Elizabeth felt an extreme sense of fatigue envelop her, and the same went for Freon. No matter how accustomed they were to the pain, the fact remained that they used their World Energy. Even the smallest trickle meant a huge impact on their foundation. They could not ignore the repercussions involved. Elizabeth gestured to Ten Dawn Iris who brought them back to the ground. As soon as they touched down, Ten Dawn Iris dispelled her spell and fell unconscious with her status unknown. That levitation spell was a very complex and difficult thing to maintain, especially with the intensity of the battle. She had to put forth all her effort and more to maintain it. Although the ordeal lasted around a minute, the stress had culminated until her breaking point, so this was the expected result.
Elizabeth and Freon almost followed her until they bit down on their lips to forcefully stay awake. Still, their bodies were shaking from the exertion. When they caught a glimpse of Ten Dawn Krogan's corpse though, their composure returned. They would not allow his sacrifice to be in vain. As soon as Elizabeth regained her temperament, officers rushed up to report. For better or for worse, she had assumed temporary control over the battlefield, and one had to admit that the Alzar Kingdom's Steel Eagle Brigade was exceptionally well-trained. Despite the alarming odds and hopeless situation, they remained calm and professional. An ordinary army would have done worse than desertion. They might have openly rebelled, taken Elizabeth hostage, and surrendered to the Imperial Council in exchange for their lives! Yet, these officers harbored no such thoughts, as if their own lives were no longer their own. They only thought about their duty. That was all.
The reports were simple and succinct, but left Elizabeth at a loss for words. Imperian Qiang was also nearby and frowned subconsciously. At the beginning of the battle, their side had approximately four hundred soldiers, three hundred from the Alzar Kingdom's Steel Eagle Brigade and one hundred from the Li Family's Lotus Division. Although they were injured, these soldiers were still the best of the best, the absolute cream of the crop, selected from millions of candidates to serve as secret trump cards. A single soldier might be insignificant but against a force of four hundred working in unison, the Imperial Council's forces should not have that easy of a time. Of course, she was not hoping for a miracle like they could somehow defeat their enemies. She was not that foolish. Her main concern was how long they could delay the inevitable for the Ten Dawns to break the barrier.
Unfortunately, her prayers were left unanswered. Around several minutes passed since the battle began and their side lost over two hundred soldiers already! And since the Lotus Division were generally more injured than the Steel Eagle Brigade, they fared the worst. They were totally annihilated! That only left the Alzar Kingdom's forces to hold the line. Elizabeth and Imperian Qiang despaired. The defensive line shrunk back and kept retreating to prevent their enemies from taking the rear, but it was a fruitless endeavor. Any losses risked collapsing their formation and against Perception Realm level opponents, the slightest mistake could be fatal. Their losses were increasing at an alarming rate! Elizabeth estimated that they would last for another minute or two, at the absolute most!
Her thoughts were cut off when the officer in front of her suddenly cried out in pain, their back ripped into pieces from a flying strike. They died instantly. Elizabeth's eyes flicked over to catch several enemies charge over when they found a hole in their defensive formation. Their bodies flashed with brutal killing intent, clearly having killed many people already. They aimed to capture Elizabeth in one blow! Elizabeth and Freon cursed because their Cores were empty, and they were barely conscious from using World Energy. They had no way to defend themselves! Their enemies began coursing with Martial Energy and prepared to kill Freon and the other bystanders nearby. No one else needed to survive! Just as their flying strikes were about to burst out, another surprise occurred.
Cloud Sea Style: Spring Rain! Mock Perception! Benedict and Shirley immediately dashed in with earth-shattering momentum. Benedict did not hesitate to use one of his strongest techniques as Martial Energy surged in his body. He pulled his sword back into a thrusting stance, tensed his muscles, and released it in a thunderous forward thrust. The wind pressure twisted and formed into hundreds of tiny flying strikes, akin to rain, and rushed towards his enemies. This was the same technique he had been practicing previously to dice leaves into halves; its destructive potential was only mirrored by its incredible precision. On the other hand, Shirley stomped on the ground and accelerated. However, her speed was not enough to catch her enemies before they attacked Elizabeth and Freon. She was left without a choice, except to pull her arm back and hold her halberd like a javelin. Her senses overflowed as she instinctively found her target. She threw it forward with unbelievable power, releasing a minor shockwave from her, having subconsciously used Martial Energy too! The two attacks spiraled towards their opponents with deadly ferocity.
They whipped up a storm of killing intent and alarmed their enemies. Their enemies jumped out of the way and retreated a fair distance, allowing Benedict and Shirley to arrive next to Elizabeth and Freon. Elizabeth looked over their wounds and were pleasantly surprised that neither sustained any severe injuries. They were not in great condition either, but at least it was not life-threatening. That lifted a heavy burden off Elizabeth's chest because she saw them charge into the enemy lines before and she would have been devastated if they died. As if their arrival triggered something, but numerous figures soon gathered around them. On their side was Sir Winstin, the other Royal Guards and Grand Knights, Mingyu Loon, Humming Swordsmen, Spider Seven, Blind Snake, and the other experts from the Li Family. On the other side was Cardinal Yongyu and Loujin, Reverent Monk, Thousand Storms, Poisoned Widow, and many other Perception Realm experts. The two sides engaged in a fierce standoff as sparks flew in the sky. A turbulent whirlwind of killing intent swirled around chaotically!
Elizabeth grew apprehensive. Her allies were covered in a myriad of wounds, bloodied from head to toe, and their armor fractured in many places. They were in pathetic shape, and Elizabeth did not fare much better either. Her enemies though were standing strong and most of their injuries were superficial. They could still fight at close to their peak strength! In a normal battle under better circumstances, Elizabeth was confident that her side had a higher chance of victory. After all, they were stronger on average than their opponents. However, that was only wishful thinking. The Featherwind Sect's sudden attacks, the hundreds of Perception Realms, and Martial Energy tipped the scales against them. Not to mention, they were greatly outnumbered. She drew and breath, nodded to the soldiers around her, and prepared for combat herself. She unsheathed a long thin rapier from her waist, while Freon fashioned a short one-handed sword too. Now that their Cores were fully depleted, they had no choice but to rely on their meager close combat skills.
Imperian Qiang stepped back because he was a complete non-combatant. He had zero combat skills to speak of, and he would rather not embarrass himself by engaging with Perception Realm opponents. It would be more harmful than beneficial if he placed himself in harm's way. Besides, since Elizabeth was preoccupied now, he had to take charge over the battlefield. It was prudent that the soldiers had a leader otherwise the whole battle might fall apart. Despite understanding that, he still had a strange expression on his face. Everyone from the Li Family's Lotus Division had perished already, which meant that those reporting to him were the Alzar Kingdom's Steel Eagle Brigade instead. If not for Elizabeth's tact instructions, then they might have never listened to him. He gave a few swift instructions to stabilize the situation while moving to the Imperial Princesses' side. Blood was thicker than water after all and he would rather be by his nieces' side, in case something happened, since Princess Ming and Protector Chang were unconscious and unable to defend themselves. Yet, his eyes widened when he saw Princess Xiuying step up. She wanted to join the fight!