CH 142 The Warrior Queen

The sound of sharp arrows piercing through the air was shrill and deadly.

Appearing from the faint smoke and dust was a group of light cavalry rushing forward. But different from normal cavalry, this was a cavalry composed entirely of archers. After they approached the battlefield, they parted quickly, forming a crescent arc and moving back and forth quickly, without approaching.

"The Kriyans! They're the archers of Kriya!"

Earl Pligney was taken aback for a moment, and then a certain fear immediately swept over his heart.

The ghostly cavalry, the elusive march, the green-eyed Kriyan archer!

Legrand's longbowman was unparalleled in the world, and the Kriyan archer was the one that ranked first among Legrand's archers.

The State of Kriya relied on its archers to keep the state alive in the chaotic conquest of the princes. However, it was a battle after the death of William III that really made the Kriyan archer known all over the world. Not long after William III died of illness, the famous warrior queen followed in her husband's footsteps. Legrand lost her beloved king and queen at once.

Someone once saw that after the news of the warrior queen Eleanor's death, a mysterious team of archers quietly left from the Kriyan Mountains and headed straight for the royal city. They marched in the morning mist and darkness like ghosts.

There was speculation that they were going to seek an explanation from the Legrand royal family.

They entrusted their beloved queen to Legrand. William III had promised Kriya that he would treat her well. They could not accept the news of the queen's sudden death, and suspected that she had been assassinated. If the Legrand royal family did not dare to recover the truth about the Queen's death and avenge her, then they would demand an explanation from the Legrand royal family.

It was a hazy morning when they arrived at the royal city of Metzl.

When the Duke of Buckingham got on his horse in front of his manor, a feathered arrow flew out of the morning mist, brushed his ear and embedded itself in the gate of the Duke's mansion. Two figures in gray robes stood on the opposite eaves. No one knew what the two gray-robed men had talked about with the Duke of Buckingham. They disappeared from the royal city as mysteriously as they had arrived.

When they reappeared, it was on the battlefield.

The Duke of Buckingham led his troops to fight against Bressi's expeditionary force. The nobles' rebel army approached the royal city. General Johan, who was not yet sixteen years old, hurriedly led the troops to fight. Just when everyone thought that the royal army would be defeated, a cavalry arrived, none of them wore armor, they rushed like ghosts, and shot arrows at an astonishing speed, each arrow guaranteed to take a life away.

The aristocratic rebels were terrified after being killed one after another, and fled in disarray.

The royal army greeted the reinforcements that appeared suddenly at a critical moment. When they wanted to express their gratitude, they found that they were all wearing gray cloaks, and their faces were hidden under the hoods.

Facing General Johan's inquiries and thanks, the leader of the archers took off his hood, and raised the longbow in his hand indifferently:

"For the queen!"

"For the queen!"

The gray-robed archers raised their longbows together, then turned around and left as quickly as they had come, without any intention of staying to receive any rewards.

They all had the iconic green eyes.

They were the Kriyans, the archers of Kriya.

The enemy compared them to "shadow elves". They came from the Kriyan Mountains, where the two great rivers of Legrand originated. What made the enemy fearful was that they moved quickly and could always appear in the most deadly places on the battlefield, at the most critical moments. Earl Pligney's father died under the brown feather arrow of the Kriyan archer. When he saw the gray-robed archer appearing in the smoke and dust, an ominous premonition swept over his heart.

An ancient fable once told a story about three generations of people dying under the same fate, and now that ancient fate had come to Earl Pligney.

"Be careful! Be careful with these——"

He yelled hysterically.

The Baliner mercenaries failed to understand his fear immediately. They even felt that the reinforcements that had arrived were ridiculous–—what could a cavalry without even armor do.

However, Earl Pligney was terrified as if he had seen some demon.

"Be careful with them!"

While raising the shield in his hand, the earl wanted to pull his horse back.

but then his voice stopped abruptly, and the war horse neighed in shock.

An arrow had pierced his throat.

He fell back from his horse and down into the dirt, carrying all his absurd ambition and greed with him.

The Baliner mercenaries quickly paid the price for their contempt. The Kriyan archers who arrived at the nick of time caused a lot of casualties to the mercenaries on the battlefield in just a short moment. All the mercenaries who tried to cross the drawbridge had their throats pierced by arrows, and the corpses quickly piled up a hill on the drawbridge entering the city.

"It's reinforcements!"

On the city wall, the mercenaries who sneaked in had already been hacked to death by the regrouped soldiers. Seeing a cavalry suddenly appear, the soldiers' morale was boosted, and they shouted excitedly.

 "Charge!"

The experienced Earl Gray gave the order immediately after the Kriyan archers arrived on the battlefield.

