The Awakener

Two nights later, within Baron Fate’s territory.

“Kill them all!”

“Don’t let a single one escape!”

In the distance, gazing at the Baron’s mansion ablaze and its heavily besieged guards, Ryan said to everyone:

“Let’s go.”

Ryan naturally didn’t want Baron Fate to die.

According to the previous analysis, Baron Fate also couldn’t die by Ryan’s hand, nor could he die by Duke Jeffries’ hand, and the Duke’s power also needed to be curtailed.

So what to do?

Make Baron Fart’s death merely a public façade, supposedly at the hands of rebellious troops from the ducal territory.

The Duke’s current expedition was to suppress these rebels, but unfortunately, he arrived too late and couldn’t save Baron and Madam Fate, only managing to rescue the Crown Prince.

Afterward, the Duke would confess his guilt to His Majesty, saying he failed to restrain his subordinates and was incapable of managing such a vast territory, requesting to be demoted to an Earl.

Yes, indeed.

This was still a transparent deception that any discerning person could see through.

But the Royal Family… especially the Emperor and Crown Prince, never truly attacked meritorious officials and would always arrange an escape route for them.

The Jeffries family, though losing their ducal title, would still survive, proving that the Royal Family had its limits.

It wasn’t a perfectly happy ending, but at least it was an outcome acceptable to all parties.

At least Ryan was very satisfied.

The Fart couple took a deep look at the place where they had lived for several years, then turned and got into the carriage.

Ryan also smiled and returned to his own carriage.

In the carriage sat a beautiful girl still wearing a dark blue formal dress, her golden hair styled in a spiral bun, adorned with sapphire hairpins, like a vividly blooming cornflower.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Ryan said softly.

“As long as I can help Your Highness, I’m happy.”

Flora said cheerfully, “By the way, Your Highness, what are your plans for Mr. Fart and his family afterwards?”

“For now, they’ll stay at the mansion.

If they find it inconvenient, I’ll arrange another place for them after some time… I’ll send people to protect them thoroughly then.”

“That’s good.” Flora smiled even more brightly.

Ryan actually wanted to ask Flora if she needed any reward, but Manton was nearby, so he found it awkward to speak and simply dropped the matter.

Perhaps it was the exhaustion from the overnight journey, but Flora uncharacteristically felt unwell, especially in her lower abdomen, which felt heavy and distended… Soon, she lay down on the seat and fell asleep.

Taking off his coat and covering Flora with it, Ryan noticed Manton’s strange gaze nearby, but the latter showed no intention of asking, so he didn’t bother either, leaning back and feigning sleep.

About half an hour later, the carriage began to slow down and soon came to a stop.

“What happened?”

Ryan sensed something was wrong, immediately opened his eyes, and asked the person outside the carriage.

Flora also quickly woke up, but felt even more tired.

“Your Highness, there’s a unit in the distance flying the Duke’s banner.” A knight with good night vision rode closer and reported.

“My agreement with the Duke didn’t include this plan.” Flora quickly said, “Your Highness Ryan, it’s the enemy!”
Ryan, however, wasn’t surprised.

This wasn’t to say he anticipated the Duke would renege; on the contrary, he believed Flora had completed her mission well.

The Duke truly intended to cooperate with them, preserving his family at the cost of reduced power.

Neither was wrong.

It was just that Ryan had been holding back, not revealing all the intelligence, which led to this unexpected turn of events.

“It’s my fault.”

Ryan turned to Manton, “General Manton, please lead Baron Fart and Flora to break through… If possible, please reveal your identity; they likely won’t pursue you then.”

Manton’s eyes widened, having clearly guessed the origin of this unit.

“Your Highness, what are you saying? How can we abandon you and flee?” Flora said anxiously.

“This has nothing to do with you; you’ll only be in the way if you stay. This is an order, execute it immediately!”

Ryan didn’t waste words, quickly dismounted from the carriage, and cast night vision and far sight magic on himself.

He quickly scanned… only a hundred men.

Good, the chances of victory were still high.

“Medic, one attendant, and the mage stay behind; the rest, follow me. Prepare for battle.”

This was a forest; he had cavalry, which was not ideal for deployment.

He planned to escape to an open area before counterattacking.

However—

“Madam, Madam, what’s wrong with you?”

From the carriage carrying the Fart family, Baron Fart’s startled cry was heard.

Flora, who had gotten out of the carriage intending to continue persuading, immediately rushed over to check on the situation.

Soon, she and the army medic both simultaneously diagnosed the problem:

“The Madam is going into labor!”

The Crown Prince quickly turned to Manton.

“General Manton, please protect everyone well… The rest of you, listen to my command: hold this position to the death.

Anyone who dares to abandon their post will be punished for violating military orders!”

The Crown Prince jumped onto his mount, galloped towards the left flank approaching the enemy, and summoned his Guardian on the way to attract the enemy’s attention.

“Wait, Your Highness!”

Flora tried to chase him, but Manton grabbed her.

“M-Miss, calm down, let’s deal with the enemies here first!”

Flora also noticed that only a small portion of the enemy pursued the Crown Prince, while the majority of their forces were heading this way.

“It’s different, those are all elites, and there are magic knights.”

After a quick wide-range scan, Flora shook off Manton’s hand. “You stay and protect everyone.”

Saying this, she gritted her teeth, enduring her physical discomfort, leaped onto a horse, and rode off in the completely opposite direction from the enemy.

The Black Dragon soldiers were stunned for a moment, but it was too late to deal with her.

They quickly formed ranks, preparing to engage the enemy.

Manton sighed, immediately summoning his Guardian, a giant bear clad in earthy yellow armor.

Seeing this summoned beast, the enemy indeed paused in surprise.

“Capture this person alive, leave one life in the carriage, kill all other soldiers!”

The enemy general ordered.

The guards swiftly showed their resolve to fight to the death.

Manton couldn’t help but shake his head, simply thinking this enemy general was as stupid as a pig, and immediately shouted:

“Soon, I will charge into the enemy ranks. Knights, charge with me! Attendants, deal with anyone who slips past. You must protect Baron Fart’s family!”

The guards were a bit confused.

Just then, a magic arrow swiftly flew from the left in the distance, precisely shooting the commanding enemy general off his horse.

Before the enemy could react, arrow after arrow of magic flew in, and in the blink of an eye, all the archers and mages were shot dead.

And the enemies’ location remained unseen.

“They have a mage, quickly defend!”

Someone in the enemy shouted.

But what awaited them was a mountain-like hulk attacking from the front.

Boom!

Boom!

Manton punched a knight, horse and all, heavily to the ground, and with another punch, smashed a soldier’s shield and armor, causing a large dent and shattering his internal organs, killing him.

The guards reacted quickly, knights and a few attendants swiftly following Manton to attack.

The person who had shouted earlier in the enemy ranks tried to command again, but this time a fireball struck.

He couldn’t dodge in time and was instantly blown away, losing half his body.

The remaining part quickly turned into a man on fire, rolling on the ground.

The enemy formation was completely in disarray.

In the distance, Flora saw the situation had completely turned in their favor and swiftly galloped in the direction the Crown Prince had fled.

“Miss Haggia, we’ll go ahead.”

Yuri said, and with two hidden guards, quickly left her behind.

“Wait, there’s an enemy ahead!”

Flora shouted.

The three heard her, but their speed didn’t diminish at all.

However—

“I only came back to check just in case, but it turns out there really was a big mess.”

When Flora caught up to them, she found the three confronting a man entirely cloaked in black.

And behind the black-clad man, a phantom floated distinctively!

A Guardian Awakener!