Trash Prince and Ice Queen 10th Re - Life-Chapter 177: Take Down The Border Fortress
Meanwhile, at that same hour of the night, at the border bridge right before the exit leading to the Durnhill Kingdom on the southern continent, "graaaah," "whoaaah," Pyria charged forward. Wielding her sword, Velyeth, she rode her Cerberus, which had grown to a massive size, tearing through the enemy ranks. Beside her, Alicia rode her own giant salamander, swinging her flame sword, Zalibre, in every direction, repelling the soldiers and sending them flying off the bridge. They advanced together at the very front, flanked by the Fredonia Kingdom’s troops and the vampires scattered among them.
"Advance... move out!" Alicia shouted from atop her salamander.
"Uoooooh!"
The Fredonia breakthrough units began their charge while Pyria and Alicia raised their swords, creating a fiery shield overhead that deflected the hundreds of arrows and magic being unleashed at once from the guard towers. Fredonia’s forces started scaling the fortress walls with ladders, and the vampire troops moved like shadows, ascending with incredible speed. Once they reached the top, they began a blind, relentless slaughter, leaving the air thick with the deafening, agonizing screams of the enemy above.
Alicia surged forward as her salamander began scaling the walls like a lizard, climbing straight to the top. Pyria leaped up and clung to Alicia’s back, gripping her shoulders, while her Cerberus shrunk down and hovered beside her. Once they reached the summit, their two familiars leaped onto the battlements while the girls dismounted and began a relentless assault with their weapons.
Alicia immediately swept the right flank alongside the vampires, while Pyria cleared the left. Below, their familiars returned to their massive forms, rampaging through the camp in the fortress courtyard and scattering the enemy troops. Together with the vampires, they erected shields to deflect the magical projectiles being fired from behind the inner walls.
When the gates were finally smashed open with a battering ram, the Fredonia Kingdom’s forces—led by Alexis on horseback—charged inside and fell upon the camp within the fortress. The clash was inevitable. Both armies collided in a desperate struggle, the sound of clashing steel, war cries, and the booming of magic completely shattering the silence of the night.
Meanwhile, Alicia and Pyria, having finished their sweep of the fortress walls and taking out the enemies above, looked down at the other side of the bastion. They saw a massive number of enemy troops still stationed below, guarding the second gate that had yet to be breached. Behind the main force, mages were launching volleys of fire, earth, and ice magic into the air toward the front courtyard.
"Pyria, we need to deal with those mages in the back. Let’s go," Alicia said, gripping her sword.
"Wait... look at that," Pyria said, pointing toward the enemy mages positioned behind the main unit guarding the second gate.
The two of them looked in the direction Pyria indicated. They could see about a hundred shadows that moved like ravens, streaking through the air like black lightning. These figures began silently picking off the hundreds of mages one by one from behind.
"Wait... the Raven Assassin Unit... Brother Abel?" Alicia asked in surprise.
"Oh... so that’s the Raven Assassin Unit?" Pyria asked.
"Yes. The only one who can deploy that many Ravens is Brother Abel, but... he isn’t here, is he? He’s supposed to be at the elven village," Alicia said, looking left and right.
"That’s great, then! Maybe he sent them from my village," Pyria replied cheerfully, wiping the sweat from her chin with her arm.
"That makes sense. This way, our victory is guaranteed—the border fortress will fall into our hands," Alicia said, raising her sword with a smile.
"That’s right. Next up: the capital of the Durnhill Kingdom," Pyria replied, clinking her blade against Alicia’s and smiling back.
Then, Alicia and Pyria turned to see the vampire troops gathered behind them, ready for more action. The two looked at each other and nodded, then spun around.
"Everyone, move out... attack!" Alicia and Pyria shouted in unison.
The two of them immediately leaped down from the fortress walls into the second courtyard below, followed by the vampire army that trailed behind them like a waterfall of shadows. Upon landing, Alicia and Pyria instantly split to the right and left, with the shadows following close behind, as they charged into the enemy ranks—a force that was quite large and far more numerous than the troops in the previous courtyard.
A few hours later, the second gate was finally breached, and the main force of the Fredonia Kingdom poured back inside. Seeing that the enemy clearly outnumbered them, but realizing escape was impossible with the vampire troops guarding the exit, the enemy soldiers threw their weapons to the ground and raised their hands in surrender. Alexis rode to the front and looked out at the defeated troops.
"Victory is ours!" Alexis shouted, raising his sword.
"Uooooh!" the Fredonia soldiers roared in response.
"Apprehend all the enemy forces who have surrendered, but do not kill them. If any still resist, execute them on the spot," Alexis ordered the knight commander on horseback beside him.
"Yes, Your Majesty," the commander replied.
