Stepping over the collapsed city walls, dust and frozen snow splattered onto their iron boots. With Astrid’s permission, every defending soldier imdiately withdrew, leaving the shattered ruins of the Holy Radiant City Light to the approaching Church Knights.
Lyra flapped her semi-transparent light wings, quickly diving to Astrid’s side. She stood beside Elise, the ever-vigilant head maid, both gripping their swords, ready to parry any incoming attacks.
A glimpse of the girl’s cherry-pink long hair caught the corner of Astrid’s vision. A fragrance unlike anything on the battlefield drifted into her nostrils. Astrid continued chanting her spell. Instantly, the lead knights felt their bodies stiffen. Thick layers of ice ford in the gaps between their armor plates, making even bending their knee joints abnormally difficult.
In the next second, the advance of the military formation was montarily halted. The exceptional discipline of the Church’s Knight Order spared the vanguard from being trampled by forces from behind, but the slowdown in marching speed was inevitable.
"Lyra, you don’t need to keep guarding . Elise is enough for defense here."
Astrid’s silvery-white hair fluttered in the wind, revealing the smooth, luxurious fabric of her gown on her back. She turned back slightly, speaking softly.
"Go help the others retreat. The airships are just behind us, about to take off. These soldiers are the elite of the elite, don’t let them fall here."
On the surface, Elise the head maid was shielding Astrid, but in truth, several Arcanist mages were also closely monitoring the situation from the shadows.
Charles, Charlotte, regardless of emotional or political reasons, none of them would allow Astrid to fall here.
Hearing Astrid’s words, Lyra glanced at the black-and-white-dressed maid beside her, bit her lip, and whispered.
"Then... Astrid, please be careful..."
"I will."
After this brief exchange, Lyra left Astrid’s side and moved to the frontline of the Church of Light’s military formation. The knights previously frozen by ancient magic had already broken free. Sunlight refracted off the edges of their armor, forming blazing, sharp halo-like rings.
Lyra raised her sword. Light clashed head-on with light. Simultaneously, support mbers crouched on rooftiles unleashed firepower from magical energy weapons toward the radiant knight formation.
The walls that had protected the empire for so long had now crumbled. Now, they will rely on the scattered buildings and tiles, doing their utmost to restrict the iron hooves of the Church Knights from trampling the land beneath.
The Holy Radiant City Light continued operating at full speed. Any object touching the phantom city was shattered and destroyed. Cracked floor tiles flipped upward, exposing pre-buried magical energy bombs underground. Flowing mana activates the runes, detonating them instantly in the center of the knight formation.
"Retreat imdiately, head to the airships!"
"Hurry, hurry, leave everything behind!"
Chaos echoed through the dark alleys. The fire from muskets provided the best cover for the soldiers’ retreat. Everyone clearly understood their mission was completed. The next priority was survival, reaching that sky-bound leviathan now fully revealed from the mist.
The Church’s Knight Order clearly realized the Valeria Empire’s intentions. After instructing nearby knights to stabilize the formation, the Knight-Captain’s Deputy, forcefully kicked off the ground, charging himself from the sea of overlapping armor. His manifested ntal energy solidified into wings supporting flight, rushing towards Lyra at extre speed.
Noticing the threat approaching, Lyra imdiately raised her sword to block. A crisp tallic clang erupted at the center of the blades, accompanied by a blinding flash of light.
Her wrist vibrated from the imnse force, an unfamiliar numbness shooting through it, rare for her. Lyra’s blue eyes locked onto the man before her, a brown-haired, dark-eyed man. Her gaze passed over his pure white pauldrons, spotting the pale, curved bow behind him, its tip burning with holy flas.
He was the one who had been shooting arrows nonstop from beneath the city walls.
Judging from their brief clash, Lyra instantly understood this opponent was no weakling. Light sparks flared again from her knight’s blade.
"Deputy Commander under Knight-Captain Kales’ command, Church Knight Order."
"Lyra."
Responding coldly, Lyra stared at the Deputy commander, her blade aid at his cheek.
