Although the princess was swift and decisive with her decisions, the chances of their kingdom being able to overcome this hurdle were still abysmal.
Not only was the size of their army barely a third of their opponent’s, but their weapons and armors were also of inferior quality.
It was no wonder, as the Kingdom of Krass thrived on invasion and plunder, while their own kingdom was barely better than the union of a few well-developed villages.
The only good fortune of the people at this moment was that even after the demise of their king, there was still a fierce princess willing to lead them to battle.
Dressed in a plated princess-knight dress that left only her face, arms, and thighs exposed, Emilia looked so energetic and dashing that a few of the ‘royal knights’ almost couldn’t contain their squeals.
”The Kingdom of Krass has sent its army our way, thinking we are easy prey that they can enslave and devour. This princess won’t ask you for much. Just don’t give up before you see my corpse fall to the ground, understand?”
What would usually have been a somewhat tragic and demotivating statement instantly made their blood boil instead.
The population of their Cornflower Kingdom wasn’t too large, and almost everyone knew how uncontrollable and fierce their princess was. Even if she couldn’t rip apart a thousand foes before her death, she would still tear down a hundred.
No one wanted to be a helpless slave, or worse, someone’s dinner, and they were also determined to fight to their deaths.
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The Kingdom of Krass naturally didn’t take them very seriously at first. Their general was very experienced, and had taken down far mightier forces on multiple fronts.
As far as she was concerned, taking down a single Cornflower kingdom that only really had a single viable point of defense was easier than snatching candy from a kid.
Unfortunately, things didn’t quite go as she had planned.
Their army was forced to halt at a chokepoint, and their numerical advantage seemed to have become completely useless.
Of course, this was not the first time she had encountered such a situation. So while it frustrated her, the general was far from feeling helpless. “Keep the enemy engaged, and prepare two teams. One will scout a good route for our men to scale the cliffs, and the other will look for an opportunity to sneak past the enemy lines and sabotage their granary.”
Meanwhile, she also ordered her men to take turns resting and attack the enemy in waves. Since only a few hundred people could fight at a time, she didn’t believe that her numerical advantage couldn’t be used this way.
If one side was always energetic and ready to fight while the other was overdrawn and exhausted, was there any need to guess who would win?
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The princess remained expressionless as she waved her hand toward the commander. “We’ll retreat orderly from the chokepoint, our purpose here has already been achieved. Let’s take the battle to the old castle.”
Although it was only an abandoned old building, her people had been able to repair it to a somewhat defendable state already. Staying to defend here might be tempting for now, but the princess knew that if they really did so, they would be like a turtle in a jar.
The little witch, Perry, couldn’t help but reach out the gloved palm of the armored princess. “If you want, I can make some more powerful potions.”
Emilia shook her head with a smile. “No, what you’re doing is already enough. Save your energy… I have a feeling we will need it.”
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The general was naturally furious when the enemy retreated right when the troops she had sent to scale the cliffs and flank them from the sides were about to accomplish their mission. “How did they know?!”
Of course, after calming down for a while, she realized that it was probably just a coincidence. She had been pushing the enemy too hard already, and it was normal for them to run away instead of waiting for death.
It was just the feeling of punching cotton that made her feel suffocated.
She felt like she was a cat who had been fooled by a mouse playing dead, and allowed it to run away.
”Charge! Don’t let them escape!”
The army moved forward through the now unguarded chokepoint under her command, but some of her subordinates quickly caught up with her horse. “General, the teams who were sent out—”
The female general sneered. “Let them follow us from the rear. We’re not lacking in strength anyway, it’s enough to crush them like this.”
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Emilia thought Dixie looked particularly dashing in her ominous dark armor, although it was considerably less revealing than her own.
Fortunately, her cute face was covered by a demonic mask, or none of the audience might be able to ‘dislike’ this villain character as much.
The army of Krass chased after them like sharks who smelled blood, but just when they thought they could start slaughtering the escaping enemy and make them suffer disastrous losses, thunderous booms resounded from over their heads, making a chill run up the general’s spine.
The cliff was collapsing.
Fortunately, their army was almost out of the chokepoint, and they were already going at their maximum speed.
”Press forward! Don’t look back!”
It was only after they were out of the danger zone that the general dared to breathe a sigh of relief, and also called for her army to halt to assess the situation.
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”Princess, the troops that the enemy sent to flank us all died in the explosions, and nearly a third of the charging army was also crushed under the falling cliff.”
Although the cost on their side wasn’t small either, none of them had dared to believe they would have such great results. The potions and spells of this ‘little witch’ friend of their princess were really too strong!
Thinking about how she had almost been executed unfairly if not for their princess, they almost broke out in cold sweat.
Fortunately, their princess was both wise and brave. With her leading them, there was no need to fear even the Kingdom of Krass!
Princess Emily hummed, quite pleased, but not complacent. “Continue strengthening the defenses. Soon, we’ll have a rabid dog at our door.”
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By the time the great general of Krass managed to reorganize and lead her troops to their door, the Cornflower army had already cooped up in the repaired old castle, glaring down at her from the top of the wall with a mocking gaze.
She realized that she had underestimated the enemy, causing her to eat such a dumb loss. But even if she hit an iron board, she only felt rage, not regret.
The general couldn’t help but grit her teeth in rage. “Come out for me, you treacherous princess! How dare you use these cheap tricks to deal with us?! Come out and fight if you dare!”
Princess Emily just smiled gently from the top of the castle’s outer wall. “It’s always been the privilege of the defender to lay down traps. Are burglars now so shameless that they even dare to blame the owner for broken floorboards?”
The general was left speechless, but her anger soon overwhelmed her again. “Even if you managed to use these cheap tricks to hurt us this time, don’t be arrogant! We still have twice as many men!”
Princess Emily chuckled. “So proud? As a general, could you still not know that these numbers are far from enough when facing a well-defended castle?”
Naturally, this old, abandoned keep was far from being good enough for that, but it didn’t stop her from shaking their confidence a little. “Plus, I seem to remember your army was over three times as large, oh, what happened, I wonder?”
The general almost burst a vein on the spot. “Can my men be compared to your cats and dogs?! Don’t think I haven’t seen those frail children and women in your camp! Are they even fit to lift weapons, let alone fight? Just say it if you don’t dare to come down, I—!”
Her words were stuck in her throat when the princess actually jumped down, and landed on the ground gracefully.
The general’s expression immediately turned serious.
Although she hadn’t shown her hand so far, to be able to jump down from such a height like that and not even have much of an impact meant that this girl must have incredible control over her body. Moreover, she was even wearing armor!
Emilia smiled. “What, is the great general of Krass scared of a little girl?”
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