Chapter One Hundred and One: Intent to k*ll
“The doors here seem to be sealed shut. When we left, the Iron Guards appeared to be focusing their efforts on the relatively weak southern gate. Most of the garrison troops have probably been sent south…”
Margaret pondered for a moment, then pointed at a tall watchtower on the distant city wall. “There’s the main northern gate nearby. I’m sure there are people in that tower. It’s still not fully bright out; maybe no one can see us here. We should sneak over there—”
“Margaret.”
I interrupted her, tilting my head back to gaze at the mighty city wall ahead.
“Can you climb up there?”
Margaret looked taken aback for a moment, then turned to me. “I probably can’t… What do you want to do?”
“I want to…”
I stepped to the side, wrapping my arms around Saint Margaret’s waist, and slowly climbed down from the beast’s back. As I landed, I tightened my grip on Captain Gray.
Other cavalry would soon come to check the situation, and Margaret might need to deal with them. She wouldn’t let me do anything, nor would she do anything herself… The northern main gate should have people, but given the special circumstances, getting them to open the door would definitely take more time than I could afford.
I need to jump up there.
“From here, let’s go, I’ll hold you…”
Even without using black flames, I could achieve it with the Frost Order, but the Saint would have to endure the cold… she might even fall face-first into the mud, but she should be fine, right?
Wasn’t there a feather fall spell…
I glanced at Margaret anxiously, but she hesitated and showed no intention of climbing down from the beast’s back.
“This is illegal entry into the city. As a Saint… we absolutely can’t do this. Besides, if anyone sees us, the garrison will treat us as invading enemies, and it will only cause more unnecessary trouble.”
“Who cares about that now! There are so many of them!”
What time is it?!
“It’s precisely at times like this that we must be more rational.”
“Rational…”
I gritted my teeth and locked eyes with her for a moment.
Forget it…
Even if I carry her in, without the horned horse, Margaret would certainly slow down. I couldn’t hold her forever. Since she disagreed, we’d act separately.
“I’ll go in first.”
With a firm decision, I stepped towards the city wall, icy mist rising from beneath my feet, and without looking back, I said, “First, find Victoria. Then, I’ll head to the church and look for you…”
“Wait—”
Boom!
An ice pillar shot up, and a petite figure leapt high into the air.
Margaret shouted below, “Emergency situation! Just sh**t ice up into the sky! Find a way to let me know your location—”
“Okay!”
In the next moment, an ice platform formed beneath my feet. I stomped down, soaring into the sky another ten meters, propelled by the rushing wind, and then flipped onto the wall, landing with a thud.
I looked out towards the city.
The north side was eerily quiet. Perhaps it was still too early—the misty streets barely revealed a single soul, and there were few guards on the walls. Looking across, I could see a garrison moving far away on the wall, but from this distance, I couldn’t make them out clearly, though it felt like they noticed me.
No worries; Margaret would explain things to them…
I crouched and took two running leaps, then leaped off the wall.
Gotta hurry…
Where could Victoria be…
Houses and streets flashed beneath me as I landed on one rooftop after another, surrounded by swirling ice crystals, swooping over the city like a bird.
The loose nun’s robes flapped wildly in the wind, and my long black hair danced around my face. With one hand gripping my cloak and the other clutching my gigantic scythe, I gritted my teeth, jumping and sprinting with all my might.
The city was tightly shut up; the once-bustling streets and markets were now desolate. Occasionally, distant civilians could be seen running frantically towards the northern gate. Here and there, overturned bamboo baskets and startled faces were visible.
Something’s not right…
My anxiety rose like a tidal wave.
What’s going on in the city…
Not long after, I heard voices in the distance.
“…Get up and move…”
About fifty meters away, amidst the dim fog, shadows were dragging something back with great effort. A moment later, others rushed over to help, and then the sounds turned into a man’s brief sobbing.
That’s…
I leaped up onto the roof again and jumped toward the source of the voices, quickly spotting them as garrison soldiers.
Their armor was stained with bl**d, and they carried unsheathed swords as they dragged a fallen comrade, their faces a mix of grief and confusion.
What happened…
I jumped down from a nearby rooftop, landing a short distance away from them.
Thud.
“Who goes there?!”
The soldiers were startled by the noise I made. They quickly drew their swords and stared at me with wariness.
“What’s going on?!”
I didn’t approach, staying about seven or eight meters away and shouted.
