Chapter 156

Even so, she knew that Necrass treated her differently.

"Who are those three people, and those guards...?"

Treya wanted to ask Necrass why she knew the identities of those three people and seemed to know them well, but she was more curious about the strange flames and the resurrected guards.

"You can consider this a blessing."

Necrass's voice was flippant, yet it revealed her indifference to life. "After being baptized by fire and death, they will gain more glory than they did as living beings."

Treya was speechless. The Necrass in front of her seemed no different from the girl she had seen in the past, but she had only ever seen her sitting at her desk before.

When she appeared on a battlefield with fewer than a hundred people, Treya truly came to understand many of her details and personality traits.

On the way back, Necrass and her father boarded a carriage together. Because of the increased number of guards and the group of white-clad men who looked extraordinary, they did not encounter any more robbers or bandits.

The Three Beasts have been transformed into servants by the flames. Unlike the guards, the individual consciousness of the Three Beasts has been completely suppressed by Necrass into the deepest part of their bodies, making them unable to move. What she needs is not the three of them, but their strength.

Of course, this is only temporary. When better personnel become available, Necrass will give them the opportunity to choose again.

Eugene overheard Necrass and Treya's conversation. In fact, he had been intentionally avoiding Necrass's access to power since she was a child, as a powerful princess did not fit his desire to live a secluded and low-key life.

However, this idea gradually faded as Necrass repeatedly demonstrated her ambition and abilities.

He knew very well that Necrass was not a benevolent ruler; her thirst for and pursuit of power, as well as her disregard for the bloodshed behind it, terrified Eugene.

However, in this era and in this world, perhaps Necrass's personality and actions can truly ignite a different kind of flame. That extreme self that others admire, look up to, fear, yet are willing to follow might be more capable of accomplishing great things than a benevolent ruler.

After thinking all night, Eugene did not sit in the main seat as usual at breakfast the next day, but instead sat in the second seat where Necrass usually sat.

When Necrass arrived at the restaurant, she raised an eyebrow upon seeing this, and then sat down in the main seat with complete ease.

Eugene spoke only after Treya, who was clearly in a daze, sat down.

What are you planning to do?

Knowing that this was a question directed at her, Necrass was not surprised and calmly replied, "The Revolutionary Army has sent us letters several times, inviting us to join their ranks and overthrow the Empire together."

Of course, this is also because the Revolutionary Army didn't know Necrass's identity; if they had, they wouldn't have sent the invitation.

Eugene was naturally aware of this as well. Revolutionary Army were common, but they only truly grew in strength after Ernest secretly took control of the government.

"You want to join the Revolutionary Army first."

Eugene frowned. "This so-called Revolutionary Army is actually a traitorous group that has colluded with foreign races and is using the pretext of ceding territory to foreign races after the success of their cause."

Although those lands were originally foreign lands conquered by the empire, once they were conquered, they belong to the empire. You, as citizens of the empire, ceded empire lands to outsiders to fight against the empire. Is this how revolution is carried out?

"Didn't I tell you, Count Eugene?"

Necrass's tone remained unchanged. "I will rekindle the flames that will burn the current order to ashes. Whether it is the Empire, the alien races, or the Revolutionary Army, they will all be nothing but dust in history after this flame is extinguished."

The implication is that it's not a genuine alliance, but rather a case of using someone and then discarding them.

Eugene understood this as well. He remained silent for a moment before continuing, "The addition of East Ridge City will allow the Revolutionary Army to completely encircle the Empire. They will not refuse our participation, but how do you plan to gain the upper hand in this cooperation?"

"It's very simple, I will demonstrate the power that will force them to take me seriously."

Necrass was prepared.

Necrass needs manpower because what she wants to burn down is not the world itself, but the existing Order and rules of this world. She can kill everything in her path, but killing alone cannot establish a new Order; it will only plunge the world into chaos. Therefore, she needs manpower and followers.

However, this is ultimately a world that values individual strength. As long as she is strong enough and her conditions are good enough, people will naturally be willing to follow her.

Are the Revolutionary Army truly united? Of course not, but even the worst Revolutionary Army is still better than the current empire.

She didn't need to present herself as particularly noble, because her competitors were despicable enough that cooperating with the Revolutionary Army wasn't about leveraging their power, but rather their connections.

"I will soon light the first bundle of firewood, right in Viscount Klot's territory."

Chapter Six: A pincer attack.

Eugene knew he had no power to stop Necrass.

After finishing his meal, he probed the opinions of most of the people who had come into contact with Necrass, including the servants in the mansion, the clerical staff, and the guards stationed outside the mansion.

They have different cultures, different perspectives, and different ways of expressing themselves, but their meanings are surprisingly consistent.

Given the chance, they would fight for Necrass and inscribe glory upon her War God.

