"Nothing...?"
Luo Li murmured the unfinished phrase as she watched the black dragon fly away.
Although she couldn't explain why, she had sensed a flicker of malice from Mr. Black during their conversation.
It was a difficult feeling to describe, akin to a premonition of danger.
It felt as if she were seeing a heavy truck barreling toward her at high speed.
Yet, that sensation vanished in a mere heartbeat.
Luo Li didn't quite understand if this was because the physical constitutions of people in this world were unique.
At the very least, before her reincarnation, the old 'him' had never possessed the ability to perceive such malice.
But now, she could faintly sense something called 'killing intent'.
In that fleeting moment, even her thoughts had frozen stiff.
Everything returned to normal immediately after, leaving only those three words from the end of his sentence.
'It was nothing.'
Those words weighed heavily on her mind.
She wasn't sure if that sensation truly counted as killing intent, but one thing was certain.
Black the black dragon seemed to be hiding something.
What had he intended to say with that final remark?
Luo Li didn't know.
If she could return alive this time, she might eventually uncover what Black Dehn had meant.
Pushing the matter to the back of her mind for now, Luo Li turned her gaze toward the distant demon army.
At this stage, it was clear that the demon army hadn't discovered their secret yet.
Perhaps the Demon Emperor was currently suspicious and deep in thought.
However, without absolute certainty, he didn't dare to show himself.
As a commander, there was one essential lesson to learn.
One must not fear failure.
Much like Cao Cao in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms after his defeat at the Battle of Red Cliffs.
Even after falling into several ambushes and being reduced to a wretched state, he could still force a laugh.
Clearly, this Demon Emperor lacked the mental fortitude of Cao Cao.
Previously, Luo Li had easily toyed with the Demon Emperor Asacreus.
This was evident from how he had hesitated when she feinted an attack before retreating.
In his heart, the Demon Emperor had already labeled her a 'Hell Mode opponent'.
This was something that existed in his subconscious.
Under normal circumstances, it might not have mattered, but this was a battlefield.
The game played between two sides involved not just military strength, logistics, and strategy, but also psychology.
And now, even though the first three factors were currently absent for her, the Demon Emperor still didn't dare to launch an attack.
Even if he had guessed the truth, he hesitated to move forward.
It was just like the Empty Fort Strategy from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
However, should she actually use that strategy?
Luo Li lowered her head in contemplation.
If she used it, the Empty Fort Strategy would undoubtedly be a swan song.
It was also the most stable way to allow the army to retreat at this stage.
But it was too risky.
If she were to perform the Empty Fort Strategy, it would have to be her, the Beast Sovereign Ricardo, and the Dragon King Asfield.
Only those three together could likely suppress the Demon Emperor's suspicion.
Yet, she knew that when Zhuge Liang used the strategy to scare away Sima Yi, it was a massive gamble.
It succeeded largely because of Sima Yi's personal suspicious nature.
There might have also been factors of political survival involved in Sima Yi's decision.
In her current situation, there was really no comparison.
Both sides were mortal enemies with no room for reconciliation.
The feasibility... was low.
She fell into deep thought for a long time.
She considered many methods, but most had low feasibility.
Each was riskier than the last.
The best way was for the entire army to abandon their horses and evacuate by air.
They currently had sixty-three dragons at their disposal.
Even if ten were heavily injured and seven were needed to help the other knights evacuate, the remaining forty or so dragons were enough to maintain absolute air superiority.
In this way, the aerial retreat route would certainly be the safest.
Although she didn't know how many feathered serpents the demons had left, the dragons held the absolute advantage for now.
"I suppose this is the only way."
Aside from an aerial evacuation, she couldn't think of any other solution.
If that was the case, she had to act.
However, even though the sky was covered in thick clouds and the ground troops were obscured, taking flight would inevitably catch the demons' attention.
In other words, she still needed a distraction.
The entire army removing their armor might not be visible at night, but during the day, even with the overcast sky, such a large movement would be noticed by the enemy.
Because of this, the timing was difficult to grasp.
