The story of the black silk female knight

About 16 seconds later, seeing that the elite squad of wild beasts had rushed into the designated area, the fallen undead maid pressed one of the three remote controls without hesitation.

Bang!

Suddenly, a directional explosion occurred at the feet of the charging elite beast squad, covering them all in a fan shape of about 160 degrees.

The explosion wasn't very powerful, only slightly stronger than the grenades used by the zombies and skeletons, but along with the shockwave, countless fragments shimmering with holy light swept towards the beasts.

Anti-personnel mines.

To be precise, it's an anti-personnel mine where all the shrapnel has been soaked in holy water and blessed.

Apart from Myrcella, the fallen undead maids were ultimately somewhat lacking in strength... In order to make up for their combat power, Valensa came up with this method when training them.

When Tia learned about this idea, she praised it highly. She stayed up all night again and wrote a teaching material on the combined use of sniper rifles and anti-personnel mines, and had the fallen maids intensify their training.

Its main tactical idea is to do what this fallen undead maid is doing now: first, use a sniper rifle to force the elite beast squad to move, and then, based on the three possible judgments that the elite beast squad leader might make, detonate the pre-set anti-personnel mines.

Now, the tactics are working.

The anti-personnel mines that exploded at close range, along with countless fragments of holy light, finally pierced through the evil lantern's blood-red shield, leaving the elite beast warriors covered in blood.

Chapter 40 Divine Artillery Barrage!

Normal anti-personnel mines generally do not have a strong explosive force, because the original design purpose of anti-personnel mines is to cause casualties and disrupt the enemy's logistics, not to directly create corpses.

However, the anti-personnel mines used by the fallen undead maids are enhanced versions; a direct hit can blow through not only infantry but also armored vehicles.

However, thanks to the crimson shield of the evil lantern, these anti-personnel mines are now working much better than normal anti-personnel mines, only injuring the elite beast warriors without killing them outright.

However, before those elite warriors of the wild beasts could even feel grateful for their survival, the fragments of holy light that had blasted into their bodies began to take effect, using their purifying power to dispel the curse within them.

"Where...where is the power of my ancestors? The power of my ancestors has vanished!"

Immediately, elite warriors of the wild beasts cried out in panic, watching helplessly as their hands went from large and thick to small and thin—their entire bodies regressed to a childlike state within seconds.

The power gained through the curse disappeared, and there was no need to burn lifespan anymore. The holy light even healed the external injuries caused by the anti-personnel mine fragments to these underage wild beasts.

It sounded like a good thing, but none of these underage wild beasts showed any joy; instead, their faces were filled with despair.

Because their current environment is a buffer zone established by the expeditionary force, a place filled with black magic curses and nuclear radiation contamination. The power of those curses will absorb the life force of the wild beasts, but it will also protect them from other curses and contamination.

Now that the curse power has been purified by the holy light, the black magic curse and nuclear radiation contamination in the isolation zone immediately began to take effect.

In less than 30 seconds, these juvenile wild beasts felt dizzy, lightheaded, and breathless. Their skin was unbearably itchy, and scratching it caused large patches of flesh to fester and fall off.

Resistance and escape are impossible, surrender is not accepted, and even screams cannot rouse them; dying in agony is their only fate.

The expeditionary force members and the allied officers who came to watch the battle, who were observing the battlefield situation in real time through intelligence magic, did not feel any pity for these underage wild beasts. On the contrary, many officers from Fran cheered loudly, their faces full of pleasure.

The wild beasts are the three great natural disasters of the Frenoia continent because they have committed all sorts of crimes against humanity... Thousands of years ago, when humanity was relatively weak, the wild beasts that invaded Fran territory and plundered and stole food from various villages and towns were even more cruel.

Are the crimes committed by the wild beasts of the past unrelated to the crimes committed by the wild beasts of today?

Such a thing doesn't exist in this world... Such blood feuds won't fade with time; they'll only grow deeper.

After all, there are many long-lived cultivators in this world, and those tragic histories are not just words they see on paper, but very likely their own personal experiences.

The Franco people all wanted to exterminate the wild beasts, and cruel methods would be even better! The reason they hadn't launched large-scale expeditions before was that the Franco Kingdom couldn't afford the consequences of a major expedition.

