The rain poured down heavily.
A fragile-looking young girl, who seemed like she could be blown away by the wind at any moment, stood alone against a group of fully armed desperate men who were eyeing her like predators.
This scene should have filled anyone with worry.
But Livia merely stood there, and an invisible aura radiated from her, making it so that not a single person in the allied force of Heretics and Sword-Bearing Noble deathsworn dared to take half a step forward.
The private soldiers of the Sword-Bearing Nobles all knew of Livia’s fearsome name.
Their only role in this expedition was to use their own flesh and blood to wear down the Engraved Emblem Power of this Legendary Princess Knight.
Yet even for deathsworn who had long since put life and death aside, this kind of death—carried out purely for attrition and with no hope of victory—still demanded immense courage.
A piercing, mad laugh broke the deadlock.
A Pseudo-Mark Knight who did not know Livia’s true background strode forward, looking her up and down with lewdness and contempt in his eyes.
“Little girl, who do you think you are?”
“You think you can block us by yourself?”
“I thought all the men in the Capital were dead, and yet they sent a woman out to die?”
“But you’re so pretty, I almost can’t bear to kill you.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be very gentle. You will be my greatest offering to the Lord of Pleasure!”
The Pseudo-Mark Knight’s rant made the “Sculptor’s” eyelid twitch hard.
He quietly stepped back a few paces and silently blended into the crowd.
And the other soldiers who knew how terrifying Livia was, as if by some unspoken understanding, instantly opened up a large empty area around the loudmouth.
The Pseudo-Mark Knight still had not realized he had become the focus of the entire field, and was smugly pleased by his companions’ “sensible” behavior.
Livia paid no attention to his filthy words and merely slowly extended a hand, letting the cold rain fall onto her fair palm.
“I hate rainy days,” she said softly.
The next second, her fingers suddenly clenched.
Boom!
With a thunderous roar, the ground beneath the still-laughing Pseudo-Mark Knight and the dozen or so Heresy beside him who had been foolishly laughing along with him exploded without warning.
Mud and gravel mixed with an invisible force erupted from underground, instantly blasting them, armor and all, more than a dozen meters into the air.
In the air, their bodies were wrung into twisted knots by an invisible immense force, and the crack of breaking bones was clearly audible, even drowning out the sound of rain.
Finally, the dozen or so twisted corpses crashed back to the ground like broken trash, splashing up large sheets of muddy water, and then there was no sound at all.
One strike. Just one strike.
The entire army fell into a deathly silence, leaving only the cold raindrops hitting armor with a dense pattering sound.
Cold sweat mixed with rain slid down the “Sculptor’s” temple.
This is… the Stern Family’s Star Emblem?
This is… the power that can stand against the Madwhisper Beast?
Livia flicked the rainwater off her hand, as if she had merely swatted away an annoying fly.
Her icy gaze swept across the entire field once more.
“I will say it again.”
Her voice carried no emotion, only the coldness of official business.
“This road is closed.”
However, the order to attack had already been given, and there was no turning back.
After a brief dead silence, the soldiers almost instinctively formed battle ranks.
“Loose arrows!”
The crossbowmen in the rear ranks fired madly at Livia, and the dense bolts were like a dark cloud that instantly enveloped her.
But those arrows, capable of piercing plate armor at close range, hit an invisible shield formed from starlight power when they came within 1 meter of Livia, and all fell weakly to the ground.
At the same time, the soldiers in the front ranks roared, trying to go around Livia and directly strike the Continental Hotel behind her.
But they had only charged a few steps before they seemed to hit an invisible wall.
The dozens in the very front were instantly thrown into chaos, and the soldiers behind could not stop in time, falling into complete disorder.
Just as they were stunned, Livia moved.
She became a white meteor, instantly streaking past the air wall.
A flash of sword light passed in an instant, too fast for the naked eye to catch.
Rows of soldiers did not even see her movement clearly; they only felt a chill at their necks, then clutched their throats and collapsed, blood gushing from between their fingers.
The crossbowmen realized ranged attacks were useless and drew their swords, preparing to swarm forward.
But Livia merely raised one hand and pointed it far into the sky.
The thick dark clouds seemed to answer her summons, and in an instant countless brilliant starlights lit up.
The next second, countless beams of starlight energy became deadly light spears, falling from the sky like Judgement, carpet-bombing the enemies around Livia.
Explosions rang out one after another, and screams were endless.
In just one exchange, more than half of the Sword-Bearing Nobles’ private soldiers were killed or wounded.
