People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

"I won't leave."

Duke Windermere stared coldly at the shapeshifter before him.

For some reason, she felt that the shapeshifter wasn't lying. Moreover, if he intended to assassinate her, she had a fleeting opportunity to strike when he approached her, her attention focused on the airship, but he didn't. What was he planning?

The Duke of Windermere was somewhat puzzled, but the current situation clearly did not allow her to continue to pry.

Moreover, no matter what the shapeshifter's intentions are, she won't leave.

Because she had said it from the very beginning, to everyone who listened to her speech, to the entire army, to all the people of Victoria—she would fight to the very end!

"Well, good luck to you."

The group of shapeshifters sighed softly, dispersed, and disappeared from the spot.

Duke Windermere stepped forward again, past the sword guards blocking his way, and stood before the podium.

Her voice rang out again, like a stabilizing force, silencing the Victorian army that was beginning to riot:

"The challenge begins again, soldiers of Victoria, do you remember your oath?"

“I remember! And I fully believe that as long as each of us does our job properly and without any negligence, and as long as we continue to act correctly as we are now!”

"We will once again prove our ability to defend our homeland, weather the storms of war, and survive the threat of the Sarkaz horde!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, my soldiers! Move out!"

Her finger pointed to the sky, to the red and black airship that was slowly approaching, and to Theresis standing behind the porthole on the front of the airship.

“Tell those self-righteous Sarkaz that their same tricks will not work a second time against the valiant Victorians! Any attempt to demoralize the Victorians will never succeed!”

Tell them, we are unwavering!

"We will fight at Silverstone Gorge, we will fight on Londinium, we will fight with ever-growing determination and ever-increasing strength in the air battles that are unfamiliar to us, but which will surely be ours in the future. We will defend our country, defend our people, no matter the cost!"

"We will fight to the very end!"

Chapter 567 I owe you another life, Ernst.

Someone once asked Kal'tsit, "Which do you prefer, an unexpected encounter or a long-awaited reunion?"

As always, Kal'tsit did not provide any answer.

She doesn't really like any of them.

Having traversed this land for millennia, she held few lingering memories, nor many people she longed to reunite with. Because her lifespan was so incredibly long, her acceptance of separation had reached an unbelievable level. And for this reason, those with whom she longed to reunite often shouldn't have, and those with whom she unexpectedly met were often truly unexpected.

But the questioner didn't seem satisfied with the "silence" answer; she wanted a clearer one.

Kal'tsit had to give an example.

Doctor, or rather, prophet.

Kal'tsit was overjoyed to awaken the Creator from the sarcophagus and reunite with her "father" after ten thousand years of separation.

After all, the Doctor is dangerous, and Kal'tsit doesn't know what he thinks of Terra now, or what decisions he will make.

It is a tragedy that creation no longer trusts its creator, but what is even more tragic is that Kal'tsit's fears have come true.

When the person asking the question happily grasped the hand of the spirit from the previous civilization, they probably never imagined that one day they would be buried by this spirit themselves, and also "bury" this spirit themselves.

But in reality, Kal'tsit is more worried about unexpected encounters than about such a long-awaited reunion.

The number one item on this "List of Unexpected Encounters a Cat Would Never Want" is an unexpected encounter with a certain Ms. Precyth, whose true or false existence is unknown, and who seems to be able to come back to life.

Fortunately, when Kal'tsit sped from Kerrig to Londinium without stopping, the missing Quesatush Tower had not yet appeared, and there was no sudden out-of-control Originium diffusion around Londinium. The tower, one of the creations of the previous civilization: the Shard Tower, had not yet been officially put into battle.

Perhaps I'm overthinking it?

Before Kal'tsit could even catch her breath, she turned around and unexpectedly ran into a legendary cat lover from Terra who wished to remain anonymous.

"Tracy!"

Incidentally, this person is ranked second on the list.

She already knew about the Duke of Wellington's beheading. To be honest, it did bring back some unpleasant memories. Sometimes she would wake up in the middle of the night and subconsciously touch her head to see if her head was still there.

The Sarkaz are the race most adept at this kind of maneuver. Although they have declined to their current state, their royal court, as a high-end fighting force, still exists, and they have always maintained the ability to retaliate. But Kal'tsit truly didn't expect the Sarkaz to have become this powerful.

