"What are you all doing? She is one girl! How much can she do? Kill the heinous villains who killed our emperor!" Loujin mightily roared. His loud voice bellowed across the silent battlefield!
Gradually, people snapped out of their stupor as bloodlust began to emanate from their bodies. Their eyes grew red with fury! That was right! The Alzar Kingdom had killed their emperor, in front of them nonetheless! Furthermore, Cardinal Shaolong was nowhere to be seen. Many were bewildered, but some saw it clearly. He sacrificed himself to shove Emperor Lianghu out of Elizabeth's attack! Since Elizabeth's spell was so destructive, as soon as Shaolong's body met with it, he was obliterated without a single trace. He was killed, utterly in body and mind. As if that was not enough, Elizabeth's spell had not stopped with two casualties. Remember, two Xingyuu divisions were attacking General Illion's army! There were around fifteen thousand troops around them! Elizabeth's spell had reached all the way into the mountainside and killed another hundred soldiers, mostly from the Xingyuu Empire. That spell had literally carved a path straight through the divisions!
That said, although it was powerful, in terms of area of effect, Elizabeth did pale in comparison to the Ten Dawn's Torrential Blizzard. Previously, Torrential Blizzard had ripped a hole in the Xingyuu Empire's encirclement, changing the terrain while killing hundreds and incapacitating more. It allowed Lord Korogin to change the tempo of battle! Meanwhile, Elizabeth's spell posed unmatched destructive capability, but it was extremely localized. Against a force of nearly ten thousand soldiers, could she defeat them all? No! That was a pipe dream. Even the most powerful Arcanist of all, the Conquestian of the Zino Kingdom, did not possess enough power to repel an army!
Although they could not compare Elizabeth and the Conquestian directly, they saw how Elizabeth lacked control. Although they could not understand, they knew that the more powerful a spell was, the less the spell could be used. Look at the Ten Dawn's Torrential Blizzard. In the previous battle, a single usage was enough to exhaust Nassandra and Tengon entirely. The next time was enough to knock out one and cripple the other, even after extensive rest. Any large-scale destruction spell was a trump card, the ultimate final weapon of the Zino Kingdom. It could not be used carelessly!
Thinking up to this point, everyone regained their courage and marched forth. General Illion cursed. Emperor Lianghu might have died, but instead of helping them, it might have made the situation worse. The Xingyuu Empire was more united and enraged than ever! The Imperial Sentinels encircling Elizabeth and her friends attacked alongside Cardinal Loujin. They dare not take any chances this time. They were going to decisively and thoroughly purge Elizabeth and her friends! Yet, before they could make their move, a voice resounded throughout the battlefield.
"Halt!" Cardinal Hui shouted. "Did you not hear the emperor's last words?"
The man sent a piercing gaze towards Loujin, petrifying him on the spot. It was not like they were that far apart in strength or ability. In fact, if Loujin wanted to, he was confident in reaching a draw with Hui. Instead, it was Hui's tremendous presence and aura! Unlike Elizabeth's incomprehensible aura and the emperor's unbridled killing intent, Hui was like a lofty mountain. As if nothing was hidden from his eyes, he made Loujin sweat. Hui, who was less than a third of the size of Loujin, seemed gigantic! Such was the intimidating nature of the Captain of the Four Cardinals and the Imperial Sentinels!
Loujin argued, "Captain, they killed our emperor from right in front of us. If we let this go…"
"The emperor has already spoken. We shall listen to Princess Xiuying and Princess Ming for their orders!" Hui demanded, scanning his eyes across the crowd.
It was entirely different now that Cardinal Hui had spoken. Cardinal Loujin was one thing, but Cardinal Hui demanded the greatest respect from everyone present! He was the symbol of might for the Imperial Sentinels! Many even considered him to be the empire's strongest warrior! As a result, everyone's hotheaded blood began to cool. His words carried far more weight than Loujin.
Xiuying was still mourning, sniffling her nose and wiping away her tears. She was in no state to worry about the people around her. People felt their heart ache seeing their precious princess so miserable. Ming's cheeks were also red, and her nose was running, but she stood up. The girl forced herself to calm down. It was not like she was uncaring. She grieved about her father as much as her sister. However, her rationality told her this was not the time. If she did nothing, then it would be truly too late for regrets. The fate of the Alzar Kingdom was entirely in her hands!
Princess Ming glanced at the fallen Elizabeth, her father's killer, with complex emotions before declaring, "On my authority as Princess Ming Tzu of the Xingyuu Empire, I hereby proclaim a ceasefire with the Alzar Kingdom until further negotiations are met. Treat the wounded, including the Alzar soldiers, Princess Elizabeth, and her friends. Release all prisoners of war! This battle is over!"
The Xingyuu soldiers were hesitant which made Ming grimace. Their reaction was not unexpected. From their perspective, although she was a princess, her attitude towards the Alzar Kingdom was completely opposite the emperor's. After all, none of them knew the truth that Empress Mei was not assassinated by the kingdom. They had the overwhelming advantage here, but they were giving up? It was easy for them to imagine she was willingly surrendering to the weaker power! Ming realized. If she were to become empress, it would not be easy. The commoners, nobility, and even the Imperial Council would suppress her!
Cardinal Hui quickly added, "Follow the orders of Her Highness! One division will be responsible for tending to the injured. The other will be responsible for setting up appropriate medical areas and sending word back to the capital. I want Her Highness's words relayed throughout all provinces as soon as possible!"
Once again, Hui managed to calm the situation down. People might question Ming's loyalty, but there was no question about Hui's loyalty. He stood beside the emperor for more than a decade! Grumpily, everyone sheathed their weapons and restrained their bloodlust. The remaining Alzar soldiers, of which there were less than a thousand, were dreaming. One could say they were the ones with the greatest range of emotions. From believing they were dead, to seeing the emperor die, and finally entering a ceasefire… It was like they were being played with! What kind of joke was this? Everyone turned to General Illion for his orders.
"Stand down. As General Illion Doro, Third-In-Command of the Quinvoren Army, I will be accepting this ceasefire with the Xingyuu Empire. Tend to the wounded," he said. And like that, this battle had finally come to an end!