Composure

"They actually have the audacity to invite me into the city?"

The girl broke into a wide smile.

"Momoka, do you see? This Harry family is quite confident in their ability to keep me within those walls. Otherwise, they wouldn't dare open the gates so generously."

Momoka kept her eyes tightly shut, her expression grave.

The previous Saint's Decree stated that 'refusing to leave the city would be considered apostasy.'

Yet, the head of the Harry family had blatantly responded by staying inside and instead demanding that Luo Li enter.

They were no longer attempting to hide their intentions; they were laying their cards on the table.

"Luo Li, what do you plan to do? This is clearly a trap. You cannot go."

The silver haired girl closed her eyes in thought.

Indeed, it was a dragon's den. Once she entered, she might never come out. But if she did not go in, what would they do?

What would be their next move?

If she laid siege to the city, they would likely force commoners onto the walls. If she did not attack, they would surely use something to threaten her. But what could they possibly use?

Before Momoka could finish her thought, Luo Li suddenly opened her eyes.

"Shalin."

"I am here. What are your orders, Your Highness?"

The blue haired girl standing beside Luo Li responded with a smile.

"Can you... extinguish fires?"

Shalin maintained her smile.

"Of course."

"Good. Go now. Remember, circle above Twin-Wing City. The moment you see a fire start anywhere, put it out immediately!"

"As you command, Lady Luo Li."

Shalin lifted her skirt in a slight bow, turned, and walked out of the central command tent.

With a long, echoing dragon's roar, an icy blue dragon soared into the sky.

"Momoka, organize the army. Prepare for a siege."

The silver haired girl stood up abruptly, a chilling coldness in her crimson eyes.

She could no longer afford to waste time.

If she continued to hesitate, how many of those seventy million people would die because of the delay?

Previously, when she dealt with other nobles, she had generally avoided exterminating their entire lines. Aside from the Garnet family, who had conspired with the demons, she had left most families with some survivors.

Perhaps it was her past leniency that gave these people the illusion of hope.

The enemy was absolutely certain they could keep her in the city. If she entered, there would be no return.

She could not enter that city.

Luo Li's judgment of herself was accurate.

She was no legendary hero of old; she could not simply walk into a death trap and expect to survive. She was no grand general who could walk into the enemy's den alone and walk out unharmed.

She was just an ordinary person. Before transmigrating, she was ordinary, and after transmigrating, though she had gained this status and changed gender, she was still ordinary at heart.

Even with the bonuses from her titles, she was only a level twenty weakling.

In this world filled with danger, it was truly not worth it to gamble with her own life.

She was no great hero, just a Saintess who was originally destined to be broken by the demon army.

She had fought hard to reach this point and carve out a glimmer of hope.

She would not be foolish enough to deliver herself to the enemy camp.

"Luo Li, what... what are you going to do?"

Momoka stared blankly at the silver haired girl. Ever since she first heard of the new Saintess of the Moon a year and a half ago, her impression of Luo Li had been constantly changing.

From naive at the start, to a perceived foolish ruler, then to a brilliant leader, and now.

She saw the traces of a formidable, ambitious sovereign in the girl.

The girl did not respond to Momoka but gave a direct order instead.

"General Musashi!"

"Your humble servant is here!"

"Relay my command. Challenge them beneath the city walls!"

The girl slowly raised her head, her crimson gaze fixed on Musashi, her voice freezing.

"I want to see every noble in the city come out and surrender within two hours."

"In two hours, the entire army will commence the assault."

"After the city is taken, I will permit the entire army to pillage the properties of the nobility, excluding the commoners. For three days, the army will not be restrained. Everything seized will belong to the individuals who took it. Not a single noble within the city shall remain, and the Harry family is to be exterminated nationwide!"

Yanagi Musashi was stunned.

Momoka was stunned.

Even Shinichi Mizutani, the adjutant of the Kingdom of the Sun's knight order who had been waiting outside for orders, was stunned.

Once this order was issued, it would truly be a fight to the death!

No noble could endure such a blatant insult.

In fact, the nobility across all human kingdoms would collectively boycott the Kingdom of the Moon.

One must remember that only the Kingdom of the Moon was directly under the Holy See. Other countries had their own royal families!

Technically, those royal families still stood on the side of the nobility.

This was almost equivalent to placing the Kingdom of the Moon in opposition to every other country except for the Holy See.

If it truly reached the point of a siege, this lady would become a public enemy to the other six nations of the Holy Church!

Especially for the Harry family; if they were truly to be exterminated nationwide, they would surely resist with everything they had.

"Luo Li! You cannot issue that command!"

Before anyone else could speak, Momoka was the first to stand up, her face solemn.

"Doing this will push the Kingdom of the Moon into an irreversible abyss!"

Yanagi Musashi also immediately dropped to one knee.

"Lady Luo Li, your humble servant does not dare to accept this order! Otherwise, the Kingdom of the Moon will be in grave danger!!"

Outside the tent, Shinichi Mizutani also rushed in and knelt beside Yanagi Musashi.

"Lady Luo Li, please reconsider this! You must not do this!"

Luo Li's brow furrowed as she looked at the three people speaking out.

She knew she was acting impulsively.

But if she didn't do this, what was she supposed to do now?

Should she really walk into the tiger's den?

She was no legendary hero. In such a dangerous situation, there was no way she could survive.

"Momoka! At this very moment, do I have any other choice?"

She turned her gaze toward the black haired girl.

It wasn't that she wanted to do this, but the situation had been pushed to this point, and there were truly no other options left.

Take a risk?

Since the other party was so confident in letting her in, they would never let her out again.

She wasn't joking. Surviving the events at Moonrise City was a stroke of luck.

But luck would not always favor one person!

Unless some miracle occurred right now, there was almost no room for maneuver.

Either lead the army to storm the city, or walk like a lamb into the tiger's mouth.

"Luo Li, that's not what I meant."

Realizing there was a misunderstanding between them, and seeing the hint of hysteria in the girl's eyes, Momoka hurried to comfort her.

"What I mean is, you cannot allow the army to go unrestrained. We should only execute the primary culprits. For other nobles who were not the masterminds, a simple punishment will suffice. As for the nationwide extermination of the Harry family, I hope you can think about it calmly. This is not a small matter."

Luo Li took a deep breath, the anger in her heart still difficult to suppress.

But as she calmed down and thought about it.

Momoka was right.

Whether it was a nationwide extermination or a massacre of the city, it would cause all human nobility to stand directly against her.

With the power she currently held, how could she withstand a combined protest from all the nobles?

In the commercial sector alone, over ninety percent was controlled by the nobility.

Once other countries banned imports and exports, the economy of the Kingdom of the Moon would collapse instantly.

In the end, she might just die, but the people of the Kingdom of the Moon would be the ones to suffer.

Perhaps it was because she hadn't slept at all last night that her emotions were a bit unstable?

How could she get so angry all of a sudden?

Tsk!

It wasn't her fault for being angry; these nobles were far too good at causing trouble.

Thinking about it carefully, there truly was a desire in her heart to wipe them all out.

But sitting in this position, how could she let her emotions control her?

She had to remember that she was now a ruler; every move she made was a matter of national importance.

'Calm down, Luo Li!'

She suppressed the anger in her heart. She hadn't slept well for several days.

On one hand, she was worried about Butcher Zuka's side, and on the other, she had to deal with Cain's side.

As a result, her mood had become irritable.

The world is so beautiful, yet I am so grumpy. This isn't good.

The nobles would have to be killed eventually, and killed cleanly.

But not now, and it couldn't be now.

Hadn't she understood this long ago?

Why had she forgotten it at a time like this?

Right, calm down.

She rubbed her aching head, her fingers pressing against her temples.

She thought for a while.

She truly could not massacre the nobles, at least not at this stage.

But a siege was necessary.

However, how to break in was a major problem.

The first step was to find a way to take the city gate.

Negotiating was definitely out of the question; if they dragged it out any longer, those seventy million people would be finished.

Well, for matters of war, she had to ask the professionals.

Thinking of this, Luo Li looked down and realized that Yanagi Musashi and the adjutant had been kneeling there this whole time.

"Fine, Musashi, and the adjutant, you may stand. That order... I rescinded it."

Rescinding an order wasn't the important part; what mattered was what to do next.

Sitting in the general's seat, Luo Li's finger lightly tapped the wooden table in front of her.

"Tell me, what should we do next? How do we take this city gate?"

Yanagi Musashi and Shinichi Mizutani looked at each other before standing up.

Seeing that Luo Li had calmed down, Momoka also breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down.

Things had reached a point where there seemed to be no other choice but a siege.

But how to attack to take the city was an even more troublesome question.

Momoka pondered for a long time before looking up at the silver haired girl.

"I have an idea, but it might involve... taking a risk."

Risk?

The word flashed through her mind, and Luo Li instantly understood Momoka's meaning.

Use her as bait to trick them into opening the gate?

Perhaps it was a way.

However, Musashi suddenly spoke up at that moment.

"Your Highness, I fear that method will be difficult. If the enemy does not open the gate but lowers a basket instead..."

Musashi didn't finish the sentence, but everyone understood.

If the enemy lowered a basket, would Luo Li enter it or not?

If she got into the basket, it would be the end of everything.

If she didn't, wouldn't it tell the enemy that they were there to feign a surrender?

Momoka's brow furrowed as she nodded.

"Indeed. It seems that plan is not feasible. I was too naive."

Yanagi Musashi turned his head toward Luo Li, his voice carrying a hint of ruthlessness.

"Lady Luo Li, there is only one way left. A frontal assault!"

A frontal assault?

Luo Li was silent for a moment.

"Musashi, how much confidence do you have? How much time do you need?"

Yanagi Musashi thought for a moment.

"In response to Lady Luo Li, it will take at least three days."

Three days for a siege was already very fast, but it was still not enough.

Luo Li shook her head.

"No, that's too long."

She thought for a bit, and an idea suddenly popped into her head.

"If I could shatter the city walls, how much time would you need to occupy the city?"

"Hiss! If that is the case, your humble servant is confident in occupying the entire city within half a day."

As he spoke, Musashi added confidently:

"However, if the enemy has other powerful experts, that time will be extended significantly."

Powerful experts; they definitely had them.

Since the enemy was so confident in their ability to control her, they must have corresponding experts lying in wait within the city.

However, she also had a way to deal with that.

"Then prepare yourselves. When the time comes, I will use a skill to shatter the city walls. The rest will be up to you."

"Your humble servant accepts the command!"

The matters here were quickly settled.

In two hours, at 8:40 AM, the entire army would assemble to begin the siege.

...

Tracing back two hours. Outside the North Gate of Brilliant City.

A carriage sped past.

Inside the carriage, Lola and Augus had solemn expressions.

Outside, over a dozen knights escorted the vehicle.

"Augus, how much confidence do you have? Her Highness is taking such a risk this time. Did you not try to persuade her?"

Lola was also realizing things after the fact. Once she knew about Shumir, everything suddenly connected.

But now that she had realized it, she had no chance to counterattack.

"Of course I tried to persuade her, but Her Highness is not one to change her mind easily. Do not forget, those are the lives of seventy million people."

As he spoke, Augus coughed twice. The cold air entering his nose and throat always caused some discomfort.

"Cough! We do not need to worry about Her Highness. She will understand what needs to be done."

Augus believed that his lady might be furious about this matter, but she would definitely calm down.

In Augus's heart, she was a brilliant ruler that only appeared once in a thousand years!

If the Saintess truly lost her composure because of this, then it could only be said that she lacked the emperor's bearing.

But if she could still endure it...

Then with such a formidable, ambitious sovereign who knew how to restrain herself, why worry about the world not being at peace!

He knew very well that the lady desperately wanted to eliminate all the nobles in one fell swoop.

But from a rational analysis, that was clearly impossible to achieve.

Therefore, Augus really wanted to see how the lady would handle this situation.

He had already guessed almost every trick the enemy might use.

If the lady truly traded herself for grain, it could only be said that she was a saint but not a formidable ruler.

If the lady was consumed by rage and slaughtered the nobles regardless of the consequences, affecting the whole country.

Then it could only be said that she was a short sighted person.

With such a lack of depth, she would not be able to hold such a vast human territory.

Only by launching a frontal assault without massacring the nobles after taking the city could she prove she truly possessed the aura of a sovereign.

A wise bird chooses its tree to perch, and a wise official chooses his lord to serve.

This hurdle was also a small test that Augus had long ago prepared for the lady in his heart.

No matter what the Saintess chose this time, he was one hundred percent certain he could ensure her safety.