Danivellek Fortress South.

The Northern Horn army launched more than thirteen charges and assaults against the Empire knights' positions to the south overnight.

Broken battle axes and armor fragments were everywhere, and blood even melted the frozen soil around the battlefield, littered with shattered corpses.

Eleanor stood atop the wall of the camp position, gazing distantly at the Danivellek Fortress, casting a massive silhouette in the cold night wind.

Many Empire Knight Captains had approached her, indicating the necessity of capturing the Danivellek Fortress. Otherwise, the enemy's supply lines could not be threatened, and the war would turn into a grinding stalemate akin to a flesh mill.

However, the troublesome part was that two demigods from the Northern Horn army were stationed within the fortress. These two knew the power of Eleanor's Holy Sword, and whenever she attempted a siege with her forces, one intentionally entangled and skirmished with her while the other fiercely attacked the Siege Knight Order, forcing Eleanor to activate the Holy Sword to protect the Empire knights.

As for Sigrdrifa, she led another demigod in a roundabout maneuver to raid the knight order's camp. There were also two demigods on the knight order's side, but Sigrdrifa single-handedly faced two, allowing the other demigod to obliterate the knight order's viable forces, compelling Eleanor to rapidly return to aid.

In essence, it exploited Eleanor's care for subordinates and her dislike for sacrifice. If it were someone like Sigrdrifa, she would let them kill her people or attack her camp while she focused on taking them down first—even spreading their ashes. Sacrificing a portion of people to buy time to use the Holy Sword to eliminate all the opposing demigods would mean the opposition couldn't continue the fight.

After a moment of looking at the fortress, Eleanor turned around to return to the camp to inspect the wounded.

Due to the extensive use of power armor, the Empire knights barely held their own in terms of single-soldier quality against the extraordinary army. However, while power armor could defend against physical damage, it couldn't protect against the low temperature transmitted through weapons.

After prolonged battles, many Empire knights suffered frostbite, with severe cases showing blackened limbs and entirely necrotized local tissues, leaving them unable to continue fighting.

The Church Court's abrupt suspension of cooperation led to nearly all accompanying priests withdrawing, dealing a more severe blow to the Empire Knight Order by "removing the cauldron from under the fire."

"Great Captain." Demigod Wolfgang greeted Eleanor. He had been struck by a [Silent Annihilation] from Sigrdrifa during yesterday's battle, surviving only by hastily activating body conceptualization.

However, the true power of the extinction law lies in its ability to extend damage beyond the physical to concepts, rendering body conceptualization unable to convert damage into spirituality consumption. Thus, the demigod's current condition wasn't great, with a lowered spirituality limit due to damaged concepts, appearing somewhat languid.

The latter nodded at the wounded knights in the camp.

The wounded knights struggled to rise, half-kneeling with one knee, hands resting on their swords, and took an oath to Eleanor:

"I solemnly swear here: I will devote my life to Sophie, the Great Captain and maintain supreme loyalty to the Empire; I will aid the populace, treat the wounded, and protect my companions. Through hardships and adversity, I will stay true to my beliefs, with God as my witness."

Soon, these wounded knights were bathed in a warm, yellow light. With enhanced physical power, the frostbite, initially black and purple, visibly recovered. Eleanor's [Oath of Faith] augmented their comprehensive physical attributes, including self-healing ability.

This is why she is known as the "Dawn Light" and "Light of Empire," garnering unwavering loyalty from the entire knight order.

Even Demigod Wolfgang, originally a member of the Blade Warriors, found his damaged spirituality limit gradually restoring under Eleanor's [Oath of Faith].

"Tomorrow, we will officially launch the assault, targeting Danivellek Fortress." After releasing the Oath of Faith, Eleanor simply stated.

"For the Empire! For the Captain!" the knights roared unitedly.

(Actually, this is directly translated as "For the Empire! For the Captain!")

——————————————

Aachen.

As the stronghold of the Saxon Family, Aachen also became a victim of the Church Court's withdrawal policy.

Recently, local nobles had been complacent about "only Aachen residents being allowed to attend His Highness's wedding," but now they began grumbling, wondering why "His Highness insisted on holding the wedding in Aachen."

Would it not be better to hold the wedding in the Bavarian Duchy? Weisbach Duke is your foster father; maybe the Church Court would switch its sanctions to the Bavarian Duchy.

