Volume 2: Empire Chapter 155 Attack
The Northern Legion's hawks had been circling over the convoy all day. Luke did not shoot the stalking beasts, but ordered the team to move in a straight line at a constant speed.
In the evening, the team left the northern border. Large tracts of fertile land were covered with ice and snow, with large and small manors and villages scattered in between. Smoke rose from the scattered houses, and the sound of dogs barking could be heard faintly.
As the convoy drove on the smooth road, its speed suddenly increased a lot.
The sky gets dark very quickly in winter, and it seems that night falls in the blink of an eye. The snow has stopped long ago, and the stars in the night sky form the Milky Way, accompanied by a crescent moon.
Luke saw a forest on the side of the road and stopped the team. The guards formed a defensive circle with horses and built a stove to cook.
A captain of the Royal Knights brought two light golden horses to Queen Christina and Luke. "Your Highness, we will try our best to delay the assassins and buy more time for you to return to the imperial capital."
Queen Christina took the reins and whip and said to the captain apologetically, "I should have faced the assassin with you, but your majesty is in a very dangerous situation now. I must return as soon as possible. I can only let you take the risk instead of me."
The captain saluted Queen Christina: "Protecting the Emperor is our oath and the only rule of the Royal Knights. It is our honor to sacrifice for His Majesty.
Please go quickly, Queen... so that we can fight the assassins with all our might and let them know the fighting power of the Royal Knights and Palace Guards."
"Let's meet in Saint-Lun City!"
"I hope to see you and your majesty again!"
Queen Christina climbed onto her horse, took another look at her guards, then whipped her horse and galloped forward.
Luke said to the captain of the Royal Knights: "I will protect Her Majesty the Queen back to the Imperial Capital. When you are ambushed by assassins, you must protect the carriage and make sure they don't find out that Her Majesty the Queen is not inside.
If you are still alive at dawn, you can break out on your own!"
"As you command, Governor Meteor. Her Majesty the Queen's safety is in your hands."
"Don't worry, I'm also a Royal Knight!"
At this time, Queen Christina's back was about to disappear in the woods, and Luke drove his horse quickly to catch up.
The Golden Shield Royal Horse is a breed of horse that has been bred with some unicorn genes. They have good magic resistance, strong adaptability to the environment, and are the best in strength, speed, and endurance.
After two days of long, loaded runs, the royal horses were still in high spirits. In the forest, they were as light and free as elves, deftly crossing ditches and avoiding tree obstacles.
Luke caught up with Queen Christina, and the two rode side by side, rushing through the woods and onto another road. The royal horses, getting more and more excited, created eddies with their hooves as they galloped towards the city of Saint-Lun.
…
After the Queen and Meteorite left, the remaining guards simply heated up some ready-to-eat food and ate it, then escorted the royal carriage back to the road.
The team kept moving at a constant speed, and the scouts advanced one kilometer to conduct reconnaissance on both sides of the road. Since they knew there was an ambush by assassins, they certainly wouldn't blindly run into the ambush. Anyway, the queen was not in the carriage... so they could play with them.
The attack could happen at any time, and the battle orders were passed between the knights. The formation of the team gradually changed from marching formation to guard formation, and the magic arrays built into the alchemical armor and weapons were activated one by one, and the halo was emitted layer by layer.
The captain of the Royal Knights rode at the front of the team. He lowered the visor of his helmet, which was blessed by alchemy and provided him with a layer of dim vision. His vision was clearer, and the special marks on his companions' armor were very conspicuous, so he didn't have to worry about accidental injuries during the battle.
They are the Royal Knights, the sharpest swords of the Emperor of the Empire. In addition to possessing powerful military power, they are also equipped with the most advanced alchemical equipment.
The Palace Guards are the strongest shield of the empire. The function of the Royal Knights is to attack, while the function of the Palace Guards is to defend. They are equipped with heavier armor than the Royal Knights, holding tower shields and spears to guard the royal carriage.
