Chapter 121 - 48: Seville’s Recent Situation

Chapter 121: Chapter 48: Seville’s Recent Situation

The contents of the letter were brief. Void of any superfluous pleasantries or small talk, it concisely inquired about Lilia’s recent situation. It also warned her of the recent demon rampages, suggesting that if she had nothing of vital importance keeping her in Navia, she should have Jennifer and the others escort her back to Hillflan for refuge.

In Veronica’s eyes, although this younger sister—who was two years her junior—possessed formidable strength, she had only received half a year of formal education. In terms of maturity, she might not even compare to a precocious minor. She was deeply worried about Lilia. If the demons truly attacked Navia, she feared Lilia would rely too heavily on her status as a Mage and push herself too far, potentially getting injured or even losing her life on the battlefield.

Lilia, of course, understood her intentions. Furthermore, from those few sparse lines, she could tell that Veronica’s territory had likely also come under demon attack. Unlike Navia, Veronica’s territory enjoyed a uniquely advantageous geographical position, situated just a few hundred kilometers from the capital, Hillflan. Once that area was occupied by the Lien Kingdom’s Demon Army, the Light Kingdom would not be far from total collapse. When that time came, Lilia and her people would also fall into the dangerous predicament of being attacked from both sides.

Over the past six months, in the face of Lien’s invasions, the Light Kingdom had organized several counterattacks. Adrian had even led an army to meet the Demon Army head-on, but none of these efforts had yielded much success. Even though the disparity in national strength between the two countries wasn’t large, the Light Kingdom was practically being crushed by the Lien Kingdom on the battlefield. While they were invading Light, Lilia had even received news of the Demon Army landing in Ovis. Relying on the strength of a single nation, they had declared war on two countries simultaneously—and were still managing to gain the upper hand in direct combat. Lilia was truly somewhat baffled by this.

She wondered if the power of the demons was truly so formidable that whoever controlled them ruled the world. She also questioned whether Caius had won his previous regression in this exact same way.

Besides... The three nations were already locked in brutal warfare, and the Lien Kingdom’s predatory ambitions were completely undisguised. Yet even so, the last nation on this continent, the Hess Empire, still remained uninvolved, standing idly by while watching from the sidelines. Lilia believed that no matter how foolish the upper-level decision-makers were, they couldn’t possibly fail to understand that the fall of their neighbors would inevitably lead to their own demise. If Light and Ovis failed to hold the line, the Lien Kingdom’s next target would undoubtedly be them.

There were only two reasons why the Hess Empire had yet to make a move. Either the entire nation, from the nobles to the commoners, were out-and-out fools... or they were Caius’s secret allies.

Of course, these matters were not the immediate priority to consider. The fact that Veronica had gone out of her way to send a letter proved that the battle situation on her end was no longer optimistic. Lilia didn’t assign anyone to write a reply. Instead, she called for Jennifer directly, ordering her to immediately muster their personnel and rush to Veronica’s territory—Seville.

"Your Highness." A young Knight pushed open the door and entered. "You sent for me."

Veronica rubbed her deeply furrowed brow and looked up at the young man in the doorway. She hadn’t rested properly in a long time. There were obvious dark circles under her eyes, and her beautiful face was currently as pale as paper, making it seem as though she might collapse from overexhaustion at any moment.

"How is the situation on the front lines?" Veronica asked in a low voice.

The Knight replied, "The demons’ incursions are endless. They simply don’t experience fatigue, and their regenerative abilities far exceed our understanding."

Unlike high-level individuals, low-level demons were pack creatures. The greater their numbers, the more formidable their overall strength became. When a demon force reached a certain scale, Demonic Qi would constantly overflow from them. That Demonic Qi would not only comprehensively and drastically enhance the physical attributes of the demons, but it would also continuously inflict damage upon the human forces. Under this shifting balance of power, the battle situation was truly grim.

"Right now, they are all gathered outside the city, and they are continuously replenishing their troops," the Knight continued, lowering his head in shame. "I am truly sorry, Your Highness Veronica. Even now, we still haven’t found a way to deal with them."

"This is not your fault, Harvey," Veronica sighed.

She knew, of course, that everyone here had already done their best. If someone had to shoulder the blame for this failure, it could only be her. This was not just because she was the Lord here, but also because she had heard rumors regarding demons early on. People had said that several border towns had been attacked by demons... but at the time, she hadn’t paid any attention, dismissing them as wild tales fabricated by drunks and vagrants trying to garner attention.

However, at this point, pointing fingers would not help matters. After nearly a month of being besieged, their defensive lines had retreated time and time again. Now, more than half of Seville’s territory had been occupied by the Demon Army. They could only put up a stubborn resistance in this small remaining sliver of land, unable to see any hope of victory.

She had heard that Adrian had also suffered defeat. Hillflan had already dispatched reinforcements, but the Demon Army was tearing through their defenses like paper. Veronica did not believe that the armies led by those Nobles would achieve much success on the battlefield when both she and Adrian were entirely at a loss. They could only pin their hopes on the Royal Capital Magic Academy sending more Mages, or on developing combat methods specifically targeting demons as quickly as possible.

Veronica let out a soft breath. "What about the situation over in Ovis?"

The Knight replied, "Their army arrived near the provincial capital the day before yesterday. It seems they are currently engaging the demons."

"Who is leading their forces?"

"A Viscount. Lucian Williams."

Lucian was a name she had never heard before. Ovis was in the same boat as them, so to speak, but their situation was much better than Light’s. According to Ovis’s line of thinking, they naturally preferred to keep the Demon Army’s main forces pinned down in Light, thereby minimizing Ovis’s own losses as much as possible.

"Never mind." Veronica briefly closed her eyes.

Regardless of who was coming, having reinforcements was a good thing. Even if the fall of Seville was a foregone conclusion, she had to hold on for as long as possible and gather enough intelligence on the demons. The reason they were so powerless right now was simply because they knew far too little about them. As long as she could send intelligence back to Hillflan... even if she died here, her death would hold value.

At this thought, Veronica fell silent for a moment. "...Is there any reply from Navia?"

The Knight paused for a moment and shook his head. "We haven’t received anything yet."

The letter had been sent out half a month ago, right when the defensive lines had first contracted. By all calculations, a reply should have arrived long ago. Veronica simply didn’t have the energy to send someone to check on Lilia’s situation. She could only hope that due to its remote location, the demons wouldn’t target Navia as a primary objective. At this moment, she even felt somewhat glad that Lilia had volunteered to go to Navia. At the very least, she would be far away from the conflict and danger... and could go on living well.

"Let’s go." Veronica suppressed the fleeting vulnerability that welled up in her heart. "To the front lines."