By the time that she wrapped up her conversation with the general, it was already dark outside. She exhaled in exhaustion. She was absent from the Yunyun Stronghold for a little under a month due to the Battle of Liguang, but many matters piled up since then. There was a mountain of things to sort through! Thankfully, General Petra was quick on the uptake and smoothly assumed her new role as the general overseeing the northern theatre here. She would have no trouble in substituting for General Dennis during his absence. When Elizabeth returned to her quarters, she found that her friends and everyone else had finished their medical examinations. Although everyone was simply glad to have survived, there was always good news and bad news, Elizabeth included.
For the good news, Elizabeth reached Half-Condensed Drop, Benedict Fundamental Realm Master, Shirley Half-Perception Realm, and Freon Peak Gaseous Fog. Everyone had made another big step towards finally breaking into Rank 2 Lord! Coupled with their already unbelievable combat strength, they were rightfully termed Rank Transcendent Lords! What was interesting was that the techniques they used could pave the road for their breakthroughs. Elizabeth used the Dual Core Rending Technique, which helped her body grow accustomed to the intense power of a Condensed Drop Core. Benedict used the Cloud Sea Style and Martial Energy, which was the foundation of Perception Realms. Shirley used Mock Perception, which, like Elizabeth, helped her body adapt to the sensory prowess of a Perception Realm. Freon used the Thousand Core Resonance Bloodline Ability, which forced his Core to mature to the Condensed Drop Core Level. Their potential was terrifying to behold.
However, there was never reward without risk. Their surface injuries might have healed, but their internal injuries were a different story altogether. Elizabeth's Dual Core Rending Technique enabled her to exhibit power equivalent to the Ten Dawns; however, it was fundamentally meant as a trump card, not to be used repeatedly. She used it a total of five times to perform the Peak Gaseous Fog spell, Eclipsing Theatre. When her normal limit was four spells only and her energy expenditure was multiplied because of the interference in Liguang, it was easy to predict the consequences. Like a rupture caused by too much pressure, her pseudo-Core was destroyed! And it was not a simple task to create another, meaning her combat strength declined, despite advancing to Half-Condensed Drop. The physicians advised that she refrain from casting spells for the next three months until her body recovered. She also needed time to properly stabilize her new Half-Condensed Drop Core.
As for Benedict, his problems laid in the fact that he alternated between the Hawken Style and the Cloud Sea Style. The Hawken Style focused on speed and lethality, embodying the principle of 'decisive defense'. On the other hand, the Cloud Sea Style focused on overwhelming power, embodying the principle of 'dominant freedom'. The two styles were powerful on their own, and in theory, they complimented each other, one dealing in defense, and the other in offense; however, swordsmanship styles were not like stews. They could not be thrown together and made to work! Benedict only managed it through his deep comprehension of swordsmanship, having reached Major Sword Form, but the strain of alternating in a high-intensity battle tore his muscles and ligaments apart. His self-harm reached its peak when he performed his final technique, Autumn Hawk, and it nearly crippled him. Even now, he could barely exert a tenth of his normal strength. It would take at least two months for him to recover!
Shirley was worse off due to her inexperience with Martial Energy. She subconsciously used it at every moment of the battle, even when attacks gave very little returns. Shirley's inexperience and inefficiency became her downfall. Like a leaky cup, her Martial Energy poured out without stopping, and how much energy could she possibly possess? When there was nothing left to give, her own lifeforce, her World Energy, was burned to compensate! Although weeks had passed since that battle, her lifeforce remained heavily damaged, constantly plaguing her with fatigue and weakness. That was the price for exchanging her lifespan for power. Using World Energy was equivalent to gambling with death itself! To make matters worse, her excessive usage of Mock Perception damaged her five senses, giving her an endless sense of nausea. She felt sick no matter what she did. The physicians strictly forbad her from any physical activity until she recovered.
Freon was in a terrible state too. He wielded his Bloodline Ability, which was already extremely taxing for a non-Condensed Drop Arcanist to use, but he chose to combine it with the Peak Gaseous Fog spell, Infernal Dragon. He directly chose his most complicated and powerful spell to use! It temporarily granted him the power to transcend ranks, but the strain was unimaginably self-destructive. His Core and Channels were pushed to the limit! Afterwards, he lost his ability to cast spells, as part of his Bloodline Ability's backlash, until he used his partial transformation to isolate his backlash, except how could anything be so convenient? He only delayed the inevitable, and his trick intensified his backlash instead. His final suicidal move was severe too. When the battle ended, his Core and Channels were nearly ripped to shreds in a vicious backlash, much like Elizabeth during the Lannisail explosion. He would also need months before returning to normal.
Sir Winstin and the Ten Dawns were not as 'lucky'. Sir Winstin had lost his arm in the battle, and though there was active research in magic to regrow limbs, it had yet to reach fruition. This meant that his battle strength was more than directly halved. His body's balance, weight, and power distribution… He spent decades training, pushing, and mastering everything to a sublime level, so losing an arm was a death sentence! Right now, Sir Winstin doubted whether he could beat a Grand Knight of the Realm, much less a Royal Guard. For the White Healer, Ten Dawn Iris, there was a reason why she could not heal anyone during their journey back. Her severe backlashes dropped her from Low Condensed Drop to Half-Condensed Drop! With that, her Magic Perception lost the ability to perceive outside her own body, thus crippling her healing capability. Ten Dawn Yvonne and Rosemary also lost years of accumulation towards Medium Condensed Drop and unlike Ten Dawn Nassandra, breakthroughs were hard to come by. They might not have another chance to break through in their lifetimes.
Time passed as the various battles across the province died down due to the cold. It was surprisingly peaceful. Rumors that Princess Elizabeth, the Imperial Princesses, and Imperian Qiang died in the Battle of Liguang spread like wildfire, having reached as far as the Zino Kingdom, on the opposite side of the human world. Everyone came to know about the Battle of Liguang! The world was rightfully shocked! It sounded insane! However, their next question was about the Alzar Kingdom's inheritance race. What would happen now that the heir apparent was dead? Elizabeth wanted to know too, but any news from the capital would take at least three weeks to arrive. It might be February before she hears who the next monarch was. Fortunately, she had no time to worry about that. The Alzar Kingdom's army took a huge hit in morale from her supposed death, which spurred the Imperial Council into action. They were finally making their move!
Somewhere in the Yunyun Stronghold, a small group of people assembled in a hidden cellar. They looked like any other ordinary civilians, but they were secretly people from the Imperial Council! They had been here since before the Yunyun Stronghold fell to the Alzar Kingdom's siege, waiting for the perfect moment to spring their trap. After all, there was no way that the Imperial Council would willingly give up the stronghold without a fight, unless they had something to gain otherwise. The Alzar Kingdom worked to lock down any communication from controlled territory, except they could not stop everything. The leader revealed a scroll from the Imperial Council that they had received that day.
"We've been given permission to go ahead with the plan. In addition, we have a new assignment from the Imperial Council to confirm whether Princess Elizabeth is here or not, and they want to know as soon as possible."