The fall of the fortified city of Murray!

Viscount Tara’s castle was turned upside down. The viscount, in particular, stood blankly with his mouth wide open.

Murray wasn’t a particularly good place. In particular, Daryl, who had been in charge, was not good at almost everything, but he was good at managing one thing: manning, repairing, and protecting the fortress.

It was honestly hard to believe that a castle with such an exterior collapsed in just a few hours in a place like that.

When the knight, who had been urgently sending correspondence every hour, couldn’t finish saying that the enemies had come all the way there at the end before the light of the communication port went out, the viscount felt like he was having a nightmare while still standing. That was one serious nightmare.

On the other hand, the other nobles did not show much surprise. Even if the reinforcements had arrived in Murray on time, the results would still be unknown.

The place itself was a remnant of the whims of the first Duke Verdin and a fortress guarded by knights of a mediocre marquis. What caught the attention of the nobles was something else.

“How did they get to Murray so quickly?”

“They came across the portal from the central region and must have crossed the border on horseback. How could they get that much mana stone apart from the cost?”

“Their mobility would be great if everyone were a knight, but how long will it take to get here?”

Nobody answered, but each said what they wanted to say. However, it was clear that they were not afraid of the imperial army of the 2nd Consort, who had just appeared.

“Is this not bait? Using a bucket strategy to grab the opponent’s attention and hit the other side.”

“The knights are zealous, and the 2nd Empress Consort, whom the emperor is most fond of lately and wants to make an empress, is in charge of the troops.”

“Well, it doesn’t look like bait. Or.. Could it be that— since those knights are not from the emperor but chosen from the noble families, the emperor wants us to fight and kill each other because, in truth, he doesn’t favor the 2nd Consort? What do you guys think?”

The person who spewed whatever came to mind had no idea that what he had said was so close to the truth. The listeners also waved their hands and scolded him.

“You’re talking nonsense. How much impact of our rebellion on the empire? Can the emperor afford to take advantage of this situation?”

“Besides, fight and kill each other? Bucket strategy? With those knights and the 2nd Consort against all Western nobles?”

Everyone was smirking, but Viscount Tara was wondering. He tried to hold it in like he’s been doing, but he couldn’t help frowning.

“Some of you saw the 2nd Empress slaying monsters while traveling to the west, many more witnessed the miracle of the Vecchia Plain, and all of you heard how she managed to escape the desert amid all the difficulties and back to Barossa Palace. But, how..”

“I don’t deny she’s amazing. She’s amazing from what happened in Rotinan.”

It was Count Bauer who spoke the words like he was spitting. Viscount Tara slyly avoided his gaze, but Count Bauer continued to stare at him.

“Facing the 2nd Empress won’t be easy, but there is a limit to what an individual can do. Unlike other countries, the Zeon Empire often experiences civil war. However, even Duke Katrina, the Queen of Swords of the Zeon Empire, has a wall that blocks her. Even with the help of the knights she had raised with great care, she couldn’t move forward, so she had to retreat, and the untimely civil war caused great damage to the Zeon Empire. She later said that even if there were some more of the best knights in the empire, it would have been impossible to break it down.”

[T/N: Changed Empress of Swords in Chapter 102 to Queen of Swords]

“What? Oh! Is.. that true?”

“Yes. Or do you believe what your knight from Murray sent?”

No answer came from Viscount Tara.

“Hahaha! I hope that is the case.”

“I suspect that Murray’s knights may have been drinking in a group. Otherwise, no matter how hard they tried to make up for their failures, how could they say that?”

And that was how it ended. Viscount Tara couldn’t refute it because it was too absurd. He crumpled back into his seat and decided to sit still.

“It would be nice if the support troops arrived in time, but it would be impossible.”

“Yes, Count Bauer. Don’t you think we can do well even without a backup?”

They wanted to do well in other people’s territory. Some were cubs who wanted to contribute to the cause, while the others were middle-class nobles who had their eyes on revenge. Both were burning too hot. The problem was that the fire was not a threat to the opponent but was likely to burn their people here.

***

“Aah.”

Kwaaang!

“We’re going to get burned.”

The Viscount murmured.

“We’re really, really going to get burned.”

The murmur continued. The viscount saw the nobles around him looking down at the city’s walls with wide-open eyes as if their eyelids were tearing apart. When his knight said that the 2nd Consort made pillars of water with her hands, landed them on the wall and the inside of the wall, and made a road from the ground to the city wall and ran over to the top with horses.. What had they done?

Instead of listening to it, it had been treated as drunken nonsense. But his knight had been undoubtedly reporting only the facts. It was just a scene out of reality, hard to imagine.

Neeeigh!

Viscount Tara came to his senses only when he heard the cries of the imperial knights running up the uphill path made by millions or tens of millions of thin streams of water.

“Are they here already?”

When the imperial knights exceeded half of the uphill path, Viscount Tara thought it was okay to be surprised with his tongue stuck out blankly like this.

