At this moment, on the other side:
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Please wake up!”
The tearful pleas of her personal maid finally elicited a faint movement from Queen Vivya.
Her eyelids fluttered with great difficulty before finally slowly opening, her gaze scattered and hollow.
“…Su… ya…”
Her voice was as raspy as a worn-out bellows.
As a cup of warm water moistened her cracked lips, her blurred consciousness gradually cleared.
The hellish scenes from three days ago flooded back into her mind: the snowstorm of reports announcing the collapse of the front lines, and the non-stop reports of her trusted generals falling in battle.
“Is the capital… still there?”
Vivya struggled to sit up.
Although her body was incredibly weak, a strange glint reignited in her eyes—it wasn’t fear, but the madness that comes from being pushed to the brink.
“Your Majesty, the capital… the capital is in imminent danger!”
The Guard Captain knelt on one knee, his voice heavy.
“Isaiahart… the main army dispatched by the Demon Queen is already at the gates! She… she has issued a public proclamation demanding that we… surrender your head. Otherwise… otherwise, they will wash the capital in blood, leaving not a single blade of grass standing!”
“Wash the capital in blood? Leave nothing standing?”
Vivya repeated in a low voice.
Suddenly, she let out a burst of hysterical, shrill laughter that sounded both piercing and desperate.
“What an Isaiahart! What a Demon Queen! I would like to see exactly what she is capable of!”
Just then, an earth-shattering roar echoed from outside the city, making the very walls tremble.
Immediately after, a messenger rushed in, practically crawling and tumbling.
“Report—Your Majesty! The situation at the North Gate is critical! The enemy is using a Giant Battering Ram! The gates are about to—”
“Enough!”
Vivya interrupted sharply.
She threw off her silk duvet and stumbled out of bed.
“Pass down my orders: prepare the horses and carriage! I will personally go out of the city to fight that witch to the death!”
“Your Majesty, you must not!” the Guard Captain hurriedly blocked her way.
“You are the symbol of the Empire! You absolutely cannot put yourself in such danger! At this stage, the only plan is to… avoid her spearhead for now, preserve our strength, and plan for the future!”
“Avoid her spearhead?”
Vivya sneered, her gaze sweeping across the terrified faces surrounding her.
“In all the lands of this Empire, where is there left to hide?”
A flash of determination crossed the Guard Captain’s eyes.
“Your Majesty, to the southwest of the Empire lies the border with the Goblin Kingdom. Perhaps… perhaps we can seek temporary asylum there and slowly plot our recovery.”
Vivya fell silent.
The Goblin Kingdom?
Those short creatures who reeked of a mixture of engine oil and soil?
In the past, she had never even deigned to look at them.
But at this moment, it seemed to be the only choice.
She bit her lower lip hard, her nails digging so deep into her palms that she didn’t even notice the blood seeping out.
“Fine!” she said, emphasizing every word.
“Pass down my order to gather all the Royal Guards who are still capable of fighting. They will accompany me as we break through! Our target: the southwestern Goblin Kingdom!”
She did not choose to defend the capital to the death because she knew it was already meaningless.
She wanted to live; she wanted revenge! She also had to find her Su…
She could not accept that the Empire she had built with her own hands would be destroyed by a woman she once despised!
***
The process of breaking through the siege was exceptionally brutal.
The remaining Royal Guards displayed staggering loyalty and combat prowess.
They formed a tight phalanx, using their own bodies to carve out a path of blood for Vivya.
The cautious Royal Guard Captain, Raymond, was one of the few generals who had originally opposed the war yet remained steadfast in his duty.
He commanded calmly, utilizing his familiarity with the terrain and the cover of night to avoid the main force of the demonic army.
He led the remnant of less than three hundred men, along with the haggard but mad-eyed Queen Vivya, in a grueling escape from the capital, which had already turned into a living hell.
Behind them were soaring flames and cries of despair.
The heart of the Atlan Third Empire stopped beating behind them.
