I must draw my sword immediately!

Chapter 10 The Knight with the Bouquet

You mean, just the two of us?

Suya was stunned. When Meryl turned around and looked at her, she pointed to herself.

He then pointed to the army in front of him.

"To cut through this army of nearly ten thousand!?"

Doesn't that mean you're asking me to fight Sun Wukong?
“That’s right.” Meryl nodded.
"If we retreat any further, we'll reach the sea. There are no ports or ships here. We've been forced into a corner with nowhere to go."

"However, we are not crossing horizontally, but from this direction, from the flank, we are going through."

Meryl pointed westward, in the direction parallel to the army's advance, then turned back with a somewhat troubled expression.

“My King Suya, if I were alone, I could easily escape using hints and flower magic, but—”

Is it really not okay to bring along someone like me as a burden?
Suya felt a tightness in her chest.

"I don't have many spell slots. I can only use the two hint spells that I've already recorded in a day. As for magic, my strengths are enhancement, spirit summoning, incantation, elemental manipulation, illusion, and flower magic."

"It implies that the magic has already been used on you once, and can only be used once more, and there are no materials or books available to replenish it in the short term."

"Therefore, we have no choice but to take the risk!"

"Please make sure you are mentally prepared."

Meili's eyes were very serious, her rose-red pupils fixed on Suya.

If Suya doesn't pull himself together and continues to be as indecisive as he just showed, then they could die in the chaos of battle at any moment.

"Suggestion, enhancement magic?" Suya thought for a moment, then suddenly realized.
"Is it the magic that helps me escape the mental attack from those two scouts?"

Melly used a suggestion spell to remove the "stiffness" state from Sua, and then chanted an enhancement spell to strengthen Sua's physical attributes, giving the weakling a foundation to confront the two professional soldiers head-on.

"It's not magic, it's implied to be sorcery. However, the difference isn't that significant." Mary shook her head, instinctively correcting this common misconception, but didn't delve deeper, instead continuing...
"all in all,"

“I will use illusion magic to disguise you as the Macedonian scout you just killed. With this scout’s leather armor as material, it shouldn’t be difficult.”

"how about you?"

Suya understood; Meryl meant for him to impersonate an enemy scout.

The scouts are currently the most free-moving unit on the battlefield. If they simply follow the established patrol routes, they will not arouse suspicion or come into contact with too many enemies, thus minimizing the risk of being exposed.

But the real risk of this approach lies in...

The scouts operate in groups of three.
The two Macedonian scout captains killed by Sua, the professional assassins that Melly mentioned, could discover their team's unusual behavior at any time, potentially triggering uncontrollable incidents.

Furthermore, the scouts' reconnaissance also has its own procedures and scope.

Suya was unaware of the army's specific arrangements for the scout he was impersonating, so he could be exposed at any time.

And the most dangerous thing is,
When they reach the limit of their activity range and attempt to escape, they will inevitably be discovered by other scouts and pursued.

“I will use flower magic and illusions to disguise myself and hold onto this.”

Meryl pulled a tuft of white hair from the back of her head and handed it to Suya.

Suya held the tuft of bright white, smooth hair in her left hand.
"That way, when others see me, they will see that you are holding a bouquet of white roses."

"Furthermore, during the journey, I can use a suggestion spell once, which can be used on an enemy or on you. The remaining magic power in my body can only be used for one enhancement spell and one flower spell. If I continue to cast spells..."

Mary didn't finish her sentence.
Magicians, in the vast majority, are absolutely selfish, or rather, cold-blooded creatures who will stop at nothing to reach the root of all evil.

Mary admitted that she was no exception.

Even if Suya makes a bunch of empty promises, it's not worth it for her to do that now.

She only temporarily believed Suya's identity; she wasn't completely fooled by Suya, and she would never risk her life for such a potentially lucrative opportunity.

If her life were in danger, she would not hesitate to abandon Suya and escape alone.

The two are now more like collaborators.

And Melly was merely offering Sua one possibility.

