Chapter 103: Battle

Minamoto Kiyomoto stood up, turned around, and looked at the canyon.

“Soldiers!” He drew the thin sword from his waist and held it high. “For Her Highness, give everything!”

“For Her Highness, give everything!” Except for the guards guarding the carriage, everyone else shouted in unison.

“Shield soldiers, advance!”

“Ha!”

“Infantry, follow!”

“Ha!”

“Archers!”

“Ha!”

“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!” Every roar was the sound of soldiers stomping on the ground.

Princess Noi stood behind, watching Minamoto Kiyomoto lead the soldiers forward.

“Your Highness, attacking like this will sacrifice the lives of most of the soldiers,” Belladonna disagreed with Minamoto Kiyomoto’s approach.

The princess turned her head, looked at her, and asked, “Do you have a better one?”

She was not telling her to shut up, but asking.

A trace of hesitation flashed across Belladonna’s face, and she lowered her head, “No.”

The princess withdrew her gaze and continued to look at the advancing army.

After marching for a while, Minamoto Kiyomoto saw the sparkling arrowheads in the grass, but he didn’t remind them and continued to advance.

“Fire!” a loud shout suddenly came from the front.

The sound of arrows whizzing by instantly sounded in his ears.

Minamoto Kiyomoto swung the thin sword in his hand and, without missing a single one, knocked away all the arrows that were shot at him.

The shield soldiers behind him had already raised their sturdy shields. Even so, some people were still shot and killed by arrows that came from the gaps and from the air.

“Ah!” From time to time, screams were heard, but not many were killed.

“Archers!” Minamoto Kiyomoto ordered while dodging the arrows. “Fire!”

“Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!”

The archers’ arrows flew over the infantry and shield soldiers and shot into the grass.

The arrows of both sides formed a dark wooden arch bridge in the air.

At this time, it was no longer about accuracy, but about winning by numbers.

“Her Highness is watching us from behind. Keep moving forward!”

“Long live the princess!”

“Either victory or death for Her Highness!”

“As long as there is one enemy left, we will not retreat!”

“Soldiers, advance!”

Minamoto Kiyomoto roared loudly, and his voice spread throughout the battlefield of both the enemy and our side. Even the princess in the distance could hear it.

Encouraged by him, these soldiers who were fighting for the princess and for honor were full of enthusiasm and fought without fear of death.

Minamoto Kiyomoto’s voice was fanatical, but his expression under the mask was cold. While relying purely on his reaction to knock away the arrows, he was thinking of a strategy.

To pass the news that the princess was present to the cultivators;
To force the cultivators into a desperate situation, forcing them to adopt the strategy of capturing the leader first;
To go easy on them, to create an opportunity for the cultivators to get close, or for their arrows to get close to the princess;
Finally, to see how the princess would deal with it.

Once the princess showed that she was not invulnerable, he would immediately take off his helmet and lead the cultivators to counterattack;
But if the princess showed that she was relaxed, he could only continue to wear his helmet and show his powerful martial arts, forcing the cultivators to surrender, so that more people could survive, and also to save strength for the future.

Unless it was absolutely necessary, he had to ensure that he could continue to stay by the princess’s side, leaving a possibility for the final blow.

“For Her Highness, give everything!”

With Minamoto Kiyomoto’s roar, the two sides began to fight.

The cultivators were wearing armor taken from the empire. There were not enough, so they could only wear temporarily woven rattan armor.

Fortunately, they basically all had weapons. Swords, long spears, short spears, and shields. The divine weapons that had lost their divine power were still extremely sharp.

“Ah!” With a roar, they charged forward without regard for anything.

In the process of charging, Minamoto Kiyomoto had long attracted the attention of the cultivators. The Kosen named Yuzo, who he had seen twice, held the “Divine Weapon: Blood Tachi” and went straight for him.

“Die!” Yuzo roared and slashed down.

Minamoto Kiyomoto’s thin sword went up.

“Clang—”, the sound of metal clashing, and sparks flew.

Facing the blood tachi, which was a divine weapon, the thin sword in his hand actually blocked it!
Yuzo and Minamoto Kiyomoto were both stunned at the same time, but the movements of their hands were like instinct. Before they could think, the tachi and the thin sword clashed fiercely again.

