They were outnumbered.
After hearing the estimated number of enemy soldiers, Liu began gathering every piece of information she could find.
She studied the maps.
Walked along the walls.
Observed the lands surrounding the capital.
And the more she looked, the worse it became.
They were on a plain.
Open.
Wide.
No mountains.
No great rivers.
No dense forests.
No natural defenses.
It was the perfect terrain… to be surrounded.
Worse still, a large portion of their soldiers were volunteers.
Civilians who had picked up weapons.
Men without real training.
Without military discipline.
Resources were scarce.
Old weapons.
Damaged armor.
Very little food.
And worst of all…
Time.
They barely had any.
It was a dead end.
"Where are the commanders?" Liu asked the soldier accompanying her.
If she couldn't solve this alone, she would at least seek counsel.
The man hesitated.
"They are in the strategy room… but they instructed that no one should disturb them. They said that if anything happened, we should simply follow their orders."
That sounded strange.
Very strange.
Liu said nothing.
She simply walked.
She followed the castle corridors until she stopped before the heavy door of the strategy chamber.
Silence.
Her brow furrowed slightly.
Then she lifted her foot.
And kicked.
The door burst open with a thunderous crash.
The smell came first.
Blood.
Iron.
Death.
Inside the room…
Bodies.
Scattered across the floor.
The entire high command of the kingdom was there.
Dead.
The soldier behind her went pale.
"General…"
There were no signs of struggle.
No one had heard screams.
No alarms had sounded.
A chill crawled down Liu's spine.
Someone capable of killing all those men in silence…
Could kill them whenever they wished.
But then she saw it.
A letter on the table.
Stained with blood.
And beside it, a necklace.
A small black moon hung from its chain.
Liu approached.
Picked up the letter.
Opened it.
The handwriting was shaky.
"We are lost.
Praise the Goddess of the Black Heavens, so that our souls may find rest."
That was all.
Nothing more.
The heaviness in the air eased slightly.
There was no assassin.
It was suicide.
They had chosen their own deaths.
Liu understood.
If they had been captured…
Hell itself would have been merciful compared to what awaited them.
She lowered her gaze to the necklace.
And touched it.
The moment her fingers made contact, the object dissolved into particles of light.
The Spell's voice echoed in her mind.
[You have received a Memory.]
Liu blinked.
"A Memory…?"
Information appeared in her mind immediately.
Memory Name: Necklace of the Black HeavensRank: SupremeLevel: 1
Description:
A sacred relic of a small kingdom that worshiped the Goddess of the Black Heavens.
A kingdom consumed by the flames of war and erased from history.
Its sacred relic had never been found.
Liu stood motionless.
A Memory…
Supreme.
She had never heard of such a thing.
Not even in the rare books at the academy.
Her heart began to beat faster.
Not out of greed.
But from the sheer impossibility of it.
More information surfaced.
Enchantment: Lunar Blessing
Description:
Grants physical enhancement and accelerates recovery during the night and beneath the light of the moon.
Simple.
But powerful.
Liu summoned the Memory.
The necklace appeared again, resting around her neck.
The black moon hung delicately over her chest.
"How beautiful…" she murmured.
It was simple.
Elegant.
But it carried a strange beauty.
Ancient.
And somehow…
It suited her.
As if that was where it had always belonged.
She took a deep breath.
"Now is not the time for this."
Her face returned to its usual serious expression.
She turned.
Walked past the soldier, who was still staring at the corpses in horror.
"Let's go."
He blinked.
"What are we going to do, General?"
Liu walked down the corridor.
Without hesitation.
"Do you know how to pray?"
The soldier looked confused.
"I do… why?"
She paused for a moment.
"Then it's useless."
The man looked even more lost.
Liu kept walking.
"Raise your sword… and forget everything that exists."
She did not explain further.
Three days.
Five thousand enemies.
One thousand two hundred unprepared soldiers.
No experienced commanders.
She clenched her fist slightly.
The invisible chains around her arms felt heavier than ever.
But her mind was clear.
"I only have three days…"
She looked toward the horizon beyond the walls.
War was coming.
"I will not disappoint them."
Not those soldiers.
Not the kingdom.
Not her mother.
Not herself.
Liu made a silent promise.
She would protect everyone.
Even if she had to face an entire army alone.
And so the three days of preparation passed.
And each of them was hell for Liu.
The pressure she felt was unimaginable.
It was as if the world itself was pushing down on her shoulders.
As if invisible chains were pulling her toward the ground.
No matter where she looked…
There was no way out.
Even so, during those three days, she tried everything.
She gathered every weapon she could find.
Organized the soldiers.
Tried to teach ordinary men how to wield a sword.
But three days…
Were far too little.
She also couldn't move the battlefield.
The city was filled with civilians.
They had nowhere to run.
Liu did not sleep on any of those nights.
And what hurt the most…
Was seeing who was enlisting.
Old men.
Women.
Even children.
It broke her heart.
"Lady!"
A boy ran toward her.
He looked about seven years old.
He had enlisted after losing his parents in a conflict.
"Yes?" Liu replied as gently as she could, though her expression was still naturally cold.
"I heard that you're going to save us… is that true?"
The hope in the boy's eyes was almost unbearable.
At that moment, Liu felt the air leave her lungs.
Because she already knew.
There was no way to win.
And yet…
"Of course I will."
She answered with the gentlest smile she could manage.
"Thank you!"
The boy hugged her.
Tears streamed down his face.
"What…?"
It happened so suddenly that Liu was caught off guard.
"Thank you so much…" the boy repeated, crying.
"What happened?" Liu asked, gently stroking his head.
"I'm scared…" he sobbed.
"I want my parents…"
Something tightened inside Liu's chest.
"It will be alright," she whispered.
"I will protect you."
"I promise."
The boy cried in her arms.
And Liu felt the invisible chains around her arms grow even heavier.