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Chapter 130 Why are you removing your armor?

Chapter 130 Why are you removing your armor? (Seeking monthly votes)
Just as the "Retreat Preview" foreshadowed in the future—Wendy, after teetering on the brink of death, finally awakens from her obsession with power.

In a simple stone and wood bungalow, candlelight flickered, illuminating the dim room. Wendy sat quietly at the table, calmly recounting the intelligence about the North to Wang Xi.

It also mentioned Wang Xi's former fiancée, Miss Sera.

When Sera failed to win him back, her father, Count Barto, was furious. It is unknown what inner struggle Sera went through, but she ultimately broke off the engagement and refused to marry into the North. This indirectly led to the breakdown of the peace talks, and the Northmen launched a major attack on the kingdom's northern border that winter.

Of course, this is just an excuse used to justify it.

Wendy, as a "Yatal" under the Great Chief, knows the inside story.

The northern tribes seem to have long coveted the northern border, not territory, but something else.

Recently, the tribal chiefs have gone mad, turning their covetousness into action—it is said that the chief shaman received guidance from the ancestral spirits, requiring a large-scale massacre to bring extraordinary power to the North.

Hearing this, Wang Xi roughly understood.

What kind of bullshit ancestral spirit guidance is this?

Most likely, the pollution entered their brains, causing them to become mentally unstable due to corruption. Coupled with being controlled by brutal and bloodthirsty thoughts, this triggered the War in the North.

It's both childish and fairytale-like.

It's just not very reasonable.

"The elite troops of the northern tribes are not in Randolph; they have gone to the countryside fifty kilometers to the northwest, near Lake Nicholson."

Wendy said in a deep voice.

"What the North's higher-ups want is said to be right there... After Earl Barto was killed, they successively executed other members of the Crawford family, and finally captured Sera, intending to use her as a living sacrifice for some kind of ritual."

"Gai." The woman, her hair disheveled, looked up at the young man across the table.

She hesitated for a moment and said:
"Sera has known you since childhood and was once your fiancée... but she ultimately didn't marry and go to the North. For the sake of that past friendship, could you... also save her life?"

Wang Xi glanced at her.

At first, he was imprisoned in the dungeon, and Wendy tried to fight him hand-to-hand, even bringing Sera to watch from outside... Now Wendy has turned around and asked him to rescue Sera.

I initially thought the two had some deep-seated grudge, but now it seems that it was just Wendy's intense jealousy at work.

Humans are not simply good or evil beings, but rather complex and contradictory... Like Wendy, is she a bad person? Of course she is. But compared to the atrocities committed in the North, the sliver of conscience she retains becomes an ironic contrast.

"decide as things go."

Wang Xi spoke in a flat tone, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

He had no grudge against Sera, but there was no deep friendship between them either; they were just longtime strangers.

If he happened to run into her, rescuing her would be a simple matter. But if he were to go to great lengths to save her, he would rather not.

Although this is a fairy tale world, a hero rescuing a damsel in distress is not necessarily a good thing... Moreover, Wang Xi is not a prince, and Sera is not a princess.

He was just a passerby.

A traveler who adheres to the principle of "doing whatever you want without overstepping the bounds".

According to Caius's information flow, the projection of "Gai Farrell" is merely a vessel for Wang Xi's will that was forcibly inserted into this world.

It is an existence fabricated out of thin air.

Before his arrival, there was no such person in the fairy tale world... It was only after his arrival that a historical trajectory that did not exist before appeared in this world.

This demonstrates the immense power of Chaos.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it the means of the Creator.

...

"Gai, I've told you everything I know."

Wendy lowered her head and said.

"What are you going to do with me?"

"If we let you go, will you return to the North?"

Wang Xi asked.

Upon hearing this, Wendy looked bewildered.

Back to the North?
What's the point anymore...?

After she gave up her pursuit of power, all that remained for her was deep hatred for the North.

She thought that leaving Randall, the place that bound her, would allow her to make a name for herself in the North, but what she saw and heard was nothing but hell on earth.

She didn't want to stay with a bunch of lunatics anymore, but as a former traitor, she had no right to return to the Stag Kingdom... Now, there was no turning back for her.

All that lay before us was a thick fog.

"not going."

Wendy, feeling dejected, said self-deprecatingly:

"I don't know where to go. Maybe I should just find a place to live in seclusion, or wander around."

"On the condition that you let me go."

She calmly raised her eyes, accepting whatever fate may bring.

Even if the young man were to pierce her heart with a sword right now, she wouldn't be afraid of anything.

"There's no way I'll let you go."

Wang Xi shook his head.

“I understand,” Wendy said, raising her hand to remove her armor, which clattered to the ground. Underneath, she wore only a white cotton coat, like snow draped over a mountain range, unable to conceal its steep, undulating form. “Come on.”

She took a deep breath and stood up.

"What's coming?" Wang Xi glanced at her.

"kill me."

"Oh, so that's what you mean."

Wang Xi remained silent for a moment.

"Then why did you remove your armor?"

"Of course, it's to make it easier for you to leak in."

Wendy frowned slightly and pointed to her heart.

"Since I have been defeated by you, I am powerless to control my own destiny, but at least I can choose how to die... In the end, please grant me a knight's final act, so that I may face death with the dignity of a swordsman."

"..."

Wang Xi looked at her expressionlessly.

So he was planning to die a heroic death.

Why make it so scary?

It's not that he misunderstood; the main problem is that Wendy has a criminal record, and her words always seem ambiguous.

"I didn't say I was going to kill you."

Wang Xi said calmly.

Wendy was taken aback.

Why won't he let her go, but he won't kill her either? What exactly does Kai want to do...?

Wendy's beautiful eyes flickered, as if she understood.