Alexis dismounted and walked toward Alicia and Pyria, who were panting, covered in grime, and looking like a complete mess. Then Dimitri, moving like a shadow, landed beside Alexis.
"Great work, Alicia, Pyria. You both are incredibly strong—you truly are the perfect companions for Ard," Alexis said, placing a hand on each of their shoulders.
"Thanks, Brother Alexis," Alicia replied with pride.
"But you’re a mess and covered in dirt... aren’t you a prince and the lead commander? Why did you join the charge?" Pyria asked innocently, taking in Alexis’s disheveled state.
"I’m just as filthy as you two, aren’t I? Hahaha. Thank you for worrying about me, but this is how I fight, even if my strength is far below yours," Alexis replied with a laugh.
"That’s exactly how my students fight. But honestly, your strength has grown tremendously since the last time we met," Dimitri said to Alicia and Pyria.
"Um... yeah, we had some training at the Dragon God’s place," Alicia mentioned.
"Oh, that explains it. I was surprised at first to see you wielding soul blades like Ard and Eva, but if you’ve trained with the Dragon God, then it’s only natural for you to have them," Dimitri replied, nodding as he studied both of their swords.
Suddenly, a Raven assassin appeared and approached Alexis, dropping to one knee in a respectful bow. He immediately handed several scrolls of parchment to Alexis. Alexis accepted them, and the Raven assassin vanished as quickly as he had arrived. As Alexis read the documents, his expression turned incredibly serious. The papers in his hands were five map fragments detailing the entire troop deployments of the Durnhill Kingdom.
Additionally, there was a letter explaining the current situation within Durnhill, such as King Gregorius’s condition, the rebellion led by Nikolai, and the gathering of forces in Whitdale that remained unaligned with either the crown or the rebels. The letter also noted that this information had been gathered by Dark Elf spies—who were actually Durnhill Kingdom intelligence officers working in tandem with Fredonia’s Raven units.
"Hoo... so the Dark Elf forces have already sided with Ard and Eva... they really are something," Alexis muttered with a smile.
"This is excellent intelligence. With this, we can easily determine our next move," Dimitri added, reading along.
"Yes, I really have to thank Abel for this info. Even from the palace, he managed to investigate all of this," Alexis replied, smiling.
Alicia and Pyria just smiled and said nothing when they heard that, because they knew for a fact that Abel wasn’t at the palace, but rather at the elven village. Meanwhile, Dimitri looked at the two of them and winked with a smile; he knew perfectly well that the only one who could provide information that complete and detailed wasn’t Abel, but Baalbel, who clearly had experience far beyond Abel’s.
***
Meanwhile, at that same hour, Ard was heading toward the northern continent by sea. He led a force of 3,000 demons spread across ten galleons, with 5,000 merman troops led by Tatiana moving beneath the waves. They were halfway through their journey and expected to reach the coast by tomorrow morning.
Ard stood at the bow, looking ahead, when something caught his eye. He pulled out his telescope and spotted a pirate ship sailing toward the northern continent, appearing to have come from the central continent. Ard smiled and turned to Irina, who was standing beside him.
"Irina, I’m going to head out for a moment. Please keep an eye on things here while I’m gone," Ard said.
"Understood, Ard... um... Your Majesty," Irina said.
"Hey... just call me Ard. I’m not ’Your Majesty’ yet, got it?" Ard asked.
"Alright, Ard," Irina replied with a smile.
"Okay, I’ll be back soon," Ard replied.
Ard immediately summoned his garuda, Ace, who grew to a massive size. Mounting the bird, he soared toward the pirate ship from high above before leaping down. "Bum," he landed right in the middle of the deck. "Clang," the entire crew—and what looked like merchant guards who happened to be on board—instantly drew their swords and surrounded Ard, who simply raised his hands. Then, the cabin door swung open and two figures stepped out.
"Huh... Ard?" Vahn asked, stunned.
"Whoa... how did you end up here, Ard?" Cain, or rather Reese, asked in shock.
"I had a feeling this was your ship, Vahn. And it’s good to see you again, Cain. Let’s talk, but before that, take a look behind you," Ard answered, handing the telescope to Vahn.
When they walked to the stern and looked out at the horizon behind them, Vahn’s face went pale. He saw the demon armada and the merman fleet in the water, their presence turning the night scenery bright. He handed the telescope to Cain, who looked just as shocked. Both of them turned back to Ard.
"I plan to attack from the west while Rellios’s forces hit them from the east. Together, we’ll crush the Orthus Imperial Army in the middle. Want in?" Ard asked casually.
Vahn and Cain looked at each other, then both broke into wide grins and turned back to Ard.
"Of course. We’d be happy to," they both said in unison, matching smiles on their faces.