“Is this the genius Crestbearer seen once in a millennium…”
The leading Knight gripped his long sword tightly. He knew that aside from dying honorably in battle, they had no other path.
But making his own men accept a pure massacre was meaningless.
He took a deep breath and dragged his heavy steps to Livia, his face carrying the resolve of one walking toward death.
“Livia von Stern!”
“You are a Knight, and a noble lady!”
“Massacring these ordinary soldiers like this—does your knight’s heart not ache?!” he said righteously.
“When you charged into the hotel, weren’t you planning to do the same?”
Livia’s counterquestion left the Knight speechless for a moment, but her offensive did indeed stop.
Livia loathed this meaningless slaughter.
In the past, she used killing to fill the void in her heart, using so-called justice to whitewash her shattered, utterly cold heart.
The Evil God had precisely seen this and thus found a way in.
If not for Allen, she would have long since fallen into the abyss, beyond redemption.
But now it was different.
Allen was like the warmest ray of sunlight in winter, melting the world she had kept frozen for so long, letting her feel something called “warmth” again.
Her sword no longer swung for empty killing; it existed only to protect.
Allen was so kind. He surely would not want his hands stained with unnecessary blood again.
The Knight looked at the silent Livia, thought his words had worked, and struggled to continue:
“Since you were already prepared, how could the people inside the hotel be unarmed ordinary people?”
Livia was slightly startled.
She thought about it. He might be right.
Allen had told her nothing, only to hold this place.
With his wisdom, it was impossible that he had not guessed the enemy’s actions.
The people in the hotel were probably all backup plans he had carefully arranged.
However, Allen was willing to entrust the frontal battlefield to her.
That itself was a kind of trust that needed no words.
Livia had never been in love.
As for Allen rejecting her clumsy confession that time, she had not actually felt it very deeply.
But on the battlefield of the endless Cycle of Reincarnation, she had fought shoulder to shoulder with countless comrades.
That trust that allowed one to leave one’s back to another, that bond of shared life and death—she had felt it truly and clearly.
Allen had entrusted his most important line of defense to her to protect.
This heavy trust gave her an unprecedented sense of satisfaction.
Before she set out, Allen had smiled and asked her: “Livia, do you know why everyone thinks you are a hero?”
Livia shook her head. She had always hated that title.
He said: “Though thousands or tens of thousands, I will go. You are that kind of person.”
Allen’s words were like a lightning bolt, splitting open the bottleneck of her realm.
At that moment, she truly let go of many things.
Yes, she was no longer alone.
In the past, she hated that hypocritical heroic image, because heroes were always lonely, and the end of a hero was only sacrifice.
But now, she had gained a reason to continue fighting in the role of a hero.
That warm Laval House already had a place for her.
She had a home she could return to, one where she would not feel suffocated or lonely.
Even if she faced thousands of troops alone, she knew Allen and Marianne would be waiting for her under warm lights.
Therefore, she would win.
And she was also willing to give others a chance to go home.
“Perhaps you are right. Although you are all deathsworn, I think… everyone cherishes life.”
Livia’s voice softened a little.
“I am here, and you have already lost. So I can give you a chance to flee.”
“No!” The Knight stepped forward, pointing his sword at Livia.
“I will never flee! Come, this is a glorious Duel belonging to Knights!”
The pure knightly aura radiating from Livia was even more awe-inspiring than his, but she softly denied the title.
“I am not some Knight. I am Allen’s blade, nothing more.”
Even so, she still seriously assumed a dueling stance.
She untied the cord of her gorgeous cloak and let it fall silently, staining itself in the mud beneath her feet.
What came into view was a white dress adorned with elegant blue iris embroidery.
On this gloomy battlefield soaked in mud and blood, she was like a spotless holy lily, standing apart from the world.
The next second, under the astonished gazes of everyone around her, she actually boldly lifted her skirt and showed off the charm of this dress to her opponent.
This was a dress Allen had sewn for her with his own hands, carrying warmth and love, and a brilliant smile almost like showing off rose on her face.
This sudden, wildly different scene left everyone present dumbfounded.
She, who had just been as powerful and unmatched as a descending Valkyrie, in the blink of an eye became like a little girl who had received a gift from her sweetheart, beginning to show it off openly in front of others.
The leading Knight was also stunned, then smiled bitterly and shook his head.
“Beautiful Miss, are you really going to fight me in such a dress? If such a beautiful outfit were torn by a blade, how regrettable that would be.”
