Kingdom Bloodline

Chapter 260 All of them!

Valhalla, another corridor (This chapter is heavily censored and edited by the system; please forgive any unpleasant reading experience).

Miranda's sword sliced ​​through the air in a zigzag pattern.

"Qiang!"

Amidst the crisp metallic clang, she gritted her teeth and passed Chloesie.

next second.

"laugh!"

Blood spurted from Miranda's abdomen, while Chloeshi's left leg armor was severely deformed.

The two, who had their backs to each other, separated and swayed before collapsing to the ground.

“Haha, as expected of the chief,” Kroesi sat on the ground, looking exhausted, enduring the pain as she pried open the deformed leg armor with the blade of her sword and pressed on the bones: “To be able to do this even with injuries not yet healed.”

Miranda, drenched in cold sweat, leaned against the wall, clutching her abdominal wound tightly, and kept urging on the Pegasus Symphony to slow the bleeding and muscle contraction, ignoring her words.

They knew that after a brief but intense battle, they had both reached their limits, and what remained was a contest of perseverance and spirit.

“Tell me,” Miranda began with difficulty, “betraying friends, murdering kings, using the Tower of the End to satisfy your own ambitions…”

"How are you feeling, Ashe?"

Kroesi paused slightly, her gaze shifting to the sword in her hand.

That's the sword I obtained from the Tower of the End: The Leader.

The hilt of the sword is engraved with the unique symbol of the "Pegasus" lineage: Silver Winged Pegasus—representing unwavering faith.

"It feels amazing, Mira."

Kroeshe withdrew her gaze and sneered, "That feeling of pleasure from breaking the rules."

Surprisingly, Miranda showed neither anger nor doubt.

Miss Arendt simply watched her quietly, her gaze subtle.

“Ashe,” the female swordsman spoke softly, her voice filled with sorrow, “you must have had a terrible few years after leaving the tower, haven’t you?”

Kroesi trembled slightly.

Her arm stiffened.

“I heard from Kaslan that you were rejected by the White Blade Guard.”

"Otherwise you wouldn't have..."

Miranda sighed: "But I implore you, don't lose yourself—think of your 'heart of the sword'."

The corridor fell silent.

Kroesi's breathing became faster and faster.

Heart of the Sword.

My...heart of the sword?

“Mira,” Chloesh gritted her teeth, “you are a noble heir of the North, and you've just graduated and are already serving under the Fortress Flower…”

"With your life so smooth, you certainly don't understand the struggles a woman from an ordinary background has to go through in this world."

Miranda was slightly taken aback.

Just as she was about to ask "what struggle?", the other person suddenly got up from the ground and limped towards her!

Miranda was startled and, ignoring the pain in her abdomen, jumped up!

"Qiang!"

The longsword "Eagle Soars" and Chloe's "Leader" clashed in mid-air, locked in a stalemate.

"The White Blade Guard?" Chloeshi's arm trembled as she looked down at her opponent.

Miranda could only fight with all her might.

Both men listened to the power of their swords as they clashed, their swords constantly shifting back and forth as they tried to find the most suitable point of force and rhythm for their attack.

“Not only that, from the most noble Dragonsreach City to the most remote country manor, no lord is willing to hire me, even though I can beat their guards and patrolmen to a pulp,” Chloe said bitterly. “For more than a year, I have carried the hopes and skills of the Tower, but I have wandered around like a beggar that everyone despises.”

“So, when Rumba reached out to you,” Miranda said, taking a closer look at the wound on the enemy’s other leg, calmly shifting his stance, searching for an opportunity, “you resolved to repay him with your life, even if it meant violating your creed?”

Kroesi's hand holding the sword trembled slightly.

Miranda's eyelids twitched, and she instantly seized the opportunity.

"Keng!"

She twisted her longsword, quickly breaking free from the disadvantageous position of being suppressed, then took a sharp step forward and turned around, using the advantage of her footing to launch an attack!
But to Miranda's surprise, Chloesh, who had injured her left leg, did not retreat as she had planned and fall into her rhythm.

The round-faced female swordsman roared angrily and, ignoring the injuries to her legs, lunged forward!

what?
Miranda's pupils contracted.

The longsword grazed Chloe's short hair, taking a few strands, while Chloe's blade aimed straight for Miranda's injured abdomen.

"Boom!"