This was because several people, including the superior Count Bauer, had controlled him with their titles and influences. Then of course, they had to do better than himself!

Count Bauer couldn’t take his eyes off the woman below the walls, and the others were still out of their minds as the creepy howl drew nearer.

“Shit.”

Viscount Tara, who cursed, was about to shout at his soldiers to shoot arrows—! But his whole body stiffened. Cool energy ran through his body. He was startled by something that stretched out in front of him and fell back on his behind.

Shh!

A pillar of water pushed straight back where his head was.

Kwaaang!

A water column pierced the castle’s inside and created a hole.

Viscount Tara crouched against the outer rim of the three-meter-wide passage that made it possible to go up and down the fortress wall and leaned against the inside of a wall the height of a mansion built to protect those moving in the passage from attacks from outside the castle.

He was honestly feeling a little relieved that he wasn’t the commander.

***

Horses were seen running uphill. Elisha moved faster than when she attacked the fortified city of Murray.

As soon as they arrived, she moved the energy of the water and laid out five roads on which the knights could ride their horses over the wall.

This was because she thought the enemy’s attack would be systematic and the backlash would be fierce compared to the fortress city. But—

“What’s this?”

The enemies were too slow, and there was no proper counterattack either. There had been someone, so Elisha shot a pillar of water, but after that, it had become so quiet as if everyone was dead.

She thought they were waiting for the time to attack, but no. That person just faded away as if he were a ghost.

Elisha tilted her head. She didn’t know that her aggression was so off the rails that the witnesses felt sick.

At that time, something occurred in one of the five uphill paths about 2 meters wide. One of the imperial army knights, who had run first, fell to the side with a sword stuck in his chest. As he fell from several tens of meters in the air, he was crushed to the bone with a thud. Someone from under him did not fill his seat, but someone who jumped off the wall.

Count Bauer stretched his sword obliquely toward the knight on the horse below him.

Neeigh!

The horse’s neck cracked, and blood splattered.

The horse ran wild in pain. Two meters wide was not a difficult level of movement for experienced knights.

However, it was a fact that it was an uphill path and made with the power of unfamiliar water, and it was a fact that it was oblique where if one went a little wrong to the left or right, they would plunge to the bottom.

Of all things, if the injured horse just fell to its side like before, it would’ve died alone, however, it slipped all the way back and attacked the imperial knights behind it.

“Uwaagh!”

“Wh-What on earth—! Go away!”

Ku-ku-kung!

To be pushed down one after the other was not an ordinary mess. Horses and people were tangled, crushed, and as the weight increased, the speed increased.

In the end, the knights at the bottom either jumped off the path made of water with their horses or abandoned their horses and flew away to live alone.

“This is how you do it! Don’t let that witch take away your skills! Drive out the imperial army!”

It was a little late, but Count Bauer encouraged those around him by exuding his aspect as a leader. However, by that time, the other paths other than the third path he had been on had already reached the state where the imperial knights had almost reached the top of the wall.

Besides, outside the castle, the 2nd Empress continuously shot water pillars, and since nobody knew where it would fly, their fear was multiplied several times.

“Don’t let the enemies climb up! Attack!”

Count Bauer, who had thrown his body back and got down on the top of the wall again, shouted again, but no one moved properly except for the knights who had come with Count Bauer.

This was why the start was so important. The narrow gap that the 2nd Empress had created due to the use of a cunning technique has now been widened as wide as life and death.

The soldiers who were frozen under the command of a stranger who was not their master, and the young nobles who had never fought a proper fight, let alone war, drifted up and down on the wall, and they were nothing but obstacles.

The knights brought in by the young nobles could not afford to obey Count Bauer’s orders to protect their masters. Count Bauer, who tried to raise their spirits, thinking they would have at least some courage, was so angry that his teeth might crack from gritting it too much.

Meanwhile, one of the knights of the imperial army appeared for the first time with his horse at the outer foot of the fortress wall. The knight jumped off the top of the fortress wall with his horse. He raised his sword at an angle and started running without hesitation over the fortress wall.

Even though it was three meters wide, when the sturdy horse started running, there was nowhere to escape. Soldiers and knights panic and look for a place to escape.

Some moved towards the towers that protruded from the walls to shoot arrows or to facilitate attacks, or the towers that were built high to make it easier to spot enemies, but most were not so lucky.

Pok! Pokk!

More and more people were trampled on by horses’ hooves, pushed against each other, stumbled while running, and fell outside or inside the city walls.

Even so, it was not that no one was late in doing their job and protecting their lives.

The road above the fortress wall was uncomfortable enough for horses to turn, so it was difficult for the imperial knights running on the left to protect their backs even if they removed everything blocking their front. When the rebel knights try to follow the imperial knights, at least—!

Neeeigh!

Following the knights who descended first, the knights of the imperial army appeared along with their horses from other ascents.

[T/N: I hope I did this war scene justice..]