Now that the opportunity has finally arrived, how could I not feel exhilarated?

If they weren't constrained by their identity as believers in the Sun and unable to appear too dark and cruel, those Allied officers from Farran would have even wanted to shout for the expeditionary force's black magic to be even more ruthless! Torturing the beasts for only a few minutes before letting them die was too merciful.

Similar situations occurred throughout the isolation zone. This time, the elite beast squads that came to carry out the infiltration operation were more numerous and charged more resolutely, but it was still to no avail.

They were either forced to reposition by the Fallen Undead Maid's sniper fire, running into anti-personnel mines, their shields shattered by shrapnel of holy light, their curses cleansed, and they died from the sheer power of the isolation zone itself. Or, during their breakout attempt, the crimson shield of the Evil Lantern was directly struck by the Fallen Undead Maid's sniper fire, then pierced by a horde of skeleton zombies wielding automatic rifles, their corpses riddled with bullets that nearly outnumbered their flesh and blood.

Last time, these elite squads of wild beasts were able to reach the vicinity of the new trade route, forcing Lily of the Valley, Thousand Leaf Grass, and Miss Phantom Thief to take action personally.

This time, the elite beast squad didn't even make it past half of the isolation zone before being almost wiped out by the combined efforts of the fallen undead maids and the skeleton zombie squad.

Of course, the expeditionary force also suffered losses.

Each elite squad leader of the Wild Beasts made a different judgment. Some of them did not choose to continue to fight their way out after being sniped, but instead rushed towards the sniper point, wanting to find and deal with the Holy Fallen Undead Maid first.

Anti-personnel mines filled with Holy Light fragments are indeed powerful, but not every elite beast squad can be directly eliminated by them... Just like how some lucky squads managed to get close to the new trade route during the last infiltration mission, this time some extremely lucky elite beast squads found the Fallen Undead Maid and engaged in fierce battle.

But to the surprise of these elite warriors of the wild beasts, the fallen undead maids fought even more frenziedly and fearlessly than they had ever imagined.

After close combat, these fallen undead maids would first throw their large sniper rifles far away, then spring out bone blades from their palms, which would then be imbued with holy light. They would engage in a frenzied, all-out offensive and no-defense style of fighting desperately in close combat with the elite beast warriors.

Not every fallen undead maid is as strong as Mysella. Most of them, who have only recently been reborn, are only at the Pearl level. Facing the elite beast squad composed of Lighthouse and Pearl level members, they would definitely lose in close combat.

The fallen undead maids were aware of this, so while they were frantically swinging their two bone blades to slash at the enemy as much as possible, they were also gathering all the holy light power within their bodies and detonating it together with the bombs tied to the bottom of their maid skirts with leg rings.

Her alluring and fiery body would be torn to pieces in the explosion, injuring all the elite warriors of the wild beasts that approached her. She would use holy light to purify the curses on them, causing them to lose most of their power or even disappear completely. Under the harsh environment of the isolation zone and the pursuit of other undead, they would surely die.

Anyway, Valensa sent the Soul Gem of each fallen maid to the cathedral in the capital of Fran for safekeeping. Even if they were shattered to pieces, they could be reborn in the holy light, so there was nothing to fear.

Everyone's out here to self-destruct, but believing in the goddess allows you to be resurrected with full health after the explosion. Those who believe in the cowardly old fogies within their own tribe, however, are truly reduced to ashes.

In short, this infiltration operation by the elite beast squad started quickly and ended quickly.

Valensa, who was leading the undead army in a frontal assault, hadn't even engaged the enemy yet, and the flanking maneuvering on the isolation zone was already coming to an end... and the situation was already settled; the remaining elite beast squads were barely clinging to life, with no chance of turning the tide.

Tia breathed a slight sigh of relief as she took in all of this through intelligence magic, but her crimson eyes remained calm and undisturbed, as if everything was within her expectations and control.

With her manicured, pink-painted hands gently supporting her chin, Tia hesitated for a moment before taking one of the many magic cards in front of her and contacting Valensa at the front lines:

"Everything went smoothly, Plan A can be executed... Do you remember what we were supposed to do?"