"Damn, what's going on with these damned guys?"

The mercenary leader outside the city gritted his teeth with hatred for these gray-robed men who suddenly appeared. The army that was attacking the city was shot from behind and from the left, and it was difficult to defend in a hurry.

And at this time, the besieged Putton County defenders took advantage of the situation and charged out of the city. The situation on the battlefield suddenly reversed, and it became that they were the ones who were attacked from the inside and outside.

"Retreat first."

The head of the Inquisition Bureau swung his sword to cut off a feathered arrow that was shot at him, and the hand holding his sword even went numb from the shock of the force.

The gray-robed archer who shot the arrow maintained the posture of pulling the bow, and pulled the bowstring contemptuously at him across most of the battlefield.

The plan had failed, and the Baliner mercenaries didn't want to suffer any more casualties. The horn sounded, and the army gathered together and began to retreat.

Earl Gray did not lead his troops to pursue. He stood in front of the city gate, watched the enemy retreat, and breathed a sigh of relief.

The sound of horseshoes stomping could be heard, and the Kriyan archers who arrived at the critical moment slowly gathered and stood opposite the soldiers from Putton County. The corpses were piled up on the suspension bridge in front of the city gate, and each corpse had a feathered arrow precisely inserted in the throat. The soldiers of Putton applauded the exceptionally fine reinforcements with admiration.

"Following His Majesty's order to come provide support."

The gray-robed archer who had just provoked the head of the Inquisition Bureau took off his hood. He was a young man with silver hair and green eyes.

Dale glanced at his father and found that his father seemed to be prepared for the appearance of this archer.

"For Legrand's glory."

Earl Gray raised his fist and tapped on his breastplate.

Kriya's archers separated, and a man with the appearance of a scholar stepped out from among them. He didn't carry a bow and arrow. He nodded to Earl Gray, said the same "for Legrand's glory", and then said: "Let's go in, this is not a place for discussion."

Soon the soldiers were left behind to drag away the corpses in front of the city gate and raise the drawbridge again.

The Kriyan archers followed the scholar and their leader into Putton City. Dale and Sidney found that they were as silent as ancient trees, and everyone's face was hidden under a hood. This reminded people of the Kriyan Mountains in the south of Legrand. They were like the legendary elves that haunt the shadows of the ancient forests, born to be the darlings of bows and winds.

………………

"The dragon trainer will arrive in two days."

Under the candlelight, the scholar's first sentence was a heart-sinking piece of bad news.

"Really? How are you sure?" Dale couldn't help asking.

The scholar was not angry at his rudeness, he smiled slightly: "Because I saw it."

"He's an astrologer, Dale."

Earl Gray slightly reprimanded. He was actually also observing the legendary ghost-like leader of the Kriyan archers and the high-ranking scholar among them.

Some of the mysteries shrouding the Kriyan archers faded slightly. If Kriya had excellent astrologers, it would make sense for them to appear at the most critical moments on the battlefield. It was just that astrologers have always been controlled by the Holy Court, so he womdered how Kriya's astrologers managed to survive and grow in strength.

"My teacher was Her Majesty the Queen."

The scholar saw his curiosity, and stretched out his hand to pull out a simple necklace from his collar. He held the necklace in a respectful and pious manner.

"The queen will always protect her subjects."

Kriya's queen, the warrior queen back then, Eleanor.

This was already a somewhat unfamiliar name to young people now, but to Earl Gray's generation, it still had an extraordinary meaning to this day.

"The queen protects Legrand." He said, his expression not necessarily relaxed, apparently still remembering what the scholar said about the dragon trainer arriving in two days. "I must admit that Kriya has the best archers in Legrand, but it's a pity——even with you, we can't defeat the black dragon."

"Yes, so we need to persevere."

Kriya's astrologer replied.

………………

Not long after Kriya's archers entered the castle, the rebels finished their reorganization and surrounded the castle again. This time they learned the lesson not long ago, and instead of rushing to attack the castle, they dug trenches around the castle, sealed it up, and intended to trap them to death within.

The mercenary leader organized the siege while practically gnashing his teeth, a Kriyan archer had almost taken his life away with an arrow. Although the head of the Inquisition Bureau swung his sword to block it, the arrow still took away one of his eyes.

He wrapped a bandage around the top of his head, and the only remaining eye looked at the damn castle in the distance with a sinister viciousness.

The signal for massacre was issued in the early hours of the morning, and a sharp arrow was shot at the top of Putton Castle. The Baliner mercenaries warned the people in Putton County that if they did not surrender before noon, then it would be the next Herrid City——no, they would be destroyed more thoroughly than Herrid City.

"...Your city walls will be overthrown, your streets and buildings will be reduced to ashes by the flames of the dragon, and no matter men, women, old or young, they will die without a place to bury..."

