The Queen of Blood

About five kilometers from the city gates of Marina, a large White Wolf came to a halt on the gently sloping ground. It stood, watching the battle unfolding in front of those gates.

There were human and demon forces engaged in the conflict, but the disproportion between the two armies was starkly evident—like a ratio of one to five.

<They won't hold out for long.>

Thought the White Wolf, Fenrir, feeling as if the human forces were akin to a drop of water plunged into a bucket of water.

However, it had to be acknowledged that the human forces impressed Fenrir, as they managed to withstand the onslaught of enemies five times their number.

"What shall we do, Captain?" Brook asked.

Having dismounted from Fenrir's back, Brook approached Kirana who had been gazing out onto the battlefield in the distance.

While Kirana's and the others' vision wasn't as sharp as Fenrir's, who could perceive events far away, from Fenrir's description, Kirana knew that the human forces must be the Blackwinter troops.

The distance between Blackwinter and Marina was merely a three-day journey on foot. Without rest, that time could be whittled down to two days.

Kirana then turned to her squad members. They all had serious expressions. She glanced over at Legia.

"Legia, you and five others will assist the Blackwinter forces. The rest, come with me into the city."

Legia nodded. "We're just supposed to create an evacuation route, right?"

"Yeah, unleash your full power, Legia."

"Understood, Captain!"

Kirana then looked to Fenrir. The great wolf had indicated that it would stay here. Kirana thanked it for swiftly bringing her squad to Marina.

With that, Kirana and her squad immediately moved towards the battlefield.

It took them about thirty minutes to arrive at the battleground.

Kirana wasted no time and broke through, freezing the demons in front of her. The frozen area extended at least up to where the Blackwinter forces were stationed.

As the troops saw the ice statues of demons behind them, they were taken aback.

Then they saw eleven individuals running towards them, beheading many demons.

Upon arrival, a woman familiar to the Blackwinter soldiers—because she was the Huntress—introduced herself as the Captain of the Death Valley squad.

"Death Valley? Not Marina?"

"Umm, it's a bit complicated to explain. But for now, let's focus on saving the civilians."

"I understand. But it's difficult to break through over there."

"No problem. I'll create a way."

Kirana said, immediately chanting an ice spell. The other soldiers instinctively shielded her to ensure the chant remained undisturbed.

When she finished chanting, a magical circle appeared in front of Kirana.

"[Ice Road]."

From the magic circle emerged a road that extended all the way up to the city wall.

It surprised everyone who saw it—whether it was the Blackwinter forces, Marina residents, or even the demons.

"Let's go!"

Ordered Kirana, who then ran along the ice path she had created.

The flying demons intended to intercept her, but they were shot down by her squad members wielding Ice Wands.

Kirana's movement was lightning-fast. Her current goal was singular: to secure her mother and then save all the residents.

Meanwhile, Legia wasn't with Kirana. She waited at the beginning of the ice path, defending it from the demon onslaught. The other five squad members who were with her did the same.

As Legia knocked down one demon after another, she instructed half of the Blackwinter forces to protect the ice road from the demons.

This ice road would become the sole evacuation route for the residents.

Mayor Nordt from Huntara approved of the plan and immediately ordered half of his troops to protect the ice path.

The other half would guard the end of the ice path and open a way out of the battlefield.

Having seen the Blackwinter forces begin to protect the ice path, Legia says some order to the five knights and then intends to move alone.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Mayor Nord, who hears what Legia says, can't believe what the girl said.

"No. I need to go alone because my current skill is somewhat risky. I will clear a path ahead. Your troops will follow at a safe distance, securing the path I've created. I'll leave five of my companions behind. If the Mayor has any questions, you can ask them," Legia explained.

"Are you really okay?"

Legia grinned widely, "No need to worry. They're the ones who should be worried."

Without hesitation, the woman started running.

Crimsonagin in her hand began to emit a faint glow. The demon blood around her started floating in the air, forming hundreds of blood spikes.

With a single swing of her spear, the blood spikes surged towards the approaching demons, stabbing and killing them, creating even more pools of blood on the ground.

"[Dragon Might]."

Roaaarrr!

One skill, and the demons within a fifty-meter radius were stunned.

They stood frozen like statues, only able to watch as the woman gathered blood from the battlefield and transformed it into a massive scythe.

With a sweep of the scythe, she cut through the demons surrounding her, cleaving hundreds of them in half.

As the hundreds of severed demons sprayed more blood, even Legia's face, which seemed to have gone mad, got splattered with it.

"Hahaha! [Crimson Dominion]!"

A circle of blood-red magic suddenly appeared on the ground. With Legia at its center, the magic circle expanded, reaching a diameter of over a hundred meters.

