Return of the Female Knight

“Leader, there are more of the Empress’ soldiers here than expected.”

Elena nodded as she surveyed the scene. She expected more troops would be diverted to the Imperial Palace gates, but there were still a great number of them guarding Crown Prince’s palace.

‘What should I do with this?’

She gripped a letter handwritten by Carlisle. The original plan was to use the letter to convince the soldiers inside to move…but that method would take far too long. It was difficult to get past the Empress’ soldiers, but the key was to quickly deliver the letter to the people inside the palace to open the door. She could never do it if she couldn’t prove Carlisle was the sender.

‘That would take time…’

Elena just needed to talk to the people inside the Crown Prince’s palace even briefly, or at least deliver the letter Carlisle wrote. However, there were too many of the Empress’ soldiers surrounding the Crown Prince’s palace, and Carlisle couldn’t stall at the front gate forever. In short, Elena and her elite troops had to somehow remove the army of the Empress’ soldiers, an impossible task for a team of only a dozen.

‘It wouldn’t just take time…if something goes wrong, then there’s a greater chance of failure.’

She already had a contingency plan for the worst case scenario, but she wanted to avoid this method as much as possible. However…there was no other choice. Elena’s red eyes glimmered in the darkness as she made up her mind.

“Leader, what shall we do?”

At the question, everyone’s eyes turned towards Elena. She scrutinized the entrance of the Crown Prince’s palace then looked back at her team.

“Simply waiting here will make no difference, so we move.”

“But how?”

“We cannot change the plan now. If we distract the enemy, we can use the opportunity to open the palace doors.”

Everyone’s expression turned grave at her words. Her suggestion was the quickest method, but the most dangerous. Failure to distract the enemy or taking too long to open the palace gates would lead to everyone’s deaths. However, no one spoke a word of objection, as they knew how imperative it was to release Carlisle’s soldiers as soon as possible.

“Then we’ll split into two groups, one to distract the guards and the other to infiltrate the gates—”

“No.”

Everyone looked at her in surprise. She gazed at her team with fierce determination.

“All of you will distract the soldiers. I’ll break through the gates alone.”

“But there are too many soldiers to do that.”

At present, there were fifteen soldiers stationed right at the entrance of the Crown Prince’s palace, made up of five groups of three. If Elena appeared, they would all descend on her in no time and make quick work of her.

“I can handle them by myself. Just keep the rest of the reinforcements from coming.”

“…!”

The team was stunned by Elena, unsure what to make of her brazen confidence. All those gathered here were the greatest soldiers recognized by their families, but none of them could handle fifteen enemy knights at solely by themselves.

However, Elena never made a decision out of arrogance of her own ability, but out probability of success. The soldiers continued to be surprised as they realized that Elena was not bluffing, and she continued on calmly.

“All of you pair up and spread out as widely as possible. That way you’ll be safer and can survive longer.”

They could greater help each other out when they were in team pairs, and the longer they endured, the safer Elena would be. With enough time, Elena would open the palace gates, and all of them would live. Otherwise, the only other outcome was complete destruction by the Empress’ forces.

“Understood.”

The soldiers all answered simultaneously, and Elena lifted her chin and spoke in an authoritative voice.

“There’s no more time to hesitate. Let’s go now.”

The soldiers swiftly paired up with each other and then disappeared from the site. If anyone else had happened to glimpse them, they might have mistaken them for a ghost.

As the soldiers dispersed, Elena looked calmly at the Crown Prince’s palace gates. Everything depended on how quickly she could open them. Soon after, a man’s scream rang out in the night like a signal.

“Aaaagh!”

Elena’s teams were in action, and the Empress’ soldiers were suddenly besieged by attacks coming from various sides. For a moment, the battlefield was like hell. The night was drowned in the sound of swords crashing and arrows zinging in the air. Elena took her chance, and slipped towards the gates with her sword unsheathed.

“Who’s there?”

As Elena closed in on the gates, the group of fifteen soldiers stationed there rushed forward to intercept her.

Hwiig!

Elena swung her sword and cut down a soldier on her right. She then turned into a somersault to avoid a frontal attack, then smashed her foot into her opponent’s face. The soldier immediately collapsed to the ground.

Elena took care of the soldiers with ruthless efficiency, and in no time at all, the fifteen soldiers all lay on the ground before her. Anyone who saw her would have dropped their jaws at the display of power.

Such was the case of the people watching the situation from up the high wall of the Crown Prince’s palace. They were completely deprived of speech as they processed the sudden appearance of a talented fighter.

“S-Sir Zenard, th-that man is…”

The person couldn’t bring himself to complete his sentence. Even Zenard and Kuhn, who were masters of combat, stared at the mysterious figure with astonishment.

Elena stood at the palace gate and looked upward, her victims lying at her feet. Her red eyes were directed at Carlisle’s men looking at her.

It was then. She pulled off her mask without hesitation.

Hwiig!

Elena’s golden hair poured out from her head covering in waves. Underneath was her pale skin, high nose, and red lips.

Elena’s face, which seemed an amalgamation of all the beauty of the world, was revealed to the outside.

For a moment, the world was plunged into silence. Soon after, a loud cry shattered it like glass. Zenard was the first to recognize Elena, and he yelled at his men.

“It’s Her Highness! Open the palace doors now!”

Kkiiig—

Elena looked at the large palace gates opening before her. Revealing her identity was more definite and quick than delivering Carlisle’s letter.