Those Who Surrender Shall Not Be Killed

The man on the city wall had a change in his gaze, which became noticeably sharper the moment he saw me.

Then, his expression returned to normal.

"So it is Her Highness who has returned! Open the city gates quickly!"

If I hadn't been strengthened after leaving the city this time and hadn't been paying close attention to the speaker, I wouldn't have noticed such a subtle change.

The city walls of Brilliant City were thirty meters high, nearly ten stories tall.

The thickness of the walls was also over twenty meters, one could even say there was no problem for horses to gallop across the top.

Brilliant City had twelve gates, with three situated on each of the north, south, east, and west walls.

I usually used the central gate on each side.

The gatehouse of the main East Gate was about thirty meters wide, and as the massive doors slowly creaked open, the situation in the streets beyond came into view.

It was quite empty, with almost no one to be seen on the streets.

Given the chaos within the city, this was perfectly normal.

After all, the merchants were protesting, and many ordinary people had stopped going out to avoid being caught in the crossfire, plus it was currently midnight, so the streets naturally seemed deserted.

"Pass down the order. Form ranks of five, keep the carriage in the center, and enter the city."

"Yes!"

Hilda responded and immediately shouted the command.

The knights quickly found their positions, the two hundred knights dividing into front and rear sections to protect the Saint's Carriage at its flanks, entering the city gate like a long dragon.

As the mottled city walls slowly drew closer, a sense of oppression began to linger atop the wall.

Not a single soldier atop the wall uttered a sound, and the silence hanging over the entire structure was deeply unsettling.

I stared straight ahead, unconsciously clenching my fists, my palms already drenched in sweat.

The previous enemies had been the demon army, and while I had been nervous facing a foreign foe then, it hadn't reached this level.

This time, it was a very dangerous gamble.

If someone wanted to intercept this carriage, now would be the perfect time!

I would do the same if I were in their position!

It was the classic strategy of striking while the enemy was halfway across; as the team entered the gate, they only needed to drop the gate when half the troops were through.

The unit would instantly fall into chaos, and because they would be split in two, the half outside would lose its command.

As long as they blocked the gate and surrounded my carriage inside the city, they could complete the capture.

Thinking of this, I instinctively looked up at the wall, but the young man from before had already vanished.

I withdrew my gaze, and as the carriage moved forward, the details of the city wall became increasingly clear.

When the carriage entered the gate tunnel, Hilda turned her horse to ride beside the Saint's Carriage, her brow furrowed with gravity.

"Your Highness, something is wrong. It is too quiet here."

"Proceed as planned."

I gave Hilda a look and took a deep breath, preparing myself to face whatever was about to happen.

Inside the pitch-black gate tunnel, there was no sound except for the clatter of hooves on the stone pavement and the clanking of armor.

The atmosphere gradually froze, and the carriage finally emerged slowly from the tunnel.

At the very moment the Saint's Carriage stepped out of the gate tunnel!

A sudden cry of alarm came from behind me.

Immediately after, there was a massive, dull thud!

Boom!

I snapped my head back, my brow tightening. Normal city gates opened to the left and right, however, within the normal city gates, there was also an emergency defensive beam.

Once trouble was detected, the defensive beam could be pushed out from both sides of the inner wall. The defensive beam acted like a sliding door, completely sealing the gate tunnel.

This beam had been treated with special alchemical liquids, making its hardness far exceed that of steel.

Once this gate fell, trying to charge back out would be as difficult as reaching the heavens.

Although I had been prepared for this, my heart still skipped a beat when I witnessed it with my own eyes.

However, my expression remained unchanged. After a cold sweep of my gaze, I pulled my eyes back and looked forward.

At this moment, large groups of soldiers were pouring out of the alleys on both sides of the street. Those leading the formation were clearly knights wearing Temple knight armor.

Mixed among these groups were people who were clearly not regular army, appearing to be mercenaries based on their attire.

"What do you think you are doing?! Do you not know that the one here is Her Highness the Saintess? Are you intending to rebel?!"

Even though Hilda had been mentally prepared, she still could not suppress the fury in her heart when she saw this!

Her voice carried far across the crowded street.

When the Temple knights blocking the path heard her words, some instinctively avoided her gaze, while others showed a look of ruthless determination.

Among them, those who looked away were clearly feeling a trace of shame, while those with ruthless expressions were certainly the ones who truly intended to betray us.

A large number of soldiers and knights surged from both sides, completely sealing off the path ahead and the flanks of the convoy.

The knight regiment of only a hundred or so men, along with the Saint's Carriage beneath me, was thoroughly surrounded, with not a single path of retreat left.

"Lady Hilda, those are heavy words."

Amidst this deathly silent standoff, a voice suddenly drifted over from the crowd.