In the nick of time, Miranda managed to dodge the opponent's sword, but was struck in the ribs by the hilt of the sword that came flying at her.

In excruciating pain, Miranda's face contorted in agony as she retreated until she collapsed to the ground.

Oops.

rib cage……

The wounds from the previous battle with the Sword of Calamity were still throbbing slightly.

In front of Miranda, Chloesie, who had exerted too much force, also collapsed. She used her longsword to support herself on the ground and pressed down hard on her left leg, which was aggravated by the injury.

“You don’t understand…” Kroesi said painfully, “Finally, in Menton, a viscount has agreed to hire me—if I’m willing to marry him.”

“I know, there have been similar cases before—he probably wanted a woman who could wield a greatsword with flair during the day and then obediently spread her legs at night,” Kroesh said with a sarcastic smile. “I think what he wanted was the sense of accomplishment that comes from having his dignity satisfied, that makes him feel like a man.”

"I refused."

Miranda, feeling the pain in her ribs, listened palely to the words of her old classmates.

“‘No matter how powerful you are, you’re still a woman,’ that’s what he said,” Chloe said through gritted teeth, her eyes reddening. “It was just…”

"It was the drug he gave me that..."

"Before the onset."

Miranda was jolted!
She looked at her friend in disbelief, at the sorrowful expression on Chloe's face.

The latter laughed sarcastically.

Miranda felt a pang of sadness and whispered, "Aishie..."

“I don’t care about what he did!” Kroesh’s unusual smile made Miranda uneasy.

"In fact, he didn't do anything, did he?"

“But I will always remember his eyes that night, the words he said—that humiliation, that contempt,” Kroesh’s tone quickened, “and the panic I felt in my own heart at that moment… as if I was about to lose all my value as a woman.”

"From that day on, I understood one thing."

The captain of the Black Sands Grand Duke's female guard's eyes turned cold.

"The reason I've faced rejection everywhere, and no one has accepted me, is not because I lack ability, not because I'm physically weak, not because I lack experience," Chloeshi said coldly, straightening up shakily and pressing her weight onto her sword.

"And simply because I am a woman."

Miranda looked at her old friend with sadness and heartache, feeling a tightness in her chest.

Kroeshe...

you……

“In the North, they don’t believe a woman can be a warrior, can fight with a sword, and can survive independently,” Kroesh’s eyes hardened as she staggered toward Miranda. “They won’t allow it!”

“This world cannot tolerate women being ‘stronger’ than men, because that’s their exclusive privilege,” Kroesh took a deep breath. “Even more so, it cannot tolerate women surviving without relying on men, because that’s also their privilege!”

"Once you figure this out, many things will fall into place."

“Remember all the stories we read in the tower—chivalric romances, historical dramas, love poems—no matter what kind of woman she was, no matter how strong and independent, no matter how loyal and unyielding, if she was to be liked by the readers, she had to meet one condition,” Chloesh gasped, her eyes flashing with a fierce light:
“As long as they are women, whether protagonists or supporting characters, they must be appendages to men's lives, existing for men,” Chloesie said through gritted teeth, leaning against the wall.
"She has to be able to be fucked by a man! Fucked by the protagonist!"

"Readers feel a greater sense of accomplishment when a woman of high status is being violated!"

"Readers feel a greater sense of conquest when a dignified and aloof woman is being violated!"

"Readers experience even greater sensory pleasure when a charming and alluring woman is being fucked!"

"Readers feel more dignified when a pitiful woman is being violated!"

"Readers feel safer watching innocent and cute women being fucked!"

"Readers feel even more satisfied when a cunning and treacherous woman is being fucked!"

“As long as they are women, whether protagonists or supporting characters, they must be appendages to men's lives, existing for men,” Chloesie said through gritted teeth, leaning against the wall.
"From novels to reality, from birth to death, from laws to life, this is the story this damn world keeps telling us—and it's the fucking truth!"

"What are you talking about?" Miranda shook her head in disbelief, her heart filled with fear: "Aish!"

“Even you, Mira, in a world where women have the right to inherit, your vassals will not truly obey you without a strong husband,” Kroesh’s eyes gleamed with resentment and pain. “Even independent women like Heart of the Rain and Flower of the Fortress must achieve extraordinary results to earn the same rewards and status as men.”

In that instant, Miranda suddenly remembered her past, the way her subordinates looked at her in the fortress, her father's expression when she was seven, and... Raphael.