In the dark night, the two scouts in front were clearly visible in the dim light. They carried a whole bag of magic probes, which they threw randomly to both sides of the road as they marched. The magic probes were 20 centimeters long, heavy at the head and light at the tail. After piercing into the ground, they immediately released a circle of detection magic ripples. The scouts wore special glasses that allowed them to see hidden objects detected by the magic ripples.
The convoy continued to move forward without encountering any attacks until it reached a bridge.
At the other end of the bridge is a village, located on the right side of the road. To protect against attacks by bandits and thieves, there is a wall made of wood and stone outside the village. There is an arrow tower on the wall, and people in the tower hold torches to keep watch at night.
The river was not wide and the water was frozen, but the embankments on both sides were built high, so there was no way to bypass the village and cross the river.
The captain and the convoy stopped at the bridgehead, and a scout returned to report: "Sir, the situation in the village is unclear, and the villagers won't let us go in to check. If there are anti-detection devices deployed inside, we can't see what's inside."
The captain observed the situation in the village and said, "If the assassins want to ambush us, this is the best place. We can't stop here and make the assassins suspicious and prepare to cross the bridge to fight."
"Yes, sir!"
All the knights lowered their helmet visors together.
The palace guards held tower shields and formed a shield wall around the royal carriage. The built-in defensive magic in the shields resonated with each other, forming a circle of golden protective shield.
The Royal Knights lined up at the front of the team holding knight shields and slashing swords. There were magic chains connecting groups of four to provide a spiritual connection for combined attack skills.
Guard members complete combat readiness.
The captain waved his hand, and a four-man Royal Knights team was the first to cross the river. They occupied the other end of the bridge, facing the village in an attacking posture, and shouted: "We are Royal Knights, escorting Her Majesty the Queen back to the Imperial Capital. Everyone in the village should retreat immediately, and anyone who tries to get close to the Queen's carriage... will be killed immediately!"
There was no response from the village, but everyone on the arrow tower ran down.
The captain waved his hand again, and a four-man Royal Knights combat team crossed the river.
After they reached the other side safely and strengthened the defense on the other side, the captain led the remaining guards to escort the royal carriage across the river.
The warhorse trotted forward, and a layer of alchemical armor was lowered from the inside of the saddle, unfolding layer by layer, wrapping the warhorse completely in armor. Feeling the tension of the battle, the royal horse neighed, and a virtual horn stretched out from its forehead.
All the defensive arrays of the royal carriage were activated.
The team crossed the bridge quickly. There was no movement in the village, which was extremely quiet. Normally, the heavy horse hoof noise outside should have startled the dogs to bark.
The captain became even more certain that the assassin was hiding in the village.
As expected, when the team quickly marched to the front of the village, a series of explosions sounded on the inner side of the village wall. Then the front wall collapsed outwards, revealing a group of fully armed cavalry behind the wall.
These cavalrymen wore armor without any markings, and the armor was painted black. At the same time, an airship rose inside the village, emitting a dazzling beam of light, firmly locking onto the carriage protected by the palace guards in the middle of the protective shield.
The roar of the steam engine broke the silence of the shadows, and the cavalry in the village charged together. Magic chains shone between them, and the weapons in their hands were all covered with a layer of colorful brilliance.
At the same time, some shadows hidden in the dark moved quickly towards the queen's carriage.
"Protect Her Majesty the Queen!" The captain raised his weapon and stood up on his horse in the face of the cavalry that was like a flood: "Fight!"
"Fight!" all the guards shouted together.
The activated alchemical armor burst out with more magical states, forming a dam to block the black torrent in the dark night.
…
Luke and Queen Christina galloped on the deserted road all night, and only gradually slowed down the pace of the horses near dawn. The horses should rest, and the people should also rest. Riding for a long time is a very physically demanding exercise.
They found an abandoned manor. The stone walls and houses showed that the owner was once a fairly wealthy country gentleman.
Luke tied up his horse and took a brief tour of the manor. Then he said to the queen who was feeding the horse with roasted beans, "There are no signs of an attack on this manor. The whole family must have moved away."
Queen Christina gently stroked the horse's fur and responded to Luke: "The quality of life in the countryside and cities is getting better and better. The gentry with some money try to move to the city. This place is very close to Saint-Lun City... I wonder what the court is like now?"