"Of course, I'm not stupid. Last night in bed, you whispered it in my ear and repeated it to me several times, didn't you?"

Valensa laughed:

"Isn't it just about unleashing a few powerful moves right from the start to create momentum and intimidate those Rank 5 beasts hiding behind the magical barrier, making them afraid to come out easily? Don't worry, they're already terrified of me. Actually, even without that..."

"We must proceed as planned!"

Tia interrupted Valensa impatiently, saying coldly:

"No slacking off! Otherwise, I'll punish you! Understand?"

"Understood, Commander!"

Valensa shrugged and deliberately dragged out her reply.

She then seemed to want to chat with Tia for a bit more, probably because following the undead army was quite boring.

But Tia didn't have time for that. After reminding Valensa to proceed according to plan, she deactivated the magic card and put it back in its place, then looked up at the zombie maid beside her who hadn't yet fallen to sainthood:

"Go and invite Miss Hong over; it's time to execute Plan A."

"Yes."

The zombie maid lifted the hem of her skirt, bowed slightly, and then turned and left the room. She returned about four minutes later, accompanied by a female knight.

The female knight had long brown hair and azure eyes, wore silver armor, a short skirt, and black stockings, and had a stern and aloof face but a charming smile. She had a hot and slender figure and looked almost exactly like Valensa.

"Hi, baby."

Upon seeing Tia, the female knight greeted her with a somewhat flirtatious smile, then naturally walked behind Tia, put her arm around Tia's waist, and rested her chin on Tia's shoulder.

"Is it my turn to perform next?"

“…Yeah, not bad.”

Tia wasn't angry at the imposter Valensa's frivolity; instead, she nodded, seemingly satisfied with the female knight's performance.

"Truly worthy of the renowned phantom thief... Miss Red's impersonation of Valensa is flawless in terms of figure, appearance, behavior, and tone of voice. If I didn't know Valensa so well, even I might not have been able to tell the difference so quickly... I heard that you, Miss Red, have impersonated me before?"

"Yes."

Valensa, disguised as the phantom thief, released Tia's slender waist, took two steps back, and shrugged.

"Unfortunately, I wasn't familiar with you back then. I only secretly glanced at you a few times and only disguised your figure and appearance. My behavior revealed flaws, and my junior sister quickly saw through me... If I were given another chance now, I'm confident I could completely fool her!"

"...Oh, of course, it was her a few years ago."

After thinking for a moment, the phantom thief added, somewhat unwillingly:

"Who would have thought that the young lady knight junior sister I took in by chance would be so outrageous, reaching a level that many people cannot achieve in hundreds of years in just a few years. Under such an absolute power difference, even the most perfect disguise technique should be useless."

...No, you can actually fool her now. Rather, she'll deliberately be fooled and take advantage of you, treating you like me, to seduce and take advantage of you.

Tia, who knew Valensa all too well, muttered a curse in her heart, but remained expressionless.

After all, while she might turn a blind eye to some of Valensa's behavior, she would never deliberately create opportunities for Valensa to cheat.

So, Tia pretended not to hear the phantom thief's reluctant, whispered sigh, and after a few seconds of silence, she directly brought up the main topic:

"At the current marching speed of the undead legion at the front, they should make contact with the enemy in about half an hour... Miss Red, are you ready?"

"We've already prepared for this."

The phantom thief first patted her silver breastplate, then looked conflicted:

"But... am I really okay? I'm not a powerhouse like my junior sister. If I'm surrounded by several Radiant-Rank Wild Beasts at the same time, I'll really die."

"Let's wait for news from Valensa... As long as there are no Moon-class ships in Target Number One, there shouldn't be any problems."

Tia thought for a moment and said:

"Since the first time we participated in the Autumn War a few years ago, Valensa has killed more than 20 Wild Beast Rank Spectrum ...

After Valensa finishes her first wave of attacks showcasing her power, I'll send Miss Red over there to secretly switch identities with her and continue to intimidate the Radiant Beasts.

You don't need to worry about the command of the undead army; I'll control it remotely from here. You just need to protect yourself.

"Valenza's subsequent operations may utilize Nana's power... Once she summons Nana away from you, don't hesitate to immediately use my magic cards to retreat. Just abandon the 40 undead army; they're all low-level undead anyway."

