Phantasia: The Princess Knight 114 Test Of Strength Part Two

That night after Edith fell asleep, Alicia stayed up a bit longer. She wanted to try to figure out why she couldn't cast magic. But no matter what she tried she was not able to. Alicia could only give a long sigh as she turned her attention to the matters at hand. From what she has figured out so far, the Empire invaded her kingdom and planned to annex in their crusade to take over the world. King Dorian, Edith's and Dianna's father ordered his army to resist the invasion, to the very last man, even sending out his own children to fight in this bloody battle. Edith and Dianna went from a pampered life inside the castle to a living hell drenched in blood. If it was not for the fact that these two sisters used to sneak off and train with the kingdoms knights they would have died a long time ago.

Now Alicia would have found this test easy if it meant just surviving on her own but now she had Edith to take care of as well. This was no easy task since they were in different squads and deployed on opposite ends of the battlefield. In any case, Alicia figured that in this test it revolved around both sisters. Alicia let out another long sigh… "Who would have thought being a knight also meant dealing with situations like this as well." Alicia now fully understood what war was like and she was sure she would see many more horrific scenes in the future.

After a little while longer of contemplating, Alicia finally decided on a game plan. She would have to wait until morning time when the battle would resume to begin preparing. Now that everything was planned out Alicia laid her aching body down and fell into a deep sleep. 

The next morning the bugle call was heard throughout the camp signaling for everyone to get ready. Alicia opened her sleepy eyes to see that the sun had yet to rise. She figured she had slept no more than a few hours. Her whole body was still exhausted but she knew her enemies were no different than her. She gritted her teeth as yesterday's wounds were now throbbing with pain as she got up. Edith who was next to her was no different. Some of her wounds even reopened causing her clothes to be stained with blood. 

"Edith, pass me some cloth. I will wrap your wounds." Alicia did not want Edith going out to battle with her wounds in this condition. But they had no other choice so she could only try to stop Edith's bleeding by tightly wrapping some cloth around her wounds. 

"Thank you!" Edith said as she smiled.

 The ground under Alicia's foot was soft and moist. The dark clouds overhead threatened to release a downpour at any moment. Alicia slightly smiled seeing this. This kind of weather was perfect for the plan she had come up with. She had to get herself set up before the call for retreat rang out. Only then could she execute her plan.

The day's battle was just as fierce as it was the day before. Alicia was once again covered in many sword wounds. But with her adrenaline rushing, she felt no pain whatsoever. She continued crossing swords with the enemy as she searched for the right enemy to use in her plan. The day had almost completely passed and Alicia was starting to get nervous because she had yet to find anyone with the same stature as hers. Right as the sun was setting her eyes laid on an Empire soldier who was about the same height as her. Alicia quickly dispatched the enemy in front of her and charged at the soldier in her sights. She quickly weaved in and out of the battles going on around her. When she was only a few meters away, Alicia readied her sword and swung it towards the Empire soldier's neck. 

Of course, things were not that simple. The Empire soldier was not going to just sit there and offer up their neck to Alicia's sword. Their swords crossed causing a loud clanging sound. Alicia wanted to quickly end this battle so she went all out. The speed of her sword increased double what she had been using, causing the Empire soldier to be stunned, creating a hole in their defense. Alicia did not miss this chance and quickly struck out with her sword stabbing the Empire soldier in the neck. 

Once the Empire soldier fell Alicia grabbed the body and dragged it behind some tall rocks not too far away. With the downpour of rain and all the battles going on. No one noticed when Alicia disappeared from the battlefield. Behind the rocks, Alicia began stripping the armor off the Empire soldier. But her work stopped after she had only removed the helmet. The Empire soldier was actually a young girl around her age! Alicia looked at that face that was frozen with a look of disbelief and fear and felt regret. Tears rolled down from her eyes. She really wondered just how many young girls she had killed now during this battle. Taking the lives of someone so young who was just following orders really did not sit right with her. But she also knew that it was either them or her. Because she was also someone who was just following orders like them. 

"Get it together Alicia! Remember the third virtue, No Mercy! She is an enemy." Alicia gave herself a small pep talk as she went back to work removing the armor from the young girl. Once she was done she quickly changed out of her armor and put the Empire soldier's armor on. Out of respect for this young girl instead of leaving her there with nothing on, Alicia took the armor she had just taken off and put it on the girl. Before turning to leave to find a better hiding spot, Alicia looked at the young girl she had killed one more time and said under her breath: "When this is all over, I promise to come back and give you a proper burial..."

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