At a glance, he immediately held his breath.
All the people he had brought with him were lying on the ground without exception, devoid of life.
A tall, broad-shouldered young man holding dual swords stood amidst the fallen crowd, coldly smiling at him.
Elsewhere, the ranged attackers who had earlier received his orders to shoot arrows at the dragon carriage and chant magic were now also down.
Their fate was even worseâeither burned all over, cut into pieces, some had their chests pierced with hearts removed, dying horribly with blood staining the ground.
A captivatingly beautiful woman stood in this mountain of corpses and sea of blood, holding a freshly beating heart in her hand, her golden eyes filled with indifference, as if looking not at a person but an insect about to be crushed.
Unmistakably, it was Leo and Lilith.
As for Liz and Ellie, the two remained in the carriage to protect Cleria and the still sound asleep Yuloli.
Thus, the leader only saw these two.
Two people, yet in the blink of an eye had instantly slaughtered a group of at least three hundred assailants.
"You all..."
The leader could hardly believe his eyes.
Until he saw the third person across from him.
The one who silently appeared behind him and kicked him into serious injury, now appeared before him.
"Iâm giving you a chance to speak for yourself."
The overly young boy looked down at the leader lying in the pit of shattered snow, speaking indifferently.
"Will you speak of who sent you? Or should I use magic to search your memory?"
On hearing this, the leaderâs heart trembled.
There was someone among them who could use memory-reading magic?
Realizing this, the person intended to end his own life.
"Unfortunately, you made the wrong choice."
The boyâs indifferent voice was like a devilâs laughter, telling the man that his intention had been preemptively seen through.
End his own life?
Could his speed in doing so be faster than Reigerâs probing?
"[Human Charm]."
Reiger chanted a charm spell, causing the manâs eyes to tremor and his expression to gradually turn blank.
Before long, the manâs eyes glowed red, completely turning into Reigerâs puppet.
...
Five minutes later, Reiger and the other two returned to the dragon carriage.
"Are you all right, Master?"
Liz, who was vigilantly holding the Moslo Sword, immediately ran over.
"Of course." Reiger naturally reached out to pat Lizâs head, smiling: "Just a bunch of small fry, how could I be in trouble?"
The quality of these attackers wasnât terrible; besides the leader being a seasoned True Knight, there were a few other True Knights, along with numerous magical tools and the assistance of a twenty-man magic unit. Such combat power could even pose some trouble when attacking a Sword Saint.
But for Reiger, if it wasnât combat power that could easily dispose of several Sword Saints, they were just a bunch of nobodies, let alone those who could only slightly trouble a Sword Saint.
Thus, it took less than a minute to deal with the enemies within the five-minute span, with the remaining four minutes spent extracting information.
"Were the attackers sent by the Luke Kingdom?"
Ellie also came forward to inquire.
Under everyoneâs watchful eye, Reiger shook his head.
"No, they werenât sent by the Luke Kingdom." Reiger stated: "According to what that leader said, the people behind them belong to a noble family called Fanaad."
"Noble family?"
Everyone was stunned.
"Thatâs right." Reiger nodded and then walked to the silent Cleria, sitting down while asking: "Do you know this family?"
"...Yes." Cleria remained silent for a moment before whispering: "Fanaad is a marquis family in the Tistis Kingdom, and itâs also one of the top military families in the kingdom. The current Marquis of Fanaad is the vice commander of the Kingdom Knight Corps, highly powerful, and is said to be nearing the level of a Sword Saint."
This brings us to the military deployment of the Tistis Kingdom.
Unlike the Ginas Kingdom, the military of the Tistis Kingdom is composed of both the knight corps and the army.
In this country, only swordsmen who have received the True Knight Medal can call themselves Knights, while those below that can only join the army as soldiers.
All the knights belong to the only knight corps of the Tistis Kingdomâthe Queenâs Knight Corps.
They are the most powerful martial group in the Queenâs kingdom, having the authority to command the queenâs army and the responsibility to guard the Queenâs Palace and protect the queen and the royal family.
Simply put, knights in the Tistis Kingdom are elites, with some being trusted aides to the queen, some guarding the Queenâs Palace, and others commanding the army and being dispatched to frontier territories to take charge of and defend the border.
For instance, Shuâen is part of the Queenâs Knight Corps, but heâs also a knight loyal to the Beryll Family.
The Tistis Kingdom differs from the Ginas Kingdom in that its nobles cannot form their own knight corps but can have their people or those loyal to them join the Queenâs Knight Corps or the Queenâs Army in pursuit of distinction and achievement.
Shuâen is such an individual, originally loyal to the Beryll Family, who joined the Queenâs Army with their support, further trained there, and joined the Queenâs Knight Corps after becoming a True Knight, receiving orders to return to his homeland to assist the family in defending the land.
Therefore, the status of knights in the Tistis Kingdom is much higher than in the Ginas Kingdom.
And a military family like the Fanaad Marquis family, much like the Bolelei family, has cultivated excellent swordsmen generation after generation who join the knight corps and hold key positions.
The current Marquis of Fanaad seems to be the vice commander of the Queenâs Knight Corps, second only in power to the commander, and is a formidable individual nearly at the level of a Sword Saint.
In other words, the commander of the Queenâs Knight Corps and the Kingdom Knight Corps Commander of the Ginas Kingdom are both Sword Saints.
Such is the military configuration of the Tistis Kingdom.
But what surprised everyone wasnât this fact.
"Why, why would the nobles of this country send people to attack you as well?"
Liz asked this question with extreme confusion.
Thatâs right, this is what left everyone puzzled.
From Raphy and Shuâenâs attitude, it was evident that even if Cleria wasnât a princess of the royal family, she was someone with an incredibly special status, highly significant to the Tistis Kingdom.
In light of this, itâs not difficult to understand why the enemy Kro Kingdom dispatched forces to eliminate Cleria.
But for nobles from the Tistis Kingdom, especially a marquis family holding such a major post to send people to attack Cleria?
This was rather intriguing.
"The Fanaad Family doesnât wish to see you enter Urvassy or the Queenâs Palace?"
Reiger directed his question to Cleria, observing her intently.
"..."
Cleria remained silent.
This time she was genuinely silent, without uttering a single word.
"Whatâs going on? Can you explain it?"
Leo asked impatiently, only to be met with prolonged silence.
"You..."
Leo seemed agitated, stepping up, possibly to intimidate or rough up Cleria.
"Forget it."
Reiger stopped Leo, his expression reverting to indifference.
"Since you donât want to speak, I wonât press further, itâs not important anyway." Reiger said calmly, "Letâs just continue moving."
"Once we reach Urvassy, everything will naturally reveal itself."
Hearing this, waves of emotion stirred in Cleriaâs eyes, and the others ceased their questioning.
Thus, the dragon carriage continued on its way.
And this turmoil was only just beginning.