Kingdom’s Bloodline

Heroic Spirit Palace, another corridor.

Miranda's sword cut a zigzag line in the air.

"Clang!"

Amid the crisp metal impact, she gritted her teeth tightly, and passed by Croaish.

next second.

"laugh!"

A streak of blood gushed out from Miranda's lower abdomen, and Croaish's left leg armor was severely deformed.

The two people with their backs to each other distanced themselves, shaking their figures, and both fell to the ground.

"Haha, you are indeed the chief," Croaish sat on the ground with a tired face, enduring the pain and using the blade of the sword to pry open the deformed leg armor and press the bone: "When the injury is not healed, you can still do this point."

Miranda was leaning against the wall in cold sweat, tightly covering the wound in her abdomen, and kept urging the Pegasus movement to slow down the outflow of blood and the contraction of muscles, but ignored her words.

They know: After a short but intense struggle, each other has reached their limits, and the rest is a competition of perseverance and spirit.

"Tell me," Miranda said with difficulty, "betrayed my friends, killed the king, and used the Tower of Terminator to satisfy my own ambitions..."

"How do you feel, Ashe?"

Croaish paused slightly, and turned her gaze to the sword in her hand.

That is the sword obtained in the Tower of the End: Leader.

The unique logo of the "Pegasus" series is engraved on the hilt of the sword: Silver Winged Pegasus—represents unwavering faith.

"It feels great, Mira."

Croaish looked away and sneered, "That kind of pleasure that breaks the rules."

Unexpectedly, Miranda showed neither anger nor doubts.

Miss Arend just looked at her quietly, with delicate eyes.

"Ai Xi," the female swordsman said softly, her tone full of sadness: "You must have had a terrible time in the past few years after you left the tower, right?"

Croyce shuddered slightly.

Her arms stiffened.

"I heard from Kaslan that you were rejected by the White Blade Guard."

"Otherwise you wouldn't..."

Miranda sighed: "But I beg you, don't lose yourself—think about your 'Heart of the Sword'."

The corridor fell silent.

Croythe's breathing was getting faster and faster.

Heart of Sword.

My... heart of the sword?

"Milla," Croaish gritted her teeth, "You are a noble heir to the North, and you served under the Flower of the Fortress right after graduation..."

"Smooth as you are, of course you don't understand what kind of struggles a woman of ordinary background has to go through in this world."

Miranda was slightly taken aback.

Just when she was about to ask "what struggle", the other party suddenly got up from the ground and limped towards her!

Miranda was startled, ignoring the pain in her abdomen, she jumped up!

"Clang!"

The long sword "Eagle Flying" and Croaish's "Leader" clashed in the air, and they were in a stalemate.

"White Blade Guard?" Croaish held down his opponent with trembling arms.

Miranda could only deal with it with all her strength.

Both of them were tremblingly facing each other, listening to the strength of the swords. The point of intersection of the two swords was constantly shifting between you and me, and they were both trying to find the most suitable point of force and rhythm of attack.

"Not only that, from the noblest Dragon Clouds City to the remotest rural manor, no lord is willing to hire me, even if I can beat down all their guards and patrols," Croaish said angrily, " For more than a year, I carried the expectations and skills of the tower, but wandered around like a beggar everyone detested."

"So, when Rumba reached out to you," Miranda saw the injury on the enemy's other leg, turned his steps calmly, looking for an opportunity, "you are determined to repay it with death, even if it violates the creed?"

Croise's hand holding the sword trembled slightly.

Miranda's eyelids moved, and she instantly seized the opportunity.

"Clang!"

With a twist of her long sword, she quickly got rid of the unfavorable position of being suppressed, and then made a sharp turn, using the advantage of her feet to strike a sword!

But contrary to Miranda's expectations, Croyce, who had injured her left leg, did not retreat as she expected, and then fell into her rhythm.

The round-faced female swordsman shouted angrily, ignoring the injuries of her legs, and kicked the ground forward!

What?

Miranda's pupils shrank.

The long sword grazed Croaich's short hair, taking away a few strands of hair, and Croaish's sword pointed straight at Miranda's injured abdomen.

"Boom!"

