“Pfft——”
Samimi was drinking water when she heard the words of Sorent, the Divine Emperor Knight Order’s commander, and nearly spat it out on the spot.
“Are you alright?” a young knight asked with concern.
“Cough… I’m fine.” Samimi waved her hand, turned her face away, and struggled to maintain her expression.
Even Niubao was puzzled. “Pastor, will that knight lady be okay?”
Usually, Samimi solved everything, but this time even the calf couldn’t hold it together.
“Calm down. I don’t know what’s going on either. Pretend we don’t know her for now.” Samimi patted Niubao’s shoulder and whispered.
But she herself couldn’t stay calm. Her mind raced as she constantly reviewed the original plot—
Where did such an absurd development come from?
Logically, both the Magic Sword Red and the Insect King had been killed. The Pure White Knight Fabiana should have lost the opportunity to become the “Kingdom’s War Marshal.”
Without external threats, she couldn’t unify the noble forces of the West Sea.
But now, not only had she not become the War Marshal, she had become the “Rebel War Marshal”?
That was way too extreme.
Was the plot going haywire just to oppose her, a Transmigrator?
What exactly had happened to Fabiana since they last parted?
She couldn’t figure it out at all.
And upon hearing the name “Rebel War Marshal Fabiana,” the thousands of knights around them began murmuring, their faces turning pale, even showing fear.
Someone was afraid of Fabiana?
That made no sense to Samimi.
In her impression, Fabiana was just a tank knight who took damage, with a straightforward, even a bit simple, personality. What was there to be afraid of?
“Who is the Rebel War Marshal?” Samimi asked the old knight Rayne.
“A despicable person who killed her parents, betrayed her master, and renounced the knight spirit.”
“She’s wanted throughout the West Sea. Recently, she gathered a large rebel army, burning, killing, and looting everywhere. Anyone who sees her is obliged to kill her.”
Rayne explained grimly.
“She was originally the granddaughter of Knight King Char. After some knight banquet, she suddenly went mad, killed her own parents, and defected from the Giant Whale Knights.”
“Then she fell completely. They say she’s been researching Necromancy forbidden arts, summoning the dead, and defiling corpses.”
“Many rogue knights from the West Sea have joined her. There have even been multiple village massacres.”
The Fat Knight Mondo added.
“Someone like that deserves to die,” Samimi agreed outwardly.
But in her heart, she knew clearly—
This was definitely slander.
Given Fabiana’s personality, she could never do such things.
The “essential settings” of the Hero Party members don’t change easily. That’s part of the World Rules.
Just like her as the “Villainess,” she had to do a few bad things now and then to maintain her persona.
And Fabiana’s persona was—
Stubborn, obstinate, prideful, brainless, but an absolutely righteous knight.
Her mental resistance was extremely high. She couldn’t be easily controlled like Phantom Dream Arrow Cross, nor could she suffer a mental breakdown like the Hero of the Gale Laegias.
In fact, in the later stages, she gradually became the team’s spiritual core.
She might not be the strongest in combat, but her will was the most steadfast.
That “never give up” belief was her true strength.
Therefore—
She could never fall to the dark side.
There was only one conclusion:
She had been framed.
As for who framed her and the truth, Samimi couldn’t tell yet.
The West Sea had barely been explored in the original plot. Information was extremely scarce.
It could even be said that, aside from the Royal City area, everything else was basically a “background board.”
And now, that background board was frantically unfolding its story.
The Divine Emperor Knight Order didn’t explain further. They simply gave the order to march.
Dozens of knight orders, over a thousand cavalry, all mobilized, advancing at high speed toward the target location.
The knight order’s advantage was on full display here—
Each unit had its own command system, and even when temporarily assembled, they quickly formed combat effectiveness.
At the same time, this showed the Divine Emperor Knight Order’s dominance—
With a single command, they made other knight orders serve as vanguard or even cannon fodder.
Samimi and Niubao followed silently.
They also wanted to see what Fabiana was really up to.
Before long, the army reached the destination.
It was a remote mountainous area.
Between the distant ridges, crude watchtowers could be seen.
An army of this scale couldn’t possibly hide.
Soon, the other side noticed the movement.
Dense hoofbeats rang out from the mountains as a massive enemy force rapidly assembled.
The two sides faced off.
Samimi had felt the pace was leisurely earlier, but now it accelerated instantly—
Straight into a major battle.
The enemy outnumbered them at least two to one.
Their clothing was messy, clearly not a regular army, but their formation was surprisingly logical.
Not only did they have heavily armored cavalry, but also a large number of half-beast infantry.
These half-beasts moved swiftly, even faster than the cavalry. They wore almost no armor, only carried weapons, but were extremely dangerous.
More importantly—
Samimi could sense magical fluctuations within the enemy ranks.
That meant there were mages too.
This was definitely no ordinary group of bandits.
“Charge!”
The enemy initiated the assault.
“All forces, charge!” Sorent ordered.
At the front were naturally the “cannon fodder units” like the Target Range Knight Order and the Fat Duck Knight Order.
There was no choice but to follow orders.
Even Samimi, a pastor, was swept up into the battle.
In an instant, the roar of battle filled the sky.
Bloody slaughter between men broke out in full force.
But for Samimi and Niubao, scenes like this were routine.
Compared to the extreme bloodshed against the Insect Tribe, this actually felt “mild.”
“Stay close to me. Don’t wander too far. I can keep you alive.”
Samimi activated her healing aura, protecting the knights around her.
The fifty of them stuck together, “skimming” at the edge of the battlefield, trying to avoid direct conflict.
“Commander, there’s a strong one over there!”
A Divine Emperor Knight noticed the anomaly and reported immediately.
“A green glow… A pastor?” Sorent saw through it at once.
Samimi wasn’t going all out; she was just providing protection.
But she had her own plan—
She handed the Demon Sword to Niubao, letting her “rack up kills.”
After all, that was the most important goal right now.
With so many enemies, a hundred kills would be done quickly.
Soon, a “war god” emerged on the battlefield—
It was Niubao.
She charged in and out of the crowd, sweeping across the battlefield.
“Commander! There’s a monster over there!”
A Divine Emperor Knight exclaimed.
“Perfect opportunity! All forces, advance!” Sorent finally sent out his elite troops.
And the enemy knights charging at the front had already suffered heavy casualties.
But no one questioned the order.
As if their deaths were simply taken for granted.
Just then—
“Boom!”
A massive explosion erupted in the center of the battlefield.
Several knights, along with their warhorses, were sent flying like ragdolls.
A huge figure appeared on the battlefield.
The enemy had also sent out a true powerhouse.
“Retreat! Fall back now!”
Sorent made a decisive call, ordering the main force to withdraw while letting the other knights hold the line.
And the enemy general’s target—
Was directly aimed at them.