Volume 2: Chapter 126 - Under the Flickering Light

  Another siege has ended.

  Under Fina's ultra-long-range magic bullet bombardment, the defensive army of Seth's family was completely powerless to resist.

  After a simple round of attack, all the passes and obstacles on this resource-rich town were cleared, 500 defenders surrendered directly, and even escaped. The banner flag of the Seth family was torn down and burned, replaced by Hamilton's three golden lions.

  The main force of the 30,000-strong Golden Branch Army crushed over on the central route, and almost every battle was conducted in this way.

  Flawless command, farsighted strategy, overwhelming firepower suppression, and a leader's charm that inspires unwavering loyalty. Now, the various qualities of Middy and Feena are emerging one after another, and the partnership between the young boy and girl is producing an even greater effect.

  With victory after victory, the generals all thought that planting Hamilton's golden lion flag on the Sayers family castle was just around the corner.

  Even Clark, the team leader who has always been serious and solemn, has been spirited and refreshed in recent days, as if he had become ten years younger.

  For soldiers, victory is everything. Now they are constantly winning one battle after another, so naturally they become sharper and more intimidating, like a sword that has drunk enough blood to be unsheathed.

  However, as the de facto commander of this army, Midei was well aware that it was still far from being decided who would win.

  Let's not mention anything else for now, Fina's magic bullet will probably also reach its limit when it gets broken or countered.

  After all, nothing remains constant forever.

  In the adventures and battles of the past twenty years, Mi Di had long come to such a conclusion. As long as one does not take the initiative to change and improve, even if they are a strong Awakened or an Apostle or God above them, they will eventually be analyzed for weaknesses and targeted at some point.

  Even the strong at the top are like this, and currently only 3rd level Fina, how can it be possible to achieve invincibility? One day, the seemingly powerful magic bullet will lose its effect, and before that, mastering new spells and powers is the most important thing.

  In fact, Middy had already sensed that the Seth family was now making various preparations for Fina's attributes.

  Its manifestation is the recent series of victories.

  It seems that the Seth family has lost a large amount of territory and resource-rich towns, with their army defeated all the way. However, in reality, their military strength has not suffered too much loss.

  Apart from the fierce battle of 50,000 against 50,000 at the border, after experiencing Feena's magical bullet attack, the Seth family has adopted a strategic retreat approach, avoiding the main force of the Golden Branch Army, especially avoiding Middy and Feena. As a result, up to now, the ones eliminated by Middy are only those with severely insufficient combat strength, and many of them are just supplementary local defense troops.

  The main forces of the Sai family, such as the Black Flame Legion, the Flame Guard, and the Azure Flame Iron Cavalry, have been holding back without making a move, and it can be said that they have not suffered any losses.

  Moreover, the famous Dark Flame Scout of the Sess family has always been following the main force of Golden Branch, and even though they have been cleared out multiple times with heavy losses, they still continue to dispatch large numbers of personnel, apparently determined to keep every move of Fiona under their surveillance.

  There is no doubt that they are observing, evaluating and looking for a weakness in Fina's magic bullet.

  And once the Sess family finds a way to counter this attack, that will be the day of the final battle.

  Of course, there is also a way to find a solution in the shortest possible time before Seth finds one, and that is to defeat him swiftly and decisively.

  However, a powerful and prestigious family that has stood for hundreds of years and shows no signs of decline can hardly be defeated by one or two geniuses in a short period of time. On the contrary, if the Golden Branch Army advances hastily because of this, once they penetrate deep into enemy territory, they may have their rear cut off, become isolated, and ultimately perish due to their own mistakes.

  So, Mide can only slowly advance, and the Seth family will eventually find a way to counterattack the Magic Bullet Queen after exchanging space for time.

  That was the day when both sides had a real showdown.

  The foundation of the Issei family, if they were to go all out against Fina alone, wouldn't take long at all. Middy estimated based on the complexity of the defensive formation from the previous life that it would likely happen within this week, and Sess probably had some moves in store.

  In order to cope with this situation, he also needs to continuously synthesize various intelligence and make calculations.

  At this moment, it was already midnight, and Midee was in the temporary camp that occupied the county town, flipping through one battle report after another.

  The sights and sounds of the spies within the Sai family's main castle, the battle reports from the front-line scouts, the movements of the enemy forces, the battle reports of the two 10,000-man flank armies, the main force of the central Golden Branch Army, the proposals and inferences of the generals...