In the nick of time, Miranda finally dodged the opponent's sword edge, but was hit in the rib by the enemy's sword hilt.

In the severe pain, Miranda showed a bitter expression and kept backing away until she fell to the ground.

Oops.

rib cage……

The wound from the previous battle with the Sword of Disaster is also aching at this moment.

In front of Miranda, Croythe, who had exerted too much force, also collapsed. She supported the ground with her long sword, and firmly held down her left leg, which was seriously injured.

"You don't understand..." Croath said painfully, "Finally, in Menton City, a viscount finally agreed to hire me—as long as I am willing to marry him."

"I know, there have been similar ones before - he probably wants a woman who can open her thighs obediently at night after wielding a big sword smartly," Croyce said with a sarcastic smile: "I I think what he wants is the sense of accomplishment that dignity is satisfied, making him feel like a man."

"I refused."

Miranda felt the injury in her ribs, and listened to the words of the same period with a pale face.

"'No matter how powerful you are, you are still a woman', that's what he said," Croathy gritted her teeth fiercely, her eyes flushed, "Just..."

"Just when he drugged me..."

"Before the onset."

Miranda was shocked!

She looked at her friend in disbelief, at the pathetic look on Croath's face.

The latter laughed ironically.

Miranda felt sore in her heart, she said softly: "Ash..."

"I don't care about the things he did!" Croaish's abnormal smile made Miranda feel uneasy:

"Actually, he didn't do anything, did he?"

"But that night, I will always remember the look in his eyes, the words he said—the humiliation, the contempt," Croathy said quickly, "and the panic in my heart at that time... ...like I'm about to lose all value as a woman soon."

"Since that day, I've understood one thing."

The captain of the guard, the father of Grand Duke Heisha, looked cold.

"The reason why I run into walls everywhere and no one accepts me is not because of my lack of ability, not because of my poor physique, or because of my lack of experience," Croaish straightened up tremblingly, and put the weight on the sword, coldly typical:

"And just because, I'm a woman."

Miranda looked at her old friend sadly and heartbrokenly, feeling a tightness in her chest.

Croythe...

you……

"In the Northland, they don't believe that a woman can become a warrior, fight with a sword, and survive independently." Croathy walked towards Miranda staggeringly with serious eyes, "They don't even allow it!"

"This world can't tolerate women being 'stronger' than men, because that's their exclusive privilege," Croathe took a deep breath, "and it can't tolerate women living without relying on men, because that's their privilege too !"

"Once you figured that out, a lot of things fell into place."

"Remember, all the stories we read in the tower - knight novels, historical dramas, romantic poems, no matter what kind of woman, no matter how strong and self-reliant, no matter how loyal and unyielding, if she wants to be liked by readers, she must One condition must be met," Croyce gasped, her eyes gleaming fiercely: "She must be able to be fucked by a man—by the protagonist!"

"When a woman with a noble status commits suicide, readers will feel more fulfilled!"

"When a dignified and noble woman makes love, readers will feel more conquered!"

"When a woman with a variety of styles is making love, readers will enjoy watching the following!"

"When the lovely and pitiful woman is naked, the readers will feel more dignified!"

"When a pure and lovely woman is naked, readers feel more secure!"

"When a cunning and insidious woman commits suicide, readers will be even more relieved!"

"As long as they are women, whether they are protagonists or supporting roles, they must be the appendages of men's lives and exist for men," Croaich held on to the wall and gritted her teeth:

"From fiction to reality, from birth to death, from law to life, this is the story that this bastard world tells us over and over again—it is the **** truth!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Miranda shook her head in disbelief, feeling terrified inside: "Ash!"

"Even if it is you, Mira, in the star where women have the right to inherit, if you don't have a strong husband, your vassals will not obey you sincerely," Croaish's eyes were full of resentment and pain of light:

"Even independent women like the Heart in the Rain and the Flower of the Fortress must achieve far beyond ordinary achievements in order to obtain the same pay and status as men."

At that moment, Miranda suddenly remembered her past, the eyes of her subordinates in the fortress looking at her, her father's expression when she was seven years old, and... Raphael.

"So, I understand a little bit."

