Chapter Ch119.1 - Noble Lady

translator: xiin

editors: apricot & juurensha

They were attacked from the front and back, a double-pronged attack.

Vera came to her senses faster than Wu Jin and brandished her sword at Wei Yan––

There was a cracking sound.

Just like earlier when they’d fought against the female armored warrior, the sword broke with a crisp sound. Vera’s eyelids twitched, but Wu Jin instantly stepped up to hold back Vera. Wei Yan was able to obtain a long sword, and it was obviously sturdier than the equipment obtained from the decorative knights scattered across the Palace of Versailles.

“Lemoyne––” Wu Jin blurted out the word before Wei Yan could make another move.

Wei Yan’s movements stilled briefly.

As expected.

Wei Yan had enough confidence that he could eliminate Wu Jin, but he couldn’t pass up on the instance clues that Wu Jin had in his hands.

Regarding Lemoyne, the painter who’d died in a pool of blood, the clues for the password and oil painting were divided into two parts. Half of it was in Wei Yan’s hands, and Wu Jin held the other half.

Unless the clues were combined, both of them could only attempt to break through this instance through ‘forceful elimination’.

“Clues.” Wei Yan’s speech was brief and direct, his blade glinting coldly in the cloudy light of the <Giant> painting.

Wu Jin tried to calm down his heart, dawdling as he seemed to want to come to a compromise––

The youth jumped up abruptly, tugging on Vera, who had muscles that could react similarly quickly, and turned around to flee through the gap between the giant and Wei Yan.

Two unarmed A-level trainees had no chance of winning against an S-level trainee with a sword.

Wei Yan stared after Wu Jin’s running back for a long time before lowering his head to wipe a hand across the blade.

Then, he grasped the handle of the sword with both hands.

From behind Wu Jin, the sound of footsteps rang out again.

Wei Yan’s ability to judge positioning was extremely accurate. The giant’s positioning was disorderly, but the S-level trainee was already able to figure out 70-80% of it within a limited amount of time. There were many ways to catch Wu Jin, but he chose the most labor-saving and efficient one.

He helped the giant.

No matter where Wu Jin and Vera fled, they would have to avoid being trampled by the Giant’s feet as it stamped through the Spanish towns, then they would accidentally end up running into Wei Yan. No matter how they moved, they were still unable to escape from Wei Yan’s calculations.

When they finally became physically exhausted, Wei Yan would have the absolute advantage and be able to force out the clues that he wanted.

&#k2013;&#k2013;All the &#k2018;weapons’ in this scene had been collected up by Wei Yan, and guarded by the young woman who was protected in the rear.

There was only one exception.

The motionless French army behind the giant.

Five minutes later, Wu Jin covered his ribs and panted. The torrential rain pelted down from the top of the instance, and between the lightning and thunder, there were shadows cast over what little remained of his vision.

Vera clenched her teeth, wanting to pull out a torch from the ruins of a village ravaged by the war to fight against Wei Yan.

Wu Jin quickly wiped away the rain on his face, and the wind blew some unknown documents into his face. The entire instance was full of corpses, weeds, and belongings from the villagers when they’d fled from the battlefield. Wu Jin glanced at the pages of the book and tossed them aside after seeing that it was useless historical material.

“The Peninsular War (1808-1814), which Spain called the Spanish War of Independence, is one Napoleon Bonaparte’s brilliant achievements, and it reshaped the glory of France during Louis XIV’s reign…”

<Giant> was an instance embedded in the court painter instance. Since it was an instance, there had to be a way to crack it.

Wu Jin’s curls were already soaked from the rain, and he forcibly held back the equally soaked Vera, “Look for weapons first––”

Another page of historical information flew over.

“The honored Joseph Bonaparte was crowned King of Spain in 1808, and the Northern Territory of Australia was named after him. His Excellency Francisco Goya, the court painter, painted in the same year…”

Wu Jin’s pupils contracted sharply.

“Court painter…”

Vera couldn’t follow his thoughts, “What?”

Wu Jin spoke quickly, “The court painter––the painter of <Giant>. Francisco Goya was also a court painter.”

Seeing that Vera was still confused, he explained again, “In 1808, Napoleon won against the Spanish Resistance Army and appointed his brother Joseph as the King of Spain. In the Spanish court in 1808, Goya could only have been Joseph’s court painter.”

