A plume of feathers fell from the sky, yet the Sword King frowned. He turned his head to see the source. Elder Argo was some distance away, bleeding profusely from his orifices, alongside Elder Terus. As it turned out, the multiple barriers delayed the attack long enough for Elder Argo to rescue Elder Terus; however, it was not without sacrifice. The falcon's armor shattered under the strain, while his wings were bathed in blood. Although he dodged the attack, a small amount grazed him. Additionally, his reckless usage of Martial Energy, to accelerate his body beyond what was possible, nearly killed him in the process. His aura grew volatile, the signs of a backlash.
Before he lost consciousness completely, he ordered a retreat! The other birds heard his orders and rushed towards their flying ship, but the Sword King snorted derisively. He would not let them escape! He was about to give chase when he staggered. A dozen of his injuries suddenly opened and spewed blood everywhere. His sword disappeared, and he briefly lost his footing, before he caught himself. Falling from this distance would be guaranteed death! Clearly, the last attack pushed him beyond his limits, and he was paying the price for it now. If he went any further, then he would be risking his life. It was not worth it. By the time he recovered, the flying ship had vanished into the horizon. The fight was finally over! With the tension gone, he closed his eyes and fell from the skies.
"Let's catch him, Lanar!"
"Damn it!"
The two disciples dashed out to save their master yet, moments before impact, the Sword King suddenly unleashed a large burst of Martial Energy that cushioned his fall. He landed gracefully on his feet, much to the chagrin of his disciples. As it turned out, he had done it intentionally to hasten his descent. However, that was probably the last wisps of power he had left because his aura grew incredibly faint, as though it would extinguish at any moment. This was probably the second time his disciples saw him this weak with the Lannisail explosion being the first. To be honest, they were a tad wary of their master now. They always viewed an Instinct Realm as someone who was 'slightly' stronger than a Perception Realm. The difference was like a Perception Realm and a Fundamental Realm: large, but not chasmic. With sufficient numbers, the latter could overwhelm the former, but this… Looking at the last attack, there was no way they could compete… If they were monsters, then their master was the king of monsters! He was peerless!
"You can inform the princess that they won't be bothering us anymore," he said before spitting out some blood and teeth. His appearance was miserable.
"Should we call for a physician?"
"No, I can take care of myself. I'll be training to consolidate my insights from the battle. I'll find you again when I'm done." Before Hidek and Lanar could respond, the man had already disappeared in a flash of light.
Hidek sighed. "Come. We should let the princess know what happened."
"You can do that yourself. I need to train too," Lanar snorted. From this battle, he felt his head bursting with new ideas and inspirations. His sword was itching to be drawn! This might be the final push he needed to break into Half-Instinct Realm. There was no way he would distract himself by being an errand boy!
"You think I'm not the same?" Hidek replied. It would be a joke if he failed to get any inspiration from that battle. Now that he saw what an Instinct Realm could do, his desires burned hotter. He wanted to stand on that same pinnacle stage as their master! Lanar's words also stoked his competitive spirit. He would not let him reach Half-Instinct Realm first! The two exchanged fiery gazes.
"Fine. We'll use Little Sword Eagle. How about a bet to see who reaches Half-Instinct Realm first?"
"And if neither of us succeeds?"
"Losing confidence already?" Lanar laughed.
"Nonsense!" Hidek snarled.
"It's settled then! Should we use the same wager?"
"Fine!" Hidek raised his arm and manifested a small eagle. He tapped a finger on its head and released it in Elizabeth's direction. They gave each other another nasty gaze before disappearing in a flash.
"They're gone…" Shirley reported blankly. She had been watching the trio from afar with her Mock Perception, so she noticed when they vanished.
"Is that Little Sword Eagle?" Benedict pointed out. "Elizabeth, do you have a scroll?"
Elizabeth grabbed a nearby scroll and unrolled it just in time for Little Sword Eagle. The eagle then splattered onto the page, causing words to appear. She frowned as she read.
"What does it say?"
"It says the Featherwind Sect won't be interfering in our battle anymore, which I assume is a result of their injuries. It goes on to say that the Sword King, Hidek, and Lanar will be training independently to consolidate their inspirations. They won't return until then."
"Are they planning to get even stronger?" Freon's face twisted. The Sword King could already create this much devastation by himself. He shuddered to imagine what three of them might do. He was starting to think they might be a bigger threat than the Featherwind Sect itself.
"Let's not worry about them for now. The key point is that the Sword King repelled the Featherwind Sect. We've removed our biggest threat," Elizabeth said. "General Petra, I'll leave the decision in your hands. Should we continue the siege?"
"We're evaluating the losses now, but I think we should. The Imperial Council likely took more damage than us. We have a good chance at capturing Unit Commander Haea," General Petra smiled.
"We shouldn't push our luck and jeopardize our plans."
"Understood, Your Highness."
Meanwhile, in the fallen ruins of Guanhuang, Unit Commander Haea was pulled out from a pile of rubble by her guards. Even though they were Imperial Sentinels, the empire's high and mighty Perception Realms, they were in a sorry state, having almost died from the resulting shockwave of the Sword King's attack. The thought of fleeing crossed their minds. This was not a battlefield they should be on! Unit Commander Haea coughed out dust and patted herself off. Although she came out mostly unscathed, her domineering image was reduced to a pathetic sight. She was almost embarrassed to show her appearance to her subordinates. Still, she refocused on what mattered.
"What's our status? How many did we lose?"
"Looking at the damages… we're estimating a loss of thousands…" an officer said in a daze.
"Thousands?" the Imperial Sentinels were stunned, but on second thought, it was not too surprising. Their forces were in the city when the earthquake came and as the buildings collapsed, they were probably trapped underneath and crushed to death by the debris. All things considered, a few thousand dead was not much given their fifty thousand strong army. Clearly, Unit Commander Haea thought the same because she was not particularly bothered.
"What about the Featherwind Sect or the Sword King? Where did they go?" This was what bothered her the most. The Alzar Kingdom obtained one ridiculous trump card!
"We lost sight of them," another officer said wryly. His men were too busy diving for cover from the Sword King's attack. Who would risk dying to watch them?
"The same goes for us," an Imperial Sentinel added.
While Unit Commander Haea hesitated, the other officers protested, "Please issue the order to retreat! Guanhuang is destroyed and we've lost our main defenses. We've lost this fight. We should retreat while we still have the chance!" Despite a convincing argument, anyone could tell they just wanted to save their own skins. They might even revolt if she spoke wrong! That was how low the morale became. The woman fell into a predicament. Just as they debated, the kingdom's army began their attack again! They were entering Guanhuang! "Your orders!" the officers panicked.
"Begin the process to evacuate and retreat. The first thirty regiments will be responsible for holding the line against the Alzar Kingdom. I want another ten regiments recovering our forces scattered around Guanhuang. Save anyone that can be saved. Abandon them if their situation looks too grim. Everyone else will be preparing the horses, wagons, and supplies. In addition, I want updates from the northern and southern fronts. Tell them to pick up their pace. Inform the western front to ready their forces. Their presence might be required here. Move!"
"Understood!"