Dawn's light had just begun to brighten the east, and a bloody doom had completely enveloped the small, remote mountain village...
"...Olivia!!... Olivia!! Wake up!!..."
The continuous, fierce pounding on the door woke the girl sleeping in the bedroom.
Olivia was startled and opened her eyes wide in confusion and sat up. Hearing her father's anxious shouts outside the door, her first thought was that a thief had entered their home.
But then, through the window, the girl heard the terrified cries for help from the villagers downstairs.
Hurriedly flipping off the bed and stepping into her slippers, Olivia quickly ran to the door and yanked it open.
She saw her father dressed only in a simple cloth, and he had hastily donned a piece of Chest Armor over it.
Mr. Brian, holding two long swords in his hands, looked serious and handed one of them to his daughter. "Put your shoes on and come with me right now!"
Receiving the steel sword from her father, who had in the past never wanted her to touch weapons, Olivia asked, both frantic and worried, "What's happening in the village? Father, why are people screaming outside?"
"It's the Kantadar people's army; a large group of cavalry just stormed into the village—we need to escape immediately! Don't just stand there! Go put on your shoes!" the old blacksmith shouted anxiously.
Struggling with her sense of helplessness, the girl turned around, hurriedly put on her boots, and then followed her father as he rushed down from the second floor.
"To the stables!" Mr. Brian pulled his daughter toward the back door.
Outside the window, the terrifying screams and the villagers' cries of agony made Olivia feel a chill run through her body.
She heard the tragic shouts of her neighbors and the cruel laughter of the thugs as their horse hooves trampled by.
"Don't kill me... Sir!... Help!... Help!!..."
"Father! That's Uncle Matt!"
She stopped in her tracks, biting her lip and wanting to turn back to save the kind neighbor, but her arm was fiercely gripped by her father.
"Don't be foolish, my good daughter, I'm begging you! You are strong, but it's the enemy knights leading the troops outside; even you can't withstand their charge. Hurry!"
The old blacksmith forcibly steeled his heart and dragged the girl to the backyard.
"...But!"
Suddenly, everything turned upside down, making Olivia's heart pound like a drum and her breath quicken. Her eyes were filled with fear and anxiety; she had no idea what to do.
"There are no buts; we are powerless! Even if just for my sake, please don't get us both killed!" Mr. Brian pulled his daughter towards the stables in the backyard.
(Uria Language) "Haha~ there's a woman~!"
Over the low wall of the courtyard, a Kantadar cavalryman on horseback laughed loudly, glimpsing the golden-haired girl in the yard; his long-suppressed bestial urges surged.
The old farmhouse they had just passed contained only an elderly couple; he had worried this poor and remote area would offer little excitement.
As for the long swords in the hands of the father and daughter, this battle-hardened Kantadar cavalryman did not take them seriously at all—just a village man and a girl from the hills.
Dismounting, he kicked open the small gate of the backyard, and upon seeing the girl's face more clearly, the Kantadar cavalryman was ecstatic, bewildered that such a beautiful girl existed in this rustic countryside!?
Fearing his comrades might beat him to it, he swung his blood-stained long sword and strode toward the father and daughter.
"You old fool, your daughter is fair and tender; the army sir accepts her with glee today, will kindly grant you a swift death!" The Kantadar cavalryman sneered in his broken Felu Language.
"Vile scum!" Olivia pursed her lips, her eyes icy as she glared furiously at the thug.
"Together! Don't hold back!" Mr. Brian raised his long sword and charged forward.
Unable to contain her rage any longer, the golden-haired girl moved faster than her father!
The fluttering hem of the dress soared with the wind, and Olivia transformed into a golden meteor.
Behind the helmet mask of the Kantadar Cavalry, the previously indomitable ferocious eyes instantly turned into shock.
His feet couldn't even react to move; he abruptly raised his sword, attempting to ward off the direct sword light targeting his face, but the sudden torque twisted the blade off his hand in an instant.
The Cavalryman's right hand felt a chill at the base of his fingers and palm, followed by severe pain, and the weapon dropped out of his hand.
The girl's thrusting sword blade, at an unbelievable angle, grazed the inside of his Iron Hand Armor, and harshly pierced through the palm wrapped in the thin lining of Chain Armor from between his fingers.
Before the cry of pain could escape the Cavalryman's lips, Olivia retracted her sword and raised it high, stepping forward as a flash of cold light passed by.
The blade edge chopped down along the gap of the Armor on his right upper arm's joint.
The sword blade deeply embedded into the lining of the Chain Armor, and bright red blood burst forth from within the gaps of the Chain Armor.
The right forearm of the Cavalryman had been severed with one strike.
"Ah—!"
The Kantadar Cavalry screamed in horror, hurriedly stepped back, his right hand dangling and shaking oddly under the constraint of the Arm Armor.
Olivia continued to lift her sword in front of her in the left bull guard position, but the final killing thrust that should have followed instantly stopped.
She frowned, staring at the enemy in front who was screaming in terror.
In the heart of the golden-haired girl...an instinctive reluctance to kill emerged.
She had never harmed anyone's life, nor had she ever thought about taking anyone's life in the future...
But the pain of the Kantadar Cavalry was decisively ended by Mr. Brian Sr.
The old blacksmith simultaneously charged forward and knocked down the Cavalryman with his shoulder.
He skillfully pinned the man down, stabbing fiercely with his sword blade through the gap under the Chest Armor at the armpit, transversely penetrating the enemy's chest.
"Do not hesitate, Olivia! Their crimes are unforgivable!"
Mr. Brian Sr. finished off the dying enemy with another stab and, looking up, admonished her, "Protect yourself, kill the thugs in front of you, or this will be our fate."
It was the first time he somewhat regretted raising his daughter to be so kind.
After all, she was still so young; he had not yet had time to teach her the necessary cruelty for survival.
Having finished off the Kantadar Cavalry beneath him, Brian Sr. grabbed the somewhat dazed girl and led her into the stables.
The old blacksmith first helped his daughter onto a Warhorse, then mounted another fine horse himself, urging it to sprint out of the stable yard.
Olivia took a deep breath, her gaze regained determination, and she quickly spurred her horse to catch up with her father.
She knew that in the current crisis, she couldn't afford another second of hesitation about personally ending lives.
Already helpless regarding the safety of her fellow villagers, she absolutely couldn't let her father meet misfortune!
The father and daughter rode out of the back yard one after another through a small door.
Seeing the unattended Kantadar Warhorse at the gate, Mr. Brian Sr. sheathed his long sword, drove his horse forward, and while passing by, stretched out his hand and grabbed the Cavalry spear pinned by the enemy's Warhorse.
"Hyah!!"
Shouting to urge the fine horse, adeptly tucking the spear under his arm, the old blacksmith, like a spear-wielding knight, burst out of the alley.
On the chaotic, narrow village streets, several Kantadar people engaged in arson and looting immediately noticed the two figures furiously riding by.