Of course, the nobles would never say this publicly. Although the Divine Luo Empire is quite tolerant toward vassals who challenge authority, and many have retained their lordship after rebellions were quelled, that's all past matters.

From the point Sophie got married onward.

It's widely known that the gentler a woman's nature, the more frenzied she becomes when her temper flares and she turns dark. Now that the wedding has been disrupted, backstabbed by a girlfriend, and northbound to fight a rival, no one dares bet on Her Highness still possessing sanity... Speaking of which, if she were indeed rational, she should have halted the wedding at the beginning.

Therefore, although the nobles whispered in their own estates and during each other's banquets, no one was foolish enough to approach Her Highness to persuade her to 'yield your husband, as there are plenty of fish in the sea.'

However, while Princess Sofie is hard to approach, her younger siblings may not be.

Thus, the nobles adopted a 'curveball approach' strategy, inviting young Otto and Matilda out in various ways.

Young Otto was quite annoyed by this; having witnessed his older sister's frenzy mode, he had no desire to get involved with these people.

On the other hand, Matilda's vanity was through the roof. She attended this banquet today, that salon tomorrow, and occasionally lamented that the quality of the banquets is deteriorating, subtly hinting at the Church Court's ruthless nature and her sister's obstinate ignorance. The attending nobles echoed her sentiments, desperately hoping she would communicate these matters to her family.

Of course, Matilda was no fool. While she might fool these nobles, she would never actually call her sister or sow discord with her brother-in-law.

That day, a certain Court Count in the south of the city held a banquet in a newly built suburban villa, inviting Her Highness Matilda to attend.

She remembered that this Count had excellent taste in art appreciation, so she accepted the invitation with pleasure.

As a result, she saw her sister Adelaide in a white coat in the main hall, dealing with the surrounding nobles' conversations and toasts with a helpless expression.

"Sister Adelaide!"

"Oh, young Matilda has arrived." Adelaide, as if seeing a savior, hurriedly pushed through the crowd to greet her, "I didn't get to talk to you last time at the Great Cathedral because I was busy reporting back to the Church Court. Sorry about that. This time, I've brought you some gifts."

Matilda and Adelaide had a good relationship because this sister often brought back luxury items from Italy, such as bags, luxury watches, perfumes, and other rare things unavailable within the Divine Luo Empire.

After greeting the nobles, Matilda followed Adelaide to the banquet hall's anteroom.

There she saw a display of various cosmetic sets, designer bags, and high heels, glittering with international brand insignia that almost dazzled her.

"Are all these... for me from you?" Matilda was utterly stunned.

Undoubtedly, after receiving these luxury items, she would become the most eye-catching "queen" in the elite salons of the Empire's upper class for the entire next year.

"Yes." Adelaide said with a smile, "These are gifts for you from the Holy Daughter."

"The Holy Daughter?" Matilda turned her head in surprise and saw Nora, dressed in a white robe, stepping out from behind.

This Holy Daughter wore an immaculate nun's robe, with intricate gold threads sewn at the collar, cuffs, and waist. Beautiful silver crucifix pendants hung from the hem. Her flaxen, tousled hair flowed naturally to her shoulder blades.

Her pure and beautiful appearance, gentle demeanor, without a trace of makeup, matched Sofie's in beauty, though lacking a bit of firmness and determination, and exuded an indescribable, subtle impression of 'a needle hidden in silk.'

"Matilda, is it?" Nora asked with a soft smile, "Ellie often mentioned you, but I never had the chance to visit you."

"Are you Sister Nora?"

Hearing Nora's address wasn't "Her Highness Matilda" or "Her Highness Sofie," Matilda immediately grasped the situation and affectionately called her "Sister Nora," rather than formally as "Holy Daughter," and enthusiastically said:

"Sister Eleanor often talks about you! I've always wanted to meet you too, but because of my husband's family..."

She showed an embarrassed expression as she spoke, inwardly regretting her slip of the tongue.

Since her sister had just taken away her beloved, why on earth would she mention her sister? Why not communicate with Nora in her own right as Matilda?

However, Nora showed no signs of anger and smiled as she said:

"It's okay. Ellie is busy, and she probably doesn't have much time to introduce her family to me..."

At this point, the Holy Daughter paused for a moment before speaking again warmly and gently:

"By the way, Matilda. Could I ask you a favor?"

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