Livia’s smile instead grew even more dazzling, carrying a trace of sweet certainty.
“It’s all right. My fiancé, Allen, will make me another one.”
Hearing these words, the surviving soldiers around them were thrown into great turmoil and could not help but murmur in low voices.
This “Iceberg Princess Knight,” said in legend to be cold and unapproachable, who had even once initiated a life-and-death Duel with her own fiancé, was actually speaking his name in such a gentle, sweet tone?
“…You two really are affectionate. Enough talk, come!”
The Knight was choked by this sudden “dog food,” then a flash of embarrassed anger crossed his face.
He roared and launched the first attack.
He was an extremely experienced veteran, and his swordsmanship condensed the most effective and lethal battlefield killing moves.
The blade carried a sharp whistling sound as it cut through the wind, and he unhesitatingly slashed straight at Livia’s face.
However, Livia merely stood quietly in place, her expression calm.
At the instant the violent blade was about to reach her, she slid half a step to the side as lightly as a feather.
The Rapier in her hand then traced an extremely elegant arc and thrust upward, its tip only lightly touching the opponent’s blade.
Ding!
A crisp, pleasant metallic collision sounded, and the Knight felt an irresistible immense force transmitted from the blade.
The long sword he had swung with all his strength was completely uncontrollably knocked upward, instantly exposing his chest.
He was greatly shocked, and before he could even make any adjustment or remedy, a cold sharpness was already firmly pressed against his neck.
Livia’s sword rested steadily at his throat, the blade cold, carrying the declaration of victory.
“You lose.”
“Yes, I lose.” The Knight let out a miserable bitter smile.
The opponent had not even used a trace of Engraved Emblem Power, and he had been defeated so thoroughly.
There was no unwillingness left in his heart, only complete admiration.
He glanced at the soldiers behind him who had long since completely lost their will to fight, and a relieved smile appeared on his face.
“Retreat. We have lost, and lost beyond any doubt.”
“As the commander, I will take full responsibility.”
As soon as the words fell, the Knight resolutely reversed his grip on his long sword and swung it sharply at his own neck.
The motion was clean and decisive, without a trace of hesitation.
Blood instantly gushed out, and he fell straight backward, ending his life.
This clean, decisive act of walking toward death made a trace of sincere admiration flash through Livia’s eyes, but more than that, deep regret.
Such an outstanding Knight should have shone on the battlefield for the Kingdom and its people, yet in the end, for the schemes of the Sword-Bearing Nobles, he died here with regret.
Her disgust for those arrogant Sword-Bearing Nobles deepened a little more.
Seeing the commander die for his duty, the remaining soldiers knew their battle was completely over. Without the slightest hesitation, they quickly began to retreat.
Under Livia’s tacit gaze, they carefully lifted the commander’s corpse, and their figures soon disappeared into the pattering rain.
Thunder rumbled in the sky, as if playing the final lament for this brief conflict, and the battlefield once again returned to silence.
Livia’s gaze slowly shifted away, finally falling on the Cult Heretics who had not chosen to leave.
They were all uniformly elite members of the Cult, Pseudo-Mark Knights.
As for the pitiful Dustfallen who had originally been driven out as cannon fodder, they had long since been completely wiped out in that indiscriminate starlight bombardment, with not a single survivor.
These Pseudo-Mark Knights had clearly been secretly observing everything on the battlefield, trying to find any weakness in Livia.
Now, they seemed to have reached a despairing conclusion.
This human before them was a veritable, invincible Outsider.
“Come, you Fallen.”
Livia’s tone returned to its former coldness, but within it was now a deeper sigh of someone who had been through it all.
“The Evil God’s so-called ‘Blessing’ is never given for free. Today, I will make you pay a heavy price, principal and interest included.”
“It is time to sacrifice yourselves to the god! Eliminate the enemies of the Cult!”
At the Sculptor’s command, more than a dozen Pseudo-Mark Knights almost simultaneously took the Secret Medicine.
Hoh… hoh aaaah!
The berserk drug effect surged wildly through their bodies, burning every bit of life force like fierce fire, all to exchange for that brief yet terrifying power.
Their bodies began to swell and twist uncontrollably, emitting a sinister crimson steam, and then revealed horrifying mutations.
Their twisted, deformed limbs wildly burst through their underclothes, and everyone’s eyes turned crimson, with only pure madness and berserk aura remaining in their pupils.
The battle instantly entered a white-hot state.