Two decapitation strikes in such a short interval? And were they targeting two Grand Dukes of Victoria?

The nations of the world are not to be trifled with, especially a powerful nation like the Victorian Empire. Having suffered a loss once, wouldn't they be on guard? To send assassins under such circumstances is tantamount to suicide.

What? Theresis came in person?

What? Theresis not only came in person, but also by airship?

What?! It turns out that Theresis not only arrived by airship, but the shapeshifters also cut off the front-line communication in advance?

That's fine.

Kal'tsit's intelligence network came from Heidi, who was lurking in the city of Londinium, as well as elite operators such as Ascalon, Logos, and Misery. Their intelligence network was not targeted or cut off by the shapeshifters, which allowed her to receive the news in time and catch up with Theresis's raid.

in time.

“It’s unrealistic to directly storm the Victorian army’s main camp. Rhodes Island doesn’t have airships, and the transport capacity of its aircraft is too small. Moreover, if it flies towards the Victorian army, it will definitely be shot down by the Victorian army.”

At the emergency operational meeting, Kal'tsit and Amiya sat at the head of the table, listening to Ascalon outline the operational plan.

"Therefore, our target can only be the Sarkaz airships!"

"The assault team will consist of myself, Logos, and Misery. The rest of the elite operators will remain on the main ship. Dr. Kal'tsit, contact the Victoria Command to prepare for a joint attack on Theresis!"

"It's time to put an end to our past."

Meanwhile, the battle had reached a stalemate.

The Sarkaz airships seemed to have figured out that the Victorians had no anti-aircraft fire, so they lowered their altitude and began to unleash their fire on the Victorian main force.

This was the first time the Terrans had witnessed firsthand the effectiveness of airships on the battlefield after they were put into military use.

Unaffected by terrain, safe (at least for now), efficient, and capable of carpet bombing the ground without restraint, although limited by reloading and insufficient firepower, the speed and power of the bombardment were not great, but anyone could see that this method of warfare almost heralded the end of an era.

Drones can't reach that level; even those self-destructing drones, carrying a bomb, can't achieve that level of capability.

Not to mention the airship's battlefield deployment capability.

Therese was directly deployed to the battlefield.

The Duke of Windermere is in deep trouble. If it can be called a struggle.

The sword guards were almost completely routed in front of Theresis. Their proud formation and coordinated attacks were not only ineffective, but simply impossible to use.

If you try to form a battle formation, Theresis will launch a surprise attack to interrupt you; if you try to attack, Theresis's attacks are even more fierce.

Forcibly gathering them together would only make them targets for the exaggerated sword energy unleashed by that sword, like that of a peerless master in a Yan Kingdom martial arts novel. It would only increase casualties and have no other effect.

It was only at this moment that the Duke of Windermere truly realized what the Duke of Wellington had been facing.

The shapeshifter was so versatile that even she couldn't detect it immediately.

His swordsmanship was unparalleled, and his physical abilities far surpassed those of ordinary people. He could fight against thousands of people single-handedly, and even took on the elite Theresis.

Not to mention the Blood Demon who single-handedly triggered a blood tide, and the Carrion Legion that inflicted considerable losses on Victoria and is still lingering around the battlefield, waiting for the right moment to strike.

"What kind of monster is Victoria fighting?"

Spitting out a mouthful of saliva tinged with blood and a metallic taste, Windermir stood up, leaning on his sword. His body was riddled with wounds. Blood gushed out; if a Blood Lord were present, such wounds would have been enough for him to unleash a spell, causing Windermir's blood to boil and explode.

Theresis is not a blood demon. He doesn't have many fancy attack methods. He only has swordsmanship that he has been constantly cultivating since birth, until he has reached the pinnacle of his skills.

This swordsmanship helped him secure the position of swordsman before the Demon King Elesh, helped him take Kal'tsit's head amidst a vast army, and helped him step by step reach where he is now, reaching a point where, as an ordinary half-sarkaz, he can rival or even surpass the Lord of the Royal Court!

He searched for "Hey, Ling Qi Lu ￥1".

The remaining sword guards remained well-trained and assembled in front of Windermere. Their formation was incomplete and barely formed, but their loyalty told them that they could not escape at this moment.

The Duke of Windermere had already decided to fight to the end, and so would they.

