After choosing to leave, they regretted it.

As it turned out, the person she admired did have such an attitude, so it was natural that Chris would be annoyed.

Aize quickly apologized:

"Sorry—it's my fault, it's my fault. Stop it! I'm just worried about you, aren't I? After all, your transformation is so fast, what can I do?!"

“Gurgle—”

Chris gritted her teeth, but stopped what she was doing and her raised fist froze in the air.

Come to think of it, it seems that I was indeed too outrageous before, so I can't blame others.

On the other hand, although one can break through the quagmire with the help of a momentary burst of intense emotion, it is only enough to poke one's head out.

Failure, fear, regret, sadness.

After being suppressed for a short time, these negative emotions came back with a vengeance, constantly surging, trying desperately to swallow her up again.

"No, forget it."

Such words were even lingering in the throat, and he had to use all his energy and even physical strength to suppress them so that they would not slip out of his mouth.

"Tsk——"

Chris's body shook, and without waiting for Azer to ask, she turned around and broke open the closed door of the bedroom without saying a word. At the moment when Villian lifted the barrier, she rushed out of the room quickly and disappeared from sight at the fastest speed.

Aize was even more stunned.

"What on earth is that guy doing?"

While it was a good thing to accept the request and stand up again, this reaction was outrageous.

Don't be careless and develop schizophrenia or even multiple personalities, it will be more trouble than it's worth.

"What? You don't understand? Haha, even the brave Aize-sama who always seems to be in control of everything would have a day when he can't understand the people around him. How bizarre."

Villian walked forward and reached out to pull up Aize, who was still sitting on the ground.

She had watched the whole process and now had a sad smile on her face, which made Aize, who was still in a daze, feel inexplicably as if he was being laughed at.

"This expression, what does it mean?"

"Hmm? Don't understand?"

"I don't understand. If you have something to say, just say it. The Riddler only needs that white hair!"

Villian looked at Aize, blinked, smiled softly, and shook her head:

"No, I won't tell you. Think about it yourself."

"……ha?"

"Some things are boring once they're spoken out. Besides, it's rare that there's something I know that Master Aize doesn't know, so can't I just keep it a secret? That would be too unfair~"

Miss Witch leaned on Aize and gently stroked his chest. Her words, actions and expressions were all full of mischief.

"You...oh, forget it."

Aize wiped the cold sweat from his forehead - it was caused by Chris's violent reaction at the beginning - and then looked in the direction the other party left.

Come to think of it, Chris is even a bit like Rosaline in that her possible actions can never be predicted, and can be considered a star-level figure of Azek.

So, don't worry about it so much now.

When her own strategy completely failed, she was able to stand up by relying on a certain point she found. Isn't that a blessing?

For now, just be frankly happy for her.

----------

As the most difficult and uncertain part of the entire plan, after Chris made concessions, the rest of the things became simple.

More than ten minutes after running out of the room, the blue-haired girl returned on her own.

Although his face still looked bad, his body was shaking, and half of his clothes were soaked with cold sweat and even the hem was almost torn.

But fortunately, there was no going back on one's word.

This news was also conveyed to Marquis Karside, and further preparations for the expedition began immediately.

As the front line facing the demons, the territory of the Karseid family maintains a high state of combat readiness, ready for all-out war at any time.

Therefore, in just one day, the troops stationed in various parts of the territory were summoned and quickly assembled outside the city.

Just wait for the order and you can quickly move to the planned combat position.

The subsequent call-up of reserve personnel, the mobilization and arming of the militia, and the recruitment of civilian workers needed for the expedition are also proceeding rapidly as planned and will all be completed within a few days.

Of course, this is the concern of the Marquis who is responsible for staying in the castle. Aize and others just need to focus on their own work.

So, about 22 hours after Chris accepted the request, the group set out from the castle, got on the carriage they came in, and headed to the assembly point outside the city.

At this time, Villian had taken off the maid outfit she had been wearing for many days and changed into her usual set of trousers and a jacket in preparation for the battle that might break out at any time.

The wand that served as a weapon was also hung back on his waist.

But she herself was not nervous at all. She even leaned against the wall of the carriage, lifted a corner of the curtain, and looked out:

"It was so lively yesterday, but it suddenly became so quiet today. Isn't it too stressful?"

With the official announcement of the expedition, the city has entered the highest state of wartime alert.

The original curfew was upgraded to a city-wide martial law, the city gates were closed, and other commercial activities were strictly restricted except for minimal transactions such as food and medicine.

The narrow and bustling streets suddenly became empty.

The patrols composed of the guards who stayed in the castle, accompanied by combat magicians, monitored every corner of the city at a frequency several times higher than usual, checking all passers-by to prevent the Faceless Men from infiltrating again.

The atmosphere is somewhat suffocating.

In response, Aize just shrugged:

"Two years ago, when the situation was at its worst and most desperate, just hearing about the upcoming war with the demons would cause massive riots among the civilian population, and the fleeing crowds were unstoppable. It's not bad now. Tension is a necessary element of war."

