The story of the black silk female knight

"How is this possible? Although General Wang Bo is not as good as the Grand Marshal, he is a veteran who followed His Majesty in the past to conquer the south and north and unify the continent. He is a powerful expert at the peak of the Celestial Realm, and he has more than 30 Celestial Realm experts among his trusted subordinates. How could his entire army be wiped out in one fell swoop?"

"Yes, yes... and General Wang Bo's 120 million troops were not weak either. Although they were all young people with little combat experience, their daily training intensity was very high. More than 4% of the troops had comprehended innate true qi. How could they have been wiped out?"

"Could it be that they also encountered the same bombing raid as us? But even if it was the same bombing raid we encountered, with the strength of General Wang Bo and his trusted experts, they should be able to hold out for at least a few days, right?"

"So... what... what exactly is going on, Commander?"

The generals and advisors around Xiao Hu whispered among themselves for a while, but they couldn't come up with a logical conclusion, so they had to ask Xiao Hu cautiously.

"...The problem lies with the intelligence from the Night Falcon Division."

Xiao Hu gripped the jade slip tightly in his hand, his face ashen.

"The Night Falcon tribe may have betrayed the Empire or been controlled by the enemy... Their intelligence reports to the Empire repeatedly confirmed that the Ice Plains were safe and that the barbarians were completely unprepared there. But the truth is that the barbarians had an elite force there and had built a fortress to wait for the enemy to attack... That's how 120 million elite Imperial troops were wiped out."

"I've suspected those bastards in the Night Falcon Division are up to no good for a long time!"

Immediately, a military officer loudly echoed this, angrily pointing to the sky:

"With such an outrageous weapon, how could the barbarians have remained completely silent while developing and researching it? Yet the Night Falcon Tribe failed to send back any relevant intelligence, causing us to suffer heavy losses for nothing!"

"Yeah yeah."

Another staff officer chimed in:

"There's definitely something wrong with the Night Falcon Tribe... To ensure we're not misled by false intelligence again, Commander, please make plans as soon as possible!"

"……I know."

Xiao Hu hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath and nodded emphatically:

"I will immediately submit a memorial to His Majesty, requesting that His Majesty deal with the Night Falcon Tribe and stop the damage in time."

"The commander-in-chief is wise!"

The military officers and strategists inside the room echoed in unison.

After a moment of silence, another staff officer spoke up:

"But... after those 120 million elite troops perished on the icy plains, it will be very difficult for the empire to mobilize any more elite troops to support us. How can we break the deadlock?"

"..."

Xiao Hu's face grew even darker, and the other generals and advisors didn't dare to say anything either.

"...If there's really no other way."

After a long silence, Xiao Hu finally let out a long sigh:

"The only option is to let Yu'er draw her sword and force the barbarians into a decisive battle."

. . . . .

In a city in central America, a red-light district controlled by a certain gang.

In a small, inconspicuous but fairly clean building, the old woman, a spy from the Central Continent Empire, put down the note in her hand, her eyes filled with confusion.

"This...how is this possible? This is impossible!"

She gripped her cane, trembling all over, and paced back and forth for a while before finally deciding to push open the door and leave.

"Mammy?"

Upon seeing this, the imperial agents outside the door quickly stepped forward, indicating that they were ready to act.

The old lady, who usually gave her subordinates a few instructions, didn't react at all this time. She looked completely numb and walked out of the building without even turning her head.

"Mammy?"

The spy stared blankly at the old woman's departing figure.

Just as he was about to discuss with the others what had happened, he suddenly felt a burning pain all over his body, and all his strength was instantly drained away.

Just a second before he completely lost consciousness and collapsed, he clearly saw another female agent who was putting on makeup suddenly burst into flames. Her fair skin and beautiful appearance turned charred black within seconds, and she collapsed to the ground, unable to get up.

At the same time, similar spontaneous human combustion phenomena occurred throughout the continent of Frenoia.

Some street vendors selling kebabs ended up charring themselves while grilling, while others were on the assembly line in a factory when they suddenly caught fire, triggering the factory's fire extinguishing mechanism and leaving everyone soaked by water magic.

But that's not the worst of it.

The most unfortunate were some nobles and members of aristocratic families who were enjoying themselves with their beautiful partners when their partners suddenly turned into fire, severely burning their vital organs or even burning them completely.

They could only scramble to put on their clothes and rush to the Church of the Sun for urgent help, begging the high-ranking priests skilled in healing to cure them.

High-ranking priests wouldn't refuse to help, but all sorts of rumors, enough to kill those nobles and aristocratic families, would spread throughout the city within half a day.

In short, all the spies of the Night Falcon Division of the Central Continent Empire who were lurking on the continent of Frenoia died from spontaneous combustion as a certain security mechanism was activated.

