“Your Majesty,” a member of the war council said with his eye twitching. “We specifically picked out this place to engage the Ottomans in combat because of the terrain. Their soldiers outnumber us, but with the marsh working to our advantage, we could’ve fought their army piece by piece. Why did you wait for their whole army to gather?”

Louis II snorted. “Fighting them like that, it wouldn’t be chivalrous.”

“Chivalrous? It wouldn’t be chivalrous?” the war council member asked, veins bulging on his neck. “Do you think the Ottomans will care about chivalry when they fight us three to one? Do you think they’ll care about chivalry when they invade the capital where our wives and children are waiting for us?”

“Quit your whining,” Louis II said. “Everything will be fine as long as we win.”

“Yes, everything will be fine as long as we win, but we don’t have to try out best to lose!”

Louis II rolled his eyes and turned his body away from the council member. “Oh, the keepers of the church are about to engage in combat with the witch. Is a girl that small really capable of punching down Belgrade’s walls?”

“Look,” the war council member said and pointed. “Those twelve keepers, they represent the highest order of the church, yet they’re preparing to fight one witch together. Do you think they’re unchivalrous because of that? Of course not! They’re doing what has to be done.”

“And, sometimes, what has to be done is unchivalrous,” Louis II said. “You can lose a battle, but you can’t lose your dignity. If you mention such things again, I’ll have you removed from your post.”

The war council member took in a deep breath and exhaled. “Then what’s your plan, Your Majesty? Evidently, you don’t want to work with us, so we’ll work with you instead.”

“We charge,” Louis II said and tilted his chin up, puffing his chest out.

The council member’s eyes bulged. “We charge? What do you mean by that?”

“A cavalry charge,” Louis II said. “What else can I mean? We break the enemy formation, and our infantry follows through. A classic tactic—the simplest plans are often the best.”

“With Your Majesty’s great wisdom, there really was no need for you to have established a war council,” the council member said, holding back the urge to spit on the ground. “Hopefully, the keepers will demonstrate their otherworldly strength and lower the enemy morale.”

Louis II narrowed his eyes at the battlefield. The twelve keepers were wreathed in a white light. The bruises that had covered their bodies earlier were no longer there, revealing their not-horrendous-to-look-at faces. Ahead of them, a lone girl, equipped with only a buckler, was walking towards them. The air around her was distorted as if it were a hot summer day, shimmering and waving from the heat. The two parties stopped within talking distance.

The leader of the keepers stepped forward. “Surrender in the name of—”

“I didn’t come here to talk, old man!” Alice shouted and charged forward, her shield rapidly expanding. Besides, she had no idea what he was saying, so talking would’ve been fruitless. As she was running, the golden rune on her forehead shone like the sun, and a golden aura exploded out of her body. A translucent lion’s claw formed around her shield which was on her left hand, and she slammed it towards the leader of the keepers.

“Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: Set me on high from them that rise up against me.” A white wall rose up once the keeper finished his chant. The golden claw and the white wall collided. Surprisingly, the clash didn’t make a sound save for Alice’s grunt. She furrowed her brow and stomped forward with her left leg, drawing her right arm back. Her nose practically touched the white wall, and she roared as she punched, slamming her fist into the light.

The keeper grunted and took a step back, his face pale. “She’s strong, but compared to Madam Mary, she’s as weak as an ant! Attack!”

“Compared to Madam Mary, we’re also as weak as ants,” one of the other keepers muttered. But he chanted anyway. “I lift up mine eyes unto the hills, whence doth my help come? My help is from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth.” A brilliant light concentrated on his spear, and he thrust forward, his weapon unimpeded by the wall of light.

Alice narrowed her eyes and roared, batting at the spear with her shield. She deflected it and whirled around, grabbing the shaft with her right hand. With her back facing the enemy, she leapt forward, yanking the spear with her. The keeper didn’t let go, and he was pulled out of the white wall’s defenses. “Caught you.”

“Don’t think I’m—”

Alice didn’t let him finish his sentence. Her tail made of golden aura whipped towards the keeper’s neck, firmly wrapping around it. With her tail pulling back, and her arm pulling forward, she separated the keeper from his spear, and with a shout, launched the weapon towards the Ottoman army. It embedded itself in the ground right in front of Suleiman, nearly hitting the Padishah’s foot.

“Save him!” The other keepers rushed forward, brandishing their weapons.

Alice took one glance at their glowing weapons and chose the most sensible option. She grabbed her hostage’s ankle and unwound her tail from his neck. Then, she brandished him as a weapon. If those glowing weapons collided with the keeper, there was no doubt he’d be severely injured or killed. As expected, the other keepers backed off while cursing Alice, afraid of harming their companion. However, Alice didn’t care about their feelings; she charged forward, swinging the keeper in her hand around like a living weapon—a screaming and shouting one. When fighting at a disadvantage, all cheap tricks were allowed! “Weren’t you all ready to gang up on me? Where’s your gusto now!?”