School Transmigration: I, Chosen as the Saint by Dragons at the Start-Chapter 188 --The Loyal Blight

The palace guards should not have been deployed in such a manner, but due to the snow king’s complete ignorance of military strategy, after discussing Mingate’s defenses, he offhandedly told the captain of the guard to arrange the palace in a similar fashion.

This foolish order increased Owen’s chances of escaping the royal palace.

Initially, Owen encountered little resistance as he made his way through the palace.

For the royal guards, his movements were simply too fast, each attack devastatingly precise, leaving them unable to defend themselves effectively.

Sensing this, Owen didn’t allow the guards time to form up, swiftly breaking through their ranks.

Before long, he had reached the palace gates.

However, the gates were heavily guarded, with hundreds of soldiers in formation, seemingly setting the stage for a fierce battle.

Just as Owen was ready to swing his trident in a fight to the death, an officer-like figure leaped in from outside the gate, stepping in front of the royal guard formation.

"The Snow Kingdom’s Third Centurion, Blight, is here. May I ask who you are? What have you done?"

"Owen," Owen replied through clenched teeth.

"Today, I acted to set an example by slaying the shameless traitors and cowards of humanity."

Killing the snow king was also a way to give an account to Dawson and Kistan, and to the soldiers who died in battle.

Owen eyed Blight’s sword-holding hand, noting silently that this man was a master and likely difficult to contend with.

Blight was silent for a few seconds, then turned and asked, "Royal guard, have you received orders to stop this man? Answer with just one or two words."

The guards exchanged glances, and someone bravely answered, "No, but..."

"I haven’t either," Blight turned back to face Owen and continued, "Open the gates, let him through!"

Thus, the palace gates were opened, and Owen quickly exited.

Mounting the horse he had arrived on, he sped away, managing to escape Mingate before the city was sealed.

Third Centurion Blight returned to Mingate with a heart full of dismay and anger.

He ordered the fully armed eight hundred or so men behind him to return to the barracks and stand by, while he alone went to report back to the palace.

The Mingate seven centurions are the highest-ranking officers in the Snow Kingdom.

After the massacre created by Crimson Plum Blossom fifteen years ago, the title of seven centurions was no longer named but represented by numbers, with lower numbers holding higher ranks.

Under normal circumstances, the first centurion is the strongest, and the seventh centurion is the weakest.

However, the current third centurion might be the strongest among the seven centurions.

For Blight, loyalty and righteousness indeed form the foundation of his character.

Yet, this nickname actually stemmed from his subordinates’ mockery, filled with "We are all cowards; only you are loyal and righteous, so please go and die for your loyalty first."

Such was their expectation.

In today’s Snow Kingdom, the first centurion commands the royal guard, the second centurion leads the merchant guard, and the third centurion, along with the remaining five centurions, are responsible for the ironclad army and other forces.

The ironclad army despises Blight’s strict military discipline.

Whenever Blight personally oversees training or missions, a large number of the ironclad army feign illness, with some even purchasing laxatives.

Blight was powerless to change this; the ironclad army was composed of mercenaries, with each centurion’s direct, permanent guard totaling only fifty men, and the rest of the mercenaries were jointly managed by the five centurions.

Thus, mercenaries would listen to whichever centurion was "nicer" to them.

The ironclad army was essentially divided into four factions, with Blight almost left commanding in isolation.

However, that wasn’t entirely the case.

Army Maquis had helped Blight identify eight hundred reliable men.

But Blight did not take any steps to solidify these eight hundred men into his own "faction"; he merely ordered them to return to the barracks and stand by.

Walking alone on the road to the palace, Blight felt an unprecedented sense of solitude.

Having those eight hundred men behind him might have offered some comfort.

Although not yet officially announced, the people of Mingate were essentially aware that the Snow Kingdom had aligned with the demon army.

Yet, their lives seemed unchanged.

The common folk cared little for loyalty or valor; warriors were but brutes in their eyes.

And what difference was there, really, between the Snow Kingdom ironclad army and these commoners?

Approaching the palace gate, Blight looked at the majestic dragon sculptures adorning it and scoffed internally, suspecting the snow king’s shamelessness exceeded even that of the commoners.

After a moment, Blight sensed something was amiss.

The palace gates were closed tight in broad daylight, with not a guard in sight – clearly, something had happened.

Gripping the iron sword at his waist, Blight leaped over the palace gate, only to see a young man confronting over a hundred guards.

Noticing the blood-stained trident in the young man’s hand, Blight’s heart skipped a beat.

He approached the front of the guard formation and inquired, "The Snow Kingdom’s Third Centurion, Blight, is here.

May I ask who you are? What have you done?"

