The Girl Raised by the Death God Holds the Sword of Darkness in Her Arms - Volume 3 - Chapter 1.4

IV

The Lianna Plateau, eastern Asvelt Empire

Felix, entrusted with command of the Crimson Knights, headed straight for Fort Astora with fifty soldiers under him.

“Ahhh,” he sighed. “It feels good to sleep outdoors every now and then.” He stretched his arms out, looking out at the glow of the sunrise. Quiet laughter came from behind him, and he turned to find his aide, Second Lieutenant Teresa, smiling at him.

“Did I say something amusing?” he asked.

“No, ser. I was only thinking how you really come to life when you get away from your desk.” She held out a cup of hausen tea for him. Felix thanked her as he accepted it, then took one sip, followed by another. The warmth spread through him, thawing his frozen body, and he sighed with pleasure.

“Is it brewed to your liking, ser?” Teresa asked, scrutinizing him.

“This tastes far better than any of the hausen tea I usually drink,” he replied, gazing at the steam that coiled lazily up from the teacup.

“I’m glad to hear it. I actually added a few drops of honey today, to bring out the aroma.” She smiled, brushing away her shoulder-length hair. Something about that struck Felix as odd, then he immediately realized what.

“You have your hair down today. That’s rare, isn’t it?” The Teresa Felix was always used to keep her blonde hair neatly tied back. This might be the first time he’d seen her with it loose. He noted with amazement how much a simple thing like hair could change one’s impression of a person.

Teresa chuckled. “Rare, you say. I didn’t expect that from you, my lord. I hope we’re not in for rain. Or snow, even.” She made a show of looking up at the sky.

“Is it really so unexpected?”

“Oh, well, I don’t know,” Teresa replied, smiling in a way that suggested deeper meaning. Before Felix could interrogate her further, she said, “I’ll have your breakfast ready at once, ser,” and promptly departed.

By the eighth hour, the sun was fully risen, and Felix’s procession was approaching Fort Astora, the horse’s hooves clattering along the road. Teresa’s joking premonitions of rain and snow had not come to pass, and the cold that bit at his cheeks grew less harsh.

“My lord, we’ve almost arrived at the fort,” Teresa said from where she rode beside him. Felix was about to reply when the faint smell of something burning reached him.

“That smell...”

“Is something the matter, ser?”

“Give the order to halt,” he said. Teresa nodded promptly. She extended her right arm to one side, then called out to the soldiers following them.

“All troops, halt!” At her command, they brought their horses to a stop, manipulating their reins with superb control. Felix called out for them to stay on alert, then raised his spyglass to look ahead.

“Ser? Is there something wrong?” asked Captain Matthew, leader of Felix’s personal guard. He rode up to them with his hand on the pommel of his sword.

Felix was silent for a long moment. “I think something may have happened to Fort Astora.” It was faint, but through the spyglass he could see white smoke rising from the fort. Beside him, Teresa scrambled to get her own spyglass from her belt. She pointed it up at the fort, and Felix heard her intake of breath.

“You’re right. There’s smoke coming from the direction of the fort,” she said. “You don’t think they were attacked by the Seventh Legion?!” There was a stir throughout the soldiers behind them. Amongst the voices, Felix heard the words “Death God Olivia” exchanged. Her renown had spread even within the Azure Knights.

“No, it’s too soon for them to have mounted an attack. I think that highly unlikely,” he replied, dismissing Teresa’s fears. He explained his reasoning to the other soldiers.

Matthew took it in before replying. “That makes sense. You’re right. It will take them time to put things in order in the lands they reclaimed. I agree with Lord Felix that the Seventh Legion can’t have moved out yet.” He crossed his arms, staring thoughtfully at the ground.

“Then what’s that smoke?” Teresa asked. Felix didn’t have any clear answer he could give her.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I sincerely hope that there is nothing amiss, but...” He paused. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“And good or bad, Lord Felix’s hunches are always right,” Matthew said, scratching his head.

“Let’s just get to the fort quickly,” Felix said. He gave the order to move out, digging his feet into his stirrups. With a powerful kick his faithful horse Vermilion raced swiftly forward.

It was midday.

“My lord...” Teresa said, gazing about them warily, her eyebrows knitted together.

“Yes, I know.”

Ever since they left the succession of winding roads up the mountain and started up the sloping path that led to the gates of Fort Astora, the wind had carried the stomach-churning stench of blood. Felix knew it well—it was the stench of battle.