“During the Peninsular War at the time, not only did Spain have rebels, they also had liberals who supported Napoleon and believed that Napoleon would bring hope to Spain. It was impossible for Joseph to appoint someone from the opposition as the court painter––”

In other words, “Goya was a Spanish liberal.”

It took Vera a long time to understand. She pursed her lips, “But––”

This survival show instance wasn’t a history paper.

Wu Jin held the hilt of his sword again with the hand that was nearly out of strength and said slowly, “Goya’s position was very important.”

And paintings were a straight line that led to the heart of any artist.

“<Giant> which was started in 1808 and finished in 1812, doesn’t portray Napoleon’s invasion of Spain, but rather the original expectations of the liberals––”

“That Napoleon would guard Spain as he did France.”

“The theme of the painting <Giant> isn’t aggression, but praise. That’s because the giant is Napoleon.” Wu Jin looked at Vera, “Let’s go in the E120 direction.”

Vera: “E120, the giant is there.” She abruptly understood, “You mean Napoleon––”

Wu Jin nodded, “Let’s risk it and see if the giant will attack us or not.”

From nearby, the French horns rang out again. The giant, who’d been stationary for less than half a minute, came back to the town again, causing the earth to shake under its weight. Wei Yan raised up his long sword at the same time, planning to intercept the two of them from the side.

His gaze changed abruptly.

Wu Jin didn’t hesitate at all to head towards the giant who was currently carrying out ranged attacks.

The giant towered into the clouds, its feet covered in mud and debris, like a fierce god perched over the town, able to devour the entire map at any time––

Wu Jin walked towards it slowly, through the gap between its two huge feet. The soles of the feet vibrated, but they didn’t run over Wu Jin, who was as small as an ant in comparison.

The two of them finally stepped out of the giant’s huge shadow.

To Wu Jin’s surprise, the sun behind the giant was brilliant––the place in the instance beyond what Goya had depicted was very peaceful.

“This was what Goya wanted to see.” Wu Jin finally let out a sigh of relief as he opened his mouth. In this supplementary part of the painting, the French Army stood there in a solemn line, and the annexed Spanish lands were thriving. Everyone looked up at the giant who guarded them.

Vera found the same long sword that Wei Yan held in a cart full of weapons at a glance, along with several rusty guns, pulling them out with sharp, decisive movements.

Wu Jin also quickly equipped himself, while in the distance, Wei Yan finally figured it out.

The giant who everyone had thought was the boss of the instance wouldn’t even fight against the players.

The human-shaped weapon reacted immediately, but Vera was first to aim a gun at Wei Yan.

“All the places where the giant trampled were in ruins, yet the civilians weren’t harmed. Napoleon wanted the Spanish territory, not endless killing.” Wu Jin seized every opportunity he could to recover his strength, then stood up again a while later. “In the 19th century, the giant was more concerned with economic benefits that were brought about by war and colonization than about ‘extermination’.”

In Goya’s works, the Spaniards who went against Napoleon fell into panic and suffering, but those who’d been willing to be protected by Napoleon were happy and peaceful.

Wu Jin turned around.

Wei Yan saw the blunderbuss.

The original confidence in victory in his expression changed, even though Wei Yan’s facial features didn’t obviously move.

“Let’s go over there.” Wu Jin held the blunderbuss.

With Wei Yan’s physical abilities, it wasn’t difficult for him to dodge a basic 19th century firearm, but this was a great opportunity––

“Let’s go make a deal with Wei Yan.”

Ten minutes later.

The trumpet for war blew for the third time.

Vera’s blunderbuss was locked tightly on Wei Yan.

Wu Jin finally took out the notebook in his arms, “We’ll trade clues.”

The situation now was completely different. Although both sides were still unable to attack, Wei Yan no longer held the upper hand.

Even a well-crafted long sword was no match for a firearm. If both teams had to fight to the death, even Wu Jin’s bad shooting skills would be enough to significantly suppress Wei Yan. Moreover, Wu Jin’s request hadn’t been excessive.

After exchanging clues, the two teams could continue fighting on an even playing field, and it wouldn’t touch Wei Yan’s bottom line.

Wei Yan fell silent for a long time before finally nodding.

Two notebooks with similar covers were exchanged.

The sixth war trumpet sounded out.

The giant led the French army to break through the last line of defense. The sun broke through the clouds, and the liberals cheered.

“It’s over.” Wu Jin’s shoulders relaxed.

Beneath the brush of the court painter Goya, Napoleon finally conquered Spain and became the new guardian of the Empire.

The exit to the instance opened.