Luke began to remove the saddle from the horse and said, "Let's rest here for an hour, eat something to replenish our energy, and then run all the way to Saint-Lun City.
Your Highness, are you okay? "
Queen Christina smiled and said, "Don't underestimate me. I fought with the soldiers of the Art County Alliance in Snow City. I'll make a fire and bake the bread and bacon pies. They are as hard as rocks."
Luke put the heavy saddle on the ground and went to unsaddle the horse the Queen was riding.
Queen Christina picked up some wood chips and started a fire. She then strung bread and bacon patties on wooden sticks and roasted them over the fire. After a while, the aroma of wheat and meat wafted out.
After removing the saddle, Luke sat by the fire. Queen Christina handed him bread and bacon pie, and he ate it with big mouthfuls.
The taste is not great, but it can fill your stomach.
Queen Christina looked at Luke who was eating voraciously and couldn't help laughing: "You don't look like a noble."
"I am not a noble."
"You say you work for yourself, but what are you doing all this for?"
Luke stopped eating and looked at Queen Christina: "I shape this world according to my ideas."
Luke's answer made Queen Christina's eyes light up: "It's a very arrogant answer...but do you have the ability to do it?"
“Eat one bite at a time, and do things one step at a time. Set a goal first and then achieve it, so that my journey to this world is worthwhile.”
Queen Christina couldn't help but fall into deep thought after hearing this. After a while, she said, "You make me feel like a chess piece of yours, placed in a position to be eaten at any time."
“Big risks mean big rewards.”
"Do you have a way to get the ministers of the court and the nobles of the empire to support me?"
"I just need Princess Agatha to support you."
"Do you think she'll support me?"
Luke said confidently, "She will! Augustine the Great has had a great influence on her, and the changing eras have given her a different understanding of the throne."
Queen Christina said with some understanding: "The Kingdom of Lucien is a small country. We live under the authority of the emperor all the time and passively experience what supreme imperial power is. Agatha participated in national politics when she was young and saw more darkness under imperial power.
This is probably why she rejected the throne."
"Yes...that's why you have a chance."
Queen Christina asked, "We will arrive in Saint-Lon tonight, so we can no longer talk about some things casually.
Why do you support me? Or...what do you want from me?"
Luke said casually while eating, "Do whatever you want. I won't force you to give me what I want. I will convince you and make you give it to me willingly."
The relationship between you and me is one of cooperation, not of robbery, and this is the only way to achieve sustainable development."
Queen Christina asked: "Are you sure I will cooperate with you? I won't eventually regard you as a powerful official who must be eliminated!"
“Hahaha…” Luke laughed. “Times have changed. My Queen, you must also change with the times. Don’t view the relationship between the monarch and his subjects with the same old mindset.”
Queen Christina didn't understand what the meteorite was talking about, but she found that she needed to learn more than just what was in the books.
Just when Queen Christina wanted to have a deeper conversation with Luke, there was a noisy sound of horse hooves and military orders coming from outside the manor.
How come there is an army here?
Luke and Queen Christina looked at each other, and it was definitely too late to avoid them.
"Take off all the ornaments that represent your status." Luke said to Queen Christina, and then chanted a spell and threw two magic spells at the horses eating feed. The two royal horses instantly became less majestic and looked like ordinary good horses.
Queen Christina had just taken off her jewelry and put it away when a group of uniformed soldiers walked in from outside the manor, chatting and laughing.
Luke recognized them from their uniforms; they were members of the Saint Lun City Garrison.
The sergeant of the garrison who came in also saw Luke and Queen Christina: "Who are you? Why are you here?"
Luke was slightly relieved that he was not recognized. He smiled and said, "My name is Luke Amelia, and this is my wife, Tina Amelia. This was my grandfather's estate, which was abandoned after my family moved to Saint-Lun City.
Tina and I were newlyweds, so we thought about taking a hike to see our ancestors' old home.
My Lords, we have finished reading, and we will leave this place for you to rest."
Luke pulled Queen Christina to leave, but was stopped by a lieutenant officer in the lead: "Wait a minute, we didn't let you go!"