  Ideas from people of all shapes and sizes, different identities, different troops, different positions, and even different stances filled the entire desk at this moment. What Middy had to do was to use these different pieces of intelligence to outline a bird's-eye view of the Sace family's territory, or even the Bellmare Principality as a whole, and then make a decision.

  Just as Medici was deep in thought, a cup of hot tea had somehow appeared on his desk.

  "Take a rest." Fina's gentle voice echoed beside Middy's ear.

  Mi Di smiled slightly and softly hummed a tune, then let out a satisfied sigh: "Good tea."

  Although Alice's red tea tastes better, there is no doubt that he can't say such foolish things here. After all, compared to the tea itself, the girl's intention is what truly intoxicates people.

  Looking at Midy with his eyes closed and a relaxed face, Fina's heart suddenly rippled with waves for some reason.

  From leaving Eagle's Nest till now, she has been gazing at Mide all along.

  So, the girl clearly knew what kind of effort the boy had put in.

  If Middy's initial goal was just to suppress the seven major branches and let Feina take over, then after confirming the existence of a third party force, what Middy did was to try every means to understand the whereabouts of the hidden black hand.

  The flowing water county looks like a beautiful scene, but how many hidden dangers are there?

  The ice bridge broke and he died. He couldn't break through, so he died. The harassment effect was not enough, and the previous adventures were all in vain. More importantly, there were many other more stable ways to attack. Although using 2,000 cavalry for a surprise attack was the lowest-cost and highest-yield approach, taking a step back and seeking a suboptimal solution would also allow Hamilton to stand undefeated.

  Midi chose the best but also the most difficult and dangerous raid just to give Fina more initiative when defending against a third-party enemy.

  As of now, although it seems like a smooth ride, however, when facing the Sesshouseen family, Middy is still meticulous and personally set up many hidden moves that others are not aware of - in the situation where the traitor's identity is unknown, even Klark, the commander of the Golden Branch Army, was excluded.

  It can be said that this expedition is loose outside and tight inside, and Mide has spent countless efforts.

  As expected, it seems like I overdid it a bit, huh?

  Fina couldn't help but sneak a glance at the young man beside her, and then she thought to herself, since he's gone this far, should I give him some reward?

  No, it should be said that rewards must be given.

  Although it may seem extraordinary to others that Feena trusts Midy so much, even entrusting the most important Golden Branch Army to him for command. However, the things that appear to be rewards to outsiders have already been shared between the young man and woman, and now they are just going through the motions.

  Now that we have to give out real "rewards", the key issue has come up -

  Midi, what exactly do you want?

  Fina fell into deep thought suddenly.

  After a long time, a faint blush appeared on the girl's pale face. She coughed softly and whispered: "Midi?"

  However, Fiona's call was met with no response. She was taken aback and took a closer look, only to find that the black-haired boy who had been drinking tea earlier was now fast asleep.

  Looking at this genius with many titles, now purely innocent and carefree in sleep, Feena felt a mix of emotions all at once.

  She couldn't help but look around cautiously, and then, still not at ease, she released a magical fluctuation to confirm that the door was tightly locked and no one would come to disturb them. Only then did she slowly bend down, her face flushing red as she leaned in close to Midy's cheek.

  But in the next moment, a hint of hesitation appeared in Fiona's eyes.

  Then she seemed to make up her mind and stood straight, then gently shook Midie awake.

  "Huh? I actually fell asleep?" Midei blinked his eyes and couldn't help but let out a wry smile. He had originally not wanted to show a tired side in front of Fina, as it would more or less make the girl worried and uneasy.

  "Sorry for waking you up, but there's something I have to tell you." Fiona cleared her throat and looked at the other person with a serious gaze.

  "What's wrong?"

  But the girl didn't answer.

  The girl's actions were her answer.

  She gently lifted that one head of bright red long hair like a waterfall, shook her lips, stared at Mide, and then bowed down and lowered her head.

  Under the swaying lamp light, in that brief moment, the silhouettes of the two overlapped.

  It's not a real kiss.

  The girl just pecked Middy's cheek like a little bird.

  But even if it's just a small, slightly ambiguous reward, Fiona didn't want to come secretly. Because, if it's a stolen kiss, what kind of reward is that?

  So even if it's just a peck on the cheek, Feena decided to go through with it openly and honestly.

  Although it may seem a bit arbitrary and excessive to wake up Midy who is sleeping soundly like this, if you quietly kiss him while he's asleep, that would be thoroughly avoiding the issue.

  Although it's unclear what that surging emotion in her chest is, there's one thing the girl can be certain of.

  She wants him to know her feelings.