Princess's Struggle for Survival-Chapter 530: Joining Battle

On the city wall, Lyra gazed upon the advancing Church Knight formations, rows of marching forward like slow-moving white walls. She drew the longsword at her waist. A few snowflakes drifted down, only to melt instantly upon contact with the sword’s scorching surface, turning into and then evaporating into white mist.

Compared to several months prior, the walls protecting Liya Tower Fortress clearly bore the marks of prolonged warfare. Blackened scars from composite magical bombardments scarred the surface everywhere. Pockmarked sections remain unfilled by snow, exposing fractured gravel and cracked stone. The intricate magic carvings had been physically warped, losing both defensive and retaliatory capabilities.

The ground trembled. Each step the knights took on the frozen plain kicked up cold snow and soil. Sunlight glinted off their holy armor, reflecting dazzling beams of cold light.

"Everyone, take up your weapons."

Channeling mental energy into the wall’s magic circle, Lyra saw through her vision that the defensive formation was already on the verge of collapse. Even as she fed energy into it, unstable fluctuations rippled through. This final remaining barrier had been patched together over several consecutive nights by craftsmen working in darkness. Before that, combined Light magic from the Church of Light had already punched numerous holes, large and small, into it.

"Remember, personal safety comes first. Don’t be reckless. Pay attention to the scale of incoming spells and dodge accordingly."

In its prime, the wall’s defense system relied on multiple layered barriers with counterattack capabilities. But after prolonged attack, this last defense might not be enough to block every magical assault. Relying too heavily on it could lead to devastating losses, just as in their previous battle.

"Understood, Knight-Captain Lyra."

Responses rang out, though fewer than before. Lyra turned her head, her cherry-pink hair swaying. Her gaze swept left and right.

Many familiar faces had left the frontlines due to injury or death. Even among the soldiers under her command, many were new.

Liya Tower Fortress had become a meat grinder, constantly consuming lives and constantly replenishing with fresh blood. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"Survive," Lyra said.

The moment the words left her lips, the vanguard of Order Knights reached the wall. Holy light shimmered on their armor, automatically repelling all magical particles except light elements.

Defenders wielding mana rifles aimed at the knights. As fingers press the triggers, searing tongues of flame erupted.

The howling wind sliced through the intense heat. Among the ranks, Order Knights clad in armor, masters of both physical and magical combat, quietly chanted incantations. A broad light barrier expanded with a breath, forming a holy dome that blocked the incoming fire from above.

The next second, a sword strike condensed with solar radiation cleaved downward. The sharp blade sliced through the light screen like a hurricane parting ocean waves, instantly carving a gaping hole.

Spotting Lyra’s assault, the defenders immediately aimed their mana rifles at the opening. At the same time, the Order Knight raised below his blade, causing the sacred light to flare brilliantly.

Fire and light clashed violently. With daylight amplifying the holy side and the fortress’s unchanging cold wind weakening fire, the flames rapidly diminish. Infinite light elements gained dominance, easily deflecting the attack.

Violent tremors shook the wall, echoing in everyone’s eardrums. The approaching Order Knights raised light-forged warhammers and slammed them into the wall with full force.

Unlike medieval European sieges from Astrid’s past life, the Church of Light didn’t just rely on long-range catapults to break enemy lines and walls. Each knight possessed immense physical strength. Augmented by mental energy, this power could even topple walls and shatter foundations.

And the most crucial point: the walls contain anti-earth magic circles. Once those reinforcement formations were destroyed, the Church could use earth-element magic to easily breach the defenses.

Feeling the tremors beneath her feet, Lyra, as battlefield commander, raised her holy sword once more. A scorching wave of light burst from the tip, the violent surge of energy briefly driving back the knights assaulting the wall.

But in the very next breath after her swing, two piercing arrows shot toward her, one aimed at her eyes, the other at her neck, both targeting exposed areas not covered by holy armor.