She held no goodwill toward invaders, especially a high-ranking clergy mber of the Church of Light like him. Even stating her na was already an act of courtesy deeply ingrained in her.
The deputy commander paid no mind to Lyra’s reaction. His eyes narrowed slightly as he studied her light blade and the flawless armor radiating holy aura.
Such high affinity for light elents, yet no sign of faith, what a pity.
If she joined the Church of Light, this Knight nad Lyra would surely be heavily cultivated by the Pope. With sufficient devotion, becoming the next Saintess or even the future Pope wasn’t out of the question.
Unaware that the Deputy commander was ntally entertaining the ridiculous notion of converting her, Lyra’s gaze turned icy. Her long sword flickered, conjuring multiple light-blade afterimages that scattered like blossoms, attacking Deputy commander.
At the very least, here, she wouldn’t let this dangerous Church Knight advance another step.
At the sa ti, behind Liya Tower Fortress, five magical energy airships that had arrived early at the stronghold were undergoing final checks.
Wind-elent crystals began operating, generating weak airflows that blew outward from all four sides of the hull, assisting the airships’ initial lift-off. The primary power source, however, lay in the upper heating envelope, where fire-elent crystals continuously heat the air.
Soldiers retreating from the front line followed guides up wooden ramps, entering the airships and sitting in cabins with few windows, their anxiety unabated.
Although they’d long heard of the empire possessing such colossal machines, and so had even seen them during supply transports, this was their first ti actually riding one.
Most passengers remain skeptical about whether the magical airships could truly carry them skyward, conquering the heavens. After all, they were ordinary soldiers, not officers with flight capabilities. If the airships malfunctioned mid-flight, their fate would be certain, death with no burial.
Still, considering the Regent had decided on this evacuation thod, they were willing to trust this noble prince who had spent days inspecting the border.
At least it was better than staying in Liya Tower Fortress to be torn apart by enemy cavalry. The prince wouldn’t be foolish enough to sacrifice them along with these magical vessels, masterpieces of imperial effort.
Holding onto this thought, the retreating soldiers, despite sweating palms and tense bodies, strictly followed orders, saying nothing unnecessary, obediently sitting in assigned seats.
anwhile, in the core zone of Liya Tower Fortress, Charlotte, who had been keeping a thread of consciousness on Astrid, finished setting the magical energy cannon to self-destruct. Using the surrounding wind to propel her flight, she ascended hundreds of ters into the sky, her tea-colored eyes gazing down at the battlefield entirely.
In the distance, mounted knights clad in heavy armor were nearing Liya Tower Fortress. Their formation, spreading like ripples, resembled a tide about to engulf a sandbank, advancing with unstoppable montum. The fortress’s outer area, stripped bare by the Holy Radiant City Light, provided them the perfect stage.
Once they breached the original wall, the Valeria Empire’s defenders would inevitably be crushed under iron hooves.
Charlotte scanned carefully but found no trace of other Arcanist mages. Her gaze then shifted toward the city’s steady retreat.
Astrid, dressed in a black gown, stood at the town’s center. The cold aura radiating from her ford a line halting the Church of Light’s advance, effectively blocking out incoming light. Behind her, soldiers crouched on battlents were frantically unleashing firepower. Disordered elental particles ricocheted within tight spaces, causing constant bursts.
On the other side, sharp sword strikes explode through alleys, blades of light slicing through walls and tiles. The pink-haired, blue-eyed Holy Knight was fully focused in battle against the Deputy commander. The man across from her clearly struggled to keep up, his handso face already slashed by her blade, crimson blood dripping to the ground, his sword swinging grew slower than at the start.
Seizing another opening in the Deputy commander’s movents, Lyra aid her sword at his right shoulder. A swift, precise thrust strikes the joint unprotected by armor. The sharp blade instantly sliced through flesh, drawing a ripple of red.
A magical and martial genius, reaching the strengths of Peak tier Magnus and Peak tier Master Knight, Lyra had few peers across the battlefield. As for a Church Knight defeating her? Impossible.
