Before she could react, a soft and gentle light enveloped Tiran from an unknown source. Despite its seemingly insignificant appearance, she was surprised to find that she could not move.
Angel's chanting continued:
"And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness."
The light suddenly split apart, and all the colors in the space covered by the light disappeared in an instant, like the oldest television screen, leaving behind only dull black and white.
As the last word fell, Tiran felt as if she had entered a frozen painting. What Angel used to immobilize her was not ordinary magic or psychic power, but the rules of the world. Time and space were completely frozen, independent of the world, much more difficult than creating a calm surface in a flowing river.
Even with Angel's abilities, she couldn't maintain the state of frozen space for too long, but this amount of time was enough for her to complete what she needed to do.
...
Although the intense battle in the sky did not ease the situation on Glory Square, the area in front of the palace gate had turned into a meat grinder. People were falling every moment, and the golden door panels were stained with crimson blood, giving off a sinister hue.
Both sides were simply filling the gap with lives, just to see who could hold out longer.
Eomer led a dozen remaining Crusaders as the vanguard, launching three rounds of countercharges. He was covered in blood, his brown hair sticking together in clumps stained with blood. Even in the midst of the chaos, he couldn't defend against attacks from all directions. Any random blow could take his life, and even with his strength as a Grand Knight, he was not lightly wounded after fighting for so long.
"Still not good..." Eomer muttered, taking a deep breath. His whole body once again flickered with Chi light, preparing to charge forward again.
At this moment, the Iron Wall Battalion, which had been pressing forward, suddenly retreated from the gate, leaving behind a field of corpses.
"They're retreating? What are they planning?" Eomer held his sword and took a few steps forward, looking puzzled. He couldn't figure out why the Iron Wall Battalion would choose to retreat at this time.
The enemy should also be buying time. If the Iron Wall Battalion fails to capture the palace before the Tower of Magic is closed, the king can escape out of the city through the secret passage inside the palace. Even if Brad controls the capital, a mere Iron Wall Battalion would not be able to withstand the loyalist army coming from all directions.
But the next moment, Eomer's face turned ugly.
At the end of the victorious Ke Xuan Street, a dazzling white light shot up into the sky, illuminating the translucent light screen in the sky like a flare, reflecting a holy radiance. Faintly, one could hear countless voices chanting softly.
Then, the ground suddenly trembled. It started off faintly, but then gradually intensified... the sound of hooves, and there were a lot of them!
Behind the rebel formation, a cloud of dust rose, and after the retreat horn sounded, the array of the Iron Wall Shield dispersed from the middle to the sides, opening up a wide road.
The cry of surprise from the palace city finally confirmed Eomer's guess.
"It's cavalry! They're attacking with cavalry!"
Through the rolling dust, several majestic horses charged forward, carrying silver-armored knights on their backs as they raced towards the palace gate, leading the large detachment behind them.
Eomer had spent nearly ten years in the Crusaders, so he could immediately determine that there were no more than a few hundred cavalry in this unit. Although cavalry had a significant advantage over infantry, there was no need to worry much if it was just ordinary cavalry. With the skilled guards of the palace and the narrowness of the gate that made it unfavorable for cavalry charges, it wouldn't pose a major threat.
But the several hundred cavalry charging forward were all shimmering with a silver-white Chi light!
In a few breaths of time, the hundreds of cavalry had already charged close to their position. Eomer could even directly see the face of the knight leading them.
Clad in silver armor, with a solemn expression, the armor on his body engraved with sacred patterns. The most obvious difference was... both he and his companions wore two knight crests on the breastplate of their armor.
When a knight receives an official knighthood from the Knight Association, they also receive a knight rank crest, which is considered a symbol of their identity. Furthermore, although many knights also receive honorary medals for their outstanding contributions in wars or missions against monsters, a knight would usually only wear their knight rank crest.Of course, there are exceptions.
The only knight on the mainland who habitually wears two badges is the Holy Knight, who defends the honor and glory of the Church.
One badge is the rank badge of the Knight Association, and the other is the sacred badge that the Holy Knight considers as their life.
Every knight of the Holy Knights Order has at least the fourth level of knight title. When this team charges, there are rarely any opponents who can confront them head-on.
"So, the real purpose of luring the captain out of the capital is here..." Eomer's palms slightly sweat. If the Cross Knights were still in the capital, Eomer would have the confidence to confront the Holy Knights Order head-on. However, now there are only a few hundreds of palace guards left in the palace, I'm afraid...
"No way to retreat?" Eomer tightly gripped the hilt of his sword, his resolve gradually firming, "Regroup and face the enemy!"
In the face of a strong enemy, fearlessness, bravery, loyalty, righteousness, and an unwavering spirit, this is what it means to be a knight!
...
The chi vortex spun, and the chilling coldness forced Sino to retreat more than ten steps. Looking down, he saw that his beloved blade, the Black Falcon, was covered with a thick layer of frost.
