The Princess’s Gambit and the Mercenaries’ Demise

Locks nodded furiously, repeating, “Good, good, good,” three times. He then turned to Rede and Fuliro, who stood beside him, and instructed, “When we go, ensure Princess Akareya’s safety. Even if a conflict arises, her well-being must be our top priority!”

“Understood!” they responded, nodding solemnly.

Su Han, standing beside Akareya, leaned in close to the princess’s ear, whispering, “Princess, I never realized you were so cunning!”

“Oh? You’ve figured it out?” Akareya covered her mouth, stifling a laugh.

“Using Locks as your pawn is quite brilliant!”

Given Su Han’s intelligence, it was only natural for her to deduce Akareya’s intentions in leveraging Locks’s identity.

“Hehe, now that you know, let’s keep it a secret and enjoy the show!”

“Alright!”

Su Han couldn’t explain the inexplicable fondness she felt for Akareya, a connection akin to long-lost siblings. Akareya, too, shared this sentiment, which explained their exceptional closeness.

“Whoa!” Just as Su Han and Akareya approached, a lecherous-looking man from the opposing group cheered excitedly, “Beauties, hehe! We actually have two beauties here, and they’re top-tier, too! I’ve lived my entire life and never seen women of this caliber!”

“Uh, Captain Voltremer, you promised us you’d satisfy our needs in this regard! You can’t go back on your word now!”

“Silence! They’re both mine. I’ll be done with them first, then we’ll talk!” The captain of the Volga Mercenary Group chuckled lewdly, “Tsk, tsk, tsk, excellent, truly excellent! Simply divine!”

Su Han and Akareya slowly made their way over, their gazes falling upon a tiger lying on the ground. Its body, three to four meters long, was covered in lightning patterns and riddled with wounds of varying sizes. One ear was missing, and blood gurgled steadily from its injuries.

Beside the “Thundercloud Tiger Demon,” a dozen mercenaries, clad in identical armor, stood gathered. Among them were knights and mages, though the highest-ranked individual was merely a Grand Magus. The captain leading them possessed an exceedingly lecherous appearance, and his rank was only at the peak of a Grand Mage. This entire group was no match for Locks, a Celestial Knight!

As Su Han and Akareya drew closer, every member of the Volga Mercenary Group began rubbing their hands together, their eyes gleaming with lust. Drooling, they shamelessly ogled Su Han and Akareya, their profane gazes blatant and undeniable.

Even the lecherous-faced captain stared incessantly at the two women. Akareya, a princess, accustomed to being the center of attention, was used to such scrutiny. Su Han, however, was different; throughout her life, no one had ever stared at her so persistently.

Moreover, being ogled by a group of drooling men with such predatory stares sent shivers down Su Han’s spine. Her skin crawled, and goosebumps erupted all over her body, prompting an involuntary shudder.

“Ugh… how disgusting!” Under the filthy stares of those lecherous men, Su Han suddenly felt a wave of nausea.

‘I… I’m a man! I’m straight, I don’t go for guys!’ Su Han roared internally. Facing so many lustful gazes, she truly couldn’t bear it.

“Go for guys? What’s that?” Akareya, walking over, kindly patted Su Han’s back. Hearing Su Han mention “going for guys,” she couldn’t help but ask, puzzled.

“Nothing at all~”

“What are you staring at?! Keep looking, and I’ll gouge out your eyeballs and stomp on them, believe me?!” Finally, Su Han could take no more. Under the mercenaries’ lustful gazes, she erupted.

“Oh, ho ho! This little vixen has some fire in her, doesn’t she? Just our type!” A lecherous, skinny mercenary from the opposing group leered, winking and chuckling obscenely. “Captain, we’re claiming this woman for ourselves!”

“Damn it, a scholar would rather die than be humiliated! I’ll fight you right now!” Su Han was about to charge forward and confront them, but Akareya pulled her back, shaking her head. “Let’s just watch the show for now!” Akareya’s delicate brows furrowed slightly, her pretty face etched with disgust, yet she said no more, as if long accustomed to such behavior.

“Sigh~” Su Han wore a look of utter helplessness.

Mercenaries in this region lived a life of constant peril, hunting magical beasts and literally ‘licking blood from the blade.’ There was no telling when they might meet a gruesome end, whether devoured by beasts, slain by others, or even dying inexplicably, never knowing who their killer was. This relentless pressure weighed heavily upon them, stripping away any pretense of morality or law. Consequently, these mercenaries often resorted to acts of arson, murder, r*pe, and plunder.

Both Su Han and Akareya were beauties among beauties. In this place, women were a scarce resource, let alone beautiful women, and even more so, exceptional beauties. They served as the best means of relieving stress, and the more stunning a woman was, the greater the release of tension she provided.

Akareya silently approached, standing beside Locks. “Locks!” she commanded, her gaze turning chillingly cold as she looked at the Volga Mercenary Group. “Kill them all, leave no one alive!”

“As you command, my dear Princess!” Locks replied with a sweet smile.

