Raise Joan of Arc to be an empress, then discard her.

“Yes.” The king looked at the person who asked the question with an appreciative look. “So far, everything has remained in accordance with my plan.”

"Your Majesty...why did you do this?"

"Of course, it's for a higher purpose," the king said.

"So far, none of our three knightly orders have suffered any losses, have they? That means that although our land has fallen, our core strength has not been damaged in the slightest. We have not experienced any defeats, and if we want to, a counterattack is only a matter of time."

The word "counter-offensive" touched a nerve with the knights, and one of them asked, "Your Majesty, what is our counter-offensive strategy?"

This was the answer the knights most wanted to hear. They had been discussing it during the war council held at the palace, and they all longed for a counterattack.

“I hope you will not resist,” the king said.

"What do you mean by not resisting?" The knight's eyes widened.

The king did not answer their questions directly, but instead turned to ask, "Does anyone here know how old the walls of Asgard are?"

"History?" the questioner asked, sounding puzzled.

"A thousand years," someone calmly replied.

“That’s right, a thousand years,” the king said approvingly.

"The walls of Asgard were built for war, meaning they were built for this moment. The walls of Asgard have withstood countless tests and wars over thousands of years, but no king has ever allowed Asgard to fall. Asgard is known as the city that will never fall. So don't you think Asgard is the most suitable place to resist?"

The king's answer silenced the war room, and after a long while, someone finally spoke:

"If we use Esgard as our defensive center, half of Lucretia will fall into enemy hands, and our people will suffer..."

Holding Asgard might be the safest option, as Asgard, the city of all cities, was originally built to defend against war. However, doing so would plunge half of the Lucerne population into bloodshed and fire...

"The enemy is a coalition of seven nations, and the powerful nations of half the Old World are gathered there. Even if half of our territory falls, there's nothing we can do about it," the king said.

The man was about to say something when the king interrupted him with a gesture, saying, "We are doing this not because we only know how to defend, but because we have far-reaching ambitions. Our ultimate goal is to fight the enemy to the death in Asgard."

"A decisive battle to the death?"

Before the meeting ended, someone proposed a final showdown, suggesting that deciding the outcome with a single battle might not be a bad thing for Lusset. But the question was, how could they be guaranteed to win?

The opposing force is a coalition of seven nations, comprised of the most outstanding extraordinary individuals from those seven nations, including more than five sword-level warriors.

If they lose the final battle, Esgard will be right behind them, leaving them no room for maneuver, and Lucret... will perish from that point on.

This was a war where everything was at stake. No one would have thought that the king would dare to make such a gamble, binding the entire country to his war chariot.

"Yes, of course we will pay a lot, but if we win, we will gain even more; we will gain the whole world."

"The whole world?"

The king's eyes gleamed: "Lucert has been subservient to the continent for too long. We should be the masters of the world, but we can only occupy a corner of the Old World. This is not commensurate with our status."

"But after this decisive battle, once we have annihilated the enemy's main force in Esgard, and we launch a counterattack, we will subdue Chernog, Castleland, Eisenberg, and Lotenberg."

"In other words, once we win this war, we will become the masters of the world, we will unify the entire New World, we will rule the whole world. Would anyone not tremble in the face of such a feat?"

Everyone in the war room was stunned. They couldn't believe it, but the king spoke so earnestly, his eyes shining with a chaotic, boundless light, as if he were making a prophecy, as if the vision of Lucretia ruling the entire world had already appeared before his eyes.

"Your Majesty... has it already foreseen our victory?" someone asked.

The king turned around abruptly, looked at the man, and said excitedly, "Yes, I have foreseen our victory. We will become the masters of the world, and everyone here will become heroes who rule the world."

"Will we be victorious in the future? Does the Book of Omniscience really foretell that...?"

They actually found peace in the king's words, because of the omnipotent and omniscient book, because of the omnipotent king.

The Book of Omniscience is all-knowing and all-powerful. Their king has never made a wrong prediction in the past thirty years. Since both the king and the Book of Omniscience have said that they will eventually be victorious, then it must be true.

An atmosphere of trust that other countries could not comprehend arose in the war room. Faced with the king's crazy plan, the vast majority of knights chose to believe and accept it.

So what should we do?

"Do not resist."

The king smiled and said, "Let's preserve our strength as much as possible and save all our power for the final battle."

"But if we conserve our strength to defend Asgard, then the garrisons of the other cities will..."

"Many of them will die, but that's inevitable. This is the price Lucretia has to pay to become the ruler of the world. They are heroes who died for their country, and Lucretia will remember them forever," the King said.

"I think you all understand what I mean. So, my most loyal generals, please prepare for the final battle that is about to begin. Although the enemy has been advancing triumphantly and has been blinded by victory, please do not panic. When we unleash our power, when Lucette roars as a dragon over the world, we will shock the world and make the world submit. Until then, please be patient and wait quietly for the day of victory."

