The intense fighting included Elizabeth and her friends too. Benedict circulated the Martial Energy inside his body and charged at an enemy. Cloud Sea Style: Crashing Waves! The sound of roaring oceanside waves as they crashed against cliffside rocks seemed to play. The faint image of water materialized around Benedict's sword! With a powerful downward slash, the wave was released in a sharp burst of wind pressure. It was a flying strike! And compared to all the other simple flying strikes thus far, it was far more refined and sophisticated. It threatened to engulf everything like an ocean! The tremendous power made his opponent a heartbeat too slow in dodging it. The flying strike brushed by and sliced an arm off! It continued to travel and cut through six more people before it dissipated.
Benedict immediately followed up with an upward strike when two others jumped in and engaged him. One of them tied him down, while the other snuck behind. He remained calm and switched to the Hawken Style's first stance. Unlike the Cloud Sea Style which emphasized overwhelming destructive might, the Hawken Style prioritized 'decisive defense', defending until the opportune moment, and then killing with one strike. For the Hawken Household that produced Royal Guards every generation, there was no better style. However, his opponents snorted and exercised their senses to the extreme. Perception Realms! Despite how surprising Benedict's performance was, there was no way he could contend against an authentic Perception Realm. That was what his opponents believed! With incredible speed and power, they flanked Benedict on both sides. On the verge of being skewered though, Benedict smiled.
He shifted sideways to dodge, but his opponents saw through it. Instead of a downward cleave, they adjusted mid-swing into a horizontal sweep. The timing and technique were perfect and without loss of power or speed. It transitioned naturally! The swords whistled through the air and aimed to lop his head right off. Furthermore, by infusing Martial Energy into their attacks, they were on the verge of producing flying strikes. At this close range, it was almost overkill. Even a Perception Realm would struggle here! Yet, Benedict did not panic. He parroted the same and channeled Martial Energy too. Hawken Style: second stance! In an instant, he saw an opening and slashed! Boom! A large shockwave rippled out from the collision, cracking the ground, and sending debris up. The flying strikes were forcibly negated!
His opponents were shocked. Right before the flying strikes emerged, Benedict managed to strike exactly where the swords intersected and then used his own flying strike to defend. This was the first time his opponents saw anyone accomplish this. They thought it was impossible! After all, Martial Energy went largely unknown throughout the human world. Experience, ability, and most importantly, confidence was required to do what Benedict did. They could no longer look down on him. Retracting their swords, they decided to overwhelm him using sheer numbers and power.
Just when they had a slight lapse in judgement, Benedict immediately entered the Hawken Style: third stance! It emphasized overwhelming speed to kill in one strike! His body moved quick as lightning, thrusting out with supreme speed. All superfluous motions were stripped away, leaving a simple and fast strike. It was so fast that even without Martial Energy, it went beyond what a normal person could react to. The strike could almost be called perfect! Benedict aimed to kill one of them as quickly as possible. In a battlefield, there was no room for kindness. It was kill or be killed! Although his opponents were Perception Realms, that meant nothing if they could not physically react in time. Hot blood splattered everywhere. He impaled one in the chest, but he failed to deliver a fatal blow. Worse yet, his second opponent utilized the opportunity and counterattacked.
Having expected it, Benedict dodged, and the blade skimmed his cheek. The pain served to ignite his battle instincts further. He pulled his sword back and clashed with his second opponent. Sparks flew in the wild exchange. Against a Perception Realm swordsman, he managed to hold his own! His profound swordsmanship skills were enough to bridge the gap between realms! He was not the Sword King's third disciple for no reason! And yet, his face abruptly darkened as his sense of danger spiked. Someone using Martial Energy slipped into his blind spot and prepared to attack, their movements so swift that it happened near-instantaneously. The enemy in front of him was also preparing a flying strike. Since they were all Perception Realms or close to it, they grasped the timing perfectly. He could not react to both attacks simultaneously. In the blink of an eye, he was in a dangerous situation!
"I got your back!" Shirley shouted.
Even before she said anything, her opponent could sense her from the undisguised killing intent. Her normal aura was already quite fierce and oppressive, but when she entered combat, it erupted like a volcano. Its ferocity was unbelievable! She might not compare to Sir Winstin or Mingyu Loon, whose sheer volume of their auras surpassed her by an entire realm and more, but the feral nature of her aura was in another class altogether. Shirley felt like a genuine animal! That said, her enemy looked down on her. She announced her arrival like an idiot. She had a slight chance if she decided to hide her presence and sneak attack, but now there was none. Without warning, her opponent unleashed a massive flying strike behind them! At that range and speed, it was nigh-instantaneous. Against a pre-emptive strike like that, anyone would die! And yet…
Shirley slammed her halberd into the ground and vaulted into the air. Then, half-way through her movement, she pulled her weapon out and used her momentum in a gigantic overhead swing, dodging the flying strike and attacking at the same time! That series of actions was not something that an ordinary person could recreate. It required a tremendous amount of bodily control and timing, and the slightest miscalculation would result in her dying! To do it in the heat of the moment, when her opponent gave almost no warning, it showed how strong Shirley's instincts and observational skills were. Her halberd resembled a meteor as it crashed down on her opponent with incomparable force. Boom! The impact fractured the ground underneath them as a shockwave rippled out. Even without using Martial Energy, she could do this!
A dust cloud covered her vision, but she was certain that she hit. With that much power behind her attack, it should guarantee incapacitation, if not instant death. Shirley was about to move on when her danger senses erupted. She leapt back just as the flash of sword light narrowly grazed her chest! Surprise filled her eyes. Her opponent stood there with a deep gash across their shoulder. It looked horrifying, but it was non-fatal. She failed to finish them off! As it turns out, right before her blow connected, her opponent used Martial Energy to strengthen the area around their shoulder, which temporarily gave it the hardness of steel. Like invisible armor, it enabled them to take the attack head-on and survive! Of course, it was obvious that their application was still lacking a little, judging from the severe injury they gained.
If once was not enough, then again! Shirley twirled the halberd in her hands and advanced ferociously like a wild beast smelling blood! However, her enemy smirked maliciously. They reached behind and grabbed something, throwing it at Shirley. It was a hidden weapon! At the same time, three more enemies closed in from three separate directions. A four-pronged assault! Shirley did not hesitate to use her trump card. Mock Perception! Her senses immediately jumped to the Perception Realm standard and flooded her mind with a sea of information. Time seemed to slow down which gave her room to breath. One on the left, one on the right, one behind, and the enemy she was fighting, the one in the center. Their coordination was merciless, and her situation seemed hopeless, but she remained calm. This was not going to break her!