Why had Locks held back until now? He had been waiting for precisely these words from Akareya!

Had he acted on his own initiative to eliminate the opposing group, Akareya might have accused him of showing off. However, if Akareya herself gave the order to deal with them, the meaning was entirely different!

Locks drew his jewel-encrusted longsword and plunged directly into the mercenary group, unleashing a massacre. With one swing, limbs were severed; with another, heads flew and hot blood rained down. A mere group of low-tier mages and knights was utterly insufficient to challenge Locks, a Celestial Knight.

“By the way, little sister, I still don’t know your name!” Akareya asked, seizing the moment while Locks was busy eradicating the rabble.

“Eh? Me? Is that me?” Su Han paused, then replied, “My name is Izaloth~!” Su Han, of course, wasn’t foolish enough to reveal her true name casually in an unfamiliar world. Izaloth happened to be her gaming alias, so she simply used that.

“Izaloth? That’s a rather peculiar name!”

“Is it?”

At that moment, Su Han noticed Locks’s parrot observing her with a knowing, almost smirking gaze, its black pupils gleaming with intelligent light.

‘Could I have been discovered?’ Su Han, who prided herself on her meticulous thoughts, still felt a flicker of unease under the parrot’s scrutinizing stare.

“Caw caw caw~” The parrot squawked a few times before flying off, and Su Han, relieved, patted her chest, realizing it had been a false alarm.

Locks charged through the enemy ranks, incomparably valiant. Voltremer drew his broadsword, only for Locks to shatter it with a single strike. With another swing, a bloody gash instantly appeared on Voltremer’s neck, sending him scrambling away in terror. The remaining mercenaries, too, underwent a baptism by death; amidst the flashing blades and clashing swords, a vision of countless corpses appeared. Su Han couldn’t help but admire Locks’s speed—it was truly astonishing. She hadn’t even had time to clearly see what happened before the enemies slumped to the ground, one by one, as if their souls had been ripped from their bodies. Knights had barely drawn their weapons, and mages had only just begun their incantations, before a single sword thrust sent them to the brink of death. Had it not been for a high-ranking priest within their team, these men would surely have died with wide, unseeing eyes. The sight of their dilated, white eyes was chilling to the bone. In a matter of seconds, the opposing group was annihilated.

This was Su Han’s first time witnessing such a scene of slaughter, yet she remained remarkably composed. As she watched the blood welling from severed necks, she even felt a strange mix of excitement and delirium.

After annihilating the enemy group, Locks executed a graceful turn and approached the “Thundercloud Tiger Demon.” He plunged his longsword into its skull, then with a powerful flick, dislodged a yellowish-brown crystal core into his hand.

The “Thundercloud Tiger Demon” was a peak fifth-tier magical beast. Locks had severely wounded it, which was why the Volga Mercenary Group had managed to snatch a lucky kill.

“Uncle Rede, fetch her a piece of fine equipment!” Noticing Su Han’s rather shabby appearance, Locks couldn’t help but wave to Rede.

However, Akareya, who had been standing nearby, retrieved a light purple armor from her spatial ring and handed it to Su Han. “No need,” she said. “I have a Level 1-restricted fine armor right here—the Mandrake Bloom!”

“Heh heh, truly befitting a princess; her generosity is boundless!” Even Locks was utterly astonished. What was the concept of fine-grade equipment? As a prince of a nation, his own gear was merely a high-quality Epic-grade item, and it came with level and class restrictions. Akareya, on the other hand, had effortlessly produced a top-tier fine-grade equipment with no level restrictions—it almost rivaled his own!

“It’s simply that I feel a strong connection with little sister Izaloth!” Akareya said, dismissing Locks with a casual remark while smiling at Su Han. “I wonder if little sister Izaloth has time to visit us in Arcadia?”

“Yes!” Su Han accepted the Mandrake Bloom and donned it. Her long black hair framed by the purple armor gave her an aura of wild beauty, complementing her innate purity.

“Heh heh, both of you should still come visit our Lucybria Empire first; I’d be absolutely delighted to host you!” Locks interjected seamlessly from the side.

“Hmph, I think you’re just very welcoming to Sister Akareya!” Su Han muttered softly.

“If you know, then don’t say it~!” Akareya playfully rolled her eyes at Su Han.

Four horses galloped along the outskirts of the Magical Beast Forest. Akareya and Su Han, riding a unicorn, took the lead, followed closely by Locks on his Blood-Sweat White Steed. Bringing up the rear, Rede and Fuliro each spurred their brown horses onward, striving to keep pace.

Unicorns could travel a thousand li in a day, but to avoid leaving Rede and Fuliro behind, and to prevent overworking the Blood-Sweat White Steed, Akareya deliberately slowed their pace. As the sun began to set, four elongated silhouettes stretched across the horizon under the golden light of dusk.

After a long and arduous journey, all four were beginning to feel the weariness, yet upon spotting the faint outline of the Lucybria Empire in the distance, they spurred their horses to a faster pace.

Finally, as evening descended, Su Han and the other three successfully arrived in Lucybria.