Hoban Royal Palace.
The Holy Queen held a report sent from the Great Wall of the Border, signed by Gustavo, the Deputy Captain of the Paladin Order, which detailed information about a black knight named 'Cort'.
Calca's delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly. The Paladin Order was utterly helpless against the opponent, and even Remedios suffered a crushing defeat. This would not be good news for the entire Holy Kingdom.
The Paladin Order was a strong support for Calca's ascension to the throne and a powerful guarantee for consolidating her position as Holy Queen. If it were so easily defeated by an outsider, and this matter were to spread, the noble alliance in the southern Holy Kingdom would have a reason to attack her.
Thump thump!
"Your Majesty the Holy Queen, Priestess Quirat has arrived."
The door was knocked, and the guard's announcement followed.
Calca looked up, and upon seeing the High Priestess, she showed a slight smile. "Quirat, you're here."
"Your Majesty. You summoned me so urgently. What has happened?" Quirat first respectfully bowed to Calca, then asked.
"Look at this." Calca handed the intelligence report to Quirat, and after she finished reading it, said, "What do you think about this matter?"
Quirat's eyebrows were tightly furrowed, her face grave with a hint of astonishment. It took her a while to recover. "Unbelievable. My sister suffered such a crushing defeat against that mysterious knight. It seems our previous assessment of him was wrong. Given this, the organization behind him, 'Sanctuary,' is probably not to be underestimated. What are your plans?"
Calca stood up from her throne and paced to Quirat's front, a hint of hesitation on her face.
"Quirat, I want to personally go to the Great Wall of the Border."
"What!" Quirat was startled and said anxiously, "Your Majesty, that is far too dangerous! Didn't Gustavo's report say that the Paladin Order couldn't resist that fellow at all, and advised you not to meet him?"
Calca smiled brightly and said, "As the ruler of the Holy Kingdom, how can I avoid meeting an envoy?"
"Then let me go!" Quirat grasped Calca's hand, a determined expression on her face. "It's too risky for Your Majesty to come into contact with such a dangerous fellow. You bear the heavy responsibility of the entire Holy Kingdom and must not easily put yourself in danger!"
"He specifically requested to see me, so I probably can't avoid it." Calca chuckled and shook her head, placing her hand on Quirat's shoulder, explaining, "If I let you go, it might be seen as a slight to him. Remedios's incident has already put us in a very passive position. If he were to cause trouble at the Great Wall of the Border because the Holy Kingdom treated his envoy disrespectfully, it would likely cause immense damage to the Great Wall's defenses."
"You also know the significance of the Great Wall to us, don't you? Once an accident occurs, if the Demi-human Tribes cross the Great Wall, it will cause tremendous harm to the people of the Kingdom. I cannot stand idly by!"
Quirat looked at the smile on Calca's face, momentarily speechless.
From the perspective of a subject, Quirat could fully understand Calca's concern for her people. The reason she supported Calca's succession to the throne, apart from her magical talent and their friendship, was also due to this gentle and benevolent quality.
"In that case, please allow me to accompany you," Quirat said in a resolute tone. "If we encounter any danger, the two of us, plus my sister, might be able to escape."
"Hmm, of course, because you are the strongest High Priestess of our Holy Kingdom!" Calca said teasingly.
Although Quirat publicly claimed to be able to cast fourth-tier divine magic, she had actually already reached the fifth-tier, achieving the realm of a hero.
However, Remedios, the Holy Kingdom's strongest Paladin, had already suffered a crushing defeat. How well she, the strongest High Priestess, could perform was something neither of them was confident about.
That mysterious knight was like a great mountain, pressing heavily on the hearts of the three most powerful and highest-ranking women of the Holy Kingdom.
At night, the Great Wall of the Border Fortress.
The lock was in the room assigned to him. He sat by the bedside, gently swirling a glass of red wine, with a floating mirror in front of him.
He took a shallow sip of the fragrant wine, his brows slightly furrowed, as he watched the allied Demi-human Tribes advancing towards the Great Wall, displayed in the scrying mirror.
Tonight would be a sleepless night.
"Hmm~ I wonder if Demiurge will directly use 'Meteor Fall' to destroy the Great Wall?" Lock pondered the Demi-human Tribes' attack methods, involuntarily recalling the scene of the Great Wall Fortress being breached in the original story, feeling a bit hesitant.
Without the destruction caused by that high-tier magic attack, it would not be easy for the Demi-human Tribes to easily breach this Great Wall, even with an unprecedentedly large alliance of forces.
Therefore, the possibility of Demiurge using 'Meteor Fall' is very high!
It seems a bit difficult to defend against a tenth-tier magic attack without revealing one's identity. Moreover, if that attack doesn't destroy the city walls, with the current combat power in the fortress, including the Paladin Order, the Great Wall might not be in danger of falling at all.
In that case, wouldn't he be completely useless?
But if he were to stand by and watch most of the soldiers in the fortress be killed by that attack, then even if he were to turn the tide later, his help to the Holy Kingdom would be greatly diminished, and to stop the Demi-human Army, he would still need their efforts.
"It seems this is the only way. Weaken the power of 'Meteor Fall' just enough to destroy the city walls, and try to save the soldiers of the Holy Kingdom, especially those few 'nine colors'."
After making up his mind, Lock's face broke into a smile. Now, he needed to prepare well for a grand entrance!
On the city wall, Orland, who was on duty, looked up at the sky.
The bright moon in the sky was obscured by a thin layer of clouds. Although the starlight could be seen, it wasn't as brilliant as on a clear day with countless stars.
Orland inadvertently glanced at the soldier beside him and noticed him looking curiously at his waist.
"Brat, what are you looking at?"
"Ah! Nothing, Sir Campano. I was just curious why you only brought one sword today."
"Oh, that," Orland patted the sword at his waist, a proud smile on his face, "This sword can completely replace the eight I used before… No! It should be eighty longswords. This is a very valuable treasure!"
At this moment, footsteps came from behind the two of them.
"Where did you, a pauper, get such a sword? Can you tell me?"
"Yo! Boss Pavel!" Orland turned around and saw Pavel, who had come to relieve him, and immediately greeted him.
Pavel glanced at the sword at his waist, and recalling how Orland had been running there these past few days, he probably guessed what was going on.
"Orland, I still need to remind you, don't get too close to them. You are a soldier of the Holy Kingdom."
"Don't worry, Boss Pavel. I know what I'm doing," Orland said with a smile.
"…I hope so."
Pavel said no more and began the shift handover. Just then, the lookout soldier shouted.
"Look! What is that!?"
Pavel immediately ran to the edge of the city wall and looked outside the city.
As an archer, his eyesight was excellent, allowing him to clearly see the distant scene. His face immediately showed alarm as he shouted, "All units, prepare for battle! A large number of Demi-humans are attacking!!!
---
A/N: 40+ Advance Chapter Has Been Uploaded.
Support: patreon.com/Narrator_San