Walking through the night, Ash and his army were finally able to see what the remnants of the Ur Kingdom were hiding in looked like.
To be honest, although Ash was feeling quite scared, a part of him was also feeling quite excited.
When he was still a streamer, Ash had never been able to go this far in the tutorial of The Useless Prince, he always died on the first day because of a lot of unexpected events that made no sense and not logical at all.
So, the fact that he was able to get all the way to this place was already amazing.
That also proved that his luck was quite good because Ash had not really encountered any real deadly events since his journey began.
Well, that should at least be the reward for being reincarnated into Ash Voidveil's body, right?
"Sir, the enemy citadel is right over there." A soldier informed Ash.
At this moment, Ash, Serena, and a few other members were walking up a mountain, or maybe a hill, whatever, while the others were in different positions, their purpose was to surround the citadel, not allowing the remnants to escape.
And most importantly, the brave soldiers who were ready to sacrifice themselves had been placed in their correct positions.
All the sacrifices were standing in places around the citadel, 4 to 5 kilometers away from that place. And with just one press of the button from Ash, all of them would die.
But as said before, their deaths would not be in vain.
After walking a few more steps, the path up the mountain finally ended, and now, what greeted his eyes was a breathtaking scene like no other. A scene that was both majestic and magical.
From this mountain, Ash could see the entire enemy citadel clearly.
It was a citadel located in the middle of the forest, surrounded by many trees. It was not special or outstanding at all, but that also made the citadel safer.
A strong wind suddenly blew towards Ash, causing his black hair to flutter uncontrollably and also giving his body goosebumps from the cold.
However, at this moment, Ash had absolutely no intention of paying attention to those things because he was completely captivated by the citadel in the distance.
But this time, he was attracted to it not because of its beauty or majesty, but because the citadel was an extremely important place in the main story of the game False Horizon.
To be more specific, that place contained a single-use Relic, but it had extremely terrifying destructive power.
There were no words to describe its power.
That Relic was so powerful that it could instantly kill the protagonist of this game even when he was nearing the peak of his power - meaning he could single-handedly destroy a kingdom in just a day.
"Tch!" Ash clicked his tongue, clearly showing his displeasure.
If he had been able to reach this castle and obtain that Relic during the tutorial of The Useless Prince, he would have definitely been able to clear it.
How annoying.
But putting those thoughts aside, now was not the time for him to be so relaxed.
From his pocket, Ash took out a wristwatch, recognizing that it was 10:55 PM.
According to their plan, when the clock struck 11, the lives of those who had accepted sacrifice would completely disappear.
Time seemed to be playing with their lives. Every second that passed felt like a century, causing Ash to be anxious even though he was not the one who exploded.
After all, this operation would decide whether Ash would survive or die.
If he succeeded, he would live, but if he failed, he would die. Ash could still run away, but it would only be a matter of time before he was caught and killed by the enemy.
From the beginning, Ash could have escaped from this place. But how would the Empire punish him if he returned while the remnants of the Ur Kingdom were still alive?
Even if Ash was the Third Prince, he was still a useless person in the end.
And his brothers, the Emperor, and his relatives wouldn't care about his death either.
They might even feel happy that they got rid of a piece of shit that only knew how to cause trouble.
And then, the moment came, the clock struck 11 o'clock at night.
The battle officially began.
***
Around the enemy citadel, explosions that weren't too big but weren't too small started happening in succession as if they wanted to flatten the entire forest.
At the same time, the lives of those who were willing to sacrifice themselves were extinguished. They had disappeared from this world, but their names would be engraved forever.
The noise of those deadly explosions was loud, but since all of them were quite far away from the citadel, of course the enemies inside wouldn't be able to hear them.
However, the Shadow Eagles were different.
The moment the sound of those explosions rang out, spreading throughout the entire forest, it was still a calm place. Nothing happened at all.
The forest did not shake but remained silent as usual.
But just after exactly 1 minute, the crows and birds began to fly up in a chaotic manner, as if they were running away from something very powerful and evil.
And that was the Shadow Eagle.
In the sky, dozens, hundreds of Shadow Eagles were simultaneously rushing towards the sound of the explosion, causing a part of the starry night sky to become dark because of them.
The goal of those Shadow Eagles was only one, and that was to go to the place where the explosion had just occurred.
However, if they only approached the location where the explosion had just occurred, the enemies in the citadel would still be fine.
And of course Ash knew that, so he left one soldier - Louis, not letting him explode right away.
***
Somewhere very close to the citadel wall, Louis sat huddled, leaning against the sturdy wall and shaking uncontrollably like a child lost in the dark.
Louis knew that he was about to die, so there was nothing that could stop him from being afraid.
The soldier's hand was tightly holding a photo, and it wasn't just any normal one, but a picture of his wife and children, who were currently having extremely difficult lives.
However, after he died, the respected Third Prince would grant them an extremely high quality of life.
"I-I... won't die in vain, right?" Louis closed his eyes tightly, trying to stop the tears from flowing out but failed.
Then, his necklace glowed red, looking both beautiful and deadly.
The cheerful yet dire beeping sounds also appeared not long after.
Ah…it's time for Louis to go.
Time seemed to stop for the brave death row inmate.
Looking at the family photo one last time before he exploded, Louis softly yet tragically muttered:
"Ahh…I wish…I could see you and the kids one last time…"
BOOM!
Near the walls of the Citadel, a huge explosion occurred, marking the end of a brave and courageous soldier.