This was a terrifying warning.

Fleeing from other places, those who have witnessed the black dragon's figure were in despair. Refugees escaped quietly from the castle again, but they were trapped behind the trenches. The Baliner mercenaries did not intend to accept any surrender. They surrounded and trapped the civilians in the middle, stabbed them to death with long spears, cut off the heads of the refugees, and threw them at the foot of Putton Castle.

This kind of tragedy happened not far from the castle, and it was a massacre deliberately shown to them.

The guards remained at their posts, and the Kriyan archers returned the courtesy when the mercenaries of Baliner came to throw their heads——

They accurately shot and killed all the mercenaries who stepped into range.

After that, the Baliner mercenaries no longer approached the city wall.

At noon, the sun hung high in the sky. There were no clouds, and the sun was so dazzling that it already revealed the breath of midsummer. The refugees crowded on the streets in Putton City suddenly let out a cry of panic, seeing a black shadow like the wind coming from the distant sky. The dragon's roar sounded like thunder, like an announcement of deterrence.

The black dragon hovered in the sky, and then landed on the open space in front of the city gate with a strong gust of wind.

The flag rattled and was almost ripped away.

The dragon trainer stood on the dragon's back, and he politely said to Earl Gray, who stood with a cold face on the city wall: "Mr. Earl, you have one last chance to surrender."

"Otherwise we will turn this place completely——damn!"

The mercenary leader drove his horse to the side of the black dragon. He took over the words of the dragon trainer, but just halfway through speaking, a sharp arrow shot down from the city wall.

The black dragon flapped its wings, and the wind that blew swept away the feathered arrows, but also knocked the mercenary leader, man and horse to the ground.

"You've exhausted our patience, bastard." The mercenary leader got up, and he drew his sword. "You're all going to be killed today."

The leader of the Kriyan archers responded with another sharp arrow.

The dragon trainer sighed regretfully. He quickly jumped off the black dragon and let go of the chain in his hand: "Go, Honey."

The black dragon flapped its wings slowly, and it raised its head and roared.

Red dragon flames spat out.

"Honey!"

The dragon trainer turned his head abruptly. The dragon flames changed direction at the last moment and sprayed towards their right. Some mercenaries who stood too close didn't even have time to scream, and were wiped out in flames. He almost thought that the black dragon had gone out of control. 

The next moment, the dragon trainer realized that the black dragon was not out of control, but defending itself!

A giant spear was thrown through the air, and a dazzling light shone on the spear.

This was a weapon that was impossible for humans to use. It was so heavy and huge, just like the bone spear carried by the giants in the legends wno used it to pierce the mammoth's throat.

The dragon flames failed to incinerate it, it was just blown off-course, and fell back into a hand wearing an iron glove.

The black dragon roared angrily in a low growl, with its wings raised high, and its ferocious slit pupils staring intently into the distance.

This time, the people who exclaimed were replaced by the Baliner mercenaries.

"Has the gate of hell been opened?"

They backed away subconsciously.

The ground shook like thunder rolling on the surface. The terrifying army of ancient beasts appeared in the billowing smoke and dust. They were terrifying cavalry that could only exist in nightmares, and even the Gulundi heavy cavalry appeared docile like lambs in front of them. Each piece of armor weighed thousands of stones, and mortal horses could no longer support such heavy armor. But most horrifying of all was the fact that pale skeletons wore this ferocious armor.

Just like the mercenaries muttering to themselves, the gates of hell seem to have opened.

The dusty army stepped out of the shadows and came to the world with murder in the air.

On the city wall and under the city wall, everyone was shocked by the army composed of skeletons and heavy armor, and no one made a sound.

Kriya's archers stared closely at the knight at the front of the nightmare cavalry. Compared with the skeleton cavalry behind him, he seemed small in stature, but he was the one who led this horrific cavalry to arrive.

The Kriyan archers who could indifferently reap lives on the battlefield heard their heartbeats suddenly increase. They clenched their longbows tightly, almost unable to breathe due to tension.

The knight rode out, raised his hand and took off his helmet.

Long pitch-black hair tumbled down——bloody hell, she's a woman!

A woman who was so beautiful that she was almost intimidating.

The daylight was piercingly bright, reflecting off her armor and outlining a dazzling brilliance. She led thousands of troops and horses to stand amidst dragon flames burning on the ground, and the flames imprinted on her dark green pupils.

The Kriyan archers raised their longbows high, and these gray-robed archers, who were as silent as ancient trees, let out deafening cheers.

"I heard——"

Amidst their cheers, the black-haired female knight raised her saber and pointed it straight ahead.

"You want to slaughter my people?"