The Devil's Good Girl-Chapter 290: Die with honor

Everyone around the bonfire and even those who were in their tents recovering paused when they heard the horn. For a moment, they stopped and wondered if they were hearing that sound.

For more than a year, the gates weren’t breached. Though their enemies came close, they were killed even before they could touch the border. But now, this horn was being blown?

"The border is breached! Enemies are coming!"

When a yell rang in the air, everyone quickly snapped back from their trance and moved. They didn’t even need to think of what to do because their bodies retained strong muscle memories of how to act in this situation.

Everyone dispersed and gathered their weapons, wearing their suits and helms to push back their enemies. Some who were recovering forced themselves to get up to help. They knew fighting while wounded wasn’t strategic, but with their lack of manpower, they had to be at least cannon fodders to shield their comrades.

In a blink of an eye, their main base turned even more busy while the enemies marched forward.

"Your Grace!" the henchman who assisted Jackson tried to stop the duke from wearing his armor. "Your Grace with the reinforcement —"

"The reinforcement is dead!" Jackson hissed before he continued arming himself. "What did you mean when you said the crown prince sent out his trusted knights? How could they..."

Jackson winced and stopped talking, but his movements continued putting on his metals.

For over a year, they had defended the borders. Only now that the imperial knights took charge was it breached. If Quentin sent out his trusted soldiers, this wouldn’t have happened. However, Jackson didn’t want to think it was a deliberate move from the crown prince.

He didn’t want to consider the crown prince was planning to kill every single one of his soldiers on the border. If Jackson even considered that, he might have forgotten everything he lived for until now.

"Your Grace..."

At this point, Jackson finished wearing his suit and then picked up his helm. As he marched out of the tent, he stopped in front of his henchman.

"Use one of our steeds and deliver my word to the crown prince as fast as you can," Jackson remarked under his breath. "Tell him the borders are breached and to send out a troop to push back the enemy."

The other man pressed his lips as his heart sank. The duke didn’t need to explain anything further because this was enough to know Jackson had predicted the outcome.

"We’ll try our best to push them back or buy them some time." Jackson patted the man’s shoulder before he walked away, wearing his black helm and wielding his sword.

The henchman looked at the duke’s broad back reluctantly. However, he knew Jackson and there was no way he would flee for his life when all his men were here to fight. Hence, with a heavy heart, he ran to the other back door of the tent to execute the order as fast as he could.

Who knows?

If he reached the capital on time and told them about the situation, they might be able to save a lot of these soldiers. Perhaps even the duke. It was wishful thinking, but he wanted to believe in that.

*

*

*

When Jackson stepped out of his tent, the chaos already approached the bonfire. His men fought fiercely once more, no more talking, just fighting.

He glossed his eyes over the enemies who reached this far. They were all new faces — not that he remembered all the faces he had slew. But compared to those who were worn out, they seemed like they came straight from the nearest river where they had bathed.

Swinging his swords to the side, Jackson endured the pain in his body and stepped into the chaos fiercely. A head of their enemies immediately fell, the very second he stepped into the battle. With him now in his battle suit, his soldier’s morale rose.

They knew he was injured, they knew he should be fighting. But for them, seeing that black armor on the battlefield was enough message to tell them not to cower.

Eventually, their enemies started falling back against the hungry war dogs who had been in countless wars for the empire. Now that they knew it was all or nothing, their fighting spirit grew even stronger.

But alas, just when they were able to push every last bit of the enemy out of the border, a few figures suddenly jumped in the middle. There were only five of them, but their aura, their scent, and even their oozing confidence were different.

Jackson’s forces, however, didn’t find the need to ask who they were. They simply lunged at them with their sword, only to die in a split second.

Those who were around the area couldn’t help but stop.

"What... what just happened?"

Even Jackson stopped to look at the new faces that appeared by the borders. Just now, a few soldiers attacked them, but now, all those soldiers were on the ground, headless. When his eyes landed on one of them, he caught the still-beating heart in his hand.

’This... doesn’t feel good,’ said Jackson to himself as he felt this nauseating dread creeping up his spine.

The five men who appeared in front of them smirked and, as if they were shadows, they disappeared from their vantage point. They attacked everyone on sight, Jackson’s people and even their enemies. All they heard were people’s abrupt shouts, but the five men were moving so quickly that a normal person couldn’t follow.

"Hello there, Your Grace."

Suddenly, Jackson heard this tiny wicked voice whisper behind him. Out of instinct, Jackson raised his sword and turned around to stop the incoming attack.

CLANG!

His sword rattled against something, but when his eyes gazed at what the person’s weapon was, his eyes dilated. The enemy’s fingers were holding his blades to stop the attack, but the sound it made still clanged as if his sharp nails were metals.

"Surprise, Your Grace," said the man, earning Jackson’s attention again.

When Jackson lifted his eyes to the person, the first thing he saw were fangs and those red, bloody eyes.

"His Highness... or rather, His Majesty wants to tell you something." The man pulled Jackson’s sword and leaned forward. "He said you’ve been a good and loyal servant, so... he’ll let you die with honor."