"Please take care of the rest, Squadron Captain," Benedict said.
"O-Okay… What is Your Lordship going to do next?"
"We'll assist the other battlefields," he replied casually.
"Please take a rest. You two shouldn't push yourselves too hard."
"But we didn't use that much energy though?" Shirley cocked her head.
"Huh?"
Benedict nodded. "Martial Energy recovers a lot faster than Magic Energy. We haven't reached our limits yet."
"In fact, we only used about a quarter of our energy in that fight," Shirley added.
"A quarter?" The soldiers quivered. They looked around to see themselves in a large clearing with bodies eviscerated everywhere, bodies which included mighty Perception Realms one might add. That much devastation had used up a mere… quarter of their energy? Every soldier felt the blood drain from their bodies. Benedict and Shirley terrified them! Naturally, the two could sense the shifting mood and smiled wryly. They suppressed their auras as much as possible, but it seemed it was still not enough.
Without waiting for a response, Benedict's Martial Energy flowed to his feet as he executed a movement technique. Cloud Sea Style: Moon Flash! He flickered into the forest and left behind a faint flash. His movements were so fast that they became a blur. He disappeared in literally the blink of an eye! Shirley used her Energy Acceleration too, launching off the ground in an explosion! Compared to the subtle and elegant technique of the Cloud Sea Style, hers was brutish and unrefined, a product of her own creation. That said, her speed was not that far behind. She could keep up! The two dashed towards the next battlefield at a breakneck pace and encountered some enemies along the way. Their enemies were obviously surprised to see two people charging at them through the forest. Not to mention, that speed too… It was unreal! Benedict and Shirley noticed them first and dashed straight through. The five soldiers died before even drawing their weapons! The two killed them without stopping!
Tearing through the foliage, the next battlefield arrived in a matter of seconds. Here, one of the kingdom's squadrons was losing in a bitter fight against one of the council's. This was unsurprising. The former had mainly Fundamental Realm soldiers, while the other had Half-Perception Realm or Perception Realm soldiers. Even the inclusion of one Perception Realm was enough to tip the scales overwhelmingly in the council's favor! That was the power they held! When Benedict and Shirley intruded, everyone stopped to turn and look at them, their expressions puzzled. Fortunately, they wore identifiable armor, so everyone could tell which side they were on. Unfortunately though, that made little difference. Benedict and Shirley capitalized on the brief lull and immediately pounced on the strongest opponents, who were too slow to react. After all, these Perception Realms were normal soldiers elevated through the Featherwind Sect's brutal training. They might have the physique and energy of a Perception Realm, but their innate talent and ability were sorely lacking. Against the truly capable, they were not enough!
It took almost two minutes for Benedict and Shirley to clean up this battlefield before they pressed on. In the end, they swept through hundreds of opponents until their energies ran dry. Despite the swift recovery of Martial Energy and their personal recovery methods, it could not outmatch their extreme usage. They hunched over and gasped for air. Sweat drenched their bodies and their muscles ached. That ten-minute exertion was greater than a ten-hour sprint! However, despite their great contributions, it did not change much in the grand scheme of things. This battlefield had over thirty thousand people involved, so a few hundred people was a mere drop in the ocean. That was the limit that Elizabeth, Benedict, Shirley, and Freon had. They were a far way away from the impact of a single attack from the Featherwind Sect!
Back in the rear, the newly appointed Legion General Christina, who received updates from all three fronts constantly, had a stressed look. The first flank with the Featherwind Sect was progressing smoothly thanks to the birds. Elder Ludin's Seven Encloses Heaven barrier was simply the perfect cage to display their methods. It was no wonder General Petra kept his methods as her final trump card over Elder Argo's Demon Wind Requiem. What a perfect army-killing tool! However, it was like a loosed arrow… Once it was used, she could not take it back. Their deterrent would disappear, and they would expose their weakness. Not to mention, the battle was still young, so the Imperial Council likely had more cards to play. They had to tread very carefully here.
It was the same with the second flank where Elizabeth, Freon, and the Ten Dawns were. They might have had a flashy opening by eliminating more than two thousand enemies right from the start, but Magic Energy had a painfully slow recovery rate, and the heavy interference strength did not help either. They might not get another chance to do something. To make matters worse, their opponents were not easy to handle. The problem of Perception Realms and Martial Energy aside, they plainly had greater morale. The Imperial Council had more than five hundred thousand soldiers, almost three times the number the Alzar Kingdom had. That meant that the proportional fatigue and stress was distributed three times as well. What did that mean? The council's soldiers were in excellent condition, while the kingdom's soldiers were exhausted! The effects of this could not be understated. What Elizabeth believed to be a near-certain victory had now become unclear.
That left the third flank with Benedict and Shirley that was the most uncertain. They had no support from Arcanists or the Featherwind Sect, so they had to rely on pure numbers alone; however, a seven-to-five difference was clearly too little. The few Perception Realms and Half-Perception Realms involved were just too strong. They could dominate any battlefield they were in! Although Benedict and Shirley tried their best, the odds were slowly tilting in their enemy's favor. Things were turning dire quickly. General Christina was under heavy pressure to redirect reinforcements and organize a defense. The entire battlefield was like a tottering vase, balancing on the edge. One slipup here could throw everything into irrecoverable chaos! She prayed that she could maintain this balance until General Petra concluded the fighting on the main front. Like aunt, like niece, she and Elizabeth hoped for the same thing, except the world worked in mysterious ways. Sometimes, it would do the exact opposite of what you wanted… Their worst fears were soon realized.
"Urgent report for the commanders!" a messenger charged over in a panic.
"What is it?" a Brigade Commander asked.
"It's bad news… Really bad news!"
"Spit it out already!" another commander shouted.
"There's… another fifteen thousand enemy troops coming from the rear!"
"What?" Everyone simultaneously dropped what they held and gawked blankly.
Even General Christina felt her nerves shake, though she did her best to keep a steady look. She wisely sought clarification, "Are you sure about what you saw? Fifteen thousand soldiers? There's no mistaking it?"
"Yes, it's been verified by multiple reconnaissance parties!"
The woman felt her stomach drop. "Who is leading and what is their composition? What is their arrival time and anticipated route? Tell us everything you know."
Meanwhile, the other Brigade Commanders sent her subtle gazes, their intent being painfully obvious. They already knew how delicate the situation on the battlefield was. It took everything they had just to slow their losses down, much less stabilize it, and that was after exhausting all their methods. Without the Featherwind Sect or the Arcanists to hold the line, the arrival of another fifteen thousand into the battlefield… was the worst possible development that could happen. Therefore, the Brigade Commanders begged General Christina for a retreat. They knew a losing battle when they saw one. They wanted to save their lives while they had the chance! However, General Christina knew that by retreating here, it would be compromising their army's effort on the main front. A pincer at this stage was tantamount to suicide! She could not let that happen under any circumstances. Still, the situation did not seem salvageable… As she contemplated her next move, chilling screams were heard outside the tent. Bloodied bodies then slipped through the cracks, sending everyone into a panic. Although their protection did not include Royal Guards, they still had respectable Great and Grand Knights of the Realm, who could absolutely hold their own in a fight. The fact they could not meant only one thing… Everyone was in dire danger!