“For Her Highness!” the soldiers roared.

The cultivators were silent, their faces resolute, and their eyes bloodshot.

The cultivators almost all had a foundation in kendo, and they had also trained enough tacit understanding in one subjugation of yokai after another. In addition, they were well-prepared. Even though they were fewer in number, they still had the upper hand for a short period of time.

Around Minamoto Kiyomoto and Yuzo, whether it was cultivators or soldiers, no one dared to get close.

The sword light cut through the void, and the swords and sabers flashed with starlight. Even without divine power, the two of them were still unstoppable.

While dealing with the other party’s fierce attacks, Minamoto Kiyomoto observed the battlefield.

A cultivator cut a soldier’s throat, and blood splattered on the tender leaves of the autumn ferns.

The long spears of three soldiers pierced a female cultivator’s abdomen.

When the spear was pulled out and stabbed at the next cultivator, the female cultivator’s intestines were still hanging on it.

Minamoto Kiyomoto had subjugated yokai and seen cultivators fight, but the curses roared, the mountains were destroyed, the sea evaporated, and the dead could not even be seen.

Although his cultivation was weak, he had been the main force several times, going high and coming high, charging at the front. He had never paid attention to the cultivators who were fighting behind him, and as for the deaths of ordinary people, he had never seen them.

In front of him, blood was all over the ground, intestines were pulled out, and heads were split open.

‘Is this the scene that Kamibayashi saw?’

Minamoto Kiyomoto caught a glimpse of two Kosen slaughtering wantonly.

Minamoto Kiyomoto held up his blood tachi and roared, “The princess is with us. For Her Highness, give everything!”

“Ah—” the soldiers roared and went forward.

In the distance, the soldiers guarding the princess’s carriage were also infected by the momentum and cheered loudly.

Yuzo was both angry and surprised. It was one thing that he couldn’t take down this guy in a short time, but he didn’t expect that under his own attack, he still had the energy to shout slogans!

“Looking for death!” His eyebrows stood on end, his momentum fierce, and the trajectory of the blood tachi in his hand became even more tricky.

“Long live Her Highness!” Minamoto Kiyomoto was not to be outdone, shouting slogans as if he were committing suicide.

On the other side, hearing Minamoto Kiyomoto’s roar, the two Kosen looked at each other, their sharp gazes rushing out of the battlefield and shooting towards the golden-haired princess standing on the red carpet.

“Kill!” The two of them rushed towards the princess.

They covered each other to prevent being surrounded.

Some cultivators with good skills tacitly blocked the soldiers for the two of them.

At the beginning, the distance was far, and the soldiers did not notice.

But the cultivators who were covering them died one after another, and the living ones could not keep up with the Kosen. When the two of them looked very abrupt, they finally realized that something was wrong.

“Protect Her Highness!” Belladonna took a step forward and pressed forward with a “clang.”

The longsword, with its immense power, slashed horizontally at the two of them.

She considered herself to be on par with Cooper, so she was naturally not afraid of these two.

“Get out of the way!” the Kosen named Ishikura roared like thunder.

The roar, which was enough to cause an earthquake in the real world, made the carriage curtains rustle, and the eight white horses raised their front hooves and neighed.

Belladonna’s head “buzzed,” her eyes went black, and then her arms went numb, and she was sent flying.

‘How is this possible!’ Looking at the azure sky without a trace of impurity, she was filled with horror.

“Kill!” Ishikura and Uno Kaoru, the two Kosen’s momentum, lifted the princess’s golden hair.

“Your Highness!” Minamoto Kiyomoto roared in horror.

Many soldiers were affected by him, and the cultivators who were gradually falling into a disadvantage finally took a breath.

The princess’s golden hair flew, noble and extraordinary, without any panic of being in danger.

“What?!”

“Impossible!”

No one saw clearly what had happened. The Kosen, who had been close to her, appeared three meters away from the princess.

Ishikura and Uno Kaoru’s faces were filled with unconcealable horror. They rushed up again, but returned to three meters away.

This time, the soldiers reacted and instantly surrounded them.

Taking them by surprise, and with the encirclement, even the two Kosen could only die.

Ishikura, as a man, was stabbed to death by more than ten long spears on the spot.

