F-ranker Sword Saint: My Soulbound Sword is Secretly SSS-tier!-Chapter 232: Invading The Stone Castle

"Everyone, prepare yourselves, meditate, or something. The drawbridge is about to open any time now, and when I give the order, we charge."

As much as Caleb wanted to position the Egress Army as close to the drawbridge as possible, it would be impossible with their numbers.

Chances are, they would be forced to fight the wraiths instead, which was definitely not ideal.

He chose to lose a few minutes instead, hiding the Damnedling Army farther away.

Of course, it was impossible to be in formation at this time, so they would have to arrange themselves while crossing the bridge later.

Lesha sighed.

"What the hell was that speech? Gods...you’re bad."

But Caleb only ignored her, snorting in displeasure as he turned to look at Daru.

Some distance away, the unassuming celebrity was doing weird stuff again, posturing like a bodybuilder over and over.

Perhaps something finally snapped in that strange brain of his.

Meanwhile, Sigrun watched him with intrigue, arms crossed over her bosom.

"My, you look rather ridiculous, Onimaru Kunitsuna. Why not stop this farce? You’re wasting your charm doing unattractive stuff. Or at least explain what you are doing, so you won’t look so bad in this princess’s eyes."

She had been trying to crack the mysterious bladeborn since earlier, but to no avail. Fortunately, this fourth time bore fruit...a little.

Daru spared her a glance.

"Please don’t bother me right now. We can talk later."

Elara clicked her tongue in displeasure.

"Tch...what an unpleasant fellow..."

She muttered as she left and minded her own business, in disbelief after being chased away.

Shouldn’t young men be working to impress her?

So, she walked to the front to talk to Lesha and Caleb instead, turning her attention to her fascination regarding their abominable forms outside the Reprieve.

Daru shot a glance her way again, pondering about the strange familiarity he felt the first time he met her.

’Maybe because she looks a bit like the silver princess in my dreams?’ he mused, posturing ludicrously once more.

Whatever it was he was attempting, he failed again.

’Ahh, this won’t do...I need to focus. Why is she so talkative, anyway? Shouldn’t stuck-up, self-proclaimed princesses like her be aloof and distant?’

Daru shook his head before taking a deep breath and continuing whatever it was he was doing.

Unfortunately, the drawbridge began to creak and rumble another ten minutes later.

He quickly stopped and hid behind one of the trees.

The sight of hundreds of Damnedlings scattered in front of him, hiding in random trees, stone slabs, and shrubbery, was quite comical.

But the raging tide of wraiths was not...

The atmosphere around him grew tense as the drawbridge latched on their side of the river, and thousands of Forsaken Legionaries, along with a dozen Condemned Centurions, flooded out of the Stone Castle, howling as they crossed the drawbridge while waving their repulsive banners.

Caleb’s mouth was dry, and his breathing was slightly heavy.

Even the princess was frowning.

To her, the sight of so many ugly abominations together was so disgusting and distasteful that she felt it was sullying her gorgeous silver eyes.

Thankfully, though, nothing went wrong at this stage.

It would simply be a tragic disaster if something did.

"Egress, to battle!" roared Ascalon the moment the wraith army disappeared into the Ashen Plain, the gray jian strapped on his back clanging as he ran on all fours.

Daru gave the stupefied Elara a heavy tap of encouragement on the back as he passed her, charging alongside the Damnedlings.

"Unbelievable," she scoffed before following suit, sprinting as fast as she could.

Her speed was startling.

Despite being dumbfounded and aghast at the thought of charging alongside abominable horrors who are running on fours like rabid dogs for a few moments, Sigrun was able to pass a majority of the Damnedlings, even the party leaders, with fair ease.

She soon caught up with the vanguard, overtaking Caleb and Lesha, and running alongside Daru.

As planned, the two of them would be the head of the spear, tasked to break through the wraiths’ ranks quickly, so that the army wouldn’t be held up for too long.

It was quite the weighty responsibility, but the princess wished for nothing less.

How could a future Sword Saintess like her be delegated to tasks of lower difficulty? It was only proper that she was entrusted with something of importance.

The Egress Army sorted themselves, too, impressively getting into a decent-enough formation by the time they reached the middle of the colossal drawbridge.

The river howled as they passed, their heavy footsteps drowned by its harrowing cries...until finally, they reached the castle.

The armor of the human Visitor duo clanged and echoed in the eerie stone hallways of the Stone Castle, with the lighter thuds of their abominable comrades following closely behind them.

The perilous hunt for the relic of The Crown has begun.

"There, turn that corner!" Caleb instructed, to which Daru followed without hesitation.

And again. Then, another time...

Elara’s brows rose, and she shot a glance at Daru. Her legs didn’t stop moving.

"Hey, why is it that you need directions from Ascalon? From what I heard, you’re the one who explored this castle the most, no?"

Daru coughed, then cleared his throat.

"Let’s not talk about unnecessary things and focus on the mission, please."

"Hmph! Why do I still even make an effort talking to you...instead of appreciating this princess’s priceless interest, you chase me away! Unbelievable...Just unbelievable..." she grumbled in frustration.

Elara didn’t have much chance to aggravate her vexation further, though, as, after another turn, they arrived at one of the main staircases leading to the second floor.

Her eyes narrowed momentarily, and her expression shifted.

Daru sensed the change and smiled faintly.

While her unusual preference for calling herself a princess and her excessively talkative and show-off nature were a bit of a letdown, she was still an SSS-ranker.

What is the essence of her combat style — is she fierce like Lesha? Cautious like Ascalon?

Maybe flowing like him?

There were a lot of styles, after all, and someone like Elara, who probably had a famous instructor and was being trained since she was a child, was bound to show him something amazing.

The clangs of their armor soon filled the stairs.

Then, the wraiths of the second floor noticed them, hissing angrily and charging at them.

Daru’s smile grew a little bit wider, and he gripped his tachi tighter.

’Now then, Sigrun of Antariel, show me your prowess...’