"It's not the White Blade Guard or those lords who reject me and women's independence," Croath walked up to Miranda, her eyes were bewildered, and her voice was hollow:

"It's the damn world."

Croise's voice fell.

Miranda stared at her, stunned by Croash's words—both her past misfortunes and her astonishing views.

Croaish calmed down her breathing, then steadily raised the sword in her hand, with a cold expression on her face.

"Fuck them all," she said bitterly.

The sword light flashed!

Miranda endured the sharp pain in her ribs, and rolled sideways in embarrassment, avoiding Croaish's deadly sword.

If it wasn't for the inconvenience of the other party's legs, I'm afraid she would have already been decapitated.

Miranda turned around very quickly and sent out the sword in her hand, aiming at the opponent's abdomen!

Just as the immobile Croythe returned his sword to block, Miranda's sword turned miraculously, and then stabbed straight out.

Right on Croaish's left ankle!

It was as if Croaish stepped aside from the sword.

"clang!"

The blade collided violently with the armored boots.

Croaish fell to the ground in pain, clutching her ankle inside her armor boot.

Also belonging to the Tianma series, Miranda's Tianma movement tends to mobilize the rhythm of the enemy and the enemy at the same time in a back and forth linkage, creating inadvertent opportunities to defeat the enemy, just like a concerto that goes back and forth in turn;

Croesch's Pegasus Movement is used to taking the initiative to control the overall rhythm of the battle, with a fast offensive and clear enemy and friend, like a scherzo with strong contrasts between strength and weakness.

This was most vividly shown in the hand-to-hand hand-to-hand exchange just now, in Croaich's rib blow and Miranda's attack on the opponent's ankle.

"Ash, forget about those unbearable pasts." Miranda shook her head and said anxiously: "You think too much, you transfer specific hatred to..."

"Thinking too much?"

Enduring the double pain in her ankle and leg, Croych snorted coldly: "You don't understand, Mira."

"The most frightening thing is not the injustice suffered by women, but that for thousands of years, even us women have taken this kind of thing and this kind of rule as a matter of course."

Both former classmates fell to the ground, staring at each other, only three steps away from each other.

That was just the distance to hand out a sword.

The last sword.

"My mother was an ordinary country woman, and my father never loved her," Croath held her leader, looking for an angle, "as long as I can remember, that country woman has been sitting in the house all day , twisting the knitting needle in her hand, from day to night, staring hard at the lamp on the table, waiting for her only support, to return from the glorious White Blade Guard—even though he never returned.”

"My mother is still proud of that man, and thinks that the wife and daughter who are the king's guards are extremely honorable, as if all the value of her and me can only be reflected in that man, even at the mother's funeral. appeared before my eyes."

Croyce chuckled lightly.

Miranda stared at the enemy's shoulder, and the blade adjusted its position following Croaish's weapon.

"After my mother passed away in depression, I was brought back to Dragon Clouds City and entrusted to be raised by a lady of noble birth." Croych's face darkened: "Ms. Adele, she married the most noble lady in this country. One of my own—the valiant, heroic Prince Suriel Walton."

"You can't imagine what I've seen," Croath couldn't help breathing faster: "If other people know how to use rhetoric to whitewash the fact that women are property, then Suriel Walton is probably an honest man." man—with the property the whip should be."

"When I was a child, I hid under the bed countless times, covered my mouth, and heard that damned bastard come in with horror," she said tremblingly, "I heard Mrs. Adele screaming in pain, and I heard that bastard prince treat her as a The most despicable slave girl, venting her dissatisfaction with her wife again and again—Adele did not save her first night to her new husband, but to a knight in her hometown in her youth—to punish her own disrespect and insult.”

"I always climbed out to comfort Adele, who was covered in bruises and bruises after he left in despair. She also always hugged me with tears all over her body, and told me, At the same time, she also told herself: don’t be sad, because this is her sin and a woman’s destiny.”

Miranda looked at Croash in amazement—a look she had never seen in the Tower of the End before.

"You know what, Mira." Croythe said wearily.