Chapter 81 The Name of Joan of Arc

In the year 882 of the Star Calendar, a year that will be recorded in history, war broke out between Lusset and the Seven Kingdoms. The anti-Lucset alliance, composed of the Seven Kingdoms, attacked Lusset's borders.

For a long time, Lucerne has been regarded as a fierce tiger, the most powerful country in the world. Lucerne's military strength, supernatural power, and industrial power are all number one. The king possesses the omniscient book that can see through everything, and the king has three great knightly orders that are feared by all.

Before the raid on Lucert, the anti-Lucert alliance had argued many times. When they decided to launch the raid, they were prepared to be discovered by Lucert. However, when they actually launched the raid, something unexpected happened.

The tiger that was Lucerne turned out to be incredibly vulnerable under attack. They broke through Lucerne's defenses with ease and captured Orléans. The last time Orléans was occupied by an enemy was hundreds of years ago. They seemed to have truly made history.

Whether Lusset, this fierce tiger, is actually only outwardly strong but inwardly fragile, no one knows the answer, but the front lines do not lie, and their victories do not lie.

They have already occupied a significant portion of Lucert, and the anti-Lucert alliance continues its rapid advance, encountering almost no significant resistance along the way, and is still launching a fierce attack towards Asgard.

The myth of Lucerne's invincibility has become history, and even Lucerne himself seems to be on the verge of becoming history.

Twenty days after the fall of Orleans, in Esgard.

At five o'clock in the morning, the gates of Asgard were opened wide, and in the thick morning fog, a steady stream of wounded soldiers were transported to Asgard.

These wounded soldiers were all garrison troops from various cities. Because their original cities were unable to provide treatment, they were carried onto open-top vehicles used for transporting weapons and sent to Asgard for treatment.

The church was already operating at full capacity, and now a strange sight appeared in Asgard: you could either not see priests or nuns at the church, or only a few scattered clergy members, because most of them had come here to take care of the wounded.

As a more knowledgeable nun, Joan of Arc was responsible not only for caring for the wounded but also for handling clerical work. She worked in the tent all night, processing the list of the wounded. In the early morning, Aaron arrived, and she went out of the tent with him, walking among the wounded.

The scene in front of the city gate was one of utter exhaustion. Many wounded soldiers, who had not been able to be sent to the hospital in time or whose injuries were not serious, were pushed and shoved against each other and collapsed against the city wall.

More wounded soldiers brought back from the front lines, and soldiers who had retreated from the front, gathered in a circle at the gates of Asgard, according to their assigned ranks. They stood together, wearing uniforms, clutching their weapons, heads bowed, saying nothing, as if they had lost their souls.

An eerie atmosphere permeated the air, making one feel as if they were wandering in a dream; everyone's face was lifeless and devoid of vitality.

In the first few days after the wounded were brought in, the Duchess of Lucerne, a noble lady, would disguise herself as a nurse and care for the wounded in front of the city gates, allowing reporters to record their actions and report them in the newspapers. But after a few days, they all disappeared, leaving only Joan of Arc and the nuns to continue caring for the wounded.

Wounded soldiers continued to be sent to Esgard, their faces bearing a sickly numbness, their spiritual pain even greater than their physical suffering.

At first, the delegation included actors who came to visit the soldiers and encourage them with their songs. However, the stars who were usually very popular in the opera house were in a dilemma at this time. The soldiers seemed unable to understand their high art and were unmoved by their performance and singing. Most of the soldiers just stared coldly at the person performing on the high platform. Even the seasoned opera stars were embarrassed and left the stage before finishing their performance.

Now that the delegation and those who cared about them most had disappeared, the city gates were once again shrouded in deathly silence. The soldiers were all listless and unable to speak, like cold zombies, devoid of any vitality. This atmosphere was not just a matter of deteriorating morale; it seemed to be eroding their lives. The soldiers slowly withered away in this helpless and cold air.

Aaron walked among the soldiers in the morning mist, sighing softly to himself.

Joan of Arc walked ahead of Aaron. From the moment she stepped into the morning mist, Joan of Arc remained silent. Aaron was about to tell Joan of Arc to leave and go back to rest when he suddenly heard intermittent singing.

Aaron was startled and looked in the direction of the singing, only to find that it was Joan of Arc singing in the thick fog.

There was no accompaniment, only the girl's a cappella singing in the thick fog. Her voice was not loud, and her singing skills were not as good as the opera singers who came to comfort the troops a few days ago. The song was a folk song with a sad tone, but her tone was melancholy and sorrowful. The song she sang was a folk song from her hometown that the soldiers had heard or sung before.

Joan of Arc's song carried far through the morning mist, and the lifeless soldiers seemed to come alive again, raising their heads and looking in the direction of the song.

Joan of Arc's voice grew clearer and clearer, reaching the ears of those sitting far away. They couldn't hear the lyrics clearly, but they could still feel the sorrow in her voice.

Joan of Arc summoned the military banner and placed it at her feet. The banner in her hand did not fly high, but was fluttered in the wind in a mournful manner, emitting a pale blue, sorrowful light.

