Bang! Clashes of metal and metal rang across the battlefield as the two sides engaged in a brutal death battle. It was about as one-sided as one could imagine. Their enemies outnumbered and outpowered them. It was not even a real battle. The kingdom was constantly losing ground while the council advanced with overwhelming momentum. Not to mention, they were gradually being surrounded. At this rate, their defeat was almost guaranteed! Sir Winstin grimly pondered his decisions. His priority was first and foremost Princess Elizabeth. Nothing else mattered, even if it meant he had to sacrifice everyone here. That was his duty as her Protector! However, Elizabeth was currently too injured to move and fleeing had its own risks too. Aside from the three hundred soldiers here, Elizabeth's protection included himself, four Royal Guards, and twenty Grand Knights. It would have been a luxurious lineup anywhere else, but here. Sentinel Kong, the famous war hero, appeared in front of him with a matching glaive, while Sentinel Mao and Feng faced off with the four Royal Guards.
"I apologize for our rudeness, Sir Winstin. Normally, you would warrant all three of us fighting you, but…" Sentinel Kong gestured to his stump of an arm.
"I see. It appears I'm being underestimated!"
The two glaive users collided in the middle with a minor shockwave, showcasing just how strong they were. One was an older Perception Realm Master who had decades of experience, and the other was a younger Perception Realm Expert with great potential. They were probably at the pinnacle of the human world! Still, Sentinel Kong was bursting with confidence. He was younger so his body was stronger, and his opponent had one arm missing. There was no way he could lose in a contest of strength! Using both arms, he swung his glaive with enough force to push Sir Winstin back. To pressure the kingdom's strongest knight like this gave him a high like nothing else. He felt he could do anything! Sentinel Kong kept up the pressure, exercising his extreme mastery of the glaive and youthful explosive strength. However, upon closer inspection, one would notice that Sir Winstin was masterfully redirecting his momentum and controlling the tempo of the entire fight. Like an anchor in the ocean, the waves were harmlessly passing him by. He even had the leeway to keep his surroundings in mind!
Although he lost an arm, his decades of experience were clearly not for show. He had fought with the Four Cardinals at his prime, who themselves were the four strongest Imperial Sentinels in the entire empire. Five months had passed since the Battle of Liguang and he had long since adapted. He bided his time until… Whoosh! In one sharp backswing, his glaive slashed right across Sentinel Kong's chest, spraying the air with blood. It was a brutal strike! The sentinel staggered backwards in amazement. Had he not sensed something amiss and instinctively shifted his posture, then that strike could have decided the fight. As expected, Sir Winstin was a monster! He could not be underestimated. Sentinel Kong adjusted his mentality and sharpened his aura, sending a new wave of killing intent over. He felt like an entirely different person! Sir Winstin responded in kind by taking him more seriously. Clearly, Sentinel Kong was a war hero for a reason. He could make the impossible possible! They restarted their battle with a bigger shockwave that blasted the nearby dust and dirt away.
Sparks flew as neither side budged, but once again, Sir Winstin knew he could not win in a battle of strength. He relaxed his muscles and redirected Sentinel Kong's glaive away to the side, while he pivoted on one foot and nimbly maneuvered to his opponent's other side. That way, he would be in the perfect position to attack and remain safe from any counterattack. Next, his glaive came sweeping around with a whoosh. Defense and attack were chained together seamlessly. There was zero delay! It would have been a killing combination, yet Sentinel Kong smiled fearlessly. With his glaive still stuck in the dirt, he dug it further in and flexed his leg muscles before… he somersaulted! Sir Winstin's attack sliced through his afterimage! The sheer ability to jump that high from a resting stance and no build up represented how abnormal he was! Furthermore, there was the instinct and confidence to execute such a maneuver that few could replicate. As he soared, he used his momentum to dislodge his glaive and swing at Sir Winstin! Like the Royal Guard, his defense and attack were also chained together seamlessly. Sir Winstin blocked the tricky attack, preventing him from following up. The entire exchange ended in three seconds. That was how fast people on their level were!
It was the same on the other side with Sentinel Mao and Feng. They were facing off against four of the Royal Guards, who were quite respected and famed warriors as well. After all, the Royal Guard was a select group of a hundred knights, the best and brightest chosen from millions of people. None of them were pushovers! In fact, they were feeling indignant. To battle the four of them with two… It was an obvious insult to them and the Royal Guard! Their killing intent erupted! Sir Logan charged out with his spear, Sir Alexander with his sword and shield, Lady Ellie with her sword, and Lady Alice with her rapier. They coordinated their advances in such a way that left no room for their opponents to escape. It was a beautiful, but merciless joint attack! Although Sentinel Mao and Feng were stronger on average, being Perception Realm Experts, as the saying goes: eight hands beat four. They aimed to defeat the two Imperial Sentinels quickly and reinforce Sir Winstin!
In the face of their overwhelming auras, the sentinels remained calm. They then used their great Martial Perceptions to find the tiniest of openings to exploit. There! Using her large two-handed saber, Sentinel Mao hacked down on the closest opponent. Her swing produced a huge gust of wind as it travelled, hinting at the enormous strength behind it. She could probably cleave a person in two! However, Sir Logan smiled because this was a false opening he created. Sir Alexander stepped in right at that time and raised his shield. Boom! The humongous force exploded on the shield and sent strong vibrations through the metal and into his arm. He felt every bone in his body shaking from the impact, it was that strong. Regardless, he blocked it successfully! Sir Logan and Lady Alice approached Sentinel Mao on either side and attacked. The timing was impeccable! That was when Sentinel Feng repelled Lady Alice with his twin swords, as Sentinel Mao knocked Sir Logan away with her saber. Lady Ellie jumped in there to attack the two who were distracted. They exchanged a dozen blows in an instant!
Meanwhile, Elizabeth did everything she could to stay conscious. She knew that if she fell asleep here, then she might be dead the next time she awoke. She needed to get up and back into fighting condition as soon as possible! Unfortunately, her body resisted her pleas because it was simply too injured. The full backlash of her spell, combined with her usage of World Energy, depleted her strength, and injured her vitality. This was not as simple as a cut or bruise. A cut or bruise could be seen and mended by medicine; however, an internal injury was intangible and invisible. Conventional medicine had no effect, and even powerful recovery methods using Martial or Magic Energy had limited viability. The Featherwind Sect's five elders struggled for this very reason. They lacked the means to recover from their battle with the Luminous Central Origin more than a year ago. Therefore, time became the best medicine they had, time which Elizabeth sorely lacked. Her one saving grace was that her backlash was nowhere as bad as the Featherwind Sect's.
With an anguished cry, she pushed herself into a sitting position, yet just an act that simple took everything out of her. Her bones and muscles almost shattered under the pressure! The pain was immense, almost too immense to bear. She felt she was going crazy every second! However, she gritted her teeth and endured it through pure willpower alone. After all, everywhere she looked, people were fighting and dying… She could not stand by and watch. She had to do something! That willpower was monstrous, shocking the physicians who tended to her since they knew exactly how poor her situation was. Any other ordinary person would have succumbed to the pain already and fallen unconscious. It would not be a surprise to find them closer to death than life. However, Elizabeth surpassed all their expectations. She could not only stay awake, but also move! What kind of willpower was needed to do this? The physicians could only look on in awe. It was a miracle in the making!