Before Elizabeth and her friends could catch their breath, the emperor moved. Like a sharp blade, his movement was fast and direct, aiming straight at Shirley. Shirley panicked, twirled her halberd in her palm, and slammed it down like a meteor. It held great momentum, but she was plagued by her inexperience again. Her opponent easily sidestepped it and nearly entered attacking range. She saw a flash of light and instinctively leapt back at full force. The sabre had already cut across her chest! Blood leaked out. If one investigated closely, it was possible to see her innards. It was horrifying! However, since the cut was thin, the damage was minimized.
Dragging her halberd in a wide arc around her, she planned on using the rotation to unleash a devastating attack. However, Benedict was like a hawk, as he hounded Emperor Lianghu from behind. He was preparing to sneak attack! Shirley's heart sank. If she continued attacking, she might hit Benedict. It was not easy to use a polearm, especially one as untrained as herself. She was mostly relying on instincts! Unfortunately, she had a poor grasp on timing. As soon as she thought this, she hesitated. In battle, hesitation was an eternity! Emperor Lianghu advanced, his aim was to kill! Benedict was slower so he could not help in time. Shirley was instantly in a bad situation!
Fireballs and arrows came in successively from two directions. The emperor snickered. How could such crude attacks pose a threat to him? Especially after tasting Freon's fireball once, he no longer feared it. Pushing his senses to the limit, he eliminated every projectile. Not one even came close. Nonetheless, he slowed down. Benedict gritted his teeth and strained harder to reach the emperor before he killed Shirley. The distance was already short and when the emperor moved, he saw a blade flash. Except it was toward him! The blade cut straight across his chest. Since Benedict was moving fast, he was essentially impaling himself on the sabre.
Emperor Lianghu's eye twitched and he jumped away as arrows and spells littered the space. He could not finish off either of his opponents, but they were walking corpses now. Benedict was bleeding far worse than Shirley. Although the cut was thin, it went deep to cut his organs. It was a gruesome and bloody sight. He fought the urge to scream! The pain threatened to rob him of his sanity, it was that intense. His hands were shaking and sweat drenched his body. He spat some blood out and tried to calm down, but he could not. It was taking all his willpower to stay conscious. Any other person would have collapsed already, which highlighted Benedict's surprisingly strong willpower and vitality!
Unfortunately, his efforts were in vain. He only had enough strength for one more clash and worse enough, he might bleed out to death before that. Right now, the emperor was busy dodging or destroying attacks from both Elizabeth and Freon. The two were incensed that their attacks were so useless! As Benedict looked to Shirley, he was shocked. She was cut as well, though her wound was slightly lighter. As it turned out, in the exact instant that Benedict was attacked, Shirley was attacked as well. Emperor Lianghu struck them both simultaneously! Both were now on their last legs! He had to admit, their opponent deserved his reputation!
Freon grew truly irate. Elizabeth aside, he was the most murderous present. He was brimming with the desire to tear the emperor and the Xingyuu Empire into a million pieces! By now, he was certain that his sister, Ten Dawn Nassandra, had died. Just looking around at the devastated battlefield from several days ago made him despair further. The mere thought that Nassandra died, alone and afraid, surrounded by thousands of soldiers, without a shred of hope made him rage! He was not one who normally lost his cool, yet when he did, it came with explosive force! His sister was his absolute untouchable bottom line!
Without caring about the consequences at all, he called upon the full power of his Core. His Magical Energy flowed like a roaring waterfall out to fuel a glamourous triple magical circle spell. As it continued to grow larger, Freon felt increasingly weaker. It was the same spell that he failed to cast in the Kuthong Forest, the one that nearly crippled him by the backlash alone. It was not a joke at all to say Arcania was a double-edged sword. Arcania offered tremendous power and flexibility at the cost of the danger and knowledge required. Clearly though, this difficulty was brought about by his poor Core aptitude.
Still, that did not undermine his determination! He wanted to hit the emperor with everything he had! Elizabeth nodded because she felt the same way. Emperor Lianghu would kill them unless they put everything on the line! Furthermore, Benedict and Shirley were heavily injured and General Illion's army was making little progress towards them. It was a dream to imagine they could be rescued in time. After all, less than half a minute elapsed since the fight started. In a fight, a second was an incredibly long time. It was enough for them to kill each other several times over. However, on a battlefield, that amount of time was nothing! Otherwise, Emperor Lianghu would have captured Lord Korogin much faster!
Seeing his opponents maintain that level of hope, Emperor Lianghu smirked and shouted, "Phoenix Division, advance and crush General Illion's army!"
The next moment, a horn sounded from the forest as two massive groups of soldiers marched out. Their every movement was orderly and coordinated. A rolling wave of bloodlust exploded from the new arrivals, crashing into the battlefield and causing the Alzar soldiers' hearts to palpitate in shock. The combined aura of the Phoenix Division was no joke. Only the best of the best was suitable for this trump card division. One had to remember the size of the entire Xingyuu Empire's military, it was on the scale of millions! For a paltry five thousand to be chosen, it was easy to see their extraordinary capabilities!
The two groups went to attack both sides of the Alzar army. It was about to become a three-sided battle! This was the worst possible situation! General Illion's face paled and his throat grew dry. Retreat! That was his first thought! Even if he rescued her, then what? They would still be surrounded by the Phoenix Division. What if the emperor had other divisions nearby? What if the fleet was blockaded? In every case, he could imagine their defeat. He was not afraid of dying, but there was simply no point in continuing. It was suicide! When he thought to this point, he shouted his orders out!