Counter Invasion (2)

***

Thanks to all the efforts to encourage the soldiers, we passed the top of the mountain and finally began our descent.

The further down the mountain we went, the more we were relieved of the cold.

Of course, we lost soldiers due to the rugged terrain, but it was not so bad that we could not cross.

Still, the reason why we haven't fought a war across this mountain range is because there were soldiers stationed in the Bridget royal capital.

But now it's different, Bridget's capital it's empty.

So, if we get to the capital before the enemy does, it's game over.

The enemy's capital is just down the mountain and as we hurriedly descended the mountain to reach our goal.

"What...?"

"What's wrong?"

Yurasia, who had been following me so meekly in the cold that I couldn't tell if she was there or not, suddenly stopped and tilted her head.

"It's...Suddenly there was a light from the ring. I've only ever seen it glow when I open the treasure vault..."

Indeed, there was a white light emanating from her ring.

At that very moment the ground suddenly began to shake, as if an earthquake had occurred.

The ground started to crack where she was standing.

As the ground began to collapse, she fell down the cliff.

"Keep marching, Fihatri! I'm going to save the princess and then come after you!"

After shouting that, I jumped off the cliff without hesitation.

"General!"

Of course, I wouldn't do this without any precautions.

Jumping off this high cliff with no way to save myself is just plain stupid.

After all I have skills; no matter where I fall from I can stay safe!

As soon as I jumped, I spotted her, but she was too far from me.

The speed of our fall was almost the same, so it would be impossible to catch up with her at this rate.

I summoned my blade and used [Crush] tossing the blade in her direction.

Normally, I would have thrown the blade, but now I as I left go with one hand the other quickly grabbed hold.

It was as if [Crush] was pulling my body along with it.

As a result, I caught up with her.

I guess I arrived at her precisely because I set the target of [Crush] to near her.

Just before I caught up to her with the thrust of [Crush], I disabled it and caught her falling body.

Deactivation meant that it would take five hours for the skill to recover but I had no time to think about this now.

"Your Highness!"

"Julius...? Why..?"

"Just hold on tight!"

I used [Invincibility for 30 seconds] just as I landed on the ground.

My body hadn't received any shock, so of course Yurasia was safe in my arms as they cushioned the landing for her as best I could.

She looked at me in disbelief.

"What in the world is this...?"

"It's a mana skill."

"Oh, the one you used to jump down from the castle wall! But no matter what, it's still...It's too dangerous to jump down like that without hesitation."

"Your Highness is a friend who fought with me i wont just watch you die."

She's a valuable piece can't just go discarding her due to an accident afterall.

"What?"

She responded as if she couldn't believe what i'd said

"I don't abandon my friends, especially when I can save them. Even if it's dangerous, if there's a chance that they can be saved, I will definitely save them. I always want my friends to be happy. Well, I have such an ironclad rule."

"Yeah, yeah...that's..."

I set her down on the ground and looked towards the cliff.

The huge gate on the cliff was still shaking with a white light; it was the cause of the earthquake.

"Your Highness, do you happen to know anything about that gate?"

"No...I've never seen that gate before."

She said as she looked at the glowing ring that seemed to resonate with the mana formation of the giant gate.

That gate must have a deep connection with the relics of the Ancient Empire.

If that's the case, we can't just overlook it.

"Why don't we go to the gate? We can't climb the cliffs anyway..."

"Yes!"

Yurasia, who had been sitting down, nodded and stood up, having regained some composure.

I walked with her to the gate that was still generating vibrations and stopped.

"Do you want me to open it like the royal treasury?"

"Yes, please."

When I nodded, Yurasia looked a little nervous and placed her palm on the gate the glowing ring on her finger activating the one on the gateway.

When the mana formation on the gate lit up, the vibrations stopped and the gate opened.