Even the most powerful beings at the Shining Rank are no exception.

The only survivor was the old lady who was the leader of the secret agents.

After all, she was a veteran powerhouse who had lived for nearly 800 years and had many ways to protect herself... Although she paid a great price to deceive the spontaneous combustion, she ultimately survived.

"No...something must be wrong! This shouldn't be happening!"

In a corner of the city, the old woman was spitting blood from the corner of her mouth and breathing heavily.

"I was actually destroyed by His Majesty... No, no, no, this can't be! This is not the ending I wanted! I was once the Empire's top secret agent... Ugh! Cough cough cough cough..."

After coughing up a lot more blood, the old woman finally managed to stand up with her cane, and her blank eyes gradually became firm:

"I must find out where things went wrong... I must prove myself to His Majesty... I must gain His Majesty's approval once again!"

Snap~Snap~Snap~Snap~

A rhythmic round of applause suddenly erupted, and a man emerged from the shadows. He was one of the traitors from the Sage's Tower, and also the old lady's right-hand man in her intelligence work over the past few years.

"It's you?"

The old lady's eyes instantly hardened:

"You weren't killed by His Majesty's flames... No, you're not him! How did you manage such a perfect disguise, even fooling our identification techniques?"

"Want to know?"

The man sneered, deliberately putting on a smug, effeminate expression:

"They just won't tell you~~"

"Then I'll find the answer in your corpse!"

The old lady, the leader of the secret agents, suddenly attacked, her cane transforming into a sharp rock spear over 5 meters long, aimed straight at the man's heart.

Unfortunately, the man was faster, and the rock spear stopped forever less than 5 centimeters from the man's chest.

A thick scorpion tail had been lurking behind them while they were talking, and it struck out from the shadows, piercing the old woman's heart with a single blow. The venom instantly paralyzed her completely.

"Looking for answers on my corpse?"

The man stopped acting, yawned, and in a burst of optical distortion, his image changed dramatically, transforming him into a hot woman wearing a red fox mask, with the scorpion tail protruding from under her skirt.

"What a foolish old woman..."

As the phantom thief spoke, she made the scorpion's tail spin again, completely crushing the old woman's heart:

"When you were in good condition, I couldn't beat you... but now that your Dragon Emperor has burned away most of your life, what makes you think you can defeat me? Hmm?"

click!

To prevent any accidents, the phantom thief once again used her mental powers, transforming her left hand into a giant claw of some kind of lobster-like monster, and crushed the old lady's head with a single blow.

Even though the old woman's life force had completely disappeared, the phantom thief remained very cautious. She took out a small bottle, poured oil on the old woman's body, and set it on fire, burning the old woman completely.

After confirming that the old lady had nothing left, the phantom thief rubbed her hands together, stretched, and yawned.

"Now the task my junior sister gave me is finally over... Hmm, from now on I should be enjoying a relaxing and happy retirement, right?"

. . . . .

At the same time, on the battlefield along the southern coast of France.

Although the strange white tiger mask prevented the complete annihilation of the landing enemy forces, the allied forces would not stand idly by while the enemy rested and recuperated on the shore. The small-scale harassment operations led by the Radiant-rank powerhouses and the Lighthouse-level elites never stopped.

As outstanding graduates of the Vanguard Department of the Fran War Academy, Gilu, Harry, and Melody naturally participated in this kind of squad harassment operation. They teamed up with two senior students who were a year ahead of them and fought under the leadership of a splendid officer from the Bretania family.

As friends of Valensa and Tia, Melodie and her companions could have easily found a more comfortable and secure position within the Allied Forces... Valensa had spoken to Melodie more than once, asking if they were interested in working as guards for the Allied Forces commander.

Melody declined Valensa and Tia's offers of help. She, along with Gil and Harry, believed that true warriors should earn their own glory, not become slackers by following powerful friends.

This also reflects the deep-seated, die-hard obsession with honor among many French nobles.

Tia respected her friends' choices, but she couldn't completely ignore them. For example, she could choose a reliable and strong person from the family to be their leader.

That officer from the Bretania family was indeed formidable, one of the most capable among the Star Glory level experts. He could even hold off three Sword Pavilion disciples from the Central Continent Empire at the Celestial Realm level, creating opportunities for Melody and her group to attack and retreat.

Melody and her two companions did not disappoint. They performed exceptionally well these past few days, achieving a perfect record against the elite squads of the Central Continent Empire. They even cooperated with their commander to kill a general from the Central Continent Empire.

Although Melody and the other two declined the arrangements for safe and comfortable positions, they did not refuse the equipment support that Tia offered them.

Under the guise of participating in equipment research and development, the equipment of the three people also underwent industrial innovation.

