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“Angel of War, the battle is about to begin. We ask that you assist us.”
Alice stood up, and Burc leapt onto her shoulder. She poked her head out of the carriage window. “I thought the city was still a while away.”
“It is,” the man standing outside said. “However, the Hungarians have deployed a small troop in the fields to block our path. No doubt, they’re there to buy time for their main force to gather in the capital.”
“Oh,” Alice said. She furrowed her brow. “Didn’t Suleiman say I was only needed to punch down walls? Why do you need my help all of a sudden?”
The man bowed his head. “The Padishah has discovered an anomaly on the battlefield. There are twelve people holding a sign. They belong to the church and wish to preserve the balance of the world by capturing you.”
“And Suleiman reacted by asking me to go out?” Alice blinked twice. Was this church enough to threaten Suleiman? If it was the force behind the Holy Roman Empire, wouldn’t he have had to clash with them anyway? “Why is he capitulating?”
The man’s nostrils flared. “Upon seeing the sign, our Padishah had the artillery set up and fire a volley at them.” The man shuddered, and his face became slightly pale. “They were bombarded; however, they were completely unhurt amidst the bombardment. That’s when he realized their powers were above the normal person’s, perhaps as great as yours.”
Alice’s eyes lit up, and she clenched her fists.
“Please, don’t get angry,” the man said. “Our Padishah isn’t selling—”
“Angry?” Alice asked and let out a smile that was more of a smirk. “Why would I get angry? Fortress walls are completely stationary. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had a satisfying fight? And now you’re saying there’s twelve people who’re worth fighting against? This is the happiest day of the past three months!”
“You know,” Burc said after licking his paw, “I should’ve realized it when you first talked to me in cat language, but you’re really not a normal person in stature or in the mind.”
Alice turned her head and gave the fluffy, white cat a deadpan expression. “Do you ever have anything nice to say?”
“I praise you when you feed me, don’t I?” Burc asked. “Soon, you’ll be conditioned into feeling happy every time you give me food, a win-win situation for the both of us.”
Alice rolled her eyes and fed Burc a piece of jerky.
“I can’t wait to see you fight,” Burc said and grabbed the piece of jerky with his front paws. “I bet you’ll do great.”
“What kind of abilities do those twelve people have?” Alice asked the man after she descended the carriage. She was given a horse to ride towards the front of the army. “How do you know they’re like me?”
“When you punched down the walls of Belgrade, you were wreathed in a golden light,” the man said, his eyes turning vacant as if he were remembering Alice’s figure back then. “It was as if a deity was protecting you.” The man’s eyes narrowed. “It’s the same for those twelve people. They were surrounded by a white light, and our bombardment became completely ineffectual. It was as if an impenetrable wall had been erected in front of them. The stone balls hit the white light and slowed down, losing all their power before touching down on the ground in front of their feet.”
Alice furrowed her brow. “Some kind of barrier then,” she said. “It seems like they have a capable white mage amongst them; I’ll have to target him first. How about their offensive ability? Did they attack the army?”
“No,” the man said. “They merely pointed at the sign. They promised not to interfere in the upcoming battle as long as you took to the field. They also promised they wouldn’t kill you, only capture you if you resisted.”
“Are they underestimating me?” Alice asked and narrowed her eyes. “Surely, they realize it’s a hundred times harder to capture an animal than it is to kill it, right?”
“Did you just compare yourself to an animal?” Burc asked and flicked his tail. He snorted. “Don’t think that highly of yourself.”
“You, what? No, what are you even—never mind.” Alice rolled her eyes. The front of the army was just ahead, and Alice nodded at Suleiman as she approached. “There’s twelve strong people?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Suleiman gestured towards the opposite side of the field. There were thousands of men. Most of them were infantry, but their left and right sides were flanked by cavalry. At the very back, there were a few dozen cannons, but nowhere near as many as the Ottomans’. The Ottomans had close to a hundred thousand men. If the two sides clashed, it was going to be a slaughter. However, at the very front of the Hungarian army, there were twelve conspicuous men standing underneath a massive banner.
“That’s them, huh?” Alice asked. She frowned. The terrain that the Ottomans had just traversed was very marshy and almost impossible to make it through in one organized formation. “They didn’t attack right away?”
“For some reason,” Suleiman said and stroked his chin, “they aren’t taking advantage of the marshes. Why choose this position in this battlefield if they weren’t going to use it? Perhaps they’re extremely confident in those twelve.” If it was in the past, he wouldn’t have even considered something as outlandish as that: twelve men stopping an army of a hundred thousand. However, after meeting Alice, he didn’t dare underestimate a single person. “They’re most likely going to torture you and burn you at the stake if you lose. If you’d like to avoid this fight, I’ll send a group of my most elite men to buy you some time to retreat.”
“Me?” Alice asked, a golden rune faintly lighting up her forehead. “Retreat?” Her irises turned a murky yellow and expanded, filling in the whites of her eyes, much like a lion’s. “I’m sorry; I haven’t learned the meaning of that word yet.”
“But you—”
“Shut up, Burc. Don’t ruin the moment.”
First!