Uno Kaoru, because of the princess’s order, was able to survive, but her hands and feet were all pierced.

A dignified Kosen, who would die standing, was now being held down on the ground by several ordinary soldiers in armor, like a struggling beast.

While everyone was paying attention to that side, Minamoto Kiyomoto made a decisive decision.

“Nen-ryu,” a wild aura, brave and confident!
“Shinto-ryu,” the sword light was like thunder and lightning!

The two schools merged into one, unstoppable.

“This is?!” Yuzo’s eyes widened, and he was instantly restrained.

“Don’t move, listen to me!” Minamoto Kiyomoto whispered in his ear.

He held Yuzo hostage, raised his thin sword high, and shouted, “Surrender and you won’t be killed!”

At this time, the soldiers gave up on supporting the princess, and the cultivators had just reacted from the princess’s strangeness.

“Surrender and you won’t be killed!” Minamoto Kiyomoto shouted again.

Because they had shouted slogans with him a few times before, this time, the soldiers also subconsciously followed.

A middle-aged male cultivator raised the long spear he had picked up and roared, “Fight to the death!”

“Fight to the death!” A man and a woman, two cultivators, followed with a roar.

“Fight to the death!” More cultivators joined.

Minamoto Kiyomoto lifted Yuzo, as if he were stepping on everyone’s heads, and flew towards the middle-aged male cultivator.

“Kill him!” someone intercepted.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was forced to stop and said, “Just you guys!”

As soon as his voice fell, the sword in his hand had already buzzed and swept towards the other party.

It was really hard to describe whether it was fierce or strange, or something else. The few cultivators who intercepted had never seen this kind of attack.

They subconsciously rolled on the ground and dodged this murderous aura by a hair’s breadth.

When they got up again, Minamoto Kiyomoto had already cut off the middle-aged man’s legs with the force of a thunderbolt and stepped on his back.

“Surrender and you won’t be killed!” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked around again.

The battlefield was quiet, with only the middle-aged man groaning like a wild beast.

Looking at this knight in rose armor, he was holding a Kosen and stepping on the cultivator who was boosting morale. Everyone’s face was pale.

Minamoto Kiyomoto placed his thin sword on Yuzo’s neck and ordered coldly, “Tell them to surrender.”

Yuzo glanced at him and looked at the crowd, “Drop your weapons!”

“Lord!” a cultivator couldn’t help but retort.

“This is an order!” Yuzo reprimanded. “Survive and wait for reinforcements!”

Everyone hesitated and looked at each other.

“Take their weapons!” Minamoto Kiyomoto ordered a soldier beside him.

The soldier stepped forward and grabbed the broadsword in a cultivator’s hand. The cultivator glared at the soldier and refused to let go.

“Let go!” Yuzo roared.

The cultivator was resentful, but finally released his weapon.

Soon, all the cultivators were disarmed, and the soldiers tied them up one by one.

Minamoto Kiyomoto handed Yuzo to his subordinates, put away his thin sword, and walked towards the carriage.

“Your Highness,” he knelt on one knee in front of the red carpet.

“Well done,” the princess glanced at him.

“It is my honor to fight for Your Highness,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said. “Your Highness, please forgive my presumption, but if the battle continues, more soldiers will be sacrificed.”

“The right choice,” after saying this, the princess turned and walked towards the carriage.

Minamoto Kiyomoto quickly stood up and helped her.

Before entering the carriage, the princess said, “After we go back, I will reward you well.”

Belladonna, who had been kneeling on the side, with injuries and apologizing, raised her face and stared at Minamoto Kiyomoto resentfully.

Minamoto Kiyomoto ignored her and inspected the battlefield.

Before the battle, there were more than six hundred cultivators. About three hundred survived.

At Minamoto Kiyomoto’s feet, a stream of blood flowed slowly and firmly down the valley.

After cleaning up, he returned to the foot of the mountain. Because he was covered in mud and blood, the princess did not let him into the carriage.

“Lord Knight!” a young soldier led a black horse over.

“I remember you. You killed two enemies. What’s your name?” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at his face.

The young soldier’s face was full of excitement. He didn’t expect that Lord Knight had actually noticed him while he was fighting bravely.

