Attacking the City? That's It?

Given Esdeath's personality, it's entirely possible she joined the army after a fight.

But wouldn't there be an Imperial Arms user in the army guarding the empire's borders and preventing invasions by foreign races?

One must remember that the deeply ingrained belief in this world is that Imperial Arms users are stronger than ordinary people.

Under these circumstances, how did Esdeath become a general?

Or perhaps Minister Honest orchestrated it, appointing her general first and then recalling her to the capital to find a suitable Imperial Arms?

Lilith couldn't figure it out. It was also possible that the nobles in the capital had gathered all the Imperial Arms in the capital to protect their own safety.

For some reason, Lilith felt that her last guess was the truth.

"What is the army really like?"

Even though she hadn't left the snowfield yet, Esdeath was already looking forward to her future life in the army.

Lilith felt the same way.

Whether in the past or now, she was very curious about military life.

However, the moment she thought that the living standards in this world should still be stuck in ancient times, Lilith's expression froze.

Ancient times...

Never harbor the illusion that people in ancient times lived well.

Except for royalty or nobles whom you cannot imagine, the lives of people in ancient times were truly not something modern people could endure.

However, this was still a bit far off for Lilith.

The reason her expression froze was that, if she remembered correctly, wouldn't the army be full of men?

What would happen to their food and lodging then?

Lilith voiced this question.

Esdeath gave Lilith a strange look, then raised her fist.

"Don't the strong have privileges? Don't you know that?"

Esdeath's small fist contained a power unimaginable to ordinary people.

After hearing Esdeath's words, Lilith fell silent.

This... she hadn't thought of that for a moment.

Lilith secretly warned herself that this was no longer the peaceful society she had lived in before.

This was a dangerous otherworld!

After that, Esdeath kept finding topics to talk about. Perhaps it was because the journey was too boring.

Lilith, on the other hand, answered intermittently.

So, Esdeath did all the talking, and Lilith listened.

Along the way, Esdeath and Lilith encountered many beasts, and even Dangerous Species.

Every time they encountered these beasts and Dangerous Species, Esdeath became very excited and proceeded to teach Lilith on the spot about their weaknesses and how to kill them.

Lilith had thought she would miss the opportunity to learn how to hunt Dangerous Species from Esdeath.

She hadn't expected them to actually encounter Dangerous Species.

However, the Dangerous Species they encountered along the way were all very weak. Even so, Lilith was satisfied.

After all, these Dangerous Species were special species she had never seen before.

"Something's strange..."

After Lilith, under Esdeath's guidance, once again killed a Dangerous Species cleanly, Esdeath stopped.

"What's wrong? What's strange?"

Esdeath looked at Lilith, who was excitedly dismembering the corpse, and said, "We're heading south, so logically, we should be getting closer to towns. These Dangerous Species live around here and know that human towns are dangerous, so they generally wouldn't go that way. But most of the Dangerous Species we encountered before were heading south, as if..."

"...they were fleeing?"

"Could it be that some powerful Dangerous Species is chasing them?"

Lilith was startled.

Her current strength was at most slightly stronger than an ordinary person. When facing an overly powerful Dangerous Species, she had almost no resistance.

Encountering one would only be like providing a never-ending meal for the Dangerous Species; she was self-aware of that.

"It doesn't seem like it."

Esdeath shook her head. This was the first time she had encountered such a situation.

However, they quickened their pace afterward.

Perhaps they could find out the reason by encountering people from the Empire.

Not long after they set off again, Lilith suddenly stopped.

Sensing Lilith stopping behind her, Esdeath turned around and asked, "Why did you stop?"

Turning around completely, Esdeath saw Lilith with a serious expression. In the few days she had known Lilith, she had never seen her wear such an expression.

"What happened?"

"Blood... I smell blood!"

Although Esdeath was powerful, Lilith believed that when it came to sensitivity to blood, Esdeath was absolutely no match for her.

"Blood? Is it from a Dangerous Species? Or..."

Esdeath's tone also turned serious.

If it were just the smell of ordinary Dangerous Species blood, Lilith wouldn't look so serious. That could only mean...

"It's human. This strong smell of blood... it's as if the blood of hundreds of people has gathered together."

If so many people had died, she wouldn't be able to smell the blood.

Recalling Lilith's initial interest in blood, Esdeath wondered if Lilith was highly sensitive to blood and could smell scents she couldn't.

If that were the case, the deaths of hundreds of people...

There didn't seem to be any tribes living around here.

Could it be...

Esdeath estimated the distance they had traveled. "Which direction is the smell of blood coming from? How far away?"

Lilith pointed forward. "Over there, about four or five kilometers."

She was pointing south.

Just as she thought.

Esdeath mused.

She had heard that there was a city ahead.

That city was also a fortress, a fortress defending against invasions from the northern barbarians.

It had stood there for a thousand years, never having been breached.

And the smell of blood coming from there must mean the barbarians were attacking the city again.

No...

If it were an attack on the city, hundreds of people? Was that death toll too low?

Or perhaps the war had just begun, and the number of dead was small?

But all of this would become clear once they arrived.

Thus, Esdeath and the others sped up again. They had already been walking quickly, but now they broke into a run.

As they increased their speed, they saw the city in less than ten minutes.

Upon approaching, they discovered that hundreds of people were attacking the city.

However, by the time they arrived, these hundreds of people were almost all dead, with bodies scattered all over the ground.

Getting closer, they realized that some of these corpses were missing limbs, and some were clearly elderly.

Attacking the city? With this?