This was not entirely out of respect for Necrass, but rather out of the ambition and fanaticism that Necrass had stirred within them.

Having witnessed all this, he no longer had any intention of stopping Necrass.

... Well, anyway, this life was supposed to be dead. Although Necrass saved me because she needed my abilities, to be honest, there are always capable people who can be brought in later. If I don't support her actions, the trouble I'll face after being saved will be more than the trouble I'll face if I lose myself.

For this reason alone, Eugene had little reason to disobey her; his only attempts to dissuade her stemmed from cowardice and years of seclusion.

The more one understands how indifferent Necrass is to life and how much she pursues power, the more precious this life-saving grace becomes.

Even Eugene couldn't help but wonder if this was part of her scheme, but in the end he attributed it to the fact that deep down she did have feelings for him and Treya, and that perhaps there was a soft spot in Necrass's heart.

People only believe what they want to believe, and Eugene was in that mindset at the time. Little did he know that his judgment was actually quite accurate.

After all, the Necrass here is not the real person. Although she has acted in a way that fits her own style in order to avoid being out of character, Amber is far from having the same ambition Necrass, nor does Necrass have the same grand vision.

(The criticism of Necrass's character mainly focuses on the fact that her character is beyond the level of normal humans. For normal people, Abrahim's character is indeed quite remarkable.)

With Eugene's complete delegation of power, Necrass quickly consolidated all the administrative personnel of East Ridge City. As the outermost part of the empire, East Ridge City not only backs onto the sea but is also surrounded by foreign tribes to the east. In addition Eugene, as Earl, has a considerable number of soldiers in the city, around six thousand.

This number initially surprised Necrass, but upon closer inspection, the inflated figures of these six individuals were immediately exposed.

It was said to be 6,000 soldiers, but most of them were ordinary people who had never been on the battlefield, as well as veterans who could not retire.

Excluding the two thousand old, weak, sick, and disabled soldiers, and the remaining soldiers who had not experienced actual combat, were actually able-bodied and could be immediately deployed to the battlefield, there were only about one thousand men. In other words, five-sixths of them were reserves who could only be called up in special circumstances.

Although somewhat disappointing, a score of one thousand is actually quite good; in the original world, he would be considered a powerful Earl.

Disappointment aside, the battle must still be fought.

After determining the number of people who could participate in the war, Necrass immediately gathered the clerks and soldiers together and explained what they needed to do next.

It's very simple: advance from the outside in. The first target is Viscount Klot is also close to the alien race and has already clashed with them several times. He is a man with an ambiguous stance. His attacks on the alien race seem to be defending the empire against external enemies, but in reality, each of his attacks can be described as a small skirmish, and the casualties on both sides are kept to a very small extent, as if it were a fixed match.

This gave Necrass reason to suspect that he was not as loyal as the Empire had imagined, and judging from his disgusting actions, which, while incapable of killing, did not seem to be subservient to the Revolutionary Army.

These people, who were dissatisfied with the Empire but refused to join the Revolutionary Army, were seen by Necrass as the first force she could recruit.

Even if this viscount is a vassal of another marquis.

Twelve days later, in the afternoon, Viscount Klot received a report from his soldiers.

"You're saying someone attacked, and they're not from a different ethnic group?"

Klot listened to the report with a furrowed brow, and asked in confusion, "How many people?"

"They look to be around a thousand people... and the one leading them seems to be Earl Eugene's daughter..."

The Earl of Eugene's daughter has come to my door?

Clot found it absurd; what did he mean by that?

Although he found it absurd, he definitely had to go and see what was going on, since the other party was an empire's Earl power, not a foreign race.

He has received warning letters from the alien races in recent days, which are basically forcing him to state his position as soon as possible, otherwise they will besiege the city. Judging from the fact that the Revolutionary Army has not responded to this, it seems that the Revolutionary Army is even tacitly approving it.

This incident had already caused Clotte's blood pressure to spike and left her feeling helpless, and now this has happened.

With his horse galloping at full speed, Klot arrived at the top of the city wall in ten minutes. Looking at the soldiers below, and the girl with dragon horns on her head who stood at the forefront on horseback, holding a long spear, he couldn't help but ask, "Is that Count Eugene's troops below the city wall?"

He knew nothing about the princess, but he did know that a girl in the Count Eugene family had reverted to the bloodline of the Duke of Dragons.

"Earl Eugene".

The Dragon Woman below the city wall read aloud the title she had uttered countless times, with great interest, then shook her head with a smile.

The title bestowed upon her by the empire seemed rather obtrusive at this moment, Necrass had no intention of continuing to use it. Just as she was about to say something, she suddenly heard a jumble of footsteps and hoofbeats.

Not only her, but the soldiers who had followed her to this place also turned around upon hearing the sound.