After several days of arduous travel, this defeated remnant finally reached the border of the Goblin Kingdom.
The Goblin Kingdom was famous for its complex underground tunnels and surface mechanical fortresses.
They were not skilled in large-scale field battles, but their defensive system was unique.
The border checkpoint was a low tower made of brass and obsidian, covered in various strange-looking observation lenses and firing ports.
“Stop! Who goes there!”
A sharp voice characteristic of Goblins came from the top of the tower, filled with caution and a faint, undetectable hint of greed.
Raymond took a step forward and shouted loudly, “We are envoys from the Atlan Third Empire! We have urgent matters to discuss with the Goblin King! We have brought heavy gifts to present!”
He intentionally emphasized the words “heavy gifts.”
The Goblin sentries muttered among themselves for a moment before the tower’s great gate slowly creaked open just a crack.
A few Goblin soldiers carrying crude muskets and wrenches walked out, their eyes scanning the disheveled group.
When they saw that Vivya’s clothes, though covered in dust, were of extraordinary quality, their eyes lit up.
“Follow us!” the leading Goblin soldier waved his hand impatiently.
However, when they were led to the entrance of the Goblin Kingdom’s capital—a massive underground city—what awaited them was not the negotiation they had imagined, but a cold rejection.
“Go back, tiny humans,” said the Goblin Elder in charge of reception.
He was an old fellow wearing thick lenses with a small lamp mounted on his head, speaking in a shrill and biting voice.
“Our Goblin Kingdom already made a deal with the great Queen Isaiahart after your Empire’s second invasion attempt. We are now allied. What she has given us is far more than what a pack of stray dogs like you can offer!”
“What?!” Vivya felt as if she had been struck by lightning, her face turning pale instantly.
“You… you!”
“You… you what? Hahaha!”
The Goblin Elder let out a piercing laugh.
“If you know what’s good for you, get lost! Otherwise, don’t blame our ‘little toys’ for being unfriendly!”
He pointed to the various muzzles and mechanical arms protruding from the surrounding walls.
The final straw of hope had completely snapped.
Raymond’s expression darkened as he gripped the sword at his waist.
The three hundred Royal Guards also glared with fury.
Surprisingly, Vivya calmed down.
She looked at these ugly, greedy Goblins, seeing the undisguised disdain and schadenfreude in their eyes.
A cold chill rose from the depths of her heart, instantly sweeping through her entire body.
She slowly raised her head, and her previously frenzied eyes became exceptionally cold, like ten-thousand-year-old ice.
“Get lost?” she said softly.
Her voice wasn’t loud, but it carried a heart-stopping piercing quality.
“I, Vivya, Queen of the Atlan Third Empire, never ‘get lost.'”
Raymond and the others immediately shielded Vivya behind them.
Just then, Vivya suddenly made a move that caught everyone off guard.
She violently pushed aside the guards next to her and, with a speed that defied her weakened state, rushed toward the Goblin Elder!
A slender poisoned needle flickering with a cold glint appeared in her hand at some point—it was her final means of self-defense as a Queen.
“You’re asking for death!”
The Goblin Elder shouted in shock and anger, instinctively backing away.
The guards nearby also reacted, the safety catches on their muskets clicking open.
But Vivya’s target wasn’t the Elder himself! Her body twisted strangely in mid-air, dodging the guards’ line of fire.
The poisoned needle lanced out like a venomous snake, accurately stabbing into a Goblin who stood behind the Elder—someone inconspicuous but dressed in even more luxurious attire, who had been quietly making hand gestures to the guards!
That was the Chief Advisor to the Goblin King, and one of the actual holders of power!
“Ugh…”
The Chief Advisor didn’t even groan before his body went limp and he collapsed, his face rapidly turning black.
This sudden turn of events stunned all the Goblins.
“Seize her!” the Goblin Elder shrieked.
“You know of the Gravekeeper, don’t you?”
“…………”
“What… what do you want?” the Goblin Elder’s voice began to tremble.