"Owen," the young man replied through clenched teeth, "Today, I acted to set an example."

So it was.

Using the excuse of not having received any orders to intercept, Blight commanded the guards to open the gates with an intimidating tone.

The young man swiftly escaped the palace.

Without looking back, Blight headed towards the main hall.

Along the way, he saw injured guards everywhere, but none with fatal wounds, suggesting Owen had intentionally spared them.

The one who deserved to die was not among them but inside the main hall. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

With this thought, Blight entered the main hall.

The debris scattered around the floor was yet to be cleaned, and from the fragments of clothing, it appeared the person who met a gruesome death was Prime Minister Miguel.

In front of the throne, two guards were lifting a beheaded corpse on a stretcher, with another guard standing beside them, holding a blood-stained crown.

Had the snow king been dispatched so effortlessly?

Blight was filled with doubts.

Just then, a rumbling noise came from behind the throne’s wall.

Blight looked towards the sound, and the thick stone wall split in the middle, revealing the captain of the royal guard emerging from within.

Blight sneered internally: No wonder there was a two-meter-thick stone wall built inside the hall; it truly was the refuge of a coward.

Previously, Blight thought the snow king had poor taste, hence the construction of such a luxurious yet ugly structure indoors.

Now, it dawned on him that it was after Miguel became prime minister that these incongruous additions appeared in the palace.

Likely, the king often saw was mostly a body double, while the snow king himself hid in the shadows, observing.

This stone wall was indeed a clever invention, too bad its creator was now reduced to mere debris.

As Blight pondered, two guards whispered something to the guard captain, who then half-knelt in front of the stone wall and said something.

Finally, snow king Bladen emerged from the shadows, his pale face still covered in cold sweat.

Clearly terrified, Bladen leaned on the throne and asked Blight with a trembling voice, "Third Centurion, has the assassin truly left?"

"He has left," Blight struggled to suppress a laugh.

Bladen finally relaxed, his tense nerves momentarily loosening, almost causing him to collapse to the floor.

Fortunately, the guard captain supported the snow king, placing him back on the throne.

After resting on the throne for a while, Bladen regained his usual demeanor, slightly authoritative as he questioned Blight, "Third Centurion, why did you let the assassin go? Even without a capture order, you dare to release an assassin within the palace?"

Blight looked straight into the king’s eyes, his disdain rendering him speechless.

Bladen, unsettled by the piercing gaze, suppressed the rising fear within him and commanded, "Take the Third Centurion to the dungeon to await judgment."

The captain of the guard unsheathed his long sword, and the guards who had been entering the hall since Bladen emerged from the stone wall surrounded Blight at the center.

Looking around, Blight found himself encircled by nearly two hundred soldiers.

Suddenly, Blight drew his iron sword, causing the guards to instinctively step back two paces, and the sound of steel clashing against the ground echoed in the main hall.

Holding his iron sword towards the captain of the guard, Blight declared loudly, "Wood, one day you will understand what true loyalty and righteousness mean!"

With a clang, Blight threw his sword to the ground and surrendered without a fight.

A few brave guards tightly bound Blight, even tying his feet with a specially made hemp rope.

After the Third Centurion was taken away, Bladen quietly asked the captain of the guard, "Was that assassin truly the saint of dragons, Owen?"

"Yes, he wielded a trident."

"Quick, find his portrait in the study, issue a kingdom-wide manhunt. Also, seal the official roads, reinforce the city defenses," Bladen licked his dry lips, "And, with the current situation, the empire likely knows of Snow Kingdom’s betrayal. Urge the demon army to hasten their march, let them withstand the empire’s forces."

"Yes."

After issuing the orders, Bladen struggled to stand.

Owen, with a trident?

Truly terrifying!

Bladen wiped the cold sweat from his face, suddenly feeling unsteady on his feet as if a chill surged from within his chest.

The next moment, he collapsed into the arms of the captain of the guard.

Owen, having escaped Mingate, did not dare to pause for even a moment.

Along the way, he saw personnel from the empire’s stations hurriedly evacuating, with many of Snow Kingdom’s facilities already deliberately set ablaze.

Clearly, Snow Kingdom and the demon army’s actions could not escape the empire’s notice.

Thinking of the snow king, that coward hiding in Mingate, not daring to remove the empire’s stations and fortresses along the official roads, Owen felt as if he had dirtied his own hands.

Continuously pushing forward day and night drained Owen of his vast energy.

By the time he encountered the vanguard of the empire’s reinforcements for Ironblade City, he was so exhausted he could barely keep his eyes open.

After proving his identity to the vanguard officer, he was led to where the Generalissimo King was commanding the central forces.