A group of about two thousand people dressed in alien attire were seen marching towards them. The alien army seemed confused when they saw Necrass's troops at the gates of the city, but then the alien commander's face turned angry.

Well, judging from the situation, it seems Clot has asked the Empire for help, hasn't he? And he actually managed to get quite a few troops.

The armies of the alien races are generally larger than those of the Empire, because almost all the men in their tribes are soldiers. A tribe of two thousand people can produce about thirteen hundred warriors, and the number of people in a combination of tribes is even more exaggerated.

Upon seeing that Necrass's forces had not yet entered the city, the alien commander knew this was a good opportunity. The reinforcements had not entered, and the garrison had not yet assembled; it was simply the perfect time to start a fight.

Without a second thought, he immediately ordered the entire army to launch a surprise attack, determined to capture the reinforcements who had come to their aid.

It would be even better if the other side wanted to come out of the city to provide support, which would turn what was originally a difficult siege battle into a simple battle of confrontation, allowing them to enter by opening the city gates.

Clot was also somewhat confused. Could it be that Count Eugene had received news of the attack from the foreign tribes and thus sent people to support him? But the timing was far too bad. He only had five hundred men on his side, and even with reinforcements, he only had fifteen thousand. Defending the city was easy enough, but going out would be a different story.

But if I don't go out... my relationship with the Earl will become a little...

What should we do...?

As Necrass rode on horseback, watching the aliens charge towards her, her expression became somewhat subtle.

So... they were attacked from both sides?

Chapter Seven: Opening the City Gates.

"Wow!"

"Kill the Empire's lackeys!"

"Leave our home!"

It's normal for armies of different ethnic groups to appear less disciplined, since they live in tribal units. They may be on good terms or at odds with each other, but they can't possibly receive the same education, undergo the same training, learn the same tactics, or follow the same commands.

Even though they look like an army, they are more like a disorganized mess.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have been suppressed by the corrupt and weak army of the empire for so many years, and could only show off their strength by occasionally harassing and launching concentrated attacks on a single point to rely on their numerical advantage.

Necrass felt that their charge was like a pack of toothless hyenas, and she didn't even want to give them a second glance.

She couldn't afford to lose her own people because of this unexpected event, but in a way, their arrival seemed to be just in time. Originally, she had planned for both her side and Clot's side to suffer some wounded or even dead, but now it seemed that she could take the city in a more peaceful way.

This also saved us the trouble of building city walls later.

"Don't pay attention to those undisciplined shouts; those sounds can do nothing but bite your eardrums."

Necrass glanced back at Clot on the city wall, the playful look in her eyes leaving Clot momentarily confused.

But she didn't offer any explanation. Instead, she rode her horse all the way from the city wall to the rear of the soldiers.

"My soldiers, make sure you remember what's about to happen."

Necrass extended her left hand, and the flames at the tip of her tail grew even more intense.

The once vast plain suddenly became eerily hot, and purple flames abruptly ignited on the path of the foreign tribes' charge, creating walls of fire even though there was no ground to start a fire.

"That's the Dragon Duke's Imperial Arms..."

Klot swallowed hard. Even standing on the city wall, he could feel a wave of heat hitting him. Looking at the foreign soldiers surrounded by flames in the distance, his eyes were filled with shock.

They surrounded the entire force of two thousand men in one fell swoop?

This scene inevitably reminded him of Esdeath, one of the great generals of the empire, who was known as the one who commanded thousands of troops.

"There are no enemies on our path, only kindling to help us light the way to the new world."

Necrass's voice was deep and ethereal, yet clear enough for everyone to hear.

"Wait... wait...? What is that!?"

To Clott's disbelief, the aliens engulfed in flames showed no signs of wailing or screaming; instead, they stood motionless like stone statues.

Although those who were not engulfed in flames were initially frightened, they quickly regained their composure amidst the commander's terrified shouts and huddled together.

But in the next scene, those 'stone statues' that had remained motionless despite being beaten, scolded, and dragged suddenly began to move, one after another raising their weapons and stabbing at the person closest to them.

The soldiers whose bodies were pierced also burst into flames, and soon after, they continued to attack the soldiers who were not ignited by the flames.

"We will never lack fellow travelers on our path, and those who follow me will never have to worry about death."

As Necrass spoke, she turned her horse around and slowly walked back towards the city wall, her eyes fixed on Viscount Klot, who was covered in sweat. The servants, who had been consumed by the Death Fire, obediently lined up in neat rows and stood silently behind her.

The army of one thousand men had now expanded to three thousand for reasons that Clott could not understand.

"Viscount Klot, open the city gates."

Necrass's smile seemed gentle, but it carried an unyielding coldness. "My troops need rest, and we have a lot to talk about."