“Reporting to Lord, my name is Branwen!”

Minamoto Kiyomoto patted his shoulder and mounted the horse.

“For Her Highness, give everything!” the young soldier named Branwen shouted, his neck craned.

When the army, pressing three hundred prisoners, entered the city gate, the whole town boiled.

“Long live the princess!”

The commoners all thought it was the princess’s credit, and the soldiers who participated in the war also thought so.

Here, Princess Noi’s greatness was beyond doubt.

Minamoto Kiyomoto was rewarded with a large bag of gold coins and was promoted to the princess’s guard knight, guarding the princess at all times.

To everyone, this was the greatest honor.

For Minamoto Kiyomoto, who was plotting against the princess’s gem, he couldn’t ask for more. It was just that he couldn’t be with Kamibayashi Miko and Himemiya Izayoi all day, which annoyed him.

Coming out of the Rose Castle, he hadn’t seen Kamibayashi Miko for a whole day. He felt that even life was difficult.

But Minamoto Kiyomoto still didn’t go back.

He found a few soldiers who had fought with him today, went to the last tavern, and got drunk.

At midnight that night, which was the third day he had come to this world, September 11th, he, Cooper, finally “woke up” at Cooper’s house.

Cooper was an orphan. At home, there was only a maid with poor eyesight who was responsible for cooking and cleaning.

Cooper took a bath herself and was always hidden in her armor.

As he had expected, besides the princess and the maids around her, no one knew that Cooper was a woman.

Minamoto Kiyomoto changed into ordinary armor, secretly slipped out, bought some food, and returned to the base.

The three miko ate while listening to Minamoto Kiyomoto recount the events of the day.

“Someone appeared out of thin air three meters away?” Kamibayashi Miko pondered. “Combined with the gem you saw, it should be the power of the remains.”

“It’s troublesome,” Minamoto Kiyomoto had only drunk wine at night. He was also hungry at this time and ate with them.

“At least the cultivators are all gathered together,” Himemiya Izayoi said in a relaxed tone. “The chances of breaking out of the city are also greater.”

“It’s a pity that so many people died,” Minamoto Kiyomoto remembered the tragic scene of the day, and his appetite faded.

“Without you, they would all be dead today. Now, not only have three hundred survived, but the men have also survived. You should be happy,” Himemiya Izayoi used a knife and fork to put a roasted sausage on his plate.

Kamibayashi Miko was silent.

The white-haired girl ate her food, neither sad nor happy.

“Let’s finish eating and rest early,” in the quiet night, Minamoto Kiyomoto’s voice was as ethereal and gentle as the candlelight on the table.

“Are you still sleeping here? Not sleeping by your princess’s side?” Himemiya Izayoi said with a teasing smile.

“What’s a princess? Your Majesty is the one I’m loyal to. And if I don’t see you for a day, I feel uneasy. Even if it’s troublesome, I have to sleep here.”

Sleeping here, he had to sneak out of his “home” late at night, and then sneak out of here before dawn.

“Who isn’t?” Himemiya Izayoi’s lips curved into a charming shallow smile. “Miko looked in the direction of the city gate thirty-two times today, and I looked thirty-three times.”

“I don’t believe you,” Minamoto Kiyomoto laughed. “You actually looked one more time than Miss Kamibayashi.”

“I counted one by one.”

“You’ve never even been to school. How can I believe your counting?”

“You?!” Himemiya Izayoi angrily forked the roasted sausage and bit it off.

Minamoto Kiyomoto continued to eat, his gaze on the candle.

In such a deep night, even a candle with a weak flame gave people a warm feeling.

It was like a ship sailing on the sea. As long as you saw the lighthouse, your heart would be at ease.

“I looked twice,” the white-haired girl replied from across the candle.

“…I wasn’t looking at you,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said, then looked at Kamibayashi Miko and Himemiya Izayoi, who was eating a roasted sausage.

Himemiya Izayoi’s lips were stained with oil, full and alluring.

“Are you still going to raid me tonight?” Minamoto Kiyomoto asked her with a smile. “I won’t be polite.”

“Hmph,” Himemiya Izayoi turned her face away angrily and continued to eat the sausage on her fork.

(End of Chapter)