No answer.
“Where’s your Majesty the Queen?!”
After I shouted this, I noticed their gazes grew even more cautious. They all pointed their swords at me and took quick steps back.
“I’m a friend of hers!”
“Don’t ask us…” someone responded.
Seeing they were willing to talk, I shouted again, “What’s wrong with you?! Where’s the fighting?!”
“To the south… we don’t know much else…”
They quickly retreated into an alley, disappearing from view.
I didn’t pursue them; their sense of alertness was too strong, and their spirits seemed tightly wound. It would be hard to communicate with people like that, yet their condition and reactions caused my heart to drop.
Why were the garrison acting this way…
This is the city…
Those people obviously fled from somewhere. They had fought, lost comrades severely injured and dead, with no chance of healing or victory in sight; they just wanted to hide… What kind of situation could cause such chaos?
I didn’t want to think further, shock and disbelief flooding me. The Power of Order surged wildly within me as I soared above the city, heading south.
More and more civilians were fleeing below.
Soon, I faintly heard the sounds of a battle.
I was taken aback.
After covering a bit more ground, the thick fog parted before me. I peered ahead and saw soldiers sprinting and shouting a few dozen meters away on the street, retreating toward the north. The number of them was hard to discern. On the other side, an iron cavalry stormed in from the alley, swords raised high, charging forward in an instant.
“Ah—”
The moment the chaos surged, bl**d splattered across the street, the demoralized infantry had no ability to resist before the cavalry. The galloping horsemen sliced through the crowd like a hot kn*fe through butter, carving a bloody path.
The soldiers scattered, screams ringing out, and I heard someone in the chaos shout, “Fight back! Fight back—” but hardly anyone responded. The next moment, I saw the speaker clash swords with an attacking cavalryman, only to have his head severed in the blink of an eye.
This scene sent a shiver down my spine.
Soon, I spotted another two teams clashing a few streets over.
The situation there seemed to have reached a standstill, the crowd caught in chaotic battle. Swords clashed violently, horned horses charged in, bl**d-soaked and fallen, while the iron hooves trampled all around. Soldiers pinned beneath giant beasts struggled to escape, only to be stabbed through the chest by a nearby soldier, and the next second, that soldier was struck down by an arrow that came out of nowhere.
The gruesome sight flashed before me, quickly left in my wake.
Continuing south, the number of battlegrounds increased. Small skirmishes with three or five people mixed in with fierce clashes of dozens filled the once-bustling streets. Chaos and carnage ruled, with bodies and bl**d everywhere. Among the fallen were both civilians in rags and armored garrison soldiers.
The city wasn’t just being destroyed.
Whether cavalry or infantry, living or dead, combatants on both sides bore nearly identical armor and weaponry; the only differences lay in the emblems on their chest plates and the silks tied around their wrists.
The ones fighting the garrison weren’t the Iron Guards, but more garrison troops.
I stood on a rooftop, watching the scenes unfold below me, the echoes of battle filling my ears, as my lips quivered, and one word looped in my mind.
Mutiny…
Boom—
An arrow whizzed past and embedded itself in the wall beside me, the arrowhead trembling slightly.
“Surrender!”
“We surrender—”
In the midst of slaughter, someone dropped their sword, wiping their bl**d-stained face, and raised their hands above their head.
“Why… why is this happening?!”
“We’re all brothers—”
Their cries were drowned in the splatter of bl**d.
Not far down the street, a figure crashed through the wooden door of a civilian home, followed by several others who rushed inside. Moments later, startled screams from women echoed out.
“Help! Don’t k*ll me, don’t k*ll me—”
“Put down your sword! Otherwise, I’ll k*ll her…”
“Ah—”
Before I could even react, the sounds from inside abruptly ceased. A bl**d-soaked soldier emerged, wielding a bloodied sword. Someone noticed me, but with a blank expression, they turned back and charged toward the fleeing soldier.
Many civilians couldn’t help but rush out of their homes, only to be struck by arrows, trampled by hooves, or have their throats slit by frenzied soldiers. Women screamed in hoarse desperation, dragged by the hair into dark alleys.
Witnessing this, I instinctively jumped down from the rooftop, rushing into the alley.
The soldier had pinned the woman down, tearing at her dress with brute force. She struggled helplessly against the much stronger man, and her clothing tore away, revealing her pale skin.
“b*stard!”
