"What does it matter? Those prisoners aren't going to get out alive anyway..."

What are you listening to?

"Fuck!"

Raymond suddenly turned his head, only to find Miss Mo Feng standing next to him at some point. Her low, high-pitched question almost scared him out of his wits.

"Are you out of your mind?!"

Raymond could barely control his voice, "You sneaked in like a ghost, you scared me to death!?"

Miss Mofeng scratched her head awkwardly, then pointed outside the cage with her thumb and continued in a very low voice, "I didn't want to either, but I was far away when I called you and you couldn't hear me..."

Raymond frowned and looked in the direction the girl was pointing, only to see a man in a guard's fur coat waving frantically at him from outside the iron cage.

"Come here, come here quickly!"

What the hell? Raymond looked closely and was shocked to find that it was actually an acquaintance.

"Kalon??"

"Come here quickly!"

Ye Xiao, dressed as a guard, was speechless.

He went to great lengths to sneak in from outside the mountain, and as soon as he entered, he went to look for the place where the hostages were being held. He finally found Miss Mo Feng and her group.

It's unclear what Raymond was listening to by pressing against the wall, but he didn't respond at all despite the low calls he made at the door. Did he think this place was his home and not want to leave?

Raymond finally realized what was happening and rushed to the iron cage. However, he carefully checked the situation of the other guards behind Ye Xiao before approaching the railing and asking in a low voice.

"How did you get in? Uh, what nonsense am I talking about..."

Perhaps overwhelmed by the sudden excitement of seeing his companion, Raymond became somewhat incoherent. He quickly slapped his face to compose himself, "Karon, do you have a way to get us out of here?"

“Opening the iron cage is not difficult, but there are many guards nearby, and most importantly, the dragon is guarding it in the next cave.”

Ye Xiao tried to be concise, "Tanya and I split up to find the location where Miss Windsor is being held. I need you to help me make some noise when I give you a signal, and it would be best if you could attract the dragon here as well."

"If we lure the dragon here, won't we be doomed?"

Raymond was stunned.

“This cave is too narrow for him to transform into his dragon form. You can use fireballs to blast down the surrounding caves and trap the guards. Once that’s enough, you can take Deborah and the others and evacuate.”

"It's easy to say, but this place is like a maze. How am I supposed to know which way to go?"

Raymond was completely confused.

"I just spoke with Kalon about this,"

At this moment, Miss Mofeng spoke up, "Our magic wasn't sealed when we came in, so I secretly left a magical pet. It can remember the scent we left on the way and can lead us out."

As soon as she finished speaking, a translucent little dog poked its head out from her collar.

The 102nd execution celebration

Half an hour later, in a sealed cell deep in a cave in the mine.

Miss Windsor was being held there, her eyes filled with tears as she sobbed softly.

Her small wrists were shackled and chained to the cold stone wall, her two thin arms raised high.

Her slender body was draped in a linen garment that barely covered her body, her deep purple hair was loose over her jade-like shoulders, and her delicate feet could only barely touch the ground with her toes because her body was suspended.

She hasn't had a drop of water or any food since last night. Her fair skin is marked with several bloody welts from being whipped with iron spikes. These were wounds deliberately left by the other party to threaten her father with the recording crystal.

Miss Windsor, looking truly miserable, couldn't understand how things had turned out this way. Right outside the tightly closed iron gate, she could still hear the group of bandits guarding her laughing and joking.

"Tsk, no wonder she's a noble lady, her skin is so delicate and tender, so different from the burly village girls in the mountains."

"Why can't we let the brothers have a taste of a noble lady while this guy is locked up in there?"

"Hey, don't talk nonsense like that. If the boss hears you, you'll lose your head."

"What does it matter? We're going to kill her anyway. It would be such a waste to chop such a beautiful woman into pieces."

Listening to the guards outside discussing her so freely, as if they were talking about a fish on a chopping board, Miss Windsor couldn't help but feel a wave of helpless fear wash over her.

"What nonsense are you spouting? This is meant to be a symbol of the ruling, so we can't mess around with it. We are 'free people' with lofty ideals, don't you understand? Doing such despicable things will only corrupt the atmosphere among us."

"What ideals or not, I know I've never seen such a beautiful woman in my village before. She's just hanging here like a piece of pork on a stall, you can look but you can't touch her, it's making everyone's heart itch... Eh!? Second, second, second, second boss!? When did you arrive??"

"The celebration is about to begin, so stop standing there... Also, call me deputy commander, stop calling me 'boss' all the time."

"understand!"

"Yes, sir! ...I mean, Vice Commander!"

The conversation outside abruptly stopped, and a moment later, the cell door was opened, and a beam of firelight shone into the dark room.

Miss Windsor's eyes, long accustomed to darkness, squinted slightly at the light, and she vaguely saw a figure appear at the doorway.

From that familiar and tall figure, she quickly recognized him as her former personal guard, Vatrian.

"Vatrian, you...you came to save me..."

Her mind was in a daze. At first, she felt a surge of excitement, but then she remembered that it was the other person who had betrayed her. The excitement that had just surged into her heart turned into a chilling sorrow.

"No...no..."

"Thank you for your hard work, Miss."

Vatrian's voice was indifferent, "But don't be afraid, your suffering will soon be over."

As he spoke, he removed the shackles from the girl's arms from above, then turned her around and locked them together.

"Waaaaah... I... what did I do to wrong you... Vatrian..."

Windsor's voice was choked with sobs as Vatrian roughly dragged her out the door with chains.

“I…I’ve always considered you my most loyal knight…”

"You haven't done anything to wrong me, Miss."

Vatrian spoke in a flat tone as he led Miss Windsor across the gravelly ground.