The Blood Zone.

Legia had never fully utilized the power of this skill before. But on the battlefield, the [Crimson Dominion] skill would make a significant difference.

Because within this Blood Zone, Legia could manipulate all the blood within the confines of the magic circle.

The blood that had spilled from hundreds, even thousands, of demons instantly moved according to Legia's thoughts.

Thousands of blood spears floated across the battlefield. With hundreds of blood-formed wolves materializing, they charged towards the demon forces, biting and tearing enemies apart, creating even more blood spilled on the ground, giving birth to new blood wolves.

"What is this?"

Mayor Nordt felt a shiver down his spine as he watched the woman fighting ahead. Now he understood why she had said he didn't need to worry.

Her power was too terrifying. Somehow, Mayor Nordt felt that what lay before him wasn't a battle, but a massacre.

But of course, momentum wouldn't always go smoothly.

As Legia continued to advance, slaughtering demons to create an evacuation route, a larger demon than the others descended from the sky, wielding a menacing black greatsword.

The demon swung the greatsword, cutting down a dozen blood wolves at once.

"Enough, human! Your show is over!"

"Oh, is it?"

Legia charged at the large demon, poised to thrust with Crimsonagin.

The demon engaged Legia, attempting to swing back its greatsword. Unexpectedly, as it drew near Legia, the dozens of blood wolves that it had previously slashed suddenly, suddenly formed back then leapt and bit the demon arms and legs.

This halted the movement of the large demon briefly, allowing Legia to pierce its chest.

"Cough! You...!"

"This is war, not a duel."

The demon growled, releasing mana from its body, creating a shockwave that shattered the blood wolves and sent Legia flying quite a distance.

Legia landed and spat out blood, but her eyes only gleamed brighter, her smile wider.

"I will kill you!" the demon yelled.

But just as it began to move, its head suddenly felt dizzy, its vision blurring. The demon lost its balance.

Confused by its condition, before it could fully comprehend, a pillar of blood suddenly crashed down on its head, shattering it against the ground.

Legia approached, liquefying the large pillar in front of her and absorbing it back into her spear.

She then manipulated the blood from the recently slain demon, shaping it into a blood demon with the same form.

"Go and kill them all."

The blood demon picked up the fallen greatsword and began wreaking havoc among the surrounding demons.

Legia turned to look behind her, observing the Blackwinter troops who had started securing the path she had created. She conjured more blood spears to aid the soldiers.

She then glanced towards the rear lines of the demon forces. She could see the end of enemy formation.

"Captain, you should hurry. I'm not sure how long I can hold this path."

Legia muttered as she began moving forward again, accompanied by dozens of blood wolves.

Elsewhere, Kirana and the remaining troops had reached the top of the city wall, meeting with the defenders of Marina's Wall.

They were nervous at the sight of Kirana, but when they saw Reiss standing beside her, their nervousness instantly dissipated.

The Military Captain whom Reiss served approached the man immediately.

"Reiss!"

"Captain, I apologize for being late."

"Why did you return?! This place can't hold on any longer!"

Reiss hesitated for a moment, then received a hug from his captain. He explained that he had come back to save the remaining civilians.

Reiss then explained Kirana's plan to his superior, stating that they had established a safe passage to escape from the Abyss forces' siege.

Their task now was to guide the trapped citizens out through that route.

The Captain immediately understood and ordered his people to collaborate with the Death Valley Squad and the Blackwinter Forces. Some soldiers immediately went down to notify the citizens to gather.

Meanwhile, Kirana scanned the city's situation briefly from atop the wall. She then turned to look at Marina's Military Captain named Berman.

"Aren't there any demons inside the city?"

"For the moment, no. Fortunately, we managed to eradicate all the demons that broke through yesterday. Well, perhaps not 'we.' Some fighters within the city did it."

"Is one of those fighters named Jamie?"

"! Yes, you're right, Captain Millard."

"Do you know where he is now? Along with his group?"

Captain Berman immediately pointed eastward, where a bunker for important guests was located.

Kirana nodded and thanked him. She intended to head in the indicated direction immediately. However, her intention was halted when she felt a terrifying presence approaching from the south.

Kirana turned to Brook. "Vice Captain, please secure Mot–I mean, Lord Niles and Lady Ethel in the east. I seem to have an uninvited guest to attend to. Bring three others with you."

"Understood, Captain!"

Brook promptly headed east to retrieve Ethel and the others. Meanwhile, Kirana gazed into the southern sky.

She couldn't see clearly, but she knew that a powerful figure comparable to the Demon General A'wan she had once battled was approaching Marina.

"Captain Berman, accelerate the civilian evacuation. The mastermind behind this invasion is about to arrive."