A massive rain of shattered stone descended upon the rebel Mage Corps.

The heavy boulders crashed down with explosive force, instantly erupting into clouds of blood and anguished screams. Thirty to forty mages were killed or wounded in the blink of an eye. Horrified, the surviving mages quickly broke ranks and retreated in panic.

"Damn it! What are you all waiting for?"

Watching his precious Mage Corps suffer devastating losses, Dame could no longer contain himself.

"Send reinforcements now, damn it!"

Without the support of enemy magic, Phield once again led his troops in driving the rebels off the battlements. Wave after wave of enemy soldiers were shoved from the walls, tumbling to their deaths below.

Before Phield could even catch his breath, more enemy troops poured out from the siege towers.

"More reinforcements are coming!"

Phield had intended to steady the formation and continue holding the line when he suddenly caught sight of Ashina’s marker racing across the minimap toward the outskirts of the fortress at astonishing speed.

The joy on his face could no longer be concealed.

"Fall back into the fortress passageways."

"You can’t retreat! Don’t even think about returning to Nightfall Domain. The Shadow World Sect controls both sides. They won’t let you go."

Annie Rui mistakenly believed that Phield intended to flee.

Before she could say anything else, Phield was already escorted back into the fortress by the Royal Guards.

"My first retreat has already become the greatest shame of my life. A true knight does not surrender even a single inch of land."

Annie Rui smiled with newfound resolve.

Holding her sword in her right hand, she bent down and picked up an iron shield from the ground.

"For honor! For Her Majesty! Defend the frontier!"

With those words, she charged straight toward the endless tide of enemies pouring from the siege towers.

Creak...

The fortress portcullis slowly rose.

Ashina rode her black wolf straight through the gate at full speed.

"I think I’m going to throw up..."

"My head is spinning..."

The black wolf tossed Gogris and Alice onto the ground before sneezing in disgust.

It hated fox fur.

"Huh? Why did you even bring the Lord’s wife here?"

While commanding her heavily armored undead to surround and suppress Sistina, Ophelia glanced toward the newly arrived reinforcements. Seeing Alice, who had been resting back home all this time, she asked in surprise.

"Please don’t call me that."

Alice scratched her head awkwardly.

"I’m here to help. Everyone has taken such good care of me all this time. It’s only right that I do what I can."

"Ashina, where’s the army?"

"They’ll be here soon. I just couldn’t wait for the last stretch of the journey."

Ashina asked anxiously,

"How’s the battle?"

"We’ve barely managed to maintain a balance. The enemy Tier Three Divine Chosen is trapped inside the narrow corridor by my undead tide. She dissolved her Divine Artifact a moment ago and instantly destroyed over two hundred of my undead. Killing her won’t be easy, but it’s still possible."

Ophelia continuously summoned more undead from the gray mist, sending them fearlessly charging at Sistina.

At this point, Sistina was almost completely buried beneath the endless swarm.

Even a Tier Three Divine Chosen could not withstand the attacks of two thousand enemies inside such a confined space, especially since Sistina specialized in single target assassination.

Had they been fighting in open terrain, Sistina probably could have killed Ophelia the moment she showed herself.

But here, none of Sistina’s strengths could be fully utilized.

"Oh? A Tier Three Divine Chosen has actually been worn down this much by a Tier Two. She must be approaching her limit."

Ashina slowly drew her bow.

Wave after wave of divine power gathered upon the arrow until pale blue soul flames ignited around its tip.

"Tier Two Divine Skill, Armor Piercing Frost."

The razor sharp arrow radiated a chilling aura of death.

In the next instant, it shot forward at incredible speed without making the slightest sound, slipping cleanly through the narrow gaps within the undead horde.

Sistina noticed nothing.

She had already lost count of how many undead she had cut down.

Every heavily armored undead hiding inside layers of steel required tremendous effort to kill.

Meanwhile, her own reinforcements still had not arrived.

She could only continue carving her way outward inch by inch.

"Die! Die!"

Sistina split another undead’s skull apart before immediately smashing a stone golem aside.

A faint glimmer of light appeared at the far end of the corridor.

"Finally... I can see the exit. Just a little farther. As long as I break through..."

Suddenly, she felt a tiny sting in her chest, almost like a mosquito bite.

It barely hurt, so she paid it no attention.

She continued fighting with all her strength.

Then she realized...

Her body would no longer respond.

"Strange... Why does it feel like a mosquito bit me? That’s impossible..."

Confused, she lowered her head.

An arrow wound the size of an egg pierced her chest.

Her heart had already been completely shattered.

Frost still clung to the wound.

Ashina’s arrow had pierced straight through her heart.

"So... that’s what happened..."

The world spun violently around her.

The last thing she saw was the endless tide of undead still charging toward her before darkness swallowed everything.

"What a pity."

Ashina smiled faintly as she casually lowered her bow.

"She dissolved her Divine Artifact. Otherwise, we could have obtained another Divine Artifact."

"Let’s hurry and reinforce the Lord."

"Alright."

Ophelia stared blankly for a long moment before finally snapping back to reality.

"I spent so much effort wearing her down, and you just casually killed her with a single arrow."

"You deserve most of the credit."

Ashina lazily flicked her tail and smiled.

"If you hadn’t exhausted her divine power first, I wouldn’t even have been able to pierce her Divine Power Cloak."

"So don’t look so disappointed."

Ophelia scratched her head.

"I’m not disappointed. Intelligence on enemy Lords is valuable too. If she’d possessed overwhelming area attacks, I’d probably be dead already."

"Everything on the battlefield is so fragile."

Alice sighed softly.

"Life fades away like a delicate butterfly."

Ashina and Ophelia exchanged speechless glances.

Ophelia rubbed her forehead in annoyance.

"Stop being depressed and get moving. We need to reinforce the Lord. If Phield dies, your entire Ross family line will go extinct."

The group quickly arrived at the passageway beneath the battlements.

Phield was already there with the main force, firmly defending the corridor.

"Your Divine Chosen is dead! Victory belongs to us!"

Understanding exactly how important morale was, Ophelia lifted Sistina’s mangled corpse high with one hand.

"Victory!"

"Victory!"

"Victory!"

The soldiers of Nightfall Domain erupted into earth shaking cheers.

Fresh strength surged through their exhausted bodies.

The charging rebels, meanwhile, were horrified beyond belief.

Their eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.

"Excellent!"

Phield smiled at Ashina and gave her a grateful nod, signaling that he was unharmed.

Then he raised his bloodstained longsword high.

"Charge! Charge!"

Ashina immediately took the lead.

She commanded Drakewolf to unleash a torrent of blazing dragonfire that flooded the entire corridor, engulfing every enemy soldier in its path.

The army of Nightfall Domain burst through the flames and swept forward without resistance.

The moment the black wolf banner emerged from the passageway, it snapped violently in the wind.

Beneath the darkened sky, the charging army surged like an unstoppable flood, looking like an army of demons.

The rebels managed only the weakest token resistance before their entire line collapsed.

They were driven from the battlements, with countless soldiers either cut down or falling to their deaths.

Even the troops gathered below the walls began showing unmistakable signs of breaking.

"My Lord, please come quickly. Baron Annie Rui has fallen."

Just after reclaiming the battlements, a soldier covered in blood hurried over to report.

"Huff... Huff... I’ll go."

Breathing heavily, Phield used his sword to support himself as he slowly stood upright.