Besides, so what if they die on the battlefield? Soldiers are not afraid of death, and they absolutely believe that Duke Windermere and Miss Deffin will not mistreat them or their families.

As long as their leader stands with them, they don't need to think too much; they can just fight bravely against the enemy!

Even so, Windermere and the Sword Guard knew that this was the last wave.

They have stalled long enough; the other dukes' elite troops are closing in. The casualties of the Sword Guards are not meaningless; their broken lines will soon be completely repaired.

If we can hold on to the last wave, then the tide will turn and we can turn the tide and win.

But how easy is it to hold onto this last wave?

The brief pause was merely the calm before the storm; the next second, right before the weary swordsman's eyes, Theresis vanished.

The howling wind that swept past their ears and the afterimages in the corners of their vision reminded these elite warriors of the enemy's whereabouts. But as they turned their heads with the fastest speed they had ever made, Theresis's sword was already raised high, crimson magical sword energy gathering on his blade, and the Sarkaz's rage was directed at the neck of each of them.

"Tsk!"

Duke Windermere was the only one who could react in time. Even though she knew perfectly well that her rapier could not block Therese's horizontal slash, she still resolutely thrust it out.

"boom!"

"Ding!"

As expected, the blade broke, but it did slow down Theresis and change the trajectory of the blade. Of the remaining sword guards, three were unable to react in time and were slashed in the abdomen, falling to the ground severely injured. The rest dodged the attack.

As a result, the Duke of Windermere had a deep, bone-revealing wound on his sword-wielding hand.

The immense pain slightly contorted her expression, but beyond that, there was even more confusion.

She sensed that Therese had held back with that last sword strike.

That sword strike could have easily chopped off her hand.

why?

She really wanted to ask a question, but on the battlefield, where would she find so many questions, especially during such a life-or-death struggle?

Besides, even if she did speak, would Therese really answer?

He jumped directly from that airship and has been fighting ever since, leaving her flagship littered with corpses and reducing her sword guards to almost nothing, without uttering a single unnecessary word.

The remaining sword guards ignored their companion lying on the ground groaning in pain and gathered around Duke Windermere once again.

This time, Theresis didn't speak, but simply sighed softly.

Did he hold back?

how is this possible.

He allowed the shapeshifter to come and give Windermere a final reminder, which was his last act of restraint.

If Windermere had truly given up on giving a speech, given up on boosting morale, chosen his own life, and simply left, he wouldn't have pursued him.

Because in that way, his goal would have been achieved, and the Victorian Allied Forces' plan to boost morale would have been thwarted.

But the Duke of Windermere did not leave.

He witnessed that scene from the airship, the Duke of Windermere's final speech, and from that moment on, he had no intention of holding back.

Indeed, Windermere's relationship with Ernst gave the Shapeshifter other ideas and indirectly influenced his decision-making, leading him to exclude Windermere, the best target for assassination, during the first raid and decapitation strike against the Duke's coalition.

But that was already Therese's final concession. He was never the kind of person to place all his hopes on others. Otherwise, he would have unconditionally supported Theresa from the beginning.

Since Duke Windermere is determined to stand in his way, how can he not "kill" him?

He was prepared for that strike. If Windermere didn't stop him, he would have killed all the sword guards. If Windermere dared to stop him, he could have left a fatal wound on Windermere.

In the end, this seemingly open strategy both succeeded and failed.

Windermere was indeed, as the intelligence he had received, a Duke of Victoria who resembled a soldier more than a nobleman. In that moment, she knew that letting Therese waste time killing the sword guard would have been a better choice, giving her a better chance of holding out until elite reinforcements arrived. Yet, she still chose to rush forward and block the blow.

Theresis did indeed strike without mercy, intending to kill Windermir and thus fully demonstrate the Sarkaz's rage.

But he miscalculated.

Windermere wasn't the only one to block that blow.

Since the start of the war, Theresis uttered his first words, which also served as the final signal for the end of the war:

“You’ve escaped with your life. Ernst was quite generous and managed to get you a giant beast amulet.”

Duke Windermere frowned: "What do you mean?"

Therese did not answer her, but turned her head and looked in the direction of the airship.

Manfred's message came through the communicator: someone had hacked the airship.

It was not the Victorian army; Ascalon was among the invading forces.