The same day, a little after one in the afternoon.
Under the assault of the “Redeemers,” the defenders couldn’t put up any proper defense during the early stages at all;
Even when these soldiers charged right up to the enemy, they were cut down.
Even so, the resistance fighters continued throwing themselves into interception waves, launching a battle they knew they would die in without the slightest regard for their lives.
Elite knight orders attacked in groups. Riders and warhorses charged together into the jaws of death, willing to trade one life for one enemy—or even two lives for one.
Everything the women did came at the cost of their own lives, all to take down as many additional enemies as possible.
“You fools from a dying country—your deaths are utterly meaningless!”
A crusader captain who said this was immediately tackled to the ground by an opponent who came flying at him;
The moment the latter drove a blade through him, the surrounding enemies swarmed together and cut him down as well.
“This is why fools are so annoying.”
Another captain said those two words for the second time;
As soon as his voice fell, he slashed the opponent in front of him with his sword, then stared at him without expression.
The next second, the man he had cut down thrust his weapon backhandedly and cleaved him in two before dying, then collapsed himself.
After two full hours of battle, from a little after eleven in the morning to a little after one in the afternoon, the knight orders led by the Grand Knight’s two trusted aides were ultimately wiped out to the last man;
Even the two commanders died beforehand, at the same time as the opponents they had chosen for themselves.
It was almost two o’clock;
At the same time, the defensive line built by the defenders gradually shifted back—from the area near the walls, to the middle section of the city, and finally to the core area close to the imperial palace.
To keep their comrades from being injured, the soldiers struggled to hold the line while covering the retreat of their seriously wounded companions.
After a long period of slaughter, the defenders’ numbers plummeted from less than thirty thousand to fewer than ten thousand;
Everyone still capable of fighting was spread out as much as possible, doing everything they could to lessen the damage caused by the enemy’s self-detonations.
Because they followed the principle of dispersal, the city had not yet fallen completely.
“But even if you’ve held out until now, your ending is still certain to be destruction!”
After the bishop’s death, the knight commander who took over the command told the weaker side what fate awaited them.
His words received no response. Those who continued fighting weren’t even willing to spare him a glance.
The opponent’s abnormal reaction was beyond the knight commander’s understanding.
He could never understand this:
They had no strength and lacked numbers, and even if that reality couldn’t be changed, this place was still the capital;
This was the imperial capital of that thousand-year-old nation—one that had fallen twice, only to rise again twice!
The farther the Papal Army advanced toward the core, the stronger the resistance became, and the casualties they suffered were far greater than before.
It was truly inconceivable. Now that all the city’s elite soldiers had died in battle, those ordinary soldiers who lacked sufficient combat power could still cause enormous trouble for the powerful enemy army.
The longer time dragged on, the more uneasy the person commanding the Imperial Army became.
Dibiles’ destruction currently seemed to be nothing more than a matter of time;
And yet, an indescribable fear continued to linger in the commander’s heart.
He knew that this feeling wasn’t coming from the tenacious defenders still fighting. It seemed to be coming from the threat that was about to arrive.
As though they could foresee their own future, more and more Papal soldiers began to feel uneasy deep in their hearts as time passed;
They seemed to feel that if they didn’t capture the remaining areas soon, a terrifying fate would be waiting for them.
As the fighting inside the city dragged on, the only controlled area left to the defenders gradually became the imperial palace.
Ignoring their own enormous casualties, an army of more than thirty thousand formed an encircling formation, surrounding the buildings ahead in layer after layer.
They, the weaklings, all knew the strength of Empress Dibiles;
To be safe, they didn’t want to clash directly with Isabella. Instead, they decided to end the war by the less risky method.
The mages condensed the fire element into spheres, while the archers soaked their arrows in fire oil;
Once the ranged troops were ready, the Papal soldiers prepared to burn the imperial palace to the ground.
“Ready……”
The soldiers’ commander raised one hand, waiting only one more second before giving the order to set the buildings ahead truly ablaze.
But after waiting several seconds, the soldiers still didn’t hear that final word.
They couldn’t help turning their heads to see what had happened to the commander—and the sight they saw was more than enough……
Drip, drip!
Following the sound of liquid falling onto the ground, the soldiers who had turned their heads saw that their boss was still standing in place, his body steady and upright—only his head was gone.
The sword that had severed his head spun once through the air, then was caught by the very owner who had thrown it.
“This ends here!”
The instant she caught the weapon with her right hand, she shook her wrist several times, flinging the blood clinging to it onto the ground.
Then, as the sole figure standing there, she gripped the sword with both hands and assumed an attacking stance, her resolute gaze fixed straight ahead.
“Before His Majesty sends you all down to hell, I’ll be your opponent.”
Today might be the most important day of her life. With the resolve to give her life for the cause, Sister Glasses now fought to the death against the thirty thousand enemy soldiers before her!