He walked quickly, paying no heed to the frail girl's bare feet, which were bleeding from the sharp stones.

Therefore, it's more accurate to say that he was dragging Miss Windsor along rather than leading her.

"Why... then why do such a thing..."

Miss Windsor sobbed more and more uncontrollably. She admitted that she had indeed wronged people, and if it was revenge from those people, she would at least understand the reason for her suffering.

But Vatrian, as her personal guard who had been with her since childhood, was given the best treatment befitting a squire.

She sent him to the best military academy in the duchy, and provided him with the same treatment as a nobleman... Why would a knight she trusted so much ultimately choose to betray her?

Miss Windsor wept as she staggered along the long, steep mine tunnel until the loose stones had pierced and bloodied her smooth soles.

"Because I have come to understand true freedom... No matter how you treat me, you can never change the real difference between us."

Vatrian replied.

"I do not understand……"

"You'll soon understand that none of this has anything to do with your personality, only with your identity."

Miss Windsor, her eyes blurred with tears, saw Vatrian lead her along a mountain path through the cave wall to a very wide, high platform.

This is the largest cavity inside the mountain, towering and wide, resembling a cave-style council hall.

The walls on both sides were made of iron bars forming cages, about six or seven layers high. Groups of nobles captured from the airships were separated from the other passengers and held here.

Below the platform stood a dense crowd, covering the vast expanse of ground as far as the eye could see.

However, not all of these people were burly bandits with fierce faces. In fact, the guards with weapons only appeared on the high platform and the mountain paths on both sides, while the crowd below seemed to consist mostly of thin...commoners.

Yes, commoners, that was the only word Miss Windsor could use to describe the people she saw, because most of them were pale and thin, dressed in simple clothes, and there were even quite a few elderly people and women and children.

It's hard to associate them with those tall and imposing bandits.

As they watched Miss Windsor being pushed onto the platform, they immediately raised their hands excitedly, their eyes gleaming with an unusual fervor, and cheered.

On the high platform, the burly man who led the cavalry last night was also there.

However, he had already removed the turban covering his face, revealing a face with a vicious scar. His eyes, watching Vatrian drag Miss Windsor over, flashed with a slightly strange light.

"So even without that person's protection, we still have to continue, Vatrian?"

“Of course, Wesker.”

Vatrian met the eyes of the scarred giant. "Taking this step is necessary, regardless of whether that lord's protection remains."

After saying that, Vatrian grabbed Miss Windsor by the neck, pressed her down hard, and pushed her toward the edge of the platform.

The girl stumbled and fell to her knees, her helpless and confused eyes peering through the gaps in her loose hair at the crowd below, while she heard calls from all sides.

"Kill her!"

"Kill her!..."

"Kill her!!!"

Chapter 103 The Standpoint of the Battle

The shouts of the crowd echoed like waves in a cave, causing Miss Windsor's knees to tremble with fear as she knelt on the ground.

She didn't understand where the hatred these people below felt for her came from, but the murderous intent emanating from the red-faced man was undeniably real.

"Quiet, everyone."

Just then, Vatrian on the platform raised his hands, signaling for everyone to be quiet.

"Roar--"

Immediately afterwards, a deafening roar erupted, and a huge red dragon flapped its wings and flew down from the cave ceiling, landing behind Vatrian.

The vast cave immediately fell silent, and the crowd's eyes were fixed on Vatrian, filled with an indescribable fervor.

"My dear compatriots, to all the great free people here."

Vatrian spoke in a deep voice, which carried to every corner of the cave.

"Since ancient times, our ancestors have cultivated this barren land in the north of the continent in order to create a free nation."

"But now, the parliament, which should have upheld the spirit of freedom, has become a vassal of the nobility. The wealth accumulated by the pioneers has been seized by them, and the society that should have been equal for all has been plowed into a chasm that divides people into upper and lower classes."

"Among them, the ten most hateful senators, who have completely seized power in the entire principality during this era."

“Our town and houses were demolished, and the farmland we depended on for a living was taken over by steel factories spewing foul fumes.”

"We lost our homeland, and all we got in return was endless labor and the waste gas accumulating in our bodies; while they reaped the benefits, exchanging our hard work for the glamorous clothes of nobles, and ignoring the miserable plight of the common people, they relentlessly provoked wars, squeezing every drop of our blood, just so that their own families could be granted fiefdoms and expand their territories."

"There are still too many fools on this land who are blinded by their glory, toiling day and night in the war factories just to earn a few meager loaves of bread, and they even consider this an honor."

"But all of this will come to an end. The arrogance of the nobility shattered their prestige in the defeated war, and their reputation reached an unprecedented low, while our compatriots are gradually awakening."

"Therefore, now is the best time to deliver a fatal blow to those nobles!"

"Now kneeling before you is the eldest daughter of the Tyron family, the symbol of oppression. We will use her blood to stain the first banner we plant on the road to victory!!!"

"kill!!!"

It's hard to imagine that those emaciated civilians could unleash such a fierce shout.

Seeing Vatrian draw his longsword from his waist, the bewildered Miss Windsor finally realized what was about to happen.

"No...don't kill me...please..."

Her small body trembled with fear as she clutched Vatrian's clothes and pleaded with him, bursting into tears.

Her appearance was so pitiful that no one could connect this poor girl with the once high-ranking daughter of a councilor.

Ye Xiao, who was watching from a distance on the edge of the wall, holding a whistle arrow in his hand, also saw this scene.

But unlike before, this time, he hesitated.

He hadn't really understood what Vatrian's group did before, but now, seeing the groups of emaciated civilians on the ground, he was starting to have some doubts.

Miss Windsor was indeed lovely and pretty, but to be honest, Ye Xiao never had much affection for this girl from beginning to end.

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