On the throne, Oli the Third questioned sternly, "What nonsense are you spouting, Baili, my daughter? Since when has your father been foolish?"
Baili replied, "The invaders from the Center had circled around Poplar Valley, sated their horses" thirst at White Horse River, and had been surrounding our White Horse City for three days and nights. Now, the outer walls have fallen, the inner walls have been destroyed, and some of their men are inside the palace already. But even after everything that has happened, you are still wallowing in wine and women without a care for the world. Do you really care so little for the hundreds and thousands of lives residing in White Horse City?"
"What?"
Oli the Third abruptly rose to his feet in anger. "Heaven"s murder, how did the invaders get in this quickly? Deputy General Dioro, why haven"t you spoken to me about this? And why did Baili"s Redstone Legion fail to stop the enemy?"
A general with a lean figure immediately dropped to one knee and said, "My king, I… I had underestimated the invaders" strength. I wasn"t expecting them to defeat our defenders as quickly as they did, and I definitely wasn"t expecting our supposedly indomitable Redstone Legion to crumble at first contact…"
Enraged, Baili raised her eyebrows and growled at him. "Where is your shame, you vile man! My Redstone Legion only has 90000 soldiers, while the enemy has over a million elite soldiers and a great number of siege weapons! How on earth did you expect us to stop the invaders? But you, you have 200000 soldiers at your command, but you sent them all away to fight the beastmen at the frontier because you want to build up your achievements! Worse, you prevented anyone from reporting the situation to father while I was leading our remaining army to protect the city, and now it is too late to summon our forces back to our city! How do you explain this, Dioro?"
"You… you lie!"
Dioro hurriedly faced toward the king and dropped to his knees. He pleaded, "Your Majesty, the reason I sent our army to the frontier was purely to expand White Horse City"s domain and chase those dirty, unworthy beastmen away from our rich lands. I have served my kingdom loyally for many years, and now I will be accused of treachery? Your Majesty is wise. With this blade, I will kill myself and prove my loyalty with my blood!"
Chiang! Dioro unsheathed his sword and placed it right between his neck.
"Wait!"
Oli the Third hesitated. Then, he let out a sigh and said, "Dioro, my greatest minister besides Baili. I will not take your merit away from you. However, the enemy has invaded the palace, and what we need now is a way to repel these ambitious wolves, not someone to put the blame on!"
A glint of cunning and ruthlessness flashed across Dioro"s eyes as he said, "Your Majesty, please allow me to lead our elite cavalry and catch the enemy off-guard!"
Oli the Third nodded. "Very well, I will now grant your command over 5000 of our best imperial cavalrymen. Go now, repel the enemies, and don"t betray my trust in you!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Baili"s eyes were full of anger. "Father, how can you still put your trust in that vile man? You should leave these 5000 brave soldiers to me, I can command them to repel the enemy just the same!"
"Baili!"
Oli the Third raised his voice. "Do not let arrogance overcome you simply because you are my daughter! And please, show some respect to General Dioro and don"t question his integrity any longer!"
Baili"s shoulders shook, and her eyes were bloodshot. She uttered, "Remember, father. If White Horse City falls, you are the one who destroyed it!"
……
After receiving the commander"s tally, Dioro happily made his way out of the court. When he saw us, he immediately slipped out from the side exits, headed to the horse training ground and rallied the soldiers. He showed the commander"s tally he was granted and declared, "The king has granted me command over 5000 cavalrymen! Now, follow me to the treasury, retrieve all the valuables and exit the city!"
A soldier asked, "General, the palace is currently surrounded by enemies. What will the king do if we retrieve the valuables and leave the city?"
"The king will be safe with Princess Baili and the Redstone Legion protecting him. Once we"ve left the city, we will head to the frontier where our garrison is, rebuild our fortress and found a new palace. White Horse City will not be destroyed!" Dioro declared arrogantly.
The cavalry unsheathed their weapons and responded, "As you command, general!"
And so the cavalry moved to the treasury, took everything and began attempting to break through the encirclement. There was no telling if Blazing Hot Lips or The Monarch Descends would allow them to escape.
……
Meanwhile, an imperial guard stumbled into the court while shouting, "Your Majesty, it"s terrible! After Deputy General Dioro received the commander"s tally, he ordered the cavalry troop to plunder our treasury and escape to the west gate! They clearly aren"t planning to protect the city! Also, the enemy has appeared at the guard station, and they"ll reach us in a couple of minutes at most…"
Clank...
The golden cup Oli the Third was holding dropped to the ground, and he collapsed into his throne as if his spirit had suddenly departed his body. Looking much older all of a sudden, he murmured to himself, "Dioro betrayed me… my greatest general and the strongest pillar of this nation actually betrayed me… is this truly the end of White Horse City?"
Baili said, "Don"t give up yet, father. Please take the king"s sword with you and head to the border now. We still have 200000-strong army at the frontier, and the generals leading them are all extremely loyal to you. I am sure that they will obey your command. Go while I cover your retreat! As long as you escape alive, we will be able to rebuild White Horse City one day!"
