The centaur soldiers barely reacted to their commander's temper. It was obvious they had long grown used to it.
After a short discussion, they simply escorted Ren Hao toward the refugee area and left him there among the supplies and captured steppe horses.
Ren Hao lay down on the cold ground, staring up at the moonlit sky.
His mind churned with questions.
The woman he had just met—**General Lady Feng, the Dragonblood Valkyrie**—was nothing like the brutal warlords Ren Hao imagined.
She was proud, fierce, and reckless, but there was also a strange sense of justice in the way she spoke.
Ren Hao frowned.
Was history wrong?
Or had he simply misunderstood this world completely?
His body was exhausted from a full day of labor followed by a desperate midnight escape. The moment he closed his eyes, sleep overtook him almost instantly.
---
A firm shake pulled him from his dreams.
Ren Hao opened his eyes.
Standing before him was **Captain Yuna Frostmane**, her crimson hair glowing faintly beneath the moonlight.
Behind her stood nearly twenty mounted soldiers.
Some were humans.
Others were centaurs.
All wore the armor of the **Crimson Sun Empire**.
At the center of them stood the most imposing figure of all.
**General Lady Feng.**
This time she wore her armor properly.
Black iron plates bound with crimson cords covered her body, forming a suit of lamellar armor that gleamed beneath the pale moonlight.
A long crimson cloak fluttered behind her.
A massive halberd rested in her hand.
Her white warhorse snorted impatiently beneath her.
She looked like a goddess of war.
"You're Ren Hao, correct?" she asked.
Her voice was calm but commanding.
Ren Hao immediately stood.
"Yes, General."
"Good."
Lady Feng gestured toward the dark plains.
"You will guide us."
"We are conducting a night patrol. If your village truly holds a band of centaur raiders, we will eliminate them."
She looked back toward her soldiers.
"Twenty riders is more than enough to crush thirty or forty drunken steppe bandits."
Ren Hao blinked in surprise.
"You're attacking them?"
Lady Feng gave him an annoyed look.
"Of course."
"You think the soldiers of the Crimson Sun Empire would ignore human slaves suffering right under our noses?"
Ren Hao hesitated before asking another question.
"But earlier… your superior said you weren't allowed to go."
Lady Feng snorted.
"That coward?"
"He's just a spoiled noble sent here by one of the great clans to polish his reputation."
Her expression darkened.
"He commands soldiers because of his birth, not because of his ability."
"I earned my position through blood and battle."
Ren Hao could feel the anger radiating from her.
"I joined the frontier army eight years ago," she continued.
"I fought my way up from an ordinary soldier."
"I defeated centaur champions in single combat."
"I crushed orc warriors stronger than warhorses."
"Yet the position of command was given to a noble child who has never faced a real battlefield."
Lady Feng spat on the ground.
"If he weren't protected by his clan, he wouldn't last a day on the frontier."
Ren Hao rode beside her silently as the small cavalry force advanced through the forest.
After a moment, he glanced toward Captain Yuna Frostmane.
"You're helping them even though those centaurs are your own people?"
Yuna's expression remained calm.
"I was born on the steppe," she replied.
"But the empire gave me a new life."
Her icy blue eyes reflected the moonlight.
"I fight so that others like me can leave the endless cold and bloodshed of the steppe behind."
"The empire may not be perfect…"
"But it is still better than the chaos of the tribes."
As they spoke, the group approached the edge of the forest.
Ren Hao suddenly raised his hand.
"Wait."
The soldiers stopped immediately.
"There's a sentry ahead."
Lady Feng narrowed her eyes.
"Where?"
Ren Hao pointed toward a distant hill.
"He's standing beside the old well."
The soldiers squinted into the darkness.
They saw nothing.
Lady Feng studied Ren Hao for several seconds.
Then she raised her hand.
"Advance slowly."
The cavalry moved forward silently.
After nearly a hundred meters, the sentry finally came into view.
A lone centaur guard stood watch near the village entrance.
The soldiers exchanged shocked looks.
Ren Hao had spotted him far earlier than any of them.
Lady Feng smiled faintly.
"Impressive eyesight."
She reached back and grabbed a crossbow from one of her soldiers.
Then she handed it to Ren Hao.
"Can you shoot?"
Ren Hao hesitated.
"…A little."
"Good enough."
Lady Feng pointed toward the distant sentry.
"A centaur has two hearts and three lungs. Body shots rarely kill them."
"Aim for the head."
"If you miss, I'll finish the job."
Ren Hao slowly lifted the crossbow.
His vision sharpened again.
The distant sentry suddenly appeared incredibly close.
He could see every detail.
The centaur's breathing.
The movement of his ears.
The strands of hair swaying in the wind.
Ren Hao squeezed the trigger.
The bolt exploded forward.
A second later—
The centaur collapsed.
The arrow had pierced straight through his skull.
The soldiers stared in stunned silence.
Lady Feng looked at Ren Hao with new interest.
"Well now…"
"Looks like we found ourselves a very useful scout."