"In fact, from birth to death, we—women—are not a whole person compared to another kind of person, from beginning to end," her voice broke:

"When we were young, we were our father's property, which was exchanged for another man's property; when we grow up, our face and figure are the face of our future husband, our virginity and chastity are his dignity, our lower body is his territory, Our womb is the storehouse for his continuation of blood, and even our thoughts must belong to them."

"When I dissected myself from top to bottom, from the inside to the outside, I found the only thing on my body that belonged to me." Croathy's eyes were full of grayness: "There is only this sword. "

"Ash."

Miranda hesitated to speak, with regret, bewilderment, and discomfort mixed in his eyes.

At that moment, it seemed that they both forgot the sword in their hands.

Finally, Miranda sighed: "What the hell are you going to do?"

Croaish looked at her quietly, and squeezed out an ugly smile: "I want to use the only remaining sword..."

"Taking back what women have been deprived of from birth..."

"Let women be independent from now on."

At that moment, Miranda shook slightly and leaned against the wall in a daze.

"I don't understand." She said with a bloodless face.

But Croech just snorted, seemingly unsurprised.

"Mira, I don't blame you... you are a happy, pitiful, innocent, sad woman who is content with the status quo and has no self-consciousness."

Miranda pursed her lips, looked at the sword in her hand, and then at Croathe.

"No matter what you plan to do... the world and history have been running like this for thousands of years, even if you become a god... such nonsense words," she gritted her teeth and shook her head:

"You can't succeed at all!"

Croythe looked up sharply!

"Of course I know I can't succeed!"

The female captain of the black sand collar had a painful and contorted expression, which made Miranda's heart tremble.

"Whether it's the concept that the world is accustomed to, or the deep-rooted traditions of the Northland, or our own self-awareness..." Croych took a deep breath, his eyes firm: "But in everything, someone must take the first step."

"Your Excellency, he is the only one in the Northland who can throw away the shackles, break the traditions, and break the stereotypes," she replied indifferently, "and only when he takes the Northland, the Exeter When everything we believe in is smashed and the backward past is negated, women can hope to obtain a new future in the brand new world built on the ruins, and live without being attached to anyone."

Miranda didn't know how to answer, she just frowned and shook her head, feeling sore in her heart.

Ashe...

Ash!

"Other people in the world may still not change, and in the end they won't take a look at those women who yearn for independence and look forward to the future," Croethy said coldly, "but at least I want them to know that in that turbulent time In the earth-shaking era, there is such a woman under that world-shaking Grand Duke!"

"The world will know: she is a woman, but she can also bleed, do meritorious service, fight, and survive alone, without the need to become a man's wife in a daze, relying on her face and womb to survive, and wearing the identity mask given by this world. !"

"Just like Queen Alicia, just like King Yao," Croyce's eyes showed pain and hesitation, but then turned into indestructible ice: "Only in this way, through me, through our efforts again and again, Tried again and again, failed again and again."

"Only injustice can be made up, and predicament can be broken!"

In the next second, Croaish suddenly raised his sword!

Miranda also subconsciously raised the "Eagle Flying" in her hand.

"Clang!"

The two swords rubbed against each other in the air, but none of the swords had the intention of resisting for a while.

Instead, both pierced into the enemy's body!

"laugh!"

Blood flowed from Miranda's and Croath's chests at the same time.

The two people, who knew each other very well, both guessed the other's intentions, and their postures at this moment were almost exactly the same.

They stabbed forward with a sword in one hand, and held the blade of the opponent's stab with the other hand, their eyes met, and the atmosphere was tense.

"so……"

"For this inexplicable reason, you turned to Rumba," Miranda held the edge of his old friend's sword, and opened his eyes wide in pain and trembling: "You betrayed us all."

Facing her, Croash smiled a mixture of apology and relief.

Bright red liquid spread from under the two of them.

"No, Mira, it's not inexplicable," Croaish said softly, her face trembling slightly, and tears flowed from her eyes: "It's so close, it's just that you've been... used to it by this world."

Miranda breathed in a trance, thinking of everything in the tower, the scene in front of her was blurred.

"Your Excellency, he carries the expectations and beliefs of so many people, including me..."

In her ears, Croythe's voice became farther and farther away, smaller and fainter:

"He will succeed."

"He has to succeed."