Shirley's halberd swung down and heavily injured her opponent, forcing them back. Right at that moment, Xiuying dove in with her saber and slashed their back. Their opponent wanted to return the favor, but Shirley attacked them again from the front. This constant back-and-forth prevented their opponent from retaliating, and as their coordination continued to grow, so did their lethality. Shirley saw her chance and channeled Martial Energy into her swing before crashing it down with meteoric power! Her halberd cleaved right through her opponent's weapon, armor, and skin, and very nearly cut them in half. The force continued to create a long fissure in the ground from where she stood! With one enemy out of the way, she prepared to move on when ten more Perception Realms showed up.
Both Shirley and Xiuying wore grim expressions. Xiuying's fighting spirit dimmed as the hopelessness of the situation finally began to set in. How could they win? Was it even possible in the first place? She had no answer, which was the answer in and of itself. She thought there was no point in continuing and her body and mind were at their limits too. Any more and she would die! Although she put up a strong front, she was fundamentally a nineteen-year-old girl inside. Because situations where she had to put her life on the line were vanishingly few, her fear of death was still strong. Her saber lowered subconsciously. Maybe it was better to give up? She was ready to give up right then and there, except she saw Shirley. Despite the impossible situation, Shirley remained strong and steadfast, not showing the slightest hint of hesitation or fear. It was like she had no fear of death!
Xiuying was stunned. Everyone, regardless of who they were, was afraid of dying. It was a natural survival instinct that all living beings possessed. People could train themselves to ward away this fear, but it required countless life-threatening situations to break through. Only those with the strongest willpower could endure it! Rightfully so, these people stood at the apex of strength in the human world. Sir Winstin, Mingyu Loon, Cardinal Hui… All these powerful figures overcame their fear of death! Shirley was barely older than she was, yet the girl could stand tall too. The same went for Elizabeth, Benedict, and Freon. Just how much mental fortitude did these four possess? Xiuying could not imagine what they went through to manage it. She could never…
"You're not giving up, are you?" Shirley mocked, her tone dripping with condescension.
"Huh?" Xiuying snapped back. Instantly though, she could tell what Shirley was trying to do. "Don't worry, I won't hold you back." She raised her saber again. She was not going to let them surpass her!
Shirley smiled. "Glad to hear it."
The ten Perception Realm opponents surrounded the two girls and proceeded to coordinate their attacks. Ten enemies working in tandem was already quite scary, and when they were Perception Realms on top of that, it was a hundred times worse. Shirley and Xiuying were thoroughly outclassed! The only saving grace they had was that their enemies had to hold themselves back to prevent killing Xiuying. She was, after all, one of the Imperial Council's main strategic targets. But it was not like that was enough to tip the scales in their favor. Even if Shirley was treacherous enough to take Xiuying as a hostage, Perception Realms could react and move faster than she could imagine, especially when Martial Energy was included in the picture. No matter what, they still had to fight! Keeping their backs to each other, the two braced themselves for another bitter fight.
Shirley dodged a whip headed for her head, while she spun her halberd around to block a saber. She backed up as a martial artist punched her torso and she somersaulted backwards using her weapon as a pole. By masterfully redirecting the momentum, her halberd whipped towards her enemies with devastating power. That was not all, as she infused Martial Energy into her strike too, amplifying its power by several times! Thanks to the non-stop battles, her proficiency with Martial Energy soared dramatically. She could now freely control it! The powerful strike was avoided by her enemies, who immediately followed up with several attacks. Since Shirley was airborne, she had no way of dodging. She was stabbed in her chest, leg, and shoulder. The chest attack had pierced her organs, causing her to spill blood like a fountain, but in the last moment, she shifted her body a hair away, which allowed her to avoid a fatal wound.
That was when Xiuying stepped in to protect her. Although Xiuying's saber art focused on overwhelming offense, offense could be changed to defense by adjusting her techniques a little bit. Using a relentless whirlwind of techniques, she fought against every incoming attack! However, her injuries built up rapidly because she could not defend against everything. As she lost blood at an alarming rate, her expression turned increasingly fanatic and crazy. The feeling in her arms and legs was already gone. Her mind felt like fluff and her body felt like mush. Xiuying completely lost herself in the heat of battle! She fought without a care in the world! Her suicidal behavior prompted her opponents to hesitate.
That brief reprieve was enough for Shirley. She recovered and unleashed a fierce assault. The girl did not realize it herself, but her senses were gradually turning sharper, as if she was using Mock Perception constantly. No, it was even more potent than Mock Perception. It felt like all five of her senses were burning with information! Her eyes, her smell, her hearing, her touch, and even her taste. Everything magnified to such a degree that it was unreal! She could count the hairs on her opponent's face. She could smell and taste the iron in the air. She could hear everyone moving around her. She could even 'feel' their presence! In turn, her offense and defense grew more solid. She attacked and attacked, defended and defended alongside Xiuying, as they thoroughly abandoned their lives until finally… she broke into Half-Perception Realm! Xiuying was also extremely close to Perception Realm!
Shirley laughed boldly and with a deep breath, she summoned a monstrous volume of Martial Energy into her arms. She carefully recreated the scene in her head and mimicked every action. She never learned it officially nor did she practice it, but she felt confident she could do it. She suddenly twirled around and slammed her halberd down with explosive power! Boom! Her strike transformed into a gigantic wave of air pressure that directly pulverized everything in front of her! Cloud Sea Style: Crashing Waves! Although it was a weak imitation using a halberd, she actually reproduced the Sword King's technique! Her adaptability and combat instincts were truly frightening to behold! She directly killed three people with that move! Riding on that momentum, Shirley continued to her next technique. She pulled her halberd back before thrusting it forward, producing a million rain-like projectiles. Cloud Sea Style: Spring Rain! The two attacks penetrated through the tight encirclement, allowing Shirley and Xiuying to barely get themselves out.
Benedict, Shirley, and Xiuying were about to collapse when Reverent Monk and Poisoned Widow finally slaughtered their way through the Royal Guards and the Grand Knights. They had broken through! Reverent Monk charged towards Elizabeth and Freon, while Poisoned Widow locked onto Imperian Qiang and the unconscious Princess Ming! Together with a swarm of soldiers, they wanted to capture everyone in one fell swoop! The remaining Arcanists, including Ten Dawn Yvonne and Rosemary, wanted to cast defensive magic in a desperate bid to delay them, but Poisoned Widow snorted. She could attack far faster than any Arcanist could. With a flick of her sleeves, she threw out a dozen needles with pinpoint accuracy and targeted the Ten Dawns with more than half of them. She was sick and tired of these damned Arcanists after experiencing Ten Dawn Yvonne's Solar Butterfly Wing! A few brave Arcanists jumped in the way to shield the Ten Dawns, but they made a grave error. These needles were laced with a deadly poison, so even if they missed a vital, they were still fatal! Several people were knocked out in an instant.
At the same time, Ten Dawn Rosemary buckled over and clutched her leg in agony. Despite wearing armor, one of the needles managed to nick her skin! The sudden pain made her lose focus and her spell immediately self-destructed, creating a large eruption of Magic Energy. Coupled with the accumulated stress, the backlash rendered the woman unconscious. Furthermore, it produced a chain reaction that affected her partner since the eruption of Magic Energy destabilized Ten Dawn Yvonne's spell. Yearning Dawn Owl was an extremely special spell that could self-evolve, but that also increased its Magic Energy concentration. When it backlashes, the resulting power was terrifying to imagine. Boom! An explosion many times larger than the previous one slammed into the Arcanists, leaving their statuses unknown! Just like that, Elizabeth's final escape route was cut off!