I only wanted to retire, but I ended up becoming an extremely popular character.

The Watchtower Square in the city of Sallom has now been renamed "Triumphal Arch" Square by the Holy Kingdom.

The bronze statue of the current Emperor Oserwell, dressed in military uniform and gazing westward, which should have stood in the center of Watchtower Square, has long been dismantled and melted down.

The Holy Kingdom recast a triumphal arch on the site of the statue of Emperor Oserwell using the molten bronze, to commemorate the great victory in capturing the city of Saarlom.

Therefore, capturing the city of Sarlöm was not only for strategic purposes, but also to save face for the empire and the royal family.

Under the powerful surprise attack of the "Imperial Blade" legion, which consisted of two legions and a total of three legions, two of the three lines of defense of the Holy Kingdom of Salrom have been breached.

The Watchtower Square was shrouded in the deep darkness of night.

After breaking through the first two lines of defense, the imperial army had poured into this open area.

The imperial army used the broken fortifications, cargo crates, and building ruins scattered across the square as makeshift cover, and quickly dispersed and reorganized.

On the west side of Watchtower Square, the third line of defense of the Holy Kingdom's "Black Sheep Holy Head" division relies on solid stone buildings and barricades reinforced overnight, forming a tighter and more stubborn defensive line.

The soldiers who had retreated from the front were quickly gathered up and added to the reserve force, mingling with the fresh troops who were ready for battle.

The Empire took the initiative.

Several shells fired from behind whistled across the square and struck the front and rear of the Holy Land Defense Line, their explosions briefly illuminating the night.

The smoke of battle briefly obscured the vision of the Holy Kingdom's army.

Under the cover of artillery fire, the imperial army raced forward against the clock.

As the attacking force, the Empire's army had no time to wear down the Holy Kingdom's army.

Xavier's orders required them to capture the city of Sarlöm with lightning speed and overwhelming force; the longer it dragged on, the more unpredictable things would become.

The charging imperial army split into many small groups, no longer forming dense formations, but instead providing crossfire cover, silently and rapidly closing the distance to the Holy Kingdom.

At the same time, the Holy Kingdom's defenses immediately opened fire in a counterattack.

A dense barrage of artillery and rifle fire covered the square in front.

Imperial soldiers charged forward, one after another falling from the guns, but those behind them continued to advance, using the sacrifices of their comrades and every lull in the fire to move forward.

Just as the artillery positions behind the Holy Kingdom were unleashing their firepower on the imperial army in the square.

A huge shadow, resembling both a human and an eagle, cleaved through the thick night sky and hurtled toward the artillery positions behind the Holy Kingdom at an astonishing speed.

Its outstretched wings obscured the starlight, and its wingtips slashed through the air with a low, dangerous hiss.

That is Major Winona's power of the "Egg of Berklein"—the Harpy.

It simply transforms into the 'Berklein Form', either fully or partially, and is usually referred to as the 'Berklein First Form'.

The first form of Berklein can only master the most basic abilities of the Egg of Berklein, but may gain some special abilities or greatly enhance various aspects of potential.

The 'Egg of Berklein' only provides benefits to ghouls of level three and below, with almost no detriment, and the benefits to their abilities are almost immediate.

Some people, even if they are not "Kakuja", may instantly gain strength comparable to ordinary low-level "Kakuja" if they are favored by the "Egg of Berklein".

Because the price of "permanently losing 10% of the potential limit" required to be possessed by the "Egg of Berklein" is that only a level four "Hakuja" can reach that bottleneck.

Before this, even a level three "Hakuja" could not reach the price of "permanently losing 10% of the potential limit".

Because the body of a level three 'Hakuja' has not reached the upper limit of releasing more than 90% of its 'potential'.

"What...what is that? An eagle?"

A Holy Kingdom soldier on the edge of the position felt a dark shadow drift overhead. He instinctively looked up and gasped in surprise at the rapidly enlarging shadow.

"No! It's the Empire! An aerial attack—!"

The next second, he saw more details. It wasn't the fur of a wild beast, but rather the standard Imperial military uniform that clung to the body, with wings that transformed into feathers at the joints.

Almost simultaneously, the harpy swooped down, abruptly slowing down a few meters above the gun position, its wings flapping and creating chaotic air currents.

Taking advantage of the momentum of her dive, she swung her arms.

Several sharp, invisible blades of air shot out, precisely severing the throats of several gunners on the nearest artillery position, their blood splattering in the dim firelight.

Major Winona didn't even land completely.

With the exceptional low-altitude maneuverability granted by her "Harpy" form, she swiftly swept and circled over the artillery positions.

Each brief hover or dive was accompanied by the death of one or more artillerymen at the Holy Kingdom's artillery position, or by the direct detonation of ammunition boxes near the artillery.

Her only goal was to use her air superiority to penetrate deep into the enemy's rear and cripple the artillery position that could cover the entire front line at all costs.

Even if the Holy Kingdom's artillery positions cannot be completely destroyed, at least the Holy Kingdom's artillery in the rear can be disrupted, preventing them from using their artillery to inflict damage on the Empire's troops.

"That's the ability user of the Berklein Egg, shoot him down quickly."

A veteran from the Holy Kingdom who knew about the "Egg of Berklein" roared and was the first to raise his rifle and fire into the air.

The surrounding soldiers were also alarmed. Ignoring the pressure on the front line, they all turned their guns around, and a hazy barrage of bullets shot towards the strange eagle-shaped figure.

Winona flapped her wings suddenly, her body drawing an irregular zigzag line in the air, easily dodging almost all the stray bullets.

The interference from ground fire caused a flash of cold annoyance in her eyes. She turned around and swooped down, ready to shut up those annoying infantrymen on the ground.

At that very moment—

A sword aura flew past Major Winona's path, forcing Winona to twist her body and flap her wings violently to barely avoid the dangerous interception.

A major from the Holy Kingdom emerged from behind the bunker.

His name was Byron Leclerc, a major in the military, belonging to the "Black Sheep Saint Head" division. He was about thirty years old, had a mustache, and a shallow scar below his left eye.

"Little sparrow of the Empire, this is not the place for your acrobatic performances." Major Byron looked up, his voice not loud.

As soon as he finished speaking, Major Byron vanished from his spot and reappeared in front of Major Winona.

A blade carrying the aura of death slashed precisely down towards Major Winona.

Major Winona hastily used her wings to shield herself, blocking Major Byron of the Holy Kingdom's attack.

In the instant he held off Winona, Byron immediately ordered the Holy Kingdom soldiers who were standing there watching in stunned silence, "There's more than one enemy! Focus on the present and do what you're supposed to do. I'll deal with this beast!"