"So, I've also figured something out."

“It’s not the White-Blade Guards, it’s not those lords, that reject me, that reject women’s independence,” Chloeshi walked up to Miranda, her eyes glazed and her voice hollow.

"It's this damn world."

Kroeshe finished speaking.

Miranda stared at her, stunned by Croesus's words—whether they were about her past misfortunes or her shocking views.

Kroeshe calmed her breathing, then steadily raised the sword in her hand, her face cold.

She said bitterly:

"Fuck them all."

The sword flashed!

Miranda, enduring the excruciating pain in her ribs, rolled sideways in a disheveled manner to avoid Chloe's deadly sword strike.

If it weren't for her leg disability, she would probably have been decapitated long ago.

Miranda reacted with lightning speed, turning around and thrusting her sword straight at her opponent's abdomen!

Just as the immobile Chloeshi parried with her sword, Miranda's sword miraculously spun and then thrust straight out.

It hit Chloesh's left ankle squarely!

It was as if Chloeshe had stepped aside from the sword.

"clang!"

The sword clashed violently with the armored boots.

Kroesi collapsed to the ground in agony, clutching her ankle inside her armored boot.

Belonging to the Pegasus school, Miranda's Pegasus Symphony tends to simultaneously manipulate the rhythm of both sides in a back-and-forth linkage, creating unexpected opportunities to defeat the enemy, like a concerto that goes on and on.
Kroesi's Pegasus Symphony, on the other hand, is accustomed to taking the initiative in controlling the overall rhythm of the battle, with rapid offensives and clear distinctions between friend and foe, like a scherzo with strong contrasts between the strong and the weak.

This was vividly demonstrated in the back-and-forth exchanges just now, with Kroesh's heavy rib strikes and Miranda's attacks on the opponent's ankles.

“Aishie, forget those unbearable past events,” Miranda shook her head anxiously. “You’re overthinking it. You’re transferring your hatred to…”

"Overthinking?"

Despite the pain in her ankle and leg, Chloeshe let out a cold snort:
“You don’t understand, Mira.”

"The most terrifying thing is not the injustice suffered by women, nor the repeated failures in the fight against it, but that for thousands of years, even we women ourselves have taken such things and such rules for granted and as a matter of course."

The two former classmates fell to the ground, staring intently at each other, only three steps apart.

That's exactly the distance to deliver a sword strike.

The final strike.

“My mother was an ordinary country woman, and my father never loved her,” Croesi said, holding her leader and searching for the right angle. “As far back as I can remember, that country woman sat in her house all day, twisting the knitting needles in her hands, from day to night, patiently waiting for her only support to return from the glorious White Guard—though he never did.”

“My mother was still proud of that man, and considered it an honor to be the wife and daughter of the king’s guard. It was as if all her and my value could only be reflected in that man, even though he only appeared before me for the first time at my mother’s funeral.”

Kroeshe chuckled softly.

Miranda stared intently at her enemy's shoulder, the blade adjusting its position to follow Chloesh's weapon.

“After my mother passed away in sorrow, I was taken back to Dragon City and entrusted to be raised by a lady of noble birth,” Kroesi’s face darkened. “Lady Adele married one of the most distinguished men in the country—the brave, capable, and generous Prince Sulir Walton.”

“You can’t imagine what I saw,” Croesus said, his breathing quickening. “If others know how to use sweet words to disguise the fact that women are property, then Sulier Walton is probably an honest man—property should be dealt with with a whip.”

“As a child, I hid under the bed countless times, covering my mouth, trembling with fear as I heard that damned bastard come in,” she said, her voice trembling. “I heard Lady Adele scream in agony, and heard that bastard prince treat her like the lowest of slaves, venting his anger on his wife again and again—Adele did not save her virginity for her new husband, but for a knight from her hometown when she was young—as punishment for her disrespect and insult.”

“I would always crawl out to comfort Adele, who was naked and covered in wounds, after he left in despair. She would always hug me tightly, with tears streaming down her face, and tell me, and herself, not to be sad, because it was her sin and a woman’s fate.”

Miranda stared in astonishment at Chloesh's appearance—a look she had never seen before in the Tower of Endings.

“You know what, Mira?” Chloeshi said wearily.

