As a mother hen, she had no name.
Eating and laying eggs—eating and laying eggs—was all she had done in the year since she was born.
Aside from the occasional conflict with the old hen next door, her days were quite comfortable.
At the very least, she never had to worry about food or water.
She was supposed to be sitting in her nest laying an egg today.
But as the saying goes, a hen may sit in her nest, but disaster falls from the sky.
Before the egg could even be laid, she was suddenly snatched up by a terrifying upright ape.
Will you not even let a hen lay her egg?!
She had been holding it in all day, and just as she finally found a peaceful spot and the egg was about to emerge, this creature came along with such a surprise.
It wasn't just a surprise; it was a terrifying shock!
Looking at the three terrifying upright apes that had appeared, the sensation of death enveloped her entire body.
In that moment, the hen truly felt the threat of mortality.
Suddenly, she was grabbed by her wings and swung through the air.
As she saw the terrifying upright ape drawing closer, a blade came straight for her face.
In that life or death moment, the egg that had almost been forced back in could no longer be contained.
'Plop!'
She swore she had never had such a smooth delivery in her life.
The massive inertia from being swung sent the egg flying forward.
Crack!
The hen's eyes widened, watching in disbelief as the chick-to-be she had just birthed was sliced clean in half by a blade.
The egg white and yolk instantly blurred together, continuing forward at high speed toward the terrifying upright ape's face.
No! My poor baby!!
In her despair, the hen let out a shrill, grief-stricken squawk.
...
"Squawk! Squawk!"
Accompanied by the hen's cry, a messy mixture of egg white and yolk, along with shards of broken shell, splattered squarely onto the face of the approaching expert.
Instant blindness!
The expert wielding the greatsword was momentarily stunned.
He never imagined in his life that he would be blinded by a still-warm egg!
"Nice work!"
Yuna didn't waste any time. She let go of the hen and threw a punch at the blinded expert.
The man only had time to wipe his face, and by the time he opened his eyes, a heavy fist was already inches away!
Boom!
With no chance to react, the punch caused a loud ringing in the greatsword expert's head.
He was completely dazed by the single blow before he could even process what happened.
Yuna lunged forward instantly, snatching the greatsword from his hands. She didn't have time to worry about the hen as she swung the blade behind her!
Clang!
Sparks flew as Yuna's stolen greatsword collided with an opponent's longsword.
However, Yuna refused to get bogged down in a fight. After that single clash, she turned and ran.
But even that brief exchange had delayed her escape.
In the distance, over a dozen experts had already taken the opportunity to close in on her.
Seeing this, Yuna sighed.
The moment the dragon's roar had echoed earlier, she was fairly certain it was the contingency plan Adam had prepared.
But this backup had arrived at a terrible time.
Her own weapons had been confiscated, and she was trapped in that villa.
She knew very well that no matter what she said, the enemy would never let her leave.
After all, in an act of rebellion, people usually staked their entire lives and fortunes; there was no room for turning back.
Trapped in that position, she had no way of knowing where the dragons were or how far they were from her.
She only knew that by stalling for as long as possible, she would have a better chance of escaping.
But it was no use; the enemy's reaction speed was incredibly fast.
Baron Harry might be naive now, but he seemed to be an elite among the nobles.
Holding the greatsword and looking at the circle of experts surrounding her, Yuna let out a long sigh and thrust the blade into the ground.
With a sharp sound, the greatsword sank halfway into the earth.
She then spread her hands in a gesture of helplessness.
"I surrender. Since I'm giving up halfway, can you spare my life?"
"I'm afraid that's impossible. The young lord has already..."
However, before he could finish his sentence, someone else cut him off.
"Stop talking nonsense! If we waste any more time, we're all going to die!!"
Among this group, there were those who were clever and those who were naive. The one who had responded to Yuna was clearly the latter.
He hadn't yet grasped the reality of the situation.
But the one who interrupted him was very intelligent.
He knew exactly what was happening.