Staring at the man across from her, hand pressed to his wound yet forced to surrender, Lyra wielded her sword with one hand, her knight’s boot heel planted in frozen soil, her entire body enveloped in pure white holy light.
If he insists on fighting, she’d have to send him off.
You fanatical, despicable invader, how much innocent blood have you stained?
The Holy of light glowed from within, its searing aura like flas ignited on steel. Lyra aid at the Deputy commander’s neck and swung without hesitation.
The surging sword energy tore through frozen soil, raising scorching winds. Just as the Deputy commander was about to be struck, a blinding light flashed between him and Lyra, deflecting most of the attack’s force and causing the ethereal blade to veer off course. It only grazed the Deputy commander’s arm, destroying the armor there.
Lyra turned her gaze. Her snow-white legs stood straight. Two more Church Knights clad in holy armor had appeared before her, both walking on air, gripping sharp knight’s blades.
At least Master Knight... Not enough with one, so they’re sending more?
This suits Lyra’s intentions perfectly. The more the Church of Light focused on her battle, the less attention they’d pay to the retreating, and the less combat strength soldiers could divert toward Astrid.
Tightening her grip on the sword, Lyra, feeling slight fatigue, forced herself alert. Her eyes swept over the two knights beside the Deputy commander as she spoke coldly.
"Two against one, is this the knightly spirit your Church of Light’s scriptures boast of?"
Dying for an unjust war, resorting to tag-team battles and nurical superiority, worse than stories in Imperial novels. Truly pitiful.
Seemingly affected by Lyra’s words, the two knights exchanged glances, their expressions briefly complex. Then they saw the pink-haired knight straightening her posture, placing her sword hilt against her chest, the sharp blade pointing straight at the sky.
The next second, near-solid beams of light coiled around the holy sword, orbiting like planets around the sun. Lyra’s blue eyes glimred. Her knuckles, clenched white, tightened further as she launched her assault against those blocking her.
............
Ten minutes later, the Church’s Knight Order approximately Liya Tower Fortress. Lyra, having repelled two more knights of equal rank, slightly wiped her lips. Her breath, landing on her glove, ca out slightly labored.
"We should go too, Lyra."
A cool female voice echoed in her ear. Lyra turned, seeing Astrid striding forward with her long legs. The soldiers who’d stayed behind to cover the retreat had all left, surely already aboard the airships.
"Mm."
Just as she replied, Lyra saw the sky leviathan behind Liya Tower Fortress lift off. Even from a distance, its massive body remained awe-inspiringly overwhelming.
Her semi-transparent light wings flapped, lifting Lyra into the sky. Other knight-captains who’d been holding back the Kingdom of Velys’s army noticed this too. They imdiately triggered the magical weapons Charlotte had set earlier. A chain of explosions erupted in streets and alleys, sending thick black smoke billowing, blocking everyone’s vision.
Cold wind brushed her cheeks, dispelling the heat from exertion. Lyra looked down at the black fog, watching the dust-covered buildings shrink below, finally allowing herself a faint sigh of relief.
"Astrid, have all the soldiers evacuated?"
"Yes. The retreat went even smoother than expected. Kingdom of Velysnever anticipated we’d pre-deployed magical energy airships and compressed preparation ti to under an hour."
Astrid, feeling a slight depletion in mana, fluttered her eyelashes. Leaning partially against the maid, she was carried by Elise towards the airships.
"So that spell earlier, was it the Holy Radiant City Light that Monica ntioned?" Astrid murmured.
Within her field of vision, the phantom city flickered faintly through the black fog. The knight formation still stands, serving as nodes for the combined spell.
The head maid accelerated, carrying Astrid to the airship’s exterior, entering through an outer door.
Lyra followed their flight path into the airship. The mont her foot touched the deck, a deafening roar erupted beside her.
Inside Liya Tower Fortress, a destructive beam of light erupted from the center, carrying imnse force and spreading in all directions.
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