Gil's door panel greatsword incorporates various high-density alloys, and the entire sword now weighs over 3 tons. Its pure physical attack is unparalleled below the Radiant Rank, and as long as it hits the enemy, there is a high probability that it can smash the enemy to pieces.

Giru himself also wears an exoskeleton from the cyberpunk world on his limbs, which further enhances his already superhuman strength. When he strikes with all his might, he can even swing a 3-ton door-sized greatsword at supersonic speed in an instant.

Even a powerful expert at the Shining Rank would not feel good if hit by Giru's full power.

The Central Continent Empire general who was killed by Melody and her team was ambushed by the three swordsmen during a battle with a Britannia family officer. He was struck in the knee by Giru's sword, which broke his leg and greatly reduced his mobility before he was finally killed by the Britannia family officer.

Melody received several specially made combat outfits that she could change into.

The appearance of this combat suit is similar to her previous white silk and diamond-encrusted bodysuit, except that instead of diamonds, it is inlaid with special lenses with better reflective properties, which can make Melody's charm technique, which combines her figure and appearance with optical hypnosis, more effective.

Even Valensa, who had officially broken through to the Moonlit Realm, cried out that she couldn't handle it when she accompanied Melody to test her full-power Shining Sword Dance, her heart burning with enchantment.

Of course, Valensa's performance was intentional and somewhat exaggerated. In actual combat, even the most powerful generals of the Central Plains Empire struggled with Midodi's dazzling sword dance, only managing to daze them for a few seconds. Those with a slightly stronger will could even become immune.

But for Imperial soldiers below the rank of Radiant, it would be a fatal blow.

Melody's most glorious feat was when she used her dazzling sword dance to charm hundreds of soldiers of the Central Continent Empire, and then said to them:

"Which of you brothers is the strongest? Only the most powerful can have me~~"

So the hundreds of soldiers of the Central Continent Empire immediately began to kill each other, each move deadly, until only one person remained.

The last man, covered in wounds, went to find Melody with drooling and heart-shaped eyes, only to be met with Melody's expressionless stab to the neck with her rapier.

Harry didn't use cyber technology like Gil and Melody, but he found a fighting style that suited him best.

He became fascinated with all kinds of highly toxic chemical weapons.

Harry's current preferred fighting style is to use wind and fire magic to assist chemical agents in inflicting fatal damage on a large number of ordinary enemies within range.

Melody's dazzling sword dance doesn't always cause enemies to kill each other. In most cases, she first uses a group charm to temporarily control the enemies, and then has Harry use wind magic to deliver a poisonous and flammable chemical feast to the enemies.

When encountering some particularly formidable enemies... such as those innate swordsmen who, although not yet at the Shining rank, possess combat power far exceeding that of ordinary Lighthouses, Melody and Harry will primarily play a support role, trying to create opportunities for Gil to eliminate the enemy in one strike.

In short, Melody's squad performed exceptionally well during the past few days of fighting, eliminating more than 2000 soldiers of the Central Continent Empire and even disrupting the repair of Xuanwu's leg.

This achievement not only boosted the prestige of Melody and her group within the allied forces but also drew the attention of the Central Continent Empire.

So when Melody and her group were conducting a small-scale harassment operation, they fell into a trap set specifically for them by the Central Continent Empire and found themselves in dire straits.

Two Star-level generals, though not yet Moon-level but still very strong, thoroughly suppressed the Bretanian officer leading the team. Meanwhile, after killing dozens of Central Continent Empire soldiers who were being used as bait, Melody and her group encountered two White Tiger Masks.

The two elite senior students from the same year as Gao Meiludi were caught off guard and had the White Tiger Mask put on their faces. Their strength increased greatly, but they also entered a frenzied state where they could not distinguish friend from foe.

Melody and the others fought very hard and performed very well, but the gap between the Radiant Rank and below is still too great.

Even though the person wearing the White Tiger Mask only had Radiant-rank attributes and no Radiant-rank skills, the two of them together still overwhelmed Melody and her two companions.

Gil and Harry were both badly injured and covered in blood, while Melody was better off protected by her two boyfriends, but her white combat suit was almost stained red.

Most of the blood was from Giru and Harry, but a significant amount was her own.

The Bretanian officer in charge of their care tried to rescue them multiple times, but was held back by two equally skilled opponents, giving him no chance whatsoever... A forced rescue would most likely result in the complete annihilation of the squad.

"...It seems we have to stop here."

Harry, who was weaker, had already fainted from blood loss. Melody held his hand and leaned against Giru. All three of them were lying on the ground.

"How about it?"

Despite being on the verge of death, Melody showed no signs of despair or fear; instead, she asked the still conscious Gillu with a slight smile:

"Do you regret rejecting Valensa and the others' offer? If we had stayed by Tia's side as the commander's guards, this probably wouldn't have happened, right?"