Swish—
Rage consumed me, and I harnessed Moon Step, sweeping in like a tempest in front of the soldier. In the stunned look in his eyes, I swung my scythe, and with a woman’s scream, brought it down.
The head flew high.
bl**d erupted from the soldier’s neck, spraying the woman’s hair and face. His body wobbled for a moment, then collapsed onto her.
“Are you okay…”
I reached out to the woman, wanting to help her up.
“Ah—, ahhhh—”
But she screamed as if going mad, scrambling out from under the soldier’s body without so much as a glance at me, half n*ked, running off as if her life depended on it.
Leaving just a headless corpse twitching on the ground.
My hands trembled.
All I could hear were the clashes of weapons and the rising cries of battle, my brain buzzing blankly, when suddenly, footsteps sounded behind me.
I jolted, spinning around just in time to make eye contact with two soldiers who stumbled into the alley, both of us frozen in shock at the unexpected encounter. They hadn’t expected to see me either, their expressions caught off guard as they registered the bl**d on my scythe and the headless body before them, and they turned to flee.
I dashed toward one and grabbed him by the armor collar.
“Ah!”
The soldier screamed, swinging his sword at me without thinking. I dodged to the side, letting go of his hand, and struck his helmet with a hard slap.
Smack!
“What’s going on?!” I shouted.
“What happened?!”
The soldier, dazed from the hit, stumbled a few steps back, clutching his head, his voice trembling, “I don’t know… I don’t know… It just… suddenly turned chaotic… We got the order to defend the city ten minutes ago… then it changed to slaughtering a cavalry regiment… everything’s gone haywire… I’m not fighting anymore…”
“Where is Her Majesty the Queen?!”
“I don’t know… I’ve never seen the Queen… I haven’t seen anyone… it’s all just chaos… God, spare me…”
With a clatter, he dropped his sword, trembling as he glanced back at me. Seeing I had no intention of letting him go, he turned to flee.
I didn’t chase him.
Turning to where that woman had disappeared, I lingered for a moment before shooting up to the rooftop again.
Continuing my swift flight southward.
In a daze, I reached Longdoll Street.
Standing on the bl**d-stained road, I gazed at the corpses that littered the streets. The ground felt slippery and slick beneath my feet, the stench of bl**d nauseating.
Victoria…
After a while, I headed quickly toward the Number 2 residence.
Corpses of garrison soldiers were piled haphazardly before the Number 2 and Number 3 residences, but it was silent now; the fighting had subsided for a while.
The front gate of the residence stood wide open. Not wanting to tread on the bodies, I used Moon Step to leap past them, looking at the bloodied lawn in the courtyard. There, among the countless garrison bodies, lay three slain members of the Sword of Kanli.
They came here…
They must have come looking for Victoria…
But there weren’t even signs of battle, no blade marks or cuts in the wind that might show where they had been.
The inner door was also ajar.
I nearly trembled as I walked in, stepping over the maid lying in a pool of bl**d, moving through the messy living room, and up the stairs to Victoria’s bedroom.
It had already been ransacked.
Wardrobes were overturned, drawers pulled out; all the gold and silver jewelry were nowhere to be seen; blankets were slashed by swords, but there was no one on the bed.
She’s not here…
“Huff—”
My legs turned to jelly, and I leaned against the wall, breathing heavily.
How could she be here…
What am I even doing…
Dazed, I moved to the terrace, about to leap away when my gaze inadvertently scanned the backyard.
The soil of the lawn was overturned.
A section of the wall had collapsed, and the flowerbeds and fountain were shattered; water cascaded down into the earth, and beside them lay a corpse of a Kanli sword member, along with two cloaked individuals.
The Honey Fruit Tree had been toppled too.
It looked as if someone had been controlling the soil and made the entire courtyard a battlefield. I could imagine the scene: members of the Sword of Kanli engaged in battle, leaping onto rooftops for a fast-paced duel, the battleground gradually shifting to the Number 3 residence, landing in the courtyard, as someone used the forces of the earth to thrash everything about…
Boom—
Ice pillars burst from the ground, and I glided through the air, quickly landing in front of the tilted Honey Fruit Tree.
A few unripe fruits were scattered at my feet.
I picked one up, brushed off the dirt, opened my mouth, and took a bite, slowly chewing.
…How sour.
Not ripe at all.
I stood there for a long while, my mind racing with many thoughts.
A feeling known as “killing intent” gradually seeped from my chest.