Sino's index finger on his left hand flicked the edge of the sword, shattering the layer of ice. He looked at the figure in front of him with a rapidly changing gaze, "You are... Granzon?"
"Who else could it be? Hasn't my son told you that his old man can fight too?" Even though he was facing Sino, who was hailed as Sword Saint, Granzon still appeared calm and composed.
Indeed, he never mentioned it. In order for Sino and the Black-Magician to successfully maintain control of the Magic Tower, Brad listed all the skilled warriors in the palace for them, except for omitting the War King Granzon.
But it's not really Brad's fault. When Granzon led the army to battle, Brad was still a kid who knew nothing. His true memories were formed when Granzon began to oversee the post-war reconstruction. Coincidentally, after the war ended, Granzon focused solely on national affairs and hadn't touched weapons for over ten years. This led Brad to always think of Granzon as the type of leader who excels in strategy.
But how could the War King, who led the remaining army to defend the isolated city for more than a month, be someone who couldn't even hold a sword?
"Show me all your skills. If others see the knights by my daughter's side beaten like this in front of me, Tiran will ignore me for several months again." Granzon sighed slightly in annoyance, and the icy chi flowed into the Growing Sword like a vast river, his eyes gradually lighting up.
"I'm not really good at using my brain, so when I defended the capital, I didn't use any miraculous tactics as rumored outside. When there's an enemy in front of me, I simply cut it with my sword."
"So, I always thought that Brad was not like my son. Why think so much when things can be solved with a sword?"
Sino was no longer as calm as when he faced Justus. The long sword he used to hold with one hand was now held with both hands, as he stared seriously at Granzon.
After the Knight Chi raised the attribute of the Growing Sword to the sixth level, Granzon took a step forward and decisively attacked.
...
The courtyard of the palace had become a bloodbath.
When the Holy Knights Order appeared, the outcome of this battle had already been determined.
Without city defense, without heavy armor and tower shields, equipped only with basic swords and light armor, the palace guards, even though they were elite, were powerless against the heavily armed Holy Knights Order.
The thundering sound of hooves easily broke through Eomer's painstakingly organized defense and rushed into the palace courtyard. The guards fought desperately, but their flesh and blood could not stop the most powerful knight group on the continent. The warriors were crushed, trampled, and their flesh and blood turned into mud, filled with screams and roars.
Finally, the sound gradually fell silent.
Eomer wiped away the blurred vision, uncertain if it was his own blood or the enemy's. He straightened his body.
The sword in his hand was no longer the one he originally held. It was a long sword taken from a Holy Knight during the fierce battle, stained with blood.
Looking around, there were no more standing comrades. Over a thousand palace guards, none of them fled, none surrendered, all died by his side.In order to completely eliminate the Palace Guards, the Holy Knights Order also suffered considerable losses. At this moment, there were only about half of the Holy Knights surrounding Eomer, just over a hundred people.
They held their swords tightly against their chests, silently watching Eomer. No one moved forward, even when dismounting they carefully avoided stepping on any corpses - whether they belonged to comrades or enemies.
"Aren't you going to fight?" Eomer spoke with some difficulty, his voice slightly hoarse. It was strange that despite being in a desperate situation, he felt no fear or anxiety in his heart, but rather an unusual calm.
"They are showing respect for their opponents. As knights, you are worthy opponents to be respected."
A knight said in a deep voice.
"...Are you their captain?" Eomer recognized the knight who spoke. The badge hanging on his chest indicated his rank as a Level 9 knight. It was thanks to this Level 9 knight continuously killing three high-level opponents on the enemy's side, each with Level 7 strength, that they were able to annihilate the Palace Guards at such a terrifying casualty ratio of nearly one to ten without taking into account the advantages of the cavalry.
"Hussein." The Level 9 knight said, "My name is Hussein... the Grand Knight of the Holy Knights Order."
The Holy Knights Order was actually a very large organization, almost every country with a Temple Church had a Holy Knights Order. However, only the one from the Holy Knights Order headquarters in the Holy City could be called the Grand Knight of the Holy Knights Order.
"Hmph, so you're Hussein. It seems I'm quite lucky. Although I didn't have the opportunity to fight against Prince Tiran, it's not bad to meet a strong opponent like you." Eomer stared at him, and a faint smile appeared on his usually stern face.
He slowly raised the long sword in his hand towards the Grand Knight, and said word by word, "Eomer Dorans, in the name of a knight, challenges the Grand Knight of the Holy Knights Order."
A trace of astonishment appeared on Hussein's solemn face. He could tell that Eomer had a decent level of strength, but he had no chance of winning against him. He never expected that at this moment, this opponent would have the courage to challenge him.
Hussein let out a sigh and his gaze became serious. On the edge of his sword, a pale golden aura burned fiercely.
"As you wish, as you desire. I accept the challenge, Sir Eomer."
A pale golden aura collided fiercely with a silver Chi, and the splendid light produced by the collision illuminated the Magic barrier in the sky, like the eternal glory deeply rooted in the hearts of knights of all generations for thousands of years.