But Oli the Third couldn"t summon even an ounce of strength from his body. He shook his head and said, "Enough, Baili. White Horse City"s fate has run dry, and I, Oli the Third, have failed my ancestors. To think that a city that has survived for 2300 years would end in my hands. It is fate, it is all fate…"
"What fate!?"
Baili declared, "I do not believe in such a thing! Men, carry my father and withdraw to the frontier! I and the brave remnants of Redstone Legion will cover your retreat!"
The imperial guards moved toward Oli the Third and tried to carry him to his feet, but the blow seemed to be too heavy for him to bear. He was completely limp except for the tears that kept flowing down his eyes, "It"s over. It"s over. I failed my ancestors, and I simply don"t have the face to live in this world any longer. Baili, I am pa.s.sing the throne to you right now. May White Horse City return to its former glory in your hands one day!"
Baili"s eyes were bloodshot and full of tears. She said, "Father, I have no intent to become the regent. If you die, then I will come with you!"
However, Oli the Third still refused to move.
……
Crack!
I slashed an imperial guard on the shoulder and became the first person to break out of the encirclement. The ten thousand NPC imperial guards outside the palace simply didn"t possess the power to stop us. After an Ice Flame Slash punched another hole in the encirclement, Lin Yixin joined me on her Moonchaser Tiger while followed by Gui Guzi, Chaos Moon, Li Chengfeng, Purple Marquis, Zi Chuanyu and everyone else.
Baili angrily pulled out her sword and declared, "Warriors of White Horse City, the final battle is upon us! Protect the king and fight with me until the last drop of our blood!"
Several hundred imperial guards rushed us at once. Baili herself charged us with only 15% HP left. She didn"t look like she would stop until she died.
……
Swhoos.h.!.+
I used the G.o.d Binding Art again. I wasn"t expecting it to land, but against all odds, it actually did. The Level 200 Immortal Rank boss, Princess Baili, could do nothing except glare at us from her position.
"Little Cheat!"
Lin Yixin dashed toward the boss and empowered herself with Moon Gaze, Extreme Break and Ice Flame Slash ready to overwhelm the enemy the second she got close. I cooperated with her and landed Pardon + basic attack + Universe Break on Baili"s shoulder at nearly the same time. An instant later I realized that we triggered the co-op skill, Intercourse!
Chiang chiang!
Two bursts of energies exploded across Baili"s chest with the strength of ten thousand arrows piercing through the heart. Baili stifled a painful groan as two terrible damage numbers rose from her head—
298773!
318375!
A huge chunk of HP vanished from the boss"s health bar in an instant. At the same time, I heard Lian Xin"s Dimensional Storm roaring behind me and tearing apart both Baili and the dread-rank imperial guards" armors. Not only that, an azure-colored formation appeared beneath Baili"s feet before spitting icy blades at the boss, dealing over 70k damage per hit.
"OMG, that northern la.s.s is so powerful…"
On the stairs, Stranger of Three Lifetimes stared blankly at Lian Xin"s back while commenting, "And she"s on Lu Chen"s side? Pooh, that shameless man. He found himself another new girl?"
……
It was a very uneven battle. Baili"s HP dropped like a rock.
"Ugh, I"ll never surrender White Horse City…"
A blood-drenched Baili charged toward me and fired a sword beam that deleted 80k HP from my health bar. Thankfully, Murong Mingyue followed up immediately with Greater Heal and Instant Heal that pulled me right back to full health.
Lian Xin waved her scepter and declared, "Let"s grind her down from range just in case. I"ll keep her trapped!"
There was a surge of magical energy, and twelve Origin Force Fields appeared around Baili and trapped her completely. There was nothing she could do to break through.
"You idiots…"
Baili didn"t stop even though she battered herself blue and black in an attempt to break through the force fields. She raged, "What the h.e.l.l do you think you"re doing, Arryn? Take my father and leave already! How much longer are you going to wait? Will you make my father watch as I die to our enemies?"
Oli the Third remained slumped in his throne, silent and dejected.
Again and again, Baili charged the Origin Force Fields and dealt terrible wounds to her own body. Her HP kept dropping due to Lian Xin and Beiming Xue"s attacks, and as her armor pieces were destroyed one by one, the girlish clothes and horribly b.l.o.o.d.y body beneath it started becoming exposed. It was getting harder and harder for us to attack us for completely different reasons from before.
……
"Big bro, are we… really going to kill her?" Beiming Xue looked back at me.
Lian Xin also stopped casting her spells and said, "I… I don"t know if I can keep attacking her…"
……
Swhoosh swhoosh swhoosh...
The Origin Force Fields disappeared one after another. Baili only had 1% HP left, and she dropped limply to her knees. I could see her helplessness and her reluctance to part ways with this world from her eyes. Suddenly, she murmured, "Warrior from distant lands, I know that you have your duties to fulfill, and I"m not asking you to let me live, but please… not my father. Please allow White Horse City to preserve its final bloodline. I… will give you my head if you will promise me this one thing. Kill me!"