Chapter 56: Now I Have to Stand Up and Take Action

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The beacon fire burned through the night, and even Pandeng Castle, the farthest outpost of unfallen Cornwall where Su Ya was, lit its signal fires.

The scent of burning oak mingled with a thin, slightly acrid smoke,

Su Ya hurried through the thin smoke, past three hundred soldiers who were packing their gear, and together with Mei Li entered the council hall inside the keep of this Norman-style Castle.

At that moment,

Inside the room,

Lu Kan was sweeping the sheets of paper and scrolls spread on the round table into his satchel as if clearing trash, while Dagonite was unrolling a map nearby,

watching the two of them look as if they couldn't wait to divide the supplies and bolt away,

Su Ya asked, a little puzzled, "What are you doing?"

Dagonite turned his head and forced a smile as he greeted,

"Oh, it's the king, you have arrived."

"As you can see, we must leave immediately."

"Where to?"

Su Ya's brows furrowed slightly as he looked at the two of them,

"Aren't we planning to raise Sir Ecto's banner here and first gather the scattered soldiers?"

"I recall you said it would take two days to travel here, then stay for a day and a half, and send people to the nearby estates and villages to capture people."

"Then, at the next castle, we must muster a thousand men, gather intelligence, and break out toward Sol City."

The above was the plan discussed at the four of them's first meeting,

Reaching Sol City would actually take less than a week; at full speed a Mercedes could get there in under two days, but to guard against the Togus Legion led by Ptolemy on the north side, and to secure immediate command upon arrival so as to be the first wave out,

they needed more troops, and especially needed Su Ya to learn how to disguise himself as a master swordsman during this time.

But now,

first, Lu Kan abruptly altered the plan, racing through day and night to reach Pandeng Castle within a day,

Arriving quickly at Pandeng Castle caused them to run into Lu Ke'ang's bounty hunters, but also let them break through a trap early, avoiding later running into the full barrier set by the magician Lu Ke'ang.

Then, it seemed they were about to change the plan again?

Su Ya recalled the beacon fires lit inside and outside the city, and felt a slight chill in his heart.

He knows nothing of warfare or politics, so although he is nominally the leader of the force, marching, administration, and planning are all delegated to Mei Li, Lu Kan, and Dagonite.

In Su Ya's eyes, each of them was a talent among talents, and he sighed at his own inadequacy.

Nevertheless, having watched many sword-and-spear movies, Su Ya could roughly grasp the significance of the scene outside.

Beacon fires,

and these were continuous, massive beacon fires that constantly changed color by tossing in sulfur to convey various messages, burning for such a long duration.

Something momentous must have happened.

Therefore,

Seeing Dagonite stammer for a long while without saying a word, Su Ya felt heavier in his heart and asked again immediately:

"Dagonite, where are we heading next?"

Upon hearing this,

Lu Kan paused, his movements of clearing the table frozen.

Dagonite trembled all over, remained silent for a moment, then set the rolled map down and, flustered, muttered:

"Sorry, my king, Dagonite does not know where we can go either."

Su Ya knit his brows and asked, "What happened?"

"Sol City has fallen."

Su Ya was stunned, then his heart lurched, a nameless oppression welling up inside him.

"Last night, the message conveyed by the beacon fires revealed—"

"Sol City was attacked at 1 a. m.; two hours later, Sol City fell."

Su Ya asked, "So those plumes outside are"

"No," Dagonite gave a sadly awkward smile,

"It's the signal that Bestoq, east of Sol City, has fallen."

Bestoq,

a fortress city north of the capital Winchester, comparable in strength to the Golden Iron Curtain.

Su Ya's party must pass through the still-unfallen Sol City to reach the fortress city of Bestoq, and then from there circle back to the capital.

The Conqueror King's army marched eastward from the far west of Cornwall along the three great iron walls, and today is only the tenth day.

In theory, even the Conqueror King could not establish effective governance and oversight over the occupied territories in such a short span, which is why Su Ya and his group were given a chance to flee the fallen lands.

But now,

The Conqueror King has just broken through two of the three defensive lines built across Cornwall,

yet her personally led troops are still stationed at the second line,

but Dagonite told himself—

the final line north of the capital, behind the three lines, has mysteriously vanished?

The enemy is already at the foot of the capital!?

Then,

Now,

the northern detour via Sol City to Bestoq is impassable!

The road on the east side leading straight to the final iron wall, the "Golden Iron Curtain," has been blocked by the army personally led by the Conqueror King!

On the south side, the sea route to Southampton lacks even a single ship!

So, at this very moment,

Which direction should they flee to? Where should they go? What should they do?

Su Ya couldn't help but take a deep breath, feeling his scalp go slightly numb,

But he quickly calmed down, not blaming the Dagonites—they had already done enough, the plan was already thorough enough, but given the situation, complaining or blaming anyone now would be pointless.

His gaze quickly fell onto the map that had slipped from the Dagonite's hand,

Deep inside, the last glimmer of hope,

the last trace of a cowardly thought of relying on others, hoping for the "collective,"

At this moment,

he crushed and extinguished it alive!

Su Ya stepped forward two steps, picked up the map that had slipped from the Dagonite's hand, and spread it out on the round table,

Then he looked at the three people in the council chamber and said:

"Since we can't escape and don't know where to go, rather than act like headless chickens, we might as well not run for now."

"All plans are to be paused for now."

"And—"

"Although saying this might be a bit presumptuous."

Su Ya raised his head, looked at the few people, and gave a somewhat forced smile:

"But, gentlemen, could you teach me how to read this map?"

"Besides that, please tell me any information that might be useful, as much as possible."

"If possible—"

Having said that, Su Ya paused, looked around the three people at the round table, and earnestly said:

"From now on, please let me decide all the plans!"

Hearing this, Lu Kan and the Dagonite were first startled, then simultaneously turned their heads to look at each other, seeing surprise in each other's eyes, as well as a faint hint of delight hidden deep within.

Meanwhile, Mei Li stood silently behind Su Ya.

She gave Su Ya a deep look, the corners of her mouth slightly pursed,

At this moment,

relying on this pair of "Magic Eyes" that can see what others cannot,

she seemed to see a radiance gradually emerging from Su Ya's person.

It is the aspect of being forced by reality, expected by others, pursued by fate, thus abandoning humanity and continually embracing the "non-human" side,

and then to shoulder everything, to save the kingdom, to become the embryonic will of the ideal ruler in everyone's eyes.

But,

Having seen the Mei Li who, on the verge of death, would desperately spout nonsense from her mouth, whose lies were exposed yet she still tried to lie, sounding insincere, who, upon hearing she still had a trump card to turn the tables, would almost burst out laughing three times to the heavens while shielding herself, a timid, death-fearing yet sincere youth,

she does not like this Su Ya.

Thus,

she furrowed her brows and silently resolved:

"It's fine; as long as I get my card back, I can stuff you into a mountain ditch."

Su Ya didn't catch what Mei Li muttered beside him; he only felt as if, in an instant, something indescribable had fixed its gaze on him, he frowned, scratched his head, and turned to look at Mei Li:

"What did you just say?"

Mei Li's heart skipped a beat, a bead of cold sweat formed on her forehead, she immediately put on a straight face and gave Su Ya a smile somewhat like the subtle one of Anya from the spy pretend-play,

"Nothing, I wholeheartedly support your decision with both hands raised!"

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(End of chapter)