Aize said this, sighed, turned his eyes to the side, and looked helpless.

"Having said that, everything has to be done in moderation. Excessive tension is not good..."

"Uh, Master, are you... are you... talking about me? How annoying! I wasn't... nervous at all just now, hehe, hehehe..."

"You've been trembling since the beginning, and now you're not even talking about it. Your tone of voice and even your personality have changed. Aren't you nervous?!"

Aize responded unhappily.

I'm talking about Chris, of course.

As one of the protagonists of this expedition, she took the most difficult step yesterday and has maintained her stance until today without any intention of retracting her words, which is quite good.

But that doesn't mean her shadows no longer exist.

When I woke up in the morning, I looked so haggard, and my eyelids were so heavy from the dark circles that I could hardly keep them open.

After actually putting on the armor, his trembling teeth even typed out a set of Morse code, and even the armor on his body was shaking non-stop, almost resonating.

Even as he was speaking, his eyes were darting around, and drops of cold sweat were dripping down his face, almost forming a puddle on his thigh.

...Why does it look so strange?

Aize, who was also fully armed, took out a water bottle and handed it over:

"Don't worry about anything else, drink something first, or you'll get dehydrated before the battle even starts!"

"Thank you—thank you—"

The girl took the kettle hesitantly and took some effort to pour all the liquid into her mouth instead of pouring it all over her legs and making things even weirder.

During this period, the carriage finally drove out of the city gate, and the scenery immediately changed to another style.

Array.

The Royal Guards under the command of Marquis Karside, clad in their signature heavy armor, armed with heavy shields and spears, formed an endless array with astonishing momentum, like an iron curtain.

The auxiliary forces, such as the light infantry, knights and combat magicians, were also in uniform, solemn and silent behind the iron curtain.

Only the military flags and the flags of the Karside family fluttered slowly in the scorching summer sun and breeze, making some noise.

They are waiting.

Waiting for the war to begin and also waiting for the generals' inspection.

In the Empire, the two have always been one.

As the carriage slowly stopped, several legion commanders who had been waiting for a long time quickly came over, knelt on one knee with weapons in hand, and saluted:

"Welcome, Lady Christina Karsed. We are ready for battle. Please review us and give us your orders!"

The time has come.

Chris pressed the kettle hard on the table, stood up, and used all her strength to inhale and exhale as if she wanted to burst her lungs.

The expression on his face had returned to normal, and the panic had disappeared.

"Master, Miss Villian, let's go!"

Chapter 75 Steady Forward

Although Christina commanded the troops owned by the Calseid family in this expedition, she still had to be careful.

The crushing defeat two years ago, coupled with the subsequent de facto exile and long-term offline experience, has left a deeper impression on people's minds than her image as a genius two years ago.

Aize and the Marquis understood her and therefore trusted her abilities, but this did not mean that the soldiers would willingly put their lives in her hands.

In their view, Chris at this moment was more like a dandy aristocratic kid who was "parachuted into a must-win game to gain achievements and qualifications", and there was no trust in her at all.

To Chris, this lack of trust is an enemy even more difficult to deal with than the demons.

She knew this very well without Aize reminding her.

So in front of the master, no matter how much you tremble, sweat, or panic, it doesn’t matter. But once you are under the sight of other people, you must remain calm.

In order to stand upright by Aize's side, in order to become Aize's true pillar, and in order to live up to Aize's trust, he had no choice but to do it.

So, the moment the general came to welcome her, she almost immediately adjusted her emotions.

Only the slightly twitching and stiff corners of her mouth, and her right hand that was still twitching behind her back, revealed that she was still in a panic.

Of course, Aize saw all of this.

I am also very relieved.

He was a little worried before.

He was worried that his apprentice's awareness of being independent might just be a whim.

I was worried that after she started to act, she would consciously or unconsciously ask me for help.

At the moment, it seems that I was completely overthinking it.

This also means that he can relax a little bit in his requirements.

So, Aize walked up to the girl, helped her to tidy up her collar and armor, straightened her cloak, and smoothed her hair that was covered by sweat back into place.

Then he smiled and patted her on the back and said:

"Well, let's go. Don't worry, I'm here."

"Uh... yes!"

For a moment, the girl's strong composure wavered briefly, and then she regained her composure.

After nodding vigorously, she opened the carriage door, walked down solemnly, and then stood up again, presenting herself to the steel array in front of her.

"Woo——"

In an instant, countless eyes were focused on her, and the doubts, contempt and even disgust clearly mixed in among them resonated with the dark memories deep in her heart, almost pushing her to the ground again.

But it never happened.

Feeling the gaze from behind, the girl responded firmly.

"All troops, listen up! Salute the commander of this operation, Miss Christina Karside!"

At a command from the general who came to greet them, the iron curtain of blood and steel immediately turned into waves, and people knelt on the ground from near to far. The sound of metal colliding with metal, metal and dignity, instantly echoed outside the city like thunder.

"Ah."

The girl nodded slightly and took the time to take a deep breath to calm herself down as much as possible.