"Goblin, I will kill you, I will kill you, I will kill you…"
All the way, Joan of Arc muttered incessantly as if possessed.
Her beautiful eyes had become dark and eerie, filled with bloodshot veins!
She had never experienced such a failure, nor had she ever endured such humiliation.
Now, not only could she not avenge herself, but she also had to watch her people starve while searching for food.
"Your Highness, please don't be like this. They won't blame you; you've always acted for everyone's good."
"That's right, it's just goblins. We'll go kill them when the time comes."
"Come on, let's head to the Giant Elephant Empire first."
With the understanding and comfort of her companions, Joan of Arc's self-blame and resentment eased a little.
They hastened towards the Giant Elephant Empire, for time was extremely tight.
It would take at least seven days to go back and forth.
By then, it was very likely people would have already starved to death.
A whirlwind of dust swept through the air as the convoy sped towards the Giant Elephant Empire!
Soon, they arrived at the towering city walls.
Thump!
However, Joan of Arc and her group's hearts suddenly trembled.
Staring at the damaged city gates and the ruined walls, an ominous feeling rose within them.
They rushed inside without delay.
There was nothing—only desolation and ruins.
It was evident that this had become a ghost town!
"Impossible! Impossible! How could this be!!!"
Joan of Arc hurried towards the granary.
It was exactly the same as in the Holy Tree Empire.
Empty, not even a trace of dust left!
At this point, the soldiers who had still held onto hope began to panic.
"Could it be that the goblins… have conquered both of the Great Empires at the same time? How is that even possible?!"
"All the food is gone… Are we really going to starve to death?"
"What do we do, what do we do?!"
Seeing her people like this, Joan of Arc nearly broke down herself, but she forced herself to stay calm.
"Alright, don't panic. Keep searching. Maybe we can still find some food."
"Your Highness, forget it. This is all part of the goblins' scheme. They want to starve us out. There's no way they'd leave food behind in the city…"
One of the soldiers spoke gravely.
Joan's breathing became erratic, and she stammered, "There… there's still…"
She wanted to say there was still hope.
But looking at the situation now, hope seemed nonexistent.
There were other small countries they could go to, but they were far away—at least a month's journey.
By the time they returned with food, the city would already be filled with bones.
Suddenly, Joan thought of something.
"Right, the Troy Empire!"
"But Your Highness, we have some grudges with the Troy Empire. Will their king even give us food? And it will take at least ten days to travel back and forth."
The soldier's face was still full of despair.
Joan of Arc couldn't afford to care about grudges.
"We have to try! Ten days, twenty days—at least it's better than returning empty-handed."
"Then let's go, everyone!"
The group set off once again.
However, they had been starving for days.
Aside from getting lucky and finding a few wild fruits, they had eaten nothing.
The fruit didn't fill them, and one by one, they became weak and faint, their consciousness growing hazy.
Though Joan was a demigod and could endure a little longer, she wasn't in much better shape.
Moreover, the Troy Empire was a desert kingdom.
The scorching heat accelerated the loss of their energy.
Finally, they reached the walls of Troy.
Upon learning that it was the demigod Joan of Arc, the King of Troy gathered a large number of soldiers atop the city walls and coldly asked,
"Hmph! What are you here for? Do you intend to attack me with just this small group? Isn't that a bit too arrogant?"
"No, I… Our Free Empire has been struck by locusts and famine. We're here to seek aid, hoping that you can set aside past grudges and provide us with some food for disaster relief…"
Joan weakly replied, her lips dry and cracked from the oppressive heat.
Her eyes were filled with desperation.
Hearing this, the King of Troy sneered,
"Hahaha! I never thought I'd see the high-and-mighty Saint Joan of Arc begging me for help! Let me tell you this—it's impossible!!! Have you forgotten the enmity between us?"
The kingdom Joan had once overthrown was a vassal of the Troy Empire.
Thus, deep animosity had existed between the two ever since.
Moreover, the people of Troy had long harbored resentment toward demigods, believing that their own heroic powers were no less than divine power, yet it was always the demigods who received the highest praise and glory.
Most importantly, the Sara incident had left the King of Troy extremely dissatisfied.
There was no way he'd be willing to help her.
He shouted harshly,
"If you've come to declare war, I will gladly accept! But if you're here to beg for help? Two words—GET LOST!!"
"We… we can pay. Even at high prices, we'll pay twice the amount in gold!"
Joan's face was filled with fear.
She didn't dare imagine what would happen if she were refused!
But her words only further enraged the King of Troy.
It was because of the desire to make money that they had sent Sara to the Goblin Empire, which led to that incident.
In a fit of rage, the King of Troy snarled,
"Get out! Get as far away from here as possible! If you weren't so weak right now, I would have already attacked you!"
"Consider yourself lucky. We are noble Trojans! Honor above all else, or else today you would have died!"
After speaking, the King of Troy waved his sleeve grandly and left with his soldiers.
Joan of Arc and her group were left standing there in despair and hunger, stunned for a long time as if they were being punished to remain in place.
That feeling of helplessness spread through Joan's entire body.
She no longer knew what to do.
