The Sword and The Shadow

Stubborn Insistence

"Lisana…" Alissanda turned to look at her. It was as if he didn't find her request to be any weird.

Strictly speaking, she wasn't that good a commander. She was only barely able to perform her duties as a company commander when she was in Goldeagle. If not for Alissanda's help, she might've dropped off the post soon enough.

However, she had her own strengths: she was far more powerful individually than many other male soldiers.

Unlike the fierce and overbearing warriors common in the army, she excelled in a speedy fighting style. So, she had far more finesse and control. Apart from being able to engage the enemy directly, she would be far better at stealth and assassination than the other troops. That was why she would occasionally temporary halt her duties as a personal guard of the field marshal to undertake clandestine missions.

Alissanda knew that under such circumstances, it couldn't hurt to let her try it out. But this time, he was hesitant because he could tell that she wasn't in her best of states.

He didn't know whether it was because of her monthly cramps or some other reason. But since she wasn't in her prime, he didn't feel safe letting her do such a risky mission alone.

He turned to her and solemnly asked, "Are you confident?"

He didn't deny her suggestion outright. Being a noble as he was, he knew how to respect the will of women. He asked again, "Are you sure you can do it?"

'Seriously… Even though you're my guard, I'm the one who has to protect you… If this happens again, I'll have to take you off guard duty.' The words he said resounded in her mind at that moment.

Back then, she would definitely not do anything she wasn't confident in. She knew that lives were at stake, so she wouldn't force herself to do anything she didn't think she could. But for some reason, she didn't feel like accepting the fact that was beyond her. If she did, it was as if she would lose everything.

She gripped her fists tight and looked at him squarely. "I'm not certain I'll succeed, but I'm willing to try!"

He looked at her quietly. Unlike the dense Leguna, while Alissanda didn't have a harem, he could read women well from their expressions. In his experience, while she sounded resolute, he could tell that she sounded rather uncertain. Letting her go would no doubt be dangerous.

He hesitated for two more seconds before he nodded. "Alright, since you asked for it, I'll let you try."

"Thank you for your trust, Sir!" She made up her mind to give it her best. She wanted to prove that she wasn't a guard he could just do without.

……

The next evening, a small team soundlessly approached Fort Kesta.

Lisana gripped her climbing axe tight and looked up. She found that she was still some ten meters away from the top of the wall.

The other knights were already sweating. Using impetus to maintain stealth was tiring enough for them, but now, they also had to do so while doing something so dangerous as climbing the walls.

Humans weren't lizards, after all. Climbing with axes alone was far from easy. Apart from a deviant like Leguna, nobody would be able to climb walls without any tools. Even with the help of simple tools, climbing the wall was still a monumental task for them.

Quite a number of the warriors were sweating profusely as they struggled to try to climb a few meters higher up on the walls.

Climbing aside, they had to use their strength to fight the constant pull of gravity while also controlling their power to make the least sound possible to prevent discovery. They would also be greeted with a fierce battle after the climb.

The ones who volunteered, however, were no amateurs. They wouldn't participate in such a tough mission if they weren't at least a little bit confident.

Lisana was their leader and she was probably the strongest among them. While her leadership abilities were mediocre, her amazing combat prowess afforded her authority over those elite warriors. Under such circumstances, blind loyalty was far more effective than wise but ineffective commands.

However…

Lisana looked down and was surprised to find someone in the team. It was Olif, the commander of the Hockian 19th Cavalry Division.

As far as she knew, Olif just became a high-order warrior recently. He was far from comparable from Lisana in combat, but was no doubt much better in tactics and leading.

Yet, he had joined as a mere member of the sudden strike squad. His leadership abilities couldn't be put to good use.

Why, then, would he give her command even though he was the better one at it? Lisana couldn't help but wonder, but she didn't think too much of it. It was more important to help Alissanda take the fort's gates. She would think about the rest after the mission.

She carefully reached over to the top of the walls and pulled herself up to peek over it.

Less than two meters away was a Stokian soldier. However, he was focused on the distance and didn't see Lisana from the corner of his eye.

She adjusted the stability of her impetus shrouding and flipped over the wall before carefully approaching the soldier's back.

Quite a few knights had reached the edge of the top as well, but they didn't dare to carelessly flip themselves up as they were only mid-order warriors. They were waiting for her signal.

Lisana eyed the rest. After making sure they were ready to attack, she drew her dagger with her right hand and cut the poor sod's throat open.

The moment blood started to splatter, all the Hockian knights acted. They flipped over the walls and cut open their enemies' throats with their weapons.

"Ene--" a Stokian soldier who managed to avoid a strike was just about to warn his comrades, only to have his throat cut open by a golden impetus blade. He groaned in pain before he stopped moving entirely.

Lisana was shocked at how adaptable Olif was, despite how mediocre he seemed.

"Kill the northerners!" someone within the gate tower cried out just as she was checking whether her other teammates made any mistakes. A large number of fully armed Stokian soldiers came out from within. It was an ambush!

"Darn it! General David had prepared more guards against the barbarian threat!" Olif said to Lisana, "What do we do now, captain?"

It was the first time she handled such a dangerous crisis. She inspected her surroundings. While retreating would be the wisest decision, she somehow couldn't bring herself to do so. "Continue the attack! We might still be able to force our way to take the gates…"

"But--"

"No buts! It's an order!"

"Li--" He stopped after glancing at her and nodded, his brows furrowed. "--As you wish."

She was a little taken aback by Olif's expression; it looked too similar to Alissanda's.

And her guess was right. The moment Olif turned around, his red-brown hair turned gold with a magical light and his physique increased in size. A few seconds later, the handsome, blonde prince she had seen so many times and never gotten sick of was standing before her.

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