After using her analytical ability she managed to deduce the direction that Zach was most likely to run in and finally found him at the brink of death in a pitiful condition.

She couldn’t let him get injured anymore and intervened in battle at the first opportunity.

Prince Kolt who had been content in witnessing the downfall of Zach and his companions at the hands of his escort was extremely dissatisfied with the sudden interference. He hadn’t expected someone to save Zach just when things had started to get interesting.

He was livid as he turned towards Christina who was standing in front of Zach like a stalwart bulwark of defense as she shielded Zach behind her.

“What is the meaning of this? Should I take it that Elizabeth family is willing to go against the Norman Royal family for the sake of this nobody?”

The guard mage had long since retreated beside Prince Kolt since he had judged that Christina had the ability to immobilize him which could then leave Zach open to attack Prince Kolt. Therefore, he felt it was best to retreat first and learn about the intentions of the new opponent.

Christina didn’t bother looking at the guard mage as she returned the piercing gaze of the Prince with a small smile that illuminated her entire countenance.

“I wonder what you mean by that my lord. Elizabeth family will never try to go against the Norman Royal family even in our dreams. I think there is some kind of misunderstanding.”

It looked like Christina wanted to play innocent and that further irritated the prince. She was saying these words even as she shielded Zach behind her back and made sure that he was not injured extensively.

“Then what should I make of this? Why are you interfering in our battle?” Prince Kolt pointed towards her back where Zach stood dumbfounded by the sudden turn of events which led to his salvation from the onset of death.

“Well, he is my husband. I can’t exactly abandon him when he is close to the jaws of death right in front of me. This has nothing to do with the Elizabeth family since I am only a wife trying to save my husband from an early demise. You see, I don’t want to be a widow so early on in my life. Therefore, I have to apologize if this puts a stunt in your plans.” Christina still had the same innocent smile on her face as she remained unfazed by the killing intent radiating from the Prince and the mage beside him.

Although Zach wanted to say something to her or at least thank her somehow, no words came out of his mouth as if they were stuck at the edge of his throat unwilling to come out no matter how hard he tried to spit them out. He was feeling guilty that he had wronged Christina but she had still come out to save him despite the implications of such a decision that her family might have to face later on.

Prince Kolt was beside himself in fury as his face turned purple with angst. He nodded towards his escorting mage as some kind of signal that only the prince and the escort mage somehow understood. The rest were still trying to solve the mystery when the escort mage suddenly launched out towards Christina with fists that were radiating golden aura as if the magic had been concentrated in his fists elevating the power centered in them to new heights.

Unlike earlier, the mage was giving it his all since the prince had deemed Christina unnecessary to his plans and had given him the authority to kill her if necessary. Previously he had to control his strength in order to prevent the accidental death of Zach who was crucial to his lord’s plans. But now he had been given free rein to destroy everything in his path.

Therefore, Christina who had previously managed to subdue the mage without much difficulty was unable to pull off the same thing again. This time, the both of them were quite neck and neck in terms of strength, rank and power level. Christina only had the slightest advantage because of her higher mana capacity and slightly higher magic rank.

Zach knew that the longer he stayed in front of the prince, the longer she would have to fight in order to protect him. Even though she seemed to have the upper hand in battle at the moment, he didn’t know if she could sustain it for long. Therefore, while Christina was holding the mage back, he needed to make full use of this opportunity created by her and escape along with Bruce and Luna.

Zach signaled Luna and Bruce to make a run for it. The two of them responded without a thought and sprinted away from the battle of Christina and the other mage.

The trio needed to rendezvous with Diana and the others as soon as possible in order to make this escape plan slightly more realistic because as the situation stood currently, the forces of the prince were currently spread out in a circle around them and the mage would not take long to follow them from the back as soon as he managed to give Christina the slip.

Prince Kolt, who was left seething in the righteous flames of anger back at the scene of battle, was afraid to follow Zach and the others on his own even though Christina the strongest out of Zach’s companions was still engaged in fighting his escort mage.

The reason was that he was afraid to do so. He couldn’t possibly confront Zach when the latter had made an attempt on his life in the presence of his guards and witnesses.

Unlike his posturing, Prince Kolt was barely stronger than a worm in front of Zach and Christina. He was merely a C rank mage and would be crushed either by Zach or Luna before he could even blink in front of the trio.

The warhorse underneath him was the finest trained horse used in warfare as the smell of blood and the swamp of gore underneath his hooves didn’t make it panic. Instead the rider seemed as if he was petrified in place, unable to move. Fear of death forced him to let Zach and his companions run away without even trying to pursue them on his horse.

…

Meanwhile, Diana and her Special Forces team were currently engaged in a battle. Firepower was being traded back and forth with nothing holding them back. Of course, in case of the soldiers of the royal family, firepower was equivalent to the attacks of the mage type soldiers.

Diana and the twenty Special Forces soldiers were holding back a force that was many times their number, had better resources and had been training for far longer than them. There were several hundred of them but their primitive battle strategies kept them under the firm grip of Diana’s team.

When it came to low level mages and soldiers, the firepower of the Special Forces team was far greater the former due to the superior nature of the technological weapons as was evident from the fact that Diana had cleared out a group of more than 10 people with a single pistol in the past when she wasn’t as well trained or as well qualified for such a job. When such high-tech weapons combined with the various battle tactics that Zach had ingrained in the Special Forces team, the royal family soldiers fell by the scores. Since the total number of the soldiers numbered several hundred, there were always more soldiers who were eagerly trying to encircle the small group of Special Forces trained by Zach.

No matter how much the royal force tried to accomplish the goal of stopping their advances, Diana always managed to find the weakness in the encirclement and used various strategies in conjunction with her force to fight their way out once again. The weakness of the encirclement could always be short listed to the mages who were studded in between the formation of soldiers so as to act as their support and to augment their defenses remotely.

Kolt’s soldiers on the other hand only had their numbers. They neither had superior training nor superior weaponry to fight back against Diana’s group. And as a result were suffering heavy losses.

Diana was in constant coordination with Zach and had in fact been waiting for his signal. Her extraction mission would be over once Zach, Bruce and Luna had reached the rendezvous point. This way, her team would be able to retreat before suffering any unnecessary losses. 𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗹．𝐨𝗿𝗴

Prince Kolt who had already let Zach and his companions escape earlier due to the intervention of Christina couldn’t hold still as he heard the sounds of the ongoing battle in the distance. He was planning on capturing those who were making trouble for his forces in an attempt to put pressure on Zach into surrendering to him. As a result, he put his warhorse into a gallop and rushed towards the scene of battle.

When Kolt arrived at the scene of battle, there were only the burnt corpses of his men that lay there in mangled conditions. Some were missing body parts while the others were studded with several holes in their bodies. The shame of the matter was that there wasn’t a single body that belonged to the enemy forces. It was a complete loss; the greatest shame in the history of the royal forces.

His royal soldiers were not only unable to take down a single man from amongst Zach’s forces but also couldn’t hold them back long enough for Kolt to witness their actual prowess.