#
The brief conversation ended quickly.

Meryl closed her eyes and began chanting a spell that Sua couldn't understand.
When the incantation is finished
They had to set off.

Suya roughly understood the situation and the cards she could play.

Staying put and being discovered is only a matter of time, while faking an escape carries numerous unknown risks.

He could only use three magic spells from his temporary teammates.

Suggestive magic, enhancement magic, and a type of flower magic that resembles bullets and can be launched.

However, this is not an action that will necessarily lead to battle. With proper calculation, most unnecessary battles can be avoided.

Moreover, fighting in the enemy's stronghold is nothing short of foolish. Therefore,

Planning a route that would allow them to traverse a massive army formation and reach behind enemy lines is what Suya is now tasked with.

Meili's answer was to head west, in the opposite direction to the army, betting that their route would fall within the scouts' operational range.

but--

"Pray, pray, pray!"

"I beg you from the perspective of Paradise,"

"Comb my hair, draw my eyebrows, dress me in my finest clothes,"

"Before the final annihilation—"

"May I have sweet dreams!"

The complex process of combining transformation magic, spirit summoning magic, and illusion magic is simplified into five sections. The young magician, a prodigy wherever she goes, concludes her hymn.

A white-gold magic circle, visible only to the two of them, appeared beneath their feet. Then, the white-gold ring slowly rose from the circle.

The platinum ring floated around the two of them for half a meter and then stopped.

"Those outside this range will see an image of us created by illusion. However, the illusion is based on the leather armor you are wearing, so it maintains the appearance of Tanma Chi when he died. Even the bloodstains on the leather armor cannot be concealed."

Pointing to the circle, Meryl explained,
"Once we enter this area, the magic's disguise effect will fail, and the enemy will see our true appearance."

"So, don't have any other ideas, we have no choice but to take a gamble!"

"Start heading west from here—"

"Good luck, my king!"

"I understand." Suya nodded, a slightly trembling, forced smile appearing on her face.

"Give me the reins."

Mary turned her head away.
She could see Suya's trembling lips and feel the intense, pounding heartbeat in the chest approaching from behind.

The boy's inner thoughts were already revealed through his outward physical actions.
But he had no other choice.

"Are you ok?"

"It's ok."

"But...you don't seem to know how to ride a horse, do you?"

"I learned."

"Really?"

Suya nodded, smiling as she took the reins from Meryl.
While watching the external subtitles along the way, he also observed Meryl's horsemanship, and...
It's about constantly seeing through, seeing through, and seeing through!
To go right, gently pull the right rein; to go left, pull the left rein. It's very simple, much easier than driving test part two. Squeezing the horse's belly moves you forward, squeezing it hard gives you nitro boost, and pulling the reins with your hand in the opposite direction brakes.
I will memorize all the key points and remember all the movements.

then,

Transform this newly acquired knowledge into the reins of your own destiny, and hold it firmly in your hands—

As he has done countless times before.

Perfect replica!

[You have mastered: Riding (F)].

"drive!"

With both legs clamping down hard on the horse's belly, F-level muscle strength exploded out, pressing down on the rivets on the side of the stirrups and piercing into the flesh!

"—Whoa!"

The warhorse widened its eyes, let out a roar, and leaped off the ground with all four hooves.

Heading down the slope at a 30-degree angle,

Ejection starts!

With its speed almost completely lost, the warhorse began to gallop wildly!
During this process, the expression on Mary's face, which was about to be squeezed into a biscuit shape, froze and distorted instantly.
Then, composure was lost.

"No, Suya, are you...you ...

Mary's eyes widened suddenly as she looked in the direction the two were heading.
"That direction is...it's—"

It is a straight path with no turns.
The path leads to the conqueror's mighty chariot, and to the Sun King's banner fluttering in the wind!
Suya trembled, gritting her teeth and puffing out her cheeks.
The words were torn into a long string by the wind that swept past his mouth.

"Don't be afraid! Because I'm even more scared than you! Aa ...

Brothers, please read this tomorrow, it's crucial for the first round of trial pushes! It's really important to me!
Bang bang bang!
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(End of this chapter)