Chapter 622 — Gathering Storm
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
Fly.
The words of her mistress echoed in the black-haired maid's heart.
It was not a command, but a blessing.
She glanced at the two longswords in her hands, casually hooked them onto her belt, then walked toward the edge of the terrace—walking faster and faster, until she broke into a run.
At last she leapt from the edge of the terrace—and a howling gale, carrying snow and wind, arose right on cue, enveloping the figure that had flung herself down and lifting her toward the sky.
Amid the swirling, dancing snowflakes, a vast shadow could be faintly seen hurtling toward the southern sky—but the shadow flashed past so quickly that everyone who caught a glimpse of the strange sight believed it to be a hallucination.
If one rises upon the wind, even malformed, degenerated wings can beat and fly.
Victoria watched calmly as that suddenly conjured gale gradually dissipated at the horizon, watched the enormous body sweeping across the leaden clouds in the distance. A flurry of snowflakes was reflected in her eyes, and she let out a soft sigh:
"You are not very good at hiding—especially not when House Wilde has dealt with the Holy Dragon Duchy for centuries."
Then the duchess withdrew her gaze from the sky and fixed her eyes on the castle district's walls not far away.
Now it was time to fulfill the duty of a Guardian Duke.
...
A staggering number of humanoid monsters had poured in from the direction of the Holy Spirit Plain. That dreadful legion of crystal-cluster giants had flattened countless fortresses and strongholds along the way. Elrond City, Wind City, and the Valley Corridor had been struck in succession; the hastily assembled noble armies had met the enemy in a scramble and suffered grievous losses...
One piece of disastrous news after another came from the southeast, and beyond the ever-nearing reports of attacks and the ever-growing lists of casualties, the exhausted royal intelligence department kept receiving terrifying tidings: the monster army had been sighted bearing kingdom equipment, and front-line soldiers had been transformed into crystal-cluster giants.
Holy Frost Perch City had entered its highest level of martial law. A dreadful, tense atmosphere shrouded the entire city. Fully armed knights and soldiers patrolled between the walls and watchposts all day long, citizens kept their doors tightly shut and dared not venture onto the streets, and nearly every noble had canceled their weekend banquets and countryside hunts.
Every day, messengers in blue-and-white surcoats on swift horses galloped into the city, or griffin riders swept across the sky; every day, more soldiers filed in and out of the city gates—emergency-conscripted reserves, and knight orders marching to reinforce the front; every day, new rumors circulated through the streets.
Within the Silver Keep, the kingdom's nobles gathered in the Golden Oak Hall. The urgency of the situation had finally forced these ladies and gentlemen—accustomed to speaking in a particular elegant drawl—to abandon their poise. They argued fiercely, put forward plan after plan, exchanged the latest intelligence; the atmosphere was heated and frantic, and fear and exhaustion hung over more than half of them.
At last, when the fire reached Holy Suniel, they became proactive.
"They have already begun attacking the Valley Corridor—two of our fortresses there are under simultaneous assault, and those monsters are not only staggering in number but far superior in strength to our soldiers!" said a tall, gaunt capital noble in a voice that was nearly shrill. "If we cannot stop them at the Valley Corridor, then there is no fortress or stronghold left that can stop them!!"
Another rose to his feet and declared loudly: "We should send the Black Iron Fortress Knight Order and the Chaniel Fortress Knight Order as well. The local knight orders of the Valley Corridor alone certainly cannot hold the enemy..."