She pulled a pocket watch from her clothing.
She remembered she had asked Bishop Lola for this watch.
Naturally, as a Saintess, she didn't need such a thing, but she couldn't resist how beautiful it looked.
Checking the time, it was already past nine in the morning.
She looked back toward the distance; the sense of an impending storm had grown even stronger.
Just then, a light raindrop was blown past the carriage curtain by the wind.
It landed on her delicate cheek.
Has it finally... started raining?!
Luo Li was momentarily stunned as larger and more frequent raindrops suddenly began to fall from the sky.
The black soil darkened and moistened at a visible rate.
The sound of rain grew from a light pitter-patter to a heavy roar, covering the entire central command in an instant.
At the same time, the demon army in the distance seemed to be hindered by the rain as well.
Accompanied by a sudden bolt of lightning, it was officially announced... the storm was here!
'Crack—Boom!!'
Hearing the thunder, Luo Li felt a surge of relief in her heart.
Yes!
This was the rain she had been waiting for!
If she hadn't known this storm was coming, she would never have dared to use such a simple tactic.
Although air superiority was on their side, there would be a delay of about ten minutes when the knights removed their armor to mount the dragons.
A knight's armor was not easy to remove; it was nearly impossible for one person to do it alone.
Only with the help of a comrade could the armor, which weighed up to three-hundred kilograms, be completely taken off.
And once it was off, putting it back on was even more troublesome than removing it.
It required at least two people to assist in fully donning the suit.
Under normal circumstances, this required cooperation.
Knights would help each other unarm and then help each other rearm to march properly.
If the entire army removed their armor, that interval would be the moment the army was at its weakest.
If the demon army charged during that time, what would happen?
There would be no need to fight; they would have to surrender immediately.
Therefore, she had to wait for this storm to arrive!
Only a torrential downpour that made it difficult to even open one's eyes could block the demons' sight.
Only then could the movement of the central command disarming themselves be concealed.
"Dominica!"
"At your service."
"Notify the entire army immediately. After the next retreat, remove all armor and discard all heavy equipment. Everything non-essential, including armor and horses, is to be abandoned on the spot."
"Yes!"
Dominica had known about this plan for a while, but she hadn't known the critical timing.
Now that the storm had arrived, her lady's words served as the final confirmation.
Part of the army would use the skirmishes with the demons to logically 'reduce' their numbers, allowing the extra knights to retreat to the ice floes.
Finally, under the cover of this heavy rain, the remaining knights would be taken away.
This was her lady's plan.
The moment she fully understood, shock flickered in Dominica's eyes.
Even though she knew what her lady intended, she had never been able to guess the linchpin of the operation.
After all, she knew that if they wanted to use skysoar dragons for the retreat, they had to ensure they were lightweight.
A skysoar dragon could carry two to three tons of weight.
Based on that, it was possible.
But that was the limit. To ensure the speed of the retreat, the weight had to be restricted to under a ton, or ideally... half a ton.
Only then could the skysoar dragons reach their maximum flight speed.
But this presented a problem.
How could they complete the process of unarming and mounting the dragons without the demon army noticing?
Now, she knew.
And her shock far outweighed any other emotion.
Dominica never expected that her lady would use a storm as the final piece of the plan.
At this moment, she really wanted to ask.
'My Lady, are you a god or a human?'
To be able to calculate even the weather into a plan... how could such a strategy not be terrifying?
In this instant, a faint sliver of fear toward Luo Li even began to sprout in Dominica's heart.
This was no longer something a human could calculate.
However, she said nothing at this moment, quickly heading down to relay the orders.
She knew that military opportunities must not be missed; even the slightest error in the middle could lead to the annihilation of the entire army.
The orders were quickly disseminated.
Outside the carriage, the gale howled across the plains.
Because there was no cover, the storm was much more violent than Luo Li had anticipated.
The wild grass on the ground was flattened by the wind and hammered by the rain, swaying precariously.
Looking out at the vast land, the misty atmosphere caused a faint sense of unease to rise in Luo Li's heart.