A pale blue light, carried by the wind, transported spiritual energy and the song to the soldiers below the city wall. The song was like a lullaby, and all the soldiers were immersed in the atmosphere. Some soldiers, numb and whose eyes hadn't closed for days due to their wounds, slowly closed their eyes as the song played, as if they had finally broken free from the stagnant atmosphere and could finally rest. Most of the soldiers sat still, listening intently.

A strange sight appeared in the mist: the soldiers, whose faces had been deathly pale, slowly rose from the ground, approached Joan of Arc, and then sat down on the ground nearby, closing their eyes as if Joan of Arc's singing was a cool breeze gently blowing over them, bringing them temporary peace.

Aaron watched in astonishment as more and more people and soldiers spontaneously gathered around Joan of Arc. Even the swaying, exhausted medical staff were drawn to Joan of Arc. Everyone was enveloped in a strange and peaceful atmosphere because of Joan of Arc.

When Joan of Arc finished singing, many people closed their eyes, finding final solace and falling into eternal sleep or immersing themselves in dreams. Aaron took Joan away, promising to return tomorrow to comfort these wounded souls.

After that, the name of the girl who cared for the wounded at the foot of the city wall and sang for them, miraculously attracting the attention of all the wounded, spread like wildfire among the soldiers and the wounded. Gradually, everyone knew the name Joan of Arc, and these people began to unconsciously gather around Joan of Arc...

Chapter 82 The Queen and Princess Expelled from the Palace

"Joan of Arc seems to be quite famous lately?"

"Yes, she was only known in a small area at first, but now half the wounded soldiers in the city know her. It is said that the soldiers look forward to seeing her the most every day. She is indeed very good at boosting morale."

“Having a student like this must put a lot of pressure on the teacher, right?” Aurelia said.

"Yes, it's said that everyone in the Blazing White Knights likes her very much. If it weren't for the war, the Blazing White Knights would have already extended an olive branch to Joan of Arc. We need to be careful that Joan of Arc isn't lured away."

"It's because of that incident, isn't it?"

"Yes, that's true. Lydia, the third seat of the Blazing White Knights, did not follow the king's orders to evacuate from the second largest city. Instead, she chose to stay and fight alongside the garrison. After the city fell, she was rescued by her subordinates at the cost of dozens of Blazing White Knights. The king was furious. After she returned, the king made her stay at the city gate. It was there that she met Joan of Arc. It is said that she was deeply moved by Joan of Arc's singing, which is why the entire Blazing White Knights now adore Joan of Arc."

“There are always people like that, who will resist even if it means defying the king’s orders.” Aurelia sighed. “Now Lydia has become a kind of spiritual symbol, and there are many people in the country who want to resist.”

"There's nothing we can do. Refugees have already started pouring into Asgard. The only thing that can control the refugees is the Church. The Church's power is growing stronger and stronger, but the Church is also on the King's side."

“But it is not necessarily the church that gains power, because there are too many refugees and wounded soldiers, and the people are giving birth to their own leaders. People like Joan of Arc are beginning to gain power, and more and more people are gathering around her. You must tell Joan of Arc to be careful.”

After a moment of silence, Aaron said, "I believe she can control this power. In a sense, Joan of Arc was born for such chaotic times."

"And you seem to be very busy lately, busy catching spies?"

"This is just one of them; there are other matters related to the Empress."

Aurelia remained silent for a long time: "Have you gotten into trouble again?"

"I got involved this time on my own initiative. Anyway, I'm not afraid of being bitten by lice. And I'm very interested in the Empress's affairs."

Aurelia smiled and said, "No, I support you in doing this. The Queen is a very kind person. She shouldn't have to go through such a thing. Moreover, our Queen and Princess of Lucerne have been driven out of the palace and are now wandering outside. Even if this is recorded in history, they will be ridiculed."

There is probably no one in Lusset who would be uninterested in this matter. The king, doubting the queen's chastity, publicly banished her from the palace and forced her to beg for porridge with refugees in front of the city gates. Now the queen is wandering the city with the little princess, and no one dares to approach her. Even in the history of the kingdom, this is a crazy thing.

“There are many refugees and homeless people in the city right now. Go find them before something irreversible happens,” Aurelia said.

*

"Mom, let's go!"

The girl angrily took her mother's hand and turned to leave, but was stopped by the man in front of her.

“Your Highness Charlotte, someone as noble as you probably doesn’t have the chance to see strong men normally, does she?” the man said frivolously, and the crowd behind him burst into laughter.

The girl was furious, her beautiful face flushed red with rage: "Insolence! You rude commoner, how dare you speak to me like that!"

In the cold winter, a beautiful and elegant girl, dressed in a thin white coat, stood in the snow with her mother. She held her mother's hand tightly and stared at the group of dissolute men like a little lion. Despite her thin clothes, she was like a bright and beautiful jade, exuding a captivating aura.

But precisely because of this, her threats had no effect on the vagrants who had gathered around her; upon hearing her sweet voice, the vagrants became even more excited: