. He hesitated for a moment then quickly dug a bone whistle from his chest plate, taking a deep breath, ready to sound the alarm.
As soon as he blew the whistle, all the patrolling soldiers would come rushing to help. He recalled that Lady Annie was supposed to be in the vicinity.
But just as he was about to blow the whistle, a sudden whoosh. Another cloaked figure appeared right in front of him.
This time, it was a tall man.
He moved even faster than the woman—before the young warrior processed what happened, the whistle was snatched from his hands. Looking down, the man toyed with it briefly, then, with a punch enveloped in glowing energy, struck the young warrior squarely in the gut!
The young warrior’s eyes went wide as he hunched over like a shrimp, crashing to the ground, gasping for breath. His sword dropped into the snow and was kicked far away; he didn’t even make a sound, rolling a few times before lying still.
Almost simultaneously, two of the three soldiers charging at the woman flew backward. The Squad Leader muttered another “d*mn” through clenched teeth; before he could retaliate, he heard a sharp, piercing noise. Suddenly, he felt pressure lift from his hands—the sword in his grip shattered, flying away in two pieces.
He had just crushed an iron sword with his bare hands…
The Squad Leader’s heart pounded with alarm; he jumped aside, looking back just in time to see the woman clutching the last comrade by his chest plate, swinging her arms like a hammer and smashing him to the ground. Then, she bent down, straddling him, and dealt two more punches.
The force behind those blows was enough to warp the armor, and the comrade couldn’t utter a sound. bl**d leaked from his mouth, his head drooped, and he was out cold—he likely lost consciousness from the first strike.
“I’m very angry…”
The woman spoke, not really directing her words at the Squad Leader.
In the next moment, someone grabbed him from behind, twisting his right arm back, sending him crashing to the ground.
“Ugh…”
The Squad Leader let out a muffled groan, faceplanting in the snow, feeling dazed and cold snowmelt saturating his face. Pain exploded from his right elbow, radiating throughout his body.
He instinctively tried to scream, but someone sealed his mouth shut. Struggling, he realized his left arm was also yanked behind him; with a clang, something like chains locked around his wrists.
It’s over…
The Squad Leader’s heart sank as he realized he had been subdued by the Cloaked Man—he moved so fast there was no chance to fight back. In just a few seconds, all his men were sprawled out on the ground, completely unconscious.
He heard the Cloaked Man whisper “shhh” in his ear, pressing a knee into his back, the hand over his mouth holding him down.
“Urgh…”
The man struggled to breathe, half of his face pressed against the icy snow, his brain lacking oxygen as his movements slowly weakened.
In his blurred vision, he saw the woman hoisting one of the unconscious warriors, pulling out a strangely shaped dagger and pressing it against his neck.
Her expression was grim and cold, her eyes fixated on the man holding the Squad Leader down—she had never once regarded these Northern warriors as a threat.
“You filthy piece of trash, if you make me do this again, I’ll skin you alive.”
The woman cursed, while the man receiving the ab*se seemed unfazed by her insults, treating the harsh words as mere background noise. He calmly patted the Squad Leader’s cheek, delivering his orders nonchalantly: “Take the whistle blower with us, the others hide behind the snow mound, quick now; a squad of Northern troops is coming this way.”
After briefing her, he turned and threatened the Squad Leader: “Don’t shout, don’t make a sound.”
“You saw it; they’re still alive, no other intentions—just a few questions to ask. Once we’re done, we’ll leave for a safer place. If you utter a word, everyone dies… Got it? Nod if you understand.”
The Squad Leader nodded vigorously.
But when he felt the Cloaked Man’s hand over his mouth gradually loosen, he didn’t hesitate, glaring upwards and attempting to bite down hard, aiming to sever the man’s fingers. As soon as he missed, he immediately wanted to scream for help, only to feel a crushing grip around his throat, cutting off his breath—the more he struggled, the more futile it became.
“Ugh… hrgh…”
“Cold-blooded b*stard,” the Cloaked Man said calmly, seemingly unfazed by the defiance. “Let’s go, no time to waste. We need to leave this place.”