A few soldiers glanced around at the vast, barren desert, thinking of hunting some animals to eat, but there were none to be found.
One of them spoke in frustration,
"Your Highness, let's leave. This place is too desolate. We're too hungry; let's go to the forest and find something to eat."
Joan sat motionless on her horse, as if she had turned to stone, not uttering a single word.
The soldiers had no choice but to lead the horse away.
On their way back, they searched the fields and forests for a long time, but they couldn't find a single animal.
The local wildlife had long been hunted by the former residents.
This place was nothing like the Goblin Empire.
Unlike there, where food and clothing were plentiful, here, people were tightening their belts just to survive.
Any creature visible had already been caught and eaten.
Finally, after a grueling struggle, they managed to catch a few small birds to roast and fill their stomachs.
But the birds were difficult to catch, and they had little strength left.
Using magic to hunt them would have cost more energy than it was worth.
In this world, magic power, also known as mana, was equivalent to physical stamina.
"Your Highness! Quick, something's wrong with the queen!"
Suddenly, while sitting by the campfire, Joan of Arc's vision darkened, and she collapsed to the ground.
The overwhelming weight on her heart had exhausted her mentally, causing her to faint from the strain.
When she woke up again, she was lying on her horse, and as she looked around, she realized they were almost back to Free City.
Then, something struck her as odd.
They had originally set out with thirty people and five horses.
The horses had mostly been spared by the locust plague, and these five were the only ones left.
Now, though the horses were still fine, there were clearly fewer people—only twenty remained!
Joan of Arc couldn't help but ask,
"Where are the others? Where did they go?!"
Upon hearing this, the soldiers all lowered their heads, unwilling to answer directly.
Joan's feelings of powerlessness and despair deepened.
"Idiots! Why didn't you eat the horses first? How could you do something like that?! What makes you any different from goblins?!"
"Your Highness! These horses are the empire's last hope. We… we couldn't bring ourselves to eat them!"
the soldier captain stepped forward, his face streaked with tears.
He looked utterly helpless.
These past days had been a living hell.
His eyes were bloodshot, dark circles heavy beneath them, and though he had eaten, he looked like a half-dead man, completely haggard.
It was terrifying.
They had made a pact—whoever fainted from hunger or exhaustion would be sacrificed for the survival of the group.
So, everyone had fought to stay awake, afraid to collapse, knowing that once they did, they would never rise again.
Joan's expression turned somber.
She couldn't bring herself to blame them.
If she hadn't provoked the goblins, none of this would have happened.
She sighed in resignation,
"Let's go. Let's return and assess the situation. If things get worse, we'll eat leaves and grass to survive."
"We've already filled several carts with grass and leaves. Hopefully, it'll help us hold out," the captain said, glancing behind them.
Within dozens of miles around the Free Empire, every blade of grass and leaf had already been devoured by the locusts.
So they had prepared in advance.
With a heavy heart, Joan finally entered the gates of Free City.
Upon hearing the commotion, a large number of residents swarmed out like ravenous ghosts!
At the sight of them, even Joan of Arc was so frightened she wanted to dismount and flee!
They truly resembled a horde of starving ghouls.
Their faces were yellow and emaciated, their cheeks sunken in from hunger, and their hands were like chicken claws—thin and bony.
Their entire bodies were filthy, covered in grime, and they emitted a nauseating stench!
Their eyes burned like ghostly flames, desperate for food, desperate to survive!
They surged out in droves like zombies, mumbling unintelligible words with their lips.
They were so starved they could barely form coherent speech.
"Your Highness! Save me! I'm starving to death!"
"Food! Give me food!!!"
"My child… Your Highness, you must help me! My child disappeared last night! It's very possible that… it's very possible that… wuu wuu wuu!"
"You heartless woman, how dare you speak?! My child went to your house to play and disappeared completely!"
The ones still able to speak hadn't yet starved completely.
The others had already rushed toward the carts.
Joan of Arc's face darkened, unsure of how to face these people.
"I'm sorry, everyone, but the food…"
She had thought they wouldn't eat the grass and leaves.
However, one by one, like starving demons, they began fighting over the leaves and grass.
They stuffed them into their mouths, shoving huge bites into their bellies.
The sensation of being full spread across their faces.
Watching this scene unfold…
Joan of Arc furrowed her brow and couldn't help but ask,
"Captain, how many days did our return trip take? No, how long have we been gone in total? Why is it like this?"
"Y-Your Highness, fifteen days, maybe twenty? I can't quite remember…"
the captain stammered, his eyes drifting.
Each soldier had fought to stay conscious, refusing to faint or fall asleep, leaving them all half-dead.
Their pace had slowed to nearly half its usual speed.
In Joan's mind, it felt as if thunder had exploded!
A deafening roar!
Twenty days!
She didn't dare imagine the horrors that had taken place in the city during those twenty days!
Even the soldiers, who had the luxury of being outdoors with access to leaves, grass, and the occasional bird, had resorted to cannibalism in the end.
In a city like Free City, where there wasn't a single grain of rice within dozens of miles…
How these people had managed to survive—there was no doubt about it…