"Okay, I'll give it a try... sigh."

The phantom thief finally nodded, but then muttered a complaint under her breath:

"I thought that after I stopped being a phantom thief, I could enjoy life with my junior sister who became a big shot, but now the work I do is much more dangerous than being a phantom thief."

"There's nothing we can do; we're facing a threat from the Central Continent Empire."

Tia sighed, thought for a moment, then gently patted the phantom thief's shoulder and comforted her with empty promises:

"Don't worry, after we deal with the Central Continent Empire and the Dragon Emperor in a few years, this continent should usher in a long period of peace... At that time, Valensa might even get promoted within the Church of the Sun, and I will also become a real big shot because of my position as the commander of the Allied Forces... Miss Hong, as Valensa's senior sister, won't you be able to do whatever you want then?"

Well, I hope so.

Miss Phantom Thief stretched and yawned again.

On the other side, after a steady advance over the better part of a day, Valensa's army of 40 undead finally approached the large settlement of wild beasts shrouded in a sandstorm barrier.

When Valensa was more than 20 kilometers away, she closed her eyes and carefully sensed the surroundings, confirming that the big red dot on the minimap was still not there... The true core high-ranking members of the Wild Beasts were likely racing against time to carry out some plan, and all the other ordinary Wild Beasts and Radiant Wild Beasts had been thrown out to buy time.

The Radiant-Rank Wild Beasts that were thrown out to buy time were mostly tribal chiefs who had lived for hundreds of years. Unlike the hot-blooded young Wild Beasts, they absolutely did not want to die.

Therefore, as long as there is a risk of being killed, those Radiant-Rank Wild Beasts should stay inside the sandstorm barrier and not come out before it is breached.

This is exactly what Tia's plan can take advantage of.

Realizing there were no Moon-class enemies who could threaten her, Valensa first reported to Tia and then began the deterrent attack as planned.

She left the undead army several kilometers behind and flew towards the sandstorm barrier with Nana, looking like she was about to launch a forced attack on the city.

The sandstorm barrier responded immediately, but not with the same powerful force attacking. Instead, a large amount of blood-red light appeared in the sandstorm, and the life force within the barrier decreased by nearly 70... Clearly, it was using the lives of ordinary wild beasts as fuel to activate some kind of ability.

Roar!

Amidst the deafening roar of the beast, blood-stained sandstorm rapidly gathered, manifesting, just like the sand giant that appeared last time, into a dog-shaped sand beast a hundred meters long.

Facing Valensa, who was rushing straight towards the sandstorm barrier, the giant sand beast leaped up and swung its claw, sweeping across both Valensa and Nana at the same time.

This evil creation, which embodies the life force of 70 ordinary wild beasts, may not have the special abilities of a true Radiant-rank expert, but its basic attributes such as strength, speed, defense, and vitality are definitely not weaker than those of a Radiant-rank expert, and should not be underestimated.

Valensa's main body temporarily stopped sprinting and hovered in place, while Nana accelerated again to actively meet the Sand Beast, punching it head-on to take the Sand Beast's claws.

Bang!

Amidst the deafening crash, as if a replay of the final scene of the first battle, Nana was swatted hundreds of meters away by the sand beast's claw, but the sand beast's body also trembled violently, and the condensed sandstorm almost dissipated.

Then Nana flipped twice in mid-air to readjust her posture, and once again charged towards the Sand Beast like someone wearing a red cape with an "S" on the chest, throwing punches.

The sand beast absorbed another wave of energy from the sandstorm barrier to replenish its energy consumption, and at the same time roared to the sky, not to be outdone, and charged forward.

But this time, Nana's punch was just a feint; she didn't use any force at all.

Just as the fist and claw were about to collide for the second time, Nana suddenly exerted her strength to change her trajectory, avoiding the sand beast's full-force claw attack, and continued to rush towards the sandstorm barrier.

The sand beast immediately wanted to turn back and chase after it, but Valensa would not allow it.

While Nana was battling the Sand Beast in the first wave, Valensa wasn't idle... She personally acted as the array's core, working with the Six Flower Floating Cannons to construct a divine magic array with a diameter exceeding 10 meters, and condensed a large amount of Yang Flame Divine Power within the array.