After seeing that he failed to kill Sentinel Mao or Little Sword, but instead ruined Ten Dawn Iris's corpse, he finally snapped. The effects of his backlash had degraded his mental state significantly. He chose to ignore the danger, snatch a sword from the ground, and charge at the two Perception Realms. He wanted to butcher them directly! However, Sentinel Mao smiled at the challenge. She would happily send him off to an early grave, if that was what he wanted. Dashing forward, she prepared her sabre to cleave him in one strike. They were about to clash when an arrow streaked past the sentinel's head. Elizabeth was pointing her bow in their direction. The girl pulled back her bowstring and summoned more energy arrows. Whoosh! She unleashed a fierce barrage at the Imperial Sentinel. At the same time, some Grand Knights came up and knocked the Ten Dawn unconscious. He was a danger to everyone, including himself. They could not allow him to continue.
The enemy Perception Realms gradually recovered from Ten Dawn Yvonne's Solar Butterfly Wing, and advanced on Elizabeth. Now that two of the Royal Guards, and three of the Ten Dawns were eliminated, the combat power on Elizabeth's side declined greatly. They were in a poorer situation than before! Benedict and Shirley wanted to try fleeing with Elizabeth and Freon again, except the way was blocked by enemies. They could neither advance nor retreat! Benedict considered breaking through with his new technique, Summer Mist, and having Shirley copy it with her Bloodline Ability. That was how they escaped from Lord Xu's pursuit earlier. The only issue was that they would have to carry Elizabeth and Freon, so the difficulty would be a lot higher. He was not confident they would succeed. More importantly, they had already shown this card before. Their enemies would be ready for them, if they tried again. It was too dangerous. Therefore, they had no choice, but to fight! Drawing his sword, Benedict clashed with Little Sword, while Shirley fought against Sentinel Mao. Both opponents were further advanced in Perception Realm. It would be an uphill battle!
Benedict raised his sword and hacked down, using his Martial Energy to create a smaller version of the Cloud Sea Style: Crashing Waves. The reduced energy meant he could control his strength better and prevent triggering a landslide. As the roaring sound of ocean waves materialized, his opponent, Little Sword, did not panic. Fully unleashing his Martial Perception and Sword Attainment, the young man concentrated. There! Little Sword thrusted his sword in a seemingly random direction just as Benedict's Crashing Waves arrived. Boom! The martial technique was forcefully scattered, leaving Benedict stunned. As it turned out, there was a very tiny, almost imperceptible, flaw in his execution, which Little Sword managed to exploit. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack, yet the young man succeeded! It went to show how incredible his raw talent was! Benedict suddenly felt inferior. If the Sword King had found Little Sword first, then he might have been the next disciple, rather than Benedict.
Those thoughts subsided in a split-second, as he raised his sword to parry the thrust. Bang! Little Sword pulled his sword back and began a fierce series of attacks. A downward strike, a sideways chop, an upward cleave… From the front, on the side, and every tricky angle in between… He kept alternating his power, speed, and angle to ensure Benedict could not keep up. He did not hold back at all! The scariest thing about Benedict was neither his swordsmanship nor his realm. Rather, it was his Martial Energy. Given the chance, Benedict could wield a monstrous amount of power and overwhelm anyone. Little Sword did not have an answer for that, so the next logical step was to prevent Benedict from using Martial Energy entirely! He could not give Benedict any time to think! Sparks flew. In less than a few seconds, they had already exchanged a dozen blows. Their speed was insane!
At the same time, Sentinel Mao charged at Shirley with a murderous expression, feeling insulted that a Half-Perception Realm brat thought they could do anything against her, a mighty Perception Realm Expert! It felt beyond humiliating! Shirley whipped her halberd around into a wide arc. The wind howled, hinting at the destructive power behind her swing. Furthermore… Energy Acceleration! She used her Martial Energy to explosively increase her power and speed, pushing the attack into another realm! The halberd whipped towards Sentinel Mao at the perfect timing and angle. If the sentinel continued, she would be cleaved in half! It was a guaranteed strike! Shirley expected her opponent to retreat or dodge or anything else, yet she never expected what happened next.
The sentinel held her sabre against her shoulder, supported it with her free hand, and continued to charge over. She intended to block it! Shirley almost wanted to shout. Was her opponent trying to die? But that killing blow never came. Rather, in an impossible show of control, confidence, and dexterity, Sentinel Mao angled her sabre perfectly to coincide with the halberd, using her free hand to redirect the blade up and way from her body. Although it looked effortless, the margin of error was unbelievable! It was only possible due to her monstrous Martial Perception and bodily control! Shirley was stunned. The halberd blew past, just as the sentinel stomped down and accelerated. Whoosh! She closed the gap in an instant. Shirley could not defend! Sword light flashed. Sentinel Mao's sabre barely sliced the tip of her nose, as she instinctively used Energy Acceleration to pull back. Had she been an instant slower, then she would have died. Her opponent continued the assault.
Elizabeth kept her bow trained on Little Sword and Sentinel Mao, but she found it impossible to step in. They were constantly moving around and exchanging positions. One second, it was Little Sword and Sentinel Mao. The next, it was Benedict and Shirley. She could not carelessly attack, especially when their opponents had the superior Martial Perception. There was a chance they were waiting for her to make a move to make a sudden reversal. This sort of feeling, where she was forced to watch her friends battle a stronger opponent and get injured without the ability to do anything, felt truly awful.
Freon was also feeling frustrated. He was currently double-casting the spells, Verdant Apathy and Three-Pointed Barrier, on everyone. His spells, along with Elizabeth's Formless Step, were what allowed their allies to fight on better terms. However, by doing so, it robbed him of the chance to cast his own spells. He too had to spectate like Elizabeth. It was a miserable experience. Moreover, their spells did not tilt the odds in their favor. They only made it less tragic. He debated if he should cancel his spells, conserve his strength, and use it to attack. It would probably be a more effective use of his Magic Energy, otherwise, he would be 'bleeding' himself to death. However, it would hasten their allies' demise. It was a selfish decision, one that both he and Elizabeth struggled to make.
Blood splattered. Another Royal Guard and three more Grand Knights died next, which left Sir Winstin, Sir Logan, and zero Grand Knights remaining. Their numbers shrank rapidly. Meanwhile, Little Sword and Sentinel Mao kicked up the pressure on Benedict and Shirley. They were gradually winning! Seeing this, Elizabeth and Freon immediately decided to cancel their spells. They had to fight too! Some enemy Perception Realms slipped by and finished off the unconscious Ten Dawn Lorth. Others used flying strikes against Ten Dawn Runenda, who barely managed to defend herself with magic. Lord Xiaobo and Lord Ru, these assassins who almost killed Emperor Lianghu, targeted Ten Dawn Yvonne. Everyone was besieged by enemies on all sides.
And naturally… the bulk of the enemy Perception Realms, nearly twenty in total, dashed towards Elizabeth and Freon at the center. They wanted to capture the greatest target in one go! Benedict and Shirley shouted, trying to beat back their opponents to go and support their friends, except how could Little Sword and Sentinel Mao do that? The two doubled their offense! This time, Benedict and Shirley were the ones forced to watch as nearly twenty Perception Realms prepared their flying strikes. The situation seemed hopeless! That was until… Boom! Sir Winstin roared and unleashed a monstrous Martial Aura. It flared to the skies and briefly eclipsed everyone present. He had almost touched upon Half-Instinct Realm. He was committing everything he had!