The speed was so great that even Lyra instinctively widened her pupils. Her sword shifted, blocking the arrow aimed at her eyes with the blade’s flat. The metallic clang hadn’t even reached her ears before she braced against the arrow’s immense force, quickly clearing her wrist to slice the second arrow, aimed at her neck, with the edge.

The arrow snapped in two. The still-forceful metal tip buried deep into the wall behind Lyra, sinking into the stone.

During the brief moment Lyra was attacked, other defenders seized the opportunity. Using the gap created by Lyra’s strike, they hid behind the sturdy wall and hurled black spheres outward along an epic practiced millions of times.

Instantly, a destructive white light flared within the Order Knight ranks. Viscous plasma coated the frozen soil stained with blood and corpses. A few knights failed to notice the plasma bombs, muscle on the back of their calves, unprotected by armor, instantly charred by the electric discharge.

But having fought the Valeria Empire for so long, these frontline Order Knights naturally knew how to defend against the defenders’ most common mana devices. They lowered their free hands, driving the round shields on their arms into the ground, forming a protective line against the plasma bombs.

Crackling lightning struck the shields, barely polishing them. Meanwhile, far behind the knight formation, massive boulders launched from catapults hurtled toward the wall. Carrying immense momentum, the stones easily pierced the defense formation, only slightly slowed before smashing into the watchtower.

For that one second, defenders felt both sky and earth trembling. Hands nocking arrows shook, and arrows aimed at gaps in the Order Knights’ armor were pierced mid-draw, along with their wielders, by a beam of intensely concentrated heat.

Once more, the battlefield filled with a thick stench of blood. Patches of crimson mist bloomed across the gray-white frozen land.

..............

"Where is Duke Charles now?"

"Your Highness, the Duke is observing the battle from the wall, in case an Arcanist mage suddenly intervenes and delivers a devastating blow to our forces."

As she walked toward the wall, Astrid pondered the composition of the battlefield’s military forces. Her expression remains calm. The pure black lotus-shaped hem of her dress swayed gently with each step. The elegant, jeweled stiletto heels shimmered under the light, scattering dazzling points of brilliance.

The highest-tier combatants available to the Kingdom of Velys were merely a few peak tier Magnus. According to intelligence, these individuals currently serve as deputies to the Church knight captains, skilled in some magic, but primarily focused on combat techniques.

But Astrid herself was a peak tier Magnus, equipped with powerful ancient incantations. In a sense, she was among the absolute top-tier combatants in this entire battle.

The closer she drew to the wall, the denser the ambient magical particles became. Feeling the slight tremors underfoot, Astrid pressed her legs together, carefully placing each slender heel.

Stepping onto the wall, the wind cuts across Astrid’s cheeks like a blade. Although she’d seen it many times before, every time she witnessed it firsthand, the soul-deep tremor remained unforgettable.

Blood dyed her vision red. Light and heat were no longer symbols of warmth, but machines of slaughter. Countless lives slipped away amid the violent activity of magical particles.

To prevent distracting her during combat, and to avoid Lyra constantly worrying about her and neglecting her own safety, Astrid did not approach Lyra’s position directly.

"Elise, maintain vigilance."

"Yes, Miss."

Walking into a blind spot on the wall, Astrid activated her elemental vision. Thick death energy permeated the battlefield, nearly overwhelming even the violently reacting magical particles.

Silently reciting an ancient incantation, several sharp, jagged ice spikes erupted from the frozen ground, instantly disrupting the knight formation.

Middle tier Magnus-level ice magic: [Frostbite Spikes].

If not for her moral qualms about using kin’s corpses in offensive magic, and concern that revealing such spells in front of these fanatical Order Knights would deepen the Church’s brainwashing, branding the Valeria Empire as evil and undermining Monica’s future work, Astrid might have used another ancient spell she’d learned in the storage room of Elizabeth Academy of Magic.

Early tier Sorcerer-level dark magic: [Corpse Explosion].

Just imagine, how many corpses were sealed beneath this icy permafrost? And dark magic, highly corrosive to light elements, would have devastating effects.