Immediately after, the forces blocking the road parted, and a man rode out on horseback.

From his attire, one could tell at a glance that he was a noble.

And Hilda recognized him instantly.

"Sean! What is the meaning of this? You know this is the Saint's Carriage, and this is Her Highness the Saintess!!"

Hilda raised her knight's lance and pointed it at Sean, her eyes burning with rage.

"Of course I know. Not only do I know, but I have been waiting here for quite some time."

As he spoke, Sean gave a slight smile and stopped looking at Hilda, instead turning his gaze toward me.

"The eldest son of the Garnet family, Sean Garnet, pays his respects to the Saintess. May you be at peace."

"I am well."

I glanced at Sean and then swept my gaze over the army blocking the way.

"Sean Garnet, you are currently blocking my path. I ask you... are you certain you have not made a mistake?"

"The city is currently in chaos. We are waiting here specifically to protect Your Highness. Please cooperate, Your Highness, to avoid being injured by the turmoil."

"Oh? I haven't noticed any chaos. I'm afraid the only source of chaos right now is you, isn't it?"

"Your Highness, you exaggerate. We are doing this for your protection."

This fellow was now purely lying through his teeth.

"To protect me? Fine, let me ask you, are you a subject of my Kingdom of the Moon? Are all of you... the soldiers and citizens of my Kingdom of the Moon?"

A frown creased Sean's handsome face. The question was a sharp one. He hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded.

"I am, of course, a subject."

The knights did not answer my question, and the soldiers remained equally silent.

"Very well. In the name of the Saintess of the Moon, I command all of you to kneel."

Sean's face instantly turned grim, while the knights and soldiers still showed no reaction whatsoever.

"What? Do you refuse to obey my command?"

I swept my gaze over the knights. They began to look confused, glancing at one another.

Sean's expression became exceedingly ugly. Suddenly!

"It seems Your Highness's expedition was a failure and you have suffered a great shock, to the point of speaking nonsense. Men, step forward quickly and secure Her Highness to prevent her from being harassed by the rioters!"

He shouted loudly, seemingly trying to drown out my voice.

"Battle formation!"

Hilda let out a roar. In an instant, the hundred or so knights controlled their white horses to retreat, tightly surrounding the outer layer of the Saint's Carriage.

At the same time, she pulled out a signal flare and yanked the cord.

In an instant, an orange-red light shot into the sky!

Boom!

This explosive sound was like the signal for war to begin, and the rebel army surrounding the Saint's Carriage surged forward in a heartbeat.

But at that exact moment, I suddenly raised my hand, pointing straight at the night sky!

"Sean, do you really... not see what is up there?!"

Sean froze, his gaze instinctively following the direction of my finger.

At this moment, illuminated by the orange-red flames, two thousand silver-white skysoar dragons were hovering in the sky.

And at the very front of the skysoar dragons, a familiar figure appeared.

"Your Highness, am I late?"

Holding her staff, Ligeia, whose body was floating in mid-air, slowly descended from the sky and landed before me.

A trace of a smile still hung on her lips.

"No, Ligeia, you arrived just in time."

I reached into my storage space and drew the Sword of Fidelity.

The current Sword of Fidelity had officially graduated from being a rapier and become a one-handed cross sword.

Its length, including the hilt, was only about one hundred and twenty centimeters.

However, the blade was very light, and compared to the previous rapier, the entire sword appeared much more substantial.

Silver had become the primary hue of the blade, with golden patterns spiraling across it, and a red gem appeared where the guard met the blade.

Another blue gem had appeared at the pommel.

Overall, it was much more magnificent!

I gripped the scabbard with one hand and placed my right hand on the hilt.

At this moment, everyone was stunned where they stood.

They stared blankly at the two thousand skysoar dragons under the moonlight.

Sean's eyes widened in disbelief as he murmured to himself.

"No... impossible! That is absolutely impossible!"

"Nothing is impossible, Sean."

Sean's dazed gaze slowly shifted back to me.

"You... what kind of magic did you use? An illusion? Or..."

"Whether it is an illusion or not, you should experience it for yourself."

Clang!

The longsword was unsheathed.

"Listen, all of you! You have already committed the crime of treason. If you do not wish to involve your families, put down your weapons and kneel in surrender immediately!"

"In the name of the Saintess, those who kneel and surrender shall not be killed!"

Hilda reacted instantly, raising her knight's lance high.

"Her Highness has commanded! Those who surrender shall not be killed!"

The hundred or so knights raised their lances in unison, their loud shouts echoing to the heavens!

"Her Highness has commanded! Those who surrender shall not be killed!!"

At the same time, the two thousand skysoar dragons in the sky roared in unison.

"Roar!!!"