Then, with an almost zy fidence, Princess Ravenna’s voice echoed across the battlefield, amplified by the crushed jasmine flowers she held delicately between her fingers. Her words sliced through the salty sea breeze, sharp as any bde, reag the ears of every trembling knight aboard the battered ships.

  “Like Ser Ja House over there,” she her voice a silken thread ced with venom. “Doesn’t he want to return to his sick mother?”

  Ja’s heart nearly stopped. His grip orembling sve weakened, his breath hitg painfully in his chest. His face turned pale, eyes wide with terror.

  “She knows my name.” ringing in his head.

  Worse than that—she knew about his mother. His frail, bedridden mother, tucked away in a modest cottage near Ronin Town, waiting for her son to return as a knight with tales of victory and a title to secure a better life for them both.

  This was not what he had signed up for. This mission was supposed to be simple—a show of strength, a quick quest. But now, the enemy wasn’t just outmaneuvering them otlefield. Princess Ravenna had already ihe deepest ers of their hearts, turning their fears into ons sharper than any sword.

  She wasn’t done.

  “Or perhaps Ser Nealson,” her voice cooed again, the casual cruelty dripping from every word. “Isn’t he expeg to bee a father soon? Doesn’t he want to cradle his newborn in his arms, feel the warmth of life in this mortal realm? Or…” She paused for effect, her voice l into a whisper that still carried across the waves, “…would he prefer to meet them in the Celestia Castle, beyond the veil of death?”

  Ser Nealson’s face drained of color. His hand trembled around the hilt of his sword, his knuckles white with tension. Ja could see the fear in his rade’s eyes—the same fear that gripped his ow like a vine.

  Captain or’s jaw ched as he sed the ship, his gaze shifting from oerrified knight to another. His men—his knights—were unraveling before his very eyes. Their resolve, once bolstered by pride and the promise of honor, was crumbling uhe weight of Ravenna’s words.

  “How does she know this much about us?” or’s mind raced, the realization chilling him more than the o spray.

  This wasn’t the work of simple scouts or spies. This wasn’t a report hastily gathered before battle. No—Ravenna spoke as if she knew each of them personally, as if she’d been there when Nealson kissed his wife goodbye, as if she’d sat by Ja’s mother’s bedside.

  “She must already know that most of these knights are fresh recruits,” or thought grimly, tightening his grip on the sve he was using as leverage. “Some of them aren’t even officially knighted yet.”

  And Ravenna wasn’t done breaking them.

  “Do I eveo mention Dame Fedarika’s little sister?” Ravenna’s voice rang out again, soft and mog. “Oh… how much I would hate to give the order for her beheading.”

  A strangled gasp escaped from Dame Fedarika, her posure shattering in an instant. Her sword cttered to the deck, fotten as her mind spiraled with images of her i sister in danger.

  Ja couldn’t take it anymore. His legs felt weak, his chest tight with dread.

  “C-Captain… p-please… we s-surrender?” he stammered, his voice crag uhe weight of his fear.

  or spun toward him, fury fshing in his eyes.

  “Don’t you get it?!” he barked, his voice sharp and unfiving. “If she already knew all this, she would’ve informed the Imperial Pace by now! But she hasn’t! Why? Because she needs something from the sves! That’s why we still have leverage. HOLD THEM!”

  But his words fell ft, drowned out by the growing whispers of doubt among the crew.

  Then, as if to drive the final nail into their hearts, Ravenna’s voice returned—cool, amused, aating.

  “Oh, just to be fair,” she began with a light chuckle, “the Syndicate sold you out, Captain r. G over there was one of my informants.”

  The words hit like a thundercp.

  or’s eyes soward the Syndicate meraries scattered among his crew. His heart raced, disbelief mingling with rage. The knights followed his gaze, their fear twisting into suspi.

  Mr. G, a grizzled merary who had fought alongside them, shared their rations, ughed at their jokes now stood eerily still, his expression unreadable.

  “You…?” rowled, his voice low and dangerous.

  The fragile alliaween the knights and the Syndicate meraries shattered in an instant. Swords were drawn—not against the enemy, but against each other. Accusations flew, voices rose, and chaos erupted on deck.

  On the Port – Jo Isnd

  Ravenna stood atop the stone walls of Jo Isnd’s fortified port, the breeze tugging at her dark cloak as she watched the distant ships desd into madness. A faint smile pyed on her lips, her dark bck eyes gleaming with satisfa.

  This was her battlefield. She didn’t o lift a sword when words could carve deeper wounds.

  Breaking the morale of inexperienced knights was child’s py, especially when she had the perfect on—information. The Reputation System was a window into the hearts and minds of her enemies. Every point she gained from their terror fed her insight, granting her intimate details about their lives, their hopes, and most importantly their fears.

  She crushed another jasmine flower between her fingers, the st mingling with the salt air.

  [Reputation System Log]+9 Points: Knight Ja is stunned and dreading the terattack’s tinuation.

  She g the log again, her grin widening. And thought “They’re falling apart faster than I thought.”

  Beside her, Hughes watched the chaos below, his brows furrowed in disbelief. His mind raced with questions he dared not voice aloud.

  How does she know all this? Was it truly Syndicate es, as she cimed? Or… was it something more?

  Marie’s words echoed in his mind—”Perhaps Master is blessed by the divine.”

  Hughes wasn’t sure what to believe it or not anymore.

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