But ice was sufficient. The empire’s borders restricted nothing more than ice elements. Astrid herself possesses an exceptional affinity for ice, enhanced further by ancient incantations that amplify spell effects. This was already more than enough to trouble the Church knights below.

Within the formation, a knight with brown hair and black eyes narrowly avoided Astrid’s ice spikes, immediately slashing nearby ones apart with his sword and shouting loudly.

"Maintain the line! Watch your footing!"

This level of ice magic nearly made him think an Arcanist mage had joined the battle.

The Deputy Knight-Captain stabilized his stance. Instantly analyzing the source of the magical fluctuation, he determined the approximate location of the caster and locked onto the target with a thread of mental energy.

Although he didn’t know the exact spell used, this distance fell well within the casting range of [Holy Flame Judgment].

With a subtle mental command, a beam of sunlight suddenly intensified, growing searing hot. Piercing through the fragile wall defenses, it targeted the Empire’s regent, Astrid, just as she finished casting.

Astrid stood motionless. But a second before the holy light struck, the black-haired lady guardian beside her moved.

Her hand slides down toward her thigh. Beneath her maid dress and white thigh-highs, a slender blade was strapped to Elise’s outer thigh. In an instant, the sword was drawn, its sharp tip pointing directly at the descending [Holy Flame Judgment].

A faint breeze stirred Astrid’s silver hair. The holy light halted at the sword’s tip, instantly dissolved by Elise’s blade. The peak tier Master Knight’s mental energy completely nullified the [Holy Flame Judgment], leaving not even a mark on the blade.

Blocked? And with mental energy?

The deputy captain had sensed the caster hiding in a wall blind spot, likely a fragile magic specialist. He never expected such speed and such powerful mental reinforcement.

The deputy captain continued directing the formation forward. Unnoticed, the light snow falling from the sky transformed into countless rapidly descending ice spikes, striking knight helmets with a mix of sharp and muffled sounds.

Peak tier-Magnus level ice magic: [Raven’s Cry].

Realizing his previous [Holy Flame Judgment] was too weak to threaten the mage behind the wall, the Deputy captain forcibly pushed his mental energy, quietly suppressing his magical reflections to suppress the caster and weaken their spell effects.

But what the Deputy captain failed to realize was that he wasn’t facing a single mage, but a turret mage perfectly protected by a knight of equal or greater strength.

Sensing the sun above condensing into solid holy fire, Elise, normally maintaining a cool, composed maid demeanor, narrowed her eyes. Her other hand moved to her left thigh, retrieving a dagger from a small leather pouch hidden between her maid skirt and thigh-high stockings.

Shards of light poured down like a torrential storm, targeting the calmly casting Astrid. But the head maid’s movements were too fast to follow. Blades clashed with searing light. Mental energy battled light particles. Every flame was severed mere inches from Astrid by sword or dagger. Not even a wisp of heat reached the Imperial Princess’s face.

Meanwhile, on another part of the battlefield, Lyra observed the carnage below and sensed the dense, ordered patterns of ice-element particles in the air. She immediately understood.

Princess Astrid had joined the battle.

How could this be...? She should have left upon hearing the news, or stayed at the rear to await evacuation...

Coming to such a dangerous place at a time like this...

After several practical exams, Lyra rarely saw Astrid fight. As Imperial Princess, Astrid rarely needed to personally chant spells.

And in their usual interactions, Astrid always appears graceful and dignified, teasing Lyra without resorting to magic. In this moment, Lyra briefly overlooked the fact that Astrid Auvicia was also a powerful peak tier, even as the casualties caused by Astrid lay before her eyes.

But now... was not the time to dwell on such things...

If Astrid chose to join the fight, she must have her reasons. Lyra just needed to focus on her own duties.

Once more channeling mental energy into the defense formation, Lyra steadied herself. Her holy sword blazed with brilliant light.

And at that very moment, beneath the wall, a binding formation, secretly helped by a regional archbishop of the Church of Light’s main forces, was nearing completion.