It felt as if... something was about to happen.
However, there was no time to dwell on it now.
As expected, the demon army continued to advance, trying to keep a close eye on the knights despite the storm.
Luo Li gave the order without hesitation.
"Dominica, tell the army to retreat five kilometers and proceed as planned!"
"Yes!"
The army began to move, and complex emotions appeared on the knights' faces.
They couldn't bear to abandon their beloved horses, but faced with a matter of life and death and a direct military order, they had no choice.
The faces of many were already drenched.
The liquid flowing into their mouths was bitter and salty; it was impossible to tell if it was tears or rain.
Amidst this atmosphere, they retreated swiftly while the demon army continued its slow, deliberate approach.
However, the speed of the demon army could not compare to that of the knights.
The five-kilometer distance was covered in a few minutes; in the blink of an eye, it was over.
The march stopped.
From outside, the sounds of armor clashing rang out, accompanied by suppressed sobs and uncontrollable weeping.
Dominica ran off into the distance to organize the knights' disarming.
Luo Li sat quietly inside the carriage. The knights had already unhitched the eight white horses that pulled the Saint's Carriage.
In the distance, the situation with the Beast Sovereign was much simpler, as they didn't need to remove armor.
It was unclear if Ricardo was intentionally protecting Luo Li, but he had stationed his remaining two thousand six hundred beastmen elites directly in front of the knights.
The forty-plus dragons landed one after another, doing their best to block the view from the distance and ensure the safety of the knights behind them.
Luo Li sat in the carriage, praying softly.
She didn't know if gods truly existed in this world, nor did she know if these horses would have souls after they died.
But she knew that with this one order, over twelve thousand horses would perish.
These horses... had spent their entire lives serving the knights.
And today, she had to harden her heart and abandon them.
If there truly was a god, she hoped... these horses could be reborn as humans in their next lives and live happily.
The girl knelt before the statue as she remembered, praying with her hands clasped.
'God... I don't believe in you, but I'm not praying for myself. I'm praying for these dying creatures.'
As she was thinking this, a man's shout suddenly came from outside the carriage.
"My Lady!! My Lady!! Why must it be like this!"
The unfamiliar shout roused her from her prayer.
Based on the familiar accent, it was likely someone from the Kingdom of the Moon.
Although the common tongue was used across the continent, every region had its own slight, strange accent.
The Kingdom of the Moon was relatively standard and easy to recognize.
"Who is making such a racket outside?"
Luo Li frowned, stood up, and walked out the door.
The moment the carriage door opened, she saw a knight kneeling below, his armor half-removed.
The armor on his arms was gone, but the pieces around his waist and back were still attached, making his lower body look bloated while his upper body looked lean—a somewhat comical appearance.
However, there was no humor on the man's face at this moment.
Instead, it was filled with grief.
When he saw Luo Li emerge from the carriage, he cried out in pain on the spot.
"My Lady!! Why are we abandoning the horses!!"
Why?
Did she really need to explain it to him?
If Luo Li had the time to explain herself to every single knight, there would be no point in fighting a war.
Why bother retreating? They might as well just lie down and wait for death!
"What is your name? What is your rank?"
"Sali, Sali Panzi, third-class Viscount... a Fidelity Knight."
The man was stunned for a moment but quickly answered the question.
"I see... I will remember you. Now go back and execute the order immediately. This is a military order; it does not allow for your—"
Before Luo Li could finish, Sali suddenly shouted:
"My Lady! We cannot abandon the horses! They... they are our companions!"
Luo Li's brow furrowed slightly. She took a deep breath and narrowed her eyes at the knight standing in the pouring rain.
"Sali, I will say this one last time. This is a military order."
"My Lady!" Sali shouted.
However, in the next second, Dominica's sword was already pressed against his neck.
The sharp blade drew a shallow cut on his throat.
"Military orders are not to be questioned. Sali Panzi, by questioning Her Highness like this, do you intend to mutiny?"
Rate on N.U.