Teresa gave a hand signal to the soldiers behind them, and they regrouped into an arrowhead formation around Felix. The formation generated the power needed to drive deep into enemy ranks, and when utilized by the Azure Knights it functioned as a single, merciless lance. At last, the ruined gates came into view. Felix spotted soldiers in leaf green armor. They seemed to notice him too, because they suddenly sprang into motion.

“My lord! That is not the armor of Fernest’s Royal Army!”

“So I see. We will attack at once. Second Lieutenant Teresa, keep as close to me as you can.”

“Yes, ser!” she replied.

Felix gave the order for a volley of arrows to be shot at the enemy soldiers, who were now trying to get into formation. His elite soldiers loosed their arrows without a moment’s delay, letting them rain down and pierce through the enemy soldiers as though some force drew them to their marks. Felix nocked three arrows to his bow then loosed them at once. The formation charged forward, forcing their way through the gate. He caught sight of a man about to give the finishing blow to a soldier in crimson armor. In the same moment, he drew the dagger strapped to his saddle and threw it.

“Wha...?” The man’s face went blank with shock; then he swayed and fell to the ground.

“You bastard!” shouted another enemy soldier.

“I’ll get him!” called another. The two soldiers dived at Felix as he leapt from Vermilion’s saddle mid-gallop.

One to the crown of the head. One to the side. Felix twisted gracefully to avoid the incoming blades, then drew their eyes where he wanted them so that he could alter their trajectories and make them strike at each other. The next moment:

“Gwuh?”

“Egh?”

The two soldiers impaled on one another’s swords looked at each other, uncomprehending, then crumpled to the ground. The soldiers around them stared in even greater confusion.

“What just happened?! Why did they stab each other?!” cried one.

“Blue armor...” said another. “Could these be the Azure Knights?!”

“The Azure Knights?! The most elite warriors in the imperial army?!” The enemy soldiers immediately began to clamor. Felix held out a hand to the soldier from the Crimson Knights, who sat on the ground with their mouth wide open.

“Are you all right?” he asked. The soldier nodded, then took his hand.

“L-Lord Felix... Lord Felix!” they repeated, calling out his name in a voice thick with emotion. Drawn by this cry, the eyes around them all turned to Felix.

“It’s Lord Felix!”

“Lord Felix has come to save us!” A roar of celebration rose up from the Crimson Knights. Feeling their admiring eyes on him, Felix ordered the soldiers to explain what had happened.

“So it was spies. That was how they were able to get through the gates without resistance...” he said when they were finished. “I think I’ve grasped the situation for now. Now, where is Colonel Guyel?”

“Colonel Guyel is—”

“If you want Colonel Guyel, here he is!” called a woman’s voice, cutting off the Crimson Knight’s reply. Felix looked toward the entrance to the fort, where the voice had come from, and saw a woman in pure white armor step out from the darkness.

“Colonel Guyel...” he gasped, unconsciously gripping the hilt of his sword. Horribly changed, Guyel’s head dangled from the woman’s hand. Teresa turned away, unable to look.

“I suppose this is what you might call a touching reunion?” she said, tossing the head roughly toward them. It rolled through the mud to come to rest, cruelly, at Felix’s feet. Felix kept his eyes on her while laying a hand on Teresa’s shoulder.

“Forgive me,” he said to her. “I take back what I said earlier. I can’t have you at my side for this.”

“Yes, ser...” Teresa replied, but she didn’t move an inch. Felix gave her a small smile.

“You don’t have to worry about me,” he said, then turned to Matthew. “Captain Matthew. She is under your protection.”

“Yes, ser! I won’t let you down, ser!” Matthew replied, thumping his chest. Felix turned away from Teresa’s anxious gaze; then he walked toward the woman. She followed suit. Her expression was inhumanly empty. At the point where their swords might reach the other, they stopped. Up close, the first thing Felix noticed about the woman was her ice-cold eyes.

“Am I correct in assuming that you are the commander here?” he asked.

“You are,” she said, then held up one slender finger. “Will you also answer a question for me?”

“If it is within my power to do so.”

“Back there, they were all calling you Felix. Does that mean I am speaking with General Felix von Sieger, one of the empire’s Three Generals?”

Felix paused, then said, “Yes, that’s right.”

“I appreciate you answering me.”

“May I also have your name?”

She paused before she announced, “I am Amelia Stolast.” As she drew her sword, her empty expression changed. Now she wore a grotesque smile.