The Abandoned Empress - Chapter 120

Chapter 120
A considerable number of allies were still exposed to the enemy’s attacking range. Even if they were behind the shields, they could not completely avoid the storm of arrows. As it was still in the early stage of the battle, it was not good for the allies to incur such a big damage.

‘How can I stop them from shooting the storm of arrows?’

I bit my lip, wielding my sword against the enemy approaching me. As I was the only one wearing a silver badge amid the wave of red uniforms worn by the 2nd Knights members, there were many more knights targeting me than I anticipated.

Blocking the sword aimed at my chest, I pulled my body back. Another sword aimed at my belly stopped right before hitting me.

“Whew!” Calming my pounding heart, I grabbed my sword again. Even though it was like a real combat drill, the enemy’s attack a moment ago was dangerous. The enemy knight who tried to stab me was breathing a sigh of relief as if he was also surprised.

At that moment, a small wooden door about a hundred steps away caught my eye.

It was the entrance for the servants, maids and carts.

Yes, that’s what I want!

When I stepped back, striking back the enemy’s sword, an ally knight in the rear row came out and filled my place.

Taking this opportunity, I confirmed Carsein’s position. I noticed that he was moving back step by step after defeating an enemy knight

 
“Carsein.”

“… ”

“Carsein!”

“Ugh? Why are you calling me? I’m distracted. ”

Carsein, grabbing his sword again and catching his breath, looked back at me a bit late.

When I pointed at the wooden gate with my chin, Carsein’s eyes, who also noticed it, sparkled.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

After replying quickly, he checked the position of his squad members. Then, he helped them in the fight against the enemy knights, knocked them down, and let his subordinates step back one by one. It wasn’t easy for them to step back at a safe distance amid the intense fighting. When they succeeded in moving back, pretending to be dead, Carsein said, “Sir Monique has found something good. Let’s hit it. ”

“Ugh? Are you saying you want to go around the main gate? ”

“No. Look aside! The stairs leading to the wall are right there.”

A big knight who heard Carsein replied frownedly, “Do you want to occupy the wall? I’m afraid our squad alone couldn’t do it.”

“Hmm, Sir Monique?” Carsein, who was trying to say something, said, turning to me.

I quickly explained, looking straight in the eyes of the squad members who were frowning.

“We can because the defending enemies who were positioned at each path in the inner palace are not that many, so entering the palace is a matter of time. However, we are having difficulty because their resistance is stronger than expected. In this situation, if we occupy the wall, we can quicken our advance into the palace.”

“Nonetheless, it’s practically impossible for us ten to occupy the wall… ”

“How dare you say that? You look much more scared than I think.”

When I challenged him with a provocative tone, the bulky knight looked at me with a grumpy expression, gnashing his teeth. Telling me to go in first, he grabbed his sword again. So did other squad members.

‘It’s as expected.’ I smiled faintly, looking at them.

Unlike Sir Dillon, who had been friendly to me from the beginning, or my family knights who were generous to me, I thought that these knights who looked coldly on me would certainly complain about my provocations. Since they subtly ignored me because I was a woman, saying I joined the knights division with my father’s help, it was natural that they could not put up with my insinuation that they were cowards.

I, Carsein, and eight other knights moved forward, leaning cautiously against the wall to stop the enemies from noticing us. After walking to the wooden gate, we finally reached our destination and pushed the small door in front of us as hard as we could.

Bang!

The wooden door was broken with a loud noise. Everyone hurriedly looked around and checked if the enemies were turning their attention to us. Fortunately, we were not caught despite the loud noise because allies and enemies were locked in a fierce battle.

 
I ran fast and climbed a steep staircase up the wall. As they didn’t expect allies would strike them from behind, the 2nd Knights members were shooting arrows with their gaze fixed on the main gate of the palace.

I silently approached and removed them. Shortly afterwards, some of them noticed something suspicious, but it was already too late. Our squad members moved toward the top of the wall.

Standing in the second row and moistening my dry mouth, I measured the distance to our destination.

‘Approximately 20 steps from here.’

We beat the 2nd Knights members charging toward us from behind. The number of the enemies remaining on the wall was suddenly reduced.

“Carry out the next operation!”

When we shouted at the top of our voices, the enemies flinched and grabbed their swords tightly. However, we pushed them as hard as we could and rushed towards our target.

“Stop them! The watchtower is their target! ”

The 2nd Knights members shouted, but our squad had already arrived at the entrance of the watchtower. Except for the two of our squad members, the other members of our squad entered the watchtower, Carsein and two knights holding their shields stood on guard in front of the tower, while I and four other knights got rid of the enemies while climbing the spiral staircase. Finally, we reached the top of the castle tower.

“Does everyone have a good view?”

“… Yes, all clear!”

“Good. Let ‘s shoot freely!”

With a gentle smile, I picked up a bunch of arrows. Looking at me bitterly, other members of the squad also silently put the arrows on the bows.

I shot five arrows with yellow dye towards the 2nd Knights members, who were defending the main gate. While they were distracted by the storm of arrows, the allies fighting them were encouraged by our unexpected support. Their morale went up.

How much time passed? Watching the parade of the allies moving slowly, I took the arrows from the bow. Thanks to our effective support, the allied knights who already passed through the gate were advancing toward the six roads leading to Della Palace.

Suddenly the 2nd Knights members began to descend from the wall. As the battlefield changed, it seemed that they were thinking of giving up the wall that had been already captured, and focusing on blocking the roads leading to the palace.

I smiled unconsciously. As we succeeded in entering the inner palace faster than expected, the chances of our winning were much higher now.

“Now, everyone, let’s shoot five arrows each before going down.”

“Okay, Sir Monique.”

The squad members, who obviously looked down on me before the operation, didn’t show any sign of disrespecting me. Feeling a bit satisfied, I shot five arrows and turned. I thought I could go down now.

As I descended the steep staircases, I saw Caresin’s red hair fluttering. One of the three knights defending the entrance to the castle tower were gone as he seemed to have been counted as killed, and only the bulky knight, who had frowned on me a little while ago, and Carsein were struggling to beat them back.

 
“Good job, squad leader, and Sir Giss. Take a little rest. ”

“Oh, you are here.”

As five knights including me came forward, the members of the 2nd Knights who were holding out there to the end flinched and blocked the road. As it was too late for them to retreat, it seemed that they wanted to defeat our squad.

How much time passed?

After fierce fighting, we barely defeated them. As soon as we got rid of the last knight, we squatted down, exhausted. Carsein, pondering about something while we were taking a break, said abruptly, “Which road would be better?”

“Don’t you think a big road would be better? I think it’s better for us to meet our allies there…”

“No, we have to choose a small road. Why are you trying to get around instead of the shortcut?”

“But Sir Gis, we have got only seven members left…”

“Hmm? Didn’t we end up being in this situation because we accepted your opinion? Why are you complaining about the number of our squad?” Sir Gis balked.

I sighed a little, looking at Sir Gis’s sarcastic remarks with a disgusting expression.