She gritted her teeth, bent down and knelt, burying her head in her hands.

"What are you doing again?" Wang Xi's heart skipped a beat, and he asked in a deep voice.

Wendy remained kneeling on one knee, raised her questioning face, and hesitated before asking:
"Doesn't Lord Kai want me to pledge my allegiance and become your knightly attendant?"

Her eyelids slowly lowered again.

"Besides that, I really can't think of anything else I have that would make you want to keep me around."

"..."

Wang Xi took a deep breath.

If you're going to pledge allegiance, then why are you standing so close?

"You've misunderstood, that's not what I meant."

"What...does that mean?"

"The kingdom is in dire need of manpower right now. I will take you back to Daphneel, where Her Majesty Queen Siana will personally decide how to deal with you."

Wendy was slightly taken aback upon hearing this.

Her mind raced, and she quickly figured out why the other party had done this—Gai was still sentimental after all, and in order to save her life, he deliberately used Queen Xiana as a shield to avoid giving others a handle to use against him or giving them something to talk about.

Thinking of this, a warm feeling welled up in my heart.

The fierceness between her brows gradually melted away, and a gentle smile unconsciously appeared at the corners of her mouth.

She then lowered her head meekly, her voice so soft it was as if she were afraid of disturbing the moment:
"Thank you, Lord Kai."

"...?"

...

After obtaining information from Wendy.

Wang Xi decided to go into battle lightly equipped.

According to her, the elite troops gathered fifty kilometers to the northwest numbered no more than a hundred. Surprisingly, the leaders of the various northern tribes were among them!
The only thing to be wary of are the accompanying shamans. As spellcasters unique to the North, they possess extraordinary power that should not be underestimated.

Wang Xi then made the following arrangements:
He left the puppet army and the monster army in Randall, entrusting them to the command of the wolf hunter Kate.

On the one hand, they recaptured the Count of Barto's Castle on the hill, and on the other hand, they wiped out the remaining northern scattered troops in the surrounding area.

He himself, along with Pinocchio, Godariel, the Wolf Squad, the Witch Squad, and two witches, headed straight for Lake Nicholson.

Of course, Wendy, as a "captive," also went along on the journey.

After a while.

A candy-themed carriage sped through the snow, accompanied by more than twenty young men and women on horseback.

'The northerners have truly gone mad.'

During the journey, Wang Xi sat in the carriage, his right elbow resting on the window sill, thinking to himself.

Otherwise, how could those guys dare to risk their lives and leave the Nine Palaces, with a group of leaders following the so-called guidance of ancestral spirits to gather people and hold a sacrificial ceremony within the enemy country's territory?

Aren't they afraid of being wiped out in one fell swoop?

'Alright. It saves me the trouble of making another trip to the North; I might as well carry out the decapitation strike right here.'

A cold glint flashed in Wang Xi's eyes, and his knuckles unconsciously tapped the windowsill.

...

Fifty kilometers isn't a long distance.

Four hours later.

It's getting dark.

Wang Xi and his group slowed down and slowly passed through a dense forest, arriving at the shore of Lake Nicholson.

Night falls, and the cold moon hangs above the treetops, its light shattering into pale spots on the frozen lake. Ancient trees are bare, their gnarled branches reaching towards the sky like the outstretched arms of a dying giant.

The decaying leaves and damp moss have vanished, leaving only a blanket of white snow. Occasionally, the call of an unknown bird can be heard, only to be swallowed up by the boundless silence.

"Stop."

Wang Xi lifted the curtain to observe the outside world, and suddenly spoke.

Bev silently raised her hand.

As magic surged, the candy carriage came to a stop. The accompanying wolf and witch squad also pulled the reins, and everything fell silent.

"Gai, have you found anything?"

Godaril sat beside him and, unable to see clearly, asked in a low voice.

"Hmm." Wang Xi looked out the window and saw faint lights and figures moving around the wide lake—it was a campfire, and the northerners gathered around it. "We've found them."

"Let's go down and approach on foot."

He said something and stood up first.

Not long after.

The group walked through the bushes and quietly approached the firelight along the lakeside mudflats.

Beside the giant bonfire, several meters in diameter, were layers upon layers of northern warriors dressed in furs.

They were gesturing wildly and making strange noises, as if they were singing or praying.

At the innermost part were five or six tall men with braids, necklaces made of animal skulls around their necks, tattoos on their chests and faces, and even larger and more luxurious furs on their bodies.

"Chieftain of the Northern Snow Wolf Tribe (Moderately Corrupted) · Kau Creek (Nemesis/Three Stars/Legendary)"

"Chief of the Northern Bear Tribe (Moderately Corrupted) - Dilro (Nemesis/3-Star/Hero)"

"..."

These were the leaders of various tribes.

Besides them, there were also an old man and three middle-aged women, four women dressed in snow-white wolf skins and wearing gorgeous feather crowns, all worshipping the bonfire together, chanting incantations.

"Northern Chief Shaman (Severely Corrupted) - Marsai (Nemesis/Five-Star/Elite)"

"Northern Shaman (Heavily Corrupted) Pamela (Nemesis/Four-Star/Elite)"

"..."

Thirty or forty meters away, Wang Xi raised his hand to signal everyone to stop, and he carefully observed the situation.

Apart from the northern leaders and shamans, there were nearly a hundred other northern warriors, all of whom were elite.

The worst are one-star elites and blank two-stars.

Mixed in among them were twenty or thirty three-star elites.

More than ten whiteboards with four stars.

There are also three four-star elites.

'No wonder they dared to venture deep into the kingdom's territory; this must be the most elite fighting force in the North.'

Wang Xi said secretly.

His gaze swept over the area, and he paused slightly in surprise.