Their group was already tied to the sinking ship of rebellion. The Yuna before them was clearly the enemy's commander; as long as she died, the conflict in Medi City would effectively be over!
Without waiting for anyone else to speak, he reached into his robe, pulled out several darts, and hurled them at Yuna!
The moment the three darts flew out, the expert followed immediately behind them.
It seemed he intended to use the darts to create an opening before delivering a fatal blow.
His style was much like an assassin's.
Seeing this, Yuna placed her hand on the hilt of the greatsword, her eyes fixed on the man while simultaneously staying alert for any sneak attacks from the others.
However, just as his figure was about to reach Yuna...
A silver light descended from the sky. Before anyone could react, the charging man was skewered by a spear.
The spear entered through his left shoulder and exited through his right waist, pinning him firmly to the ground.
Yet, even then, the expert's powerful vitality prevented him from dying instantly.
His eyes widened in disbelief as he stiffly turned his head to look at the spear shaft protruding from his shoulder.
Following the angle of the spear, he looked up toward the sky.
A small silver dragon glided in from the distance, followed by nearly a thousand more silver skysoar dragons.
The man leading them had already raised a second spear, shouting at the top of his lungs:
"Acting Vice Commander Vide of the Dragon Knight Corps is here! Move and you die!!"
For a moment, all the experts were stunned.
While the others were frozen, Yuna snatched up her greatsword and looked up at Vide.
She recognized this acting vice commander.
Vide was one of the few standout figures in the Dragon Knight Corps.
Although his strength had not yet reached the fiftieth level of a Guardian Knight, he was highly valued by the Prince and had been promoted to acting vice commander.
The reason for the word 'acting' was precisely because Vide's strength wasn't quite up to standard.
With a strength of level forty-three, he would basically be killed instantly by a level-fifty Guardian Knight. If someone of that level were to become a full commander, it would only lower the prestige of the Dragon Knight Corps.
Unfortunately, the Dragon Knight Corps was composed entirely of commoners, and there weren't many experts among them. They had simply picked the best of the bunch, which turned out to be Vide.
The only reason he could instantly kill a level-fifty expert was his advantage in the sky.
In this world where not everyone could fly, the advantage of altitude provided overwhelming power.
Even with only an acceleration magic array on the spear, the speed of a projectile thrown from such a height after being infused with elements was terrifying.
Yuna recalled that moment just now.
If she had been caught off guard, even she might not have fared well.
She looked back at the skewered expert. His internal organs had essentially been pulverized. Although he was barely clinging to life through raw vitality, he certainly wouldn't last long.
Still, the Prince was truly generous.
Every knight in this Dragon Knight Corps was equipped with twenty spears augmented with magic arrays.
Just the spear throws alone were enough for them to kill opponents of a higher level.
However, such throwing spears would be difficult for an ordinary knight regiment to use effectively.
After all, high-altitude throwing allowed for suppression from above, and the skysoar dragon could reach speeds of about one hundred and sixty kilometers per hour. Only with that speed, combined with the spear's own enchantments, could such massive destructive power be achieved.
Knights on the ground, whose horses had a limited top speed, naturally couldn't unleash the same power from their spears.
"Knight Yuna, please mount the dragon!"
Seeing the experts stop their movements, Vide didn't dare be careless. He made a gesture, signaling the Dragon Knight Corps behind him to circle the area and remain alert while he landed his skysoar dragon.
"Alright."
Yuna turned to look at the experts and gave them a radiant smile.
"Gentlemen, I assume no one will stop me this time?"
Facing a thousand skysoar dragons in the sky, not one of the dozen experts could make a move.
The dragon riders in the sky were all holding spears, ready to throw at any moment.
Given the speed at which that previous spear had fallen, no one could dodge them.
Such air superiority left them feeling incredibly frustrated, but at this point, what else could they do?
In this moment, these experts of the Kingdom of the Moon understood the importance of air superiority for the first time.
Unfortunately, it was too late for them to do anything.
They could only watch as the female Guardian Knight rode away on the back of the small dragon.
"Knight Yuna, by order of the Prince, we are temporarily under your command. Please give your orders."
As the skysoar dragon climbed higher and confirmed the experts below would not attack again, Vide turned to look at Yuna.
Yuna nodded and pointed toward the villa she had just left.
"Go back to that villa first."
"Understood!"
Vide didn't hesitate, steering the skysoar dragon to land back at the villa.
By now, the villa was already deserted.
The corpses of the elephant-man and the assassin still lay on the ground.
Yuna stepped forward and searched the assassin's body. After finding the antidote, she drank it immediately.
Only then did she let out a long sigh of relief.
The poison had already started taking effect, and Yuna could clearly feel her strength failing.
Her surrender earlier had been a desperate necessity, but now that the crisis was resolved, the next step... was to assess the current situation.
She returned to the back of the skysoar dragon and looked at Vide.
"What's the situation now? Has something happened in Brilliant City? Where is the Prince? Are there any other orders?"
Having been trapped, Yuna had no way of knowing what was happening outside; many details were still unclear to her.
"Reporting to Lady Yuna, we don't have much information. However, it is confirmed that Lord Kevin has joined the rebels."
Yuna lowered her head in thought for a moment.
"Pass on my orders. Have the Dragon Knight Corps circle over Medi City and broadcast my words."
"Yes!"
Vide quickly began making hand signals.
This world had its own sign language, and the Dragon Knight Corps practiced it daily.
After all, while flying at high speeds, it was difficult for their voices to reach one another.
This method allowed orders to be communicated visually to everyone.
After repeating the signals several times and ensuring the knights had confirmed the order, the thousand skysoar dragons began to circle high above the city.
"Notice to all knights of the Western Expedition: Kevin Cromwell has committed apostasy! All knights are to leave the city through the East Gate immediately and regroup. Anyone who does not arrive outside the East Gate within thirty minutes will be treated as a rebel!"
"Notice: Kevin Cromwell, surrender your weapons and give yourself up immediately."
As a thousand skysoar dragons continuously circled over Medi City, the repeated announcements left everyone stunned.
Inside a tavern in Medi City.
A knight turned blankly to look at his comrade beside him.
"Hey, did you hear that?"
"I... I heard it."
Knight B looked back at his companion.
"Lord Kevin... has committed apostasy? How... how can this be?"
"How should I know? I suppose those high nobles just couldn't take it anymore!"
"But the Prince hasn't been too excessive, has he? Isn't everything within reason?"
"Within reason? I can't believe you can say that. Have you asked anyone else in your family how they feel about what the Prince is doing? I have, and most of them are disgusted by it."
"But... but what do we do now?"
The two men looked at each other, both completely bewildered.
Finally, Knight A gritted his teeth.
"Let's go out. Regardless of anything else, we can't be branded as apostate knights, or the consequences will be too great."
Knight B nodded.
"You're right."
This same scene was playing out among many knights, as they poured out of the taverns.
Even though every knight was exhausted, they had no other choice.
If they didn't go out, they would be declared apostates immediately!
They were all knights with bright futures ahead of them. Unless they were truly forced into a corner, most of them did not want to join an outright rebellion.
And the most important reason driving them out of the city...
Was the great dragon and the thousand dragon riders hovering over their heads.
These knights knew very well that without powerful knights leading the way to take the heat, they couldn't possibly withstand the devastation of those thousand dragon riders.
In other words, for an army restricted to the ground, this was an overwhelming disparity in power, leaving them completely defenseless!
"Lady Yuna."
The great dragon in the air transformed into human form.
The dragon race was truly one of the most incredible races in the world.
Despite having such massive bodies, they could transform into human shapes.
Furthermore, their weight and other physical properties would become remarkably similar to those of a human.
One could only say this was the special favor of the gods.
Aigie Noah descended from the sky, landing on the back of the skysoar dragon.
For a skysoar dragon, having a dragon of this caliber land on its back was actually something of a reward.
However, no one had the time to care about the skysoar dragon's feelings.
"Aigie, thank you for making the trip."
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