“In fact, from birth to death, we—women—are never a complete person compared to another group of people,” her voice trailed off.
"When we were young, we were our father's property, to be exchanged for another man's property; when we grew up, our faces and figures became the face of our future husbands, and even our thoughts had to belong to them."

“When I dissected myself from head to toe, inside and out, I found that the only thing that truly belonged to me was this sword,” Kroesh’s eyes were filled with gloom.

"Ashe."

Miranda hesitated, her eyes filled with a mixture of regret, confusion, and distress.

In that instant, it seemed they both forgot about the swords in their hands.

Finally, Miranda sighed: "What exactly are you trying to do?"

Kroeshe looked at her silently, forcing an awkward smile: "I'll use this last sword..."

"Me, what women are deprived of from birth..."

"Take it back."

At that moment, Miranda swayed slightly and leaned against the wall in a daze.

"I don't understand," she said, her face pale.

But Chloe simply chuckled, seemingly unsurprised.

“Mira, I don’t blame you…you happy, pitiful, innocent, complacent, and utterly unaware woman.”

Miranda pursed her lips, looking at the sword in her hand, then at Chloeci.

“Whatever you intend to do… the world, history, has been operating this way for thousands of years, even if you are a god… such nonsense,” she shook her head through gritted teeth:
"You have absolutely no chance of succeeding!"

Kroeshe suddenly looked up!

"Of course I know I can't succeed!"

The captain of the Black Sand Territory's female guard had a pained and contorted expression, which sent a shiver down Miranda's spine.

“Whether it’s the world’s common sense, the deep-rooted traditions of the North, or our own self-awareness…” Kroesi took a deep breath, her eyes resolute: “But for everything, someone has to take the first step.”

"Your Excellency, he is the only person in the North who can cast aside constraints, break with tradition, and defy convention." She resumed her composed expression, stating unequivocally:
"Only when he shatters the North, everything that Exster believed in, and negates the backward past inch by inch, will women have hope of gaining a new future in the new world built on the ruins, and living without being an appendage of anyone."

Miranda didn't know how to answer, she just frowned and shook her head repeatedly, feeling a pang of sadness in her heart.

Ashe...

Ashe!

“The rest of the world may not change, and in the end they will not even look at those women who yearn for independence and hope for the future,” Kroesh said coldly, “but I will at least let them know that in that turbulent and earth-shaking era, under the command of that world-shaking Grand Duke, there was such a woman!”

"The world will know: she is a woman, but she can bleed, make contributions, fight, and survive on her own, without having to live a muddled life as a man's wife, relying on her looks and womb to survive, and wearing the mask of identity given to her by this world to eke out a living!"

“Like Queen Erica, like King Yao,” Chloe’s eyes showed pain and hesitation, but then turned into unbreakable ice: “Only in this way, through my efforts, through our repeated attempts, and through our repeated failures…”

Only then can injustice be redressed and predicaments be overcome!

The next second, Chloeshe suddenly raised her sword!

Miranda also subconsciously raised the "Eagle Soaring" in her hand.

"Clang!"

The two swords clashed and rubbed against each other in the air, but neither sword made any attempt to defend itself.

Instead, they pierced the enemy's body together!
"laugh!"

Blood flowed from both Miranda's and Kroesh's chests at the same time.

The two, who knew each other so well, guessed each other's intentions and were now in almost identical poses.

They thrust forward with one sword in each hand, while the other hand gripped the blade of the sword thrusting at them. Their eyes met, and the atmosphere was tense.

"so……"

“For this absurd reason, you turned to Rumba,” Miranda gripped her old friend’s sword, her eyes wide with pain and trembling, “betraying us all.”

Across from her, Chloeshe wore a smile that was a mixture of apology and relief.

Bright red liquid spread from beneath the two of them.

“No, Mira, it’s not inexplicable,” Kroesh said softly, her face trembling slightly, tears streaming from her eyes. “It’s right here, but you’ve been so disciplined by this world that you’ve become accustomed to it.”

Miranda breathed heavily, recalling everything in the tower, her vision blurred.

"His Excellency the Grand Duke... he carries the hopes and faith of so many people, including myself..."

In her ears, Chloe's voice grew farther and farther away, fainter and fainter, more and more indistinct:
"He will definitely succeed."

"He must succeed."

Thank you for the recommendation of "Trails of Light in Azeroth"!

Everyone should check out this book! It's a breath of fresh air in the Warcraft universe...



(End of this chapter)