In June 1264, the Nilfgaardian army was preparing its weapons in Manado, bordering Cintra, ready to go.

In July 1264, Nilfgaard set out from Manado and crossed the Amer Mountains to launch a raid on the Irenvald Forest in the southernmost part of Cintra.

Cintra, the gateway to the northern kingdom, officially came into direct conflict with the southern empire of Nilfgaard. The Irenvald Forest District was not able to make a single wave in this great battle and was occupied within a day.

In the same month, Queen Calanthe of Cintra, who received the news, hastily went into battle. Of the 20,000 troops that were originally planned to be assembled, less than 10,000 actually arrived.

In order to stop Nilfgaard's advance, Queen Calanthe and King Easter led all the cavalry to go ahead, gathering lords and infantry along the way, and ordered Marshal Vissegerd to go north to gather the remaining troops from the north and wait for orders.

When Queen Calanthe and King Easter arrived at the Manada Valley, their army had only gathered more than 12,000 people.

The Nilfgaardian army, which had already occupied Irenwald, had set up a tight net here. When Queen Calanthe and King Easter entered the valley, they found themselves surrounded by enemies that outnumbered them several times.

"I... was ambushed in my own country." Queen Calanthe said gritting her teeth.

Easter couldn't believe it: "How many people are there here... 40,000? 50,000? Or... 100,000? What on earth does Nilfgaard want to do..."

The black-armored soldiers surged out from the end of their sight like a tide. At this moment, the people of Cintra finally realized what they were facing. This was not the conflict and friction between countries in the past. The number of these soldiers before them had surpassed the total population of many middle-level countries in the North!

The Cintra side barely formed a battle formation, and the knights collided with the infantry before they could speed up their charge. Deafening shouts echoed in the valley, and smoke and blood rushed into the sky.

The king shouted: "Break, my love, we must break!"

Calanthe roared like a lioness, and personally went into battle, slashing a soldier with a sword, and shouted: "Where are we going to break out? We must defeat Nilfgaard here, otherwise the towns behind us will not be able to stop these soldiers like a tide! Nilfgaard wants to destroy our country! When was the last time you received news from Skellige? Didn't they say there would be fifty ships? Where are the ships!"

East answered loudly, his voice still resounding amidst the shouting and killing: "They encountered a storm at sea, and the main force can't arrive. Only the few hundred people we diverted according to Lann's suggestion have come ashore. Even if they come, it won't have any impact!"

Hearing the words "Lan's suggestion", Calanthe's eyes became even more ferocious. Her beautiful face was stained with the blood of the enemy, and she looked even more charming at this moment. The three lions emblem on her chest was also thirsty for blood, and was showing its fangs and claws.

"Lane! He died in Nilfgaard, where that damn black sun flag was hung!"

"Without reinforcements we will fight alone! Cintra will never surrender!"

A charging knight was surrounded, and after knocking away two soldiers, he was easily stabbed down with a spear, and then several different weapons were stabbed into the gaps in the armor;

The soldier in black armor wielded a heavy axe and chopped off the enemy's head from helmet to mouth. Before he could pull out the stuck weapon, he was stabbed in the stomach by the enemy behind him.

The soldier under the Three Lions flag had his sword bent, so he drew out his dagger and rolled into a ball with a soldier under the Black Sun flag. The sword pierced into the soldier's collarbone, but his dagger had already buried itself deeply into the other's eye socket.

They are the strongest army since the founding of Cintra. They are the proud Cintra lions, so they will fight to the death. It is precisely because of leading such an army that the lioness Calanthe can challenge the northern powers with military force alone, relying on the small territory of Cintra.

The battle lasted from early morning until dusk. At this time, there were only a few Cintra troops left. Each of them had made gains and killed enemies that far outnumbered themselves, but a steady stream of Black Sun soldiers still poured towards them.

Nilfgaard's officers rode high up in the valley, looking down at the battle below, and at the king and queen wearing striking golden lion armor.

No matter how hard the rulers of these two countries fought, the few remaining guards still fulfilled their duties and escorted them to the edge of the battlefield.

"I didn't expect that the Lioness and King East would personally lead the expedition here. It looks like the gains from this battle will be greater than expected."

The commander said firmly: "We can't let them escape - Count Cassirer!"

Next to the commander, an officer wearing high-grade black armor with gold patterns and a winged helmet looked up and waited for military orders.

"It doesn't matter if King Ister lives or dies, but the lioness must be captured alive. After that, you will lead the cavalry to raid the capital of Cintra. I know that His Majesty the Emperor may have assigned you other tasks. Complete it!"

The Black Wing Knight took orders upon hearing this. He picked up a strong bow that was half the length of his upper body and drew it towards King Easter for a while. He shook his head and gave up the tempting idea of ​​solving the problem once and for all. He was about to order his personal guards to intervene in the battlefield when he heard the commander's roar:

"Hurry, Count Cassir! Things have changed!"

The Black Wing Knight looked in the direction the commander pointed, and saw a team of several hundred people crossing into the battlefield in the distance.

They were not numerous, but they were all elite. They wore chain mail and were equipped with short axes, short swords and round shields. They looked more like sailors fighting the wind and waves on the sea than knights charging into battle on the battlefield.

This is indeed the case.

"Sun God! How did those damn pirates get here? Shouldn't the damn warlocks stop them in the sea?"

A team of a few hundred people cannot possibly influence this massive melee involving tens of thousands of people, unless they are all warlocks, and they must be combat warlocks rather than research warlocks.

But the Nilfgaardian army was exhausted after a day of fighting, and most of them couldn't even hold their swords. At this time, such a group of bloody warriors rushed in, and they were really torn apart for a while.

"Where is Prince Easter?"

"Where is Prince Easter?"

The Skelliges who charged into the battlefield shouted while covered in blood. They called Easter the Prince instead of the King, because Easter was the younger brother of the King of Skellige, and the warriors on the sea preferred to call him by their own way.

"Here!" Easter supported Calanthe. The queen was seriously injured in the previous battle and blood was oozing out of her body.

At this moment, an arrow flying in from outside the battlefield interrupted everyone's conversation, aiming directly at Easter!

"Uncle, be careful!" The leading commander of the sailors was always alert to his surroundings. He was in a direction where he could just see the sharp arrow flying in the air.

The arrow's speed dropped significantly after crossing nearly half the battlefield. The sailor pushed Easter away and easily caught the arrow with his round shield. The force of the arrow was not enough to even make his arm tremble.

"Damn it!" The Black Wing Knight put down his longbow, "It's Kratz an Krait, the 'Wild Boar of the Sea'!"

Kratz, who caught the arrow with a round shield, was the kind of man who could be seen as a warrior at first glance. He was obviously a head taller than the soldiers around him, with a strong build, broad shoulders and an even wider waist. His chest was as hard as a reef, and when he roared, it seemed as if there were roaring wind and waves.

"Sea Boar" was a nickname given to him by the Nilfgaardians living on the southern coast, who could scare crying children. And Kratz was proud of it.

The king saw the reinforcements coming and was delighted but restrained: "Kratz, are you all alone?"

Kratz helped to lift up Calanthe: "Uncle, only our Clet family's ship followed your suggestion and separated from the main force. That's how we escaped the storm. We are the only ones who survived."

Calanthe had completely passed out at this point, but she had clearly not been stabbed or chopped by many swords or knives, so it was obviously not right that she was injured like this. An anxious Ester picked up Calanthe and shouted:

"Guards, follow the sailors from Skellige and break out!"

The sailors of Skellige have been climbing mountains and fighting the waves since birth. Strong soldiers emerge from poor mountains and harsh waters, and the Clet family is the top family in the Skellige Islands.

The tide of the Nilfgaardians, who had fought for a whole day, was too weak. For a moment, they could only watch a team of several hundred people leaving with the king and queen.

…

That night, beside the campfire, Cintra's troops were almost wiped out, and only a dozen guards escaped with the king and queen.

Easter stood outside the tent worriedly, while a druid who came from the fleet was treating Calanthe's injuries inside.

After a while, the druid came out, and the anxious Easter hurried forward to ask.

The druid hesitated for a moment and said, "Prince Easter, please... go in and talk to the queen..."

Easter's eyes suddenly turned red, and he grabbed the druid's collar and shouted, "What do you mean? What happened to my love?"

The druid was not aware of Easter's actions, and just said with regret: "Your Highness, do you know? The Queen is pregnant."

Easter was struck by lightning when he heard this. He staggered back and leaned against a tree, staring at the druid who was speaking in disbelief, and slowly slid to the ground.

"I...we haven't been able to have a child for so many years, and I have never thought about having a child with her. Why now? Why..."

The druid glanced at Kratz who was also shocked and continued, "The queen herself probably doesn't know. Riding a horse, fighting, and being stabbed, this is not something a pregnant woman should endure. She had a miscarriage. The queen is very strong, otherwise the heavy bleeding would have killed her long ago. But no matter how strong she is, she can't hold on for much longer."

The druid stepped forward and patted Easter's shoulder sympathetically: "I'm sorry, Your Highness. But I can't help her. Maybe Mossak can, but it's too late to say anything now. Please go in."

Easter walked into the tent with a sad look in his eyes. Kratz and the soldiers watched him go in silence.

The bonfire burned brightly, but it couldn't dispel the long night.

Late at night, Calanthe, who was regaining consciousness, kissed Esther for the last time. At the last moment, she said to her beloved husband:

"My love... I saw Pavetta... my princess. My love, please take good care of Ciri for me."

These were Calanthe's last words.

The lioness is gone.