On the battlefield, there were around 20,000 Effer Kingdom royal cavaliers up against over 30,000 Skycourt Kingdom cavaliers, so they were already at a numbers disadvantage, and morale was dented even further now that their general had been slain. Thankfully, this was a well-disciplined unit that was able to maintain its formation, so even with the odds stacked against them, they were still able to put up firm resistance.

Gilgen took a glance at the unconscious Gwen, and after a brief hesitation, he decided to hoist her onto his own shoulder, taking the opportunity to pat her delicate backside in the process. Thus, a strange sight appeared on the battlefield, where the general of the Skycourt Kingdom's army was sweeping through the battlefield with a woman on his shoulder and his sword in his other hand, traversing through the tens of thousands of troops without encountering any resistance.

King Cameron watched as Gilgen wreaked havoc on the battlefield, and he knew that if things were to continue like this, the 20,000 cavaliers of the Effer Kingdom wouldn't be able to last much longer. Thus, he immediately issued an order for the middle portion of the army to charge into battle.

"Soldiers of the Effer Kingdom, follow me!" King Cameron roared as he raised his Wish sword high above his own head.

The flag-bearer beside him switched to another flag, and 40,000 foot soldiers began to charge toward the battlefield up ahead, causing the ground beneath their feet to tremble violently.

Gilgen could hear the rumbling ringing out from the south of the Marrod Plain, and he cast his gaze toward that direction, upon which he realized that King Cameron was leading his troops in person to reinforce the royal cavaliers.

It was truly a stunning sight to see the 40,000-strong Royal Guard charging forward with unstoppable might, and even Gilgen couldn't help but stand and stare for a brief moment. 

In the next instant, his brows furrowed slightly as he raised his Zhu Yan sword high above his head, and 50,000 foot soldiers came charging forward from the Skycourt Kingdom's ranks with sufficient force to part rivers and flatten mountains, presenting no less formidable a sight than the advancing Effer Kingdom foot soldiers, and there were still 20,000 troops leftover in the Skycourt Kingdom's army.

"All magicians of the Court Magician Council, attack those foot soldiers of the Skycourt Kingdom!" With that order from Master Piro, the 2,000 court magicians behind the Royal Guard leaped up into the heavens, then began to rain down a barrage of spells upon the oncoming Skycourt Kingdom foot soldiers.

These court magicians weren't the ragtag bunch of magicians one would find in a mercenary legion. Instead, all of them were professors, lecturers, or exceptional students from renowned academies, and all of them were magicians of an extremely high caliber. For example, someone like Professor Hawk, who was a grand magic mentor, was serving as a commander in the Court Magician Council, with 200 to 300 court magicians under his command.

A significant difference was immediately made as soon as these magicians entered the battle. All of a sudden, the Skycourt Kingdom's foot soldiers were unable to reach the battlefield up ahead as they had been stopped by all of the spells raining down upon them from above.

Professor Hawk raised his staff, and his brows furrowed slightly, causing all of the wrinkles on his face to deepen even further. Magic power then began to surge out of the tip of his staff in a frenzy, and in the blink of an eye, the boundless Marrod Plain was suddenly thriving with vitality as vines erupted all over the ground. The charging Skycourt Kingdom foot soldiers were immediately tripped up by the chaotic masses of vines beneath their feet, thereby slowing down their advance even further.

Meanwhile, Master Piro was hovering high up in the sky, holding a beechwood staff that was quite primitive in design. He gently pointed the tip of his staff at the Skycourt Kingdom foot soldiers down below, and the sun in the sky gradually faded, while the weather took a drastic turn. All of a sudden, howling wind began to sweep over the battlefield, and a huge snowstorm had arrived. The Skycourt Kingdom foot soldiers were all very seasoned veterans on the battlefield, and even though they couldn't move their legs due to the immobilizing vines, they could still move their upper bodies, and they immediately raised their shields to the heavens to ward off the ferocious storm of snow and hail.

In order to complement Master Piro and Professor Hawk's spells, all of the magicians of the Effer Kingdom's Court Magician Council were constantly bombarding the Skycourt Kingdom's foot soldiers with spells of ice and snow. Regardless of how adept these soldiers were when it came to magic resistance, there was no way they could withstand such a fierce assault and remain unscathed, and many of them had already sustained injuries from the unforgiving hail.

Gilgen could see that the tens of thousands of foot soldiers behind him had been prevented from reaching the front lines by the enemy magicians, and he realized that he had underestimated the magicians of the Effer Kingdom. Thus, he immediately called out, "All magicians, it's time for battle!"

Over 3,000 magicians immediately emerged from the 20,000 troops remaining among the Skycourt Kingdom's ranks, and they rose up into the air before flying directly toward the Effer Kingdom's magicians.

"Hold your formation! The Skycourt Kingdom's magicians are coming!" Master Piro commanded as he turned to the court magicians around him.

Thus, the court magicians of the Effer Kingdom stopped what they were doing, ceasing their assault on the Skycourt Kingdom's foot soldiers as they cast their eyes toward the oncoming Skycourt Kingdom magicians with wary looks on their faces.

Having just witnessed Master Piro's power, Gilgen knew that he couldn't afford to mess around any longer. Thus, he heaved a resigned sigh as he tossed Gwen off his shoulder onto the battlefield, which was already laden with lifeless bodies, then sprang up into the sky, charging directly toward Master Piro.

All of a sudden, King Cameron's Wish sword arrived like a scintillating golden dragon, and he slashed it directly toward Gilgen. "Why are you in such a hurry to face Master Piro? You still haven't gotten past me yet!"

King Cameron's attack was extremely ferocious, and Gilgen didn't dare to take it lightly as he immediately withdrew his sword to defend himself. In the instant that Zhu Yan and Wish clashed, it was as if the two swords were able to sense one another's presence, and Zhu Yan immediately began to release radiant scarlet light in an indignant manner, as if it were competing with the golden radiance being released by Wish.

In the wake of the clash, both sides retreated slightly to open up some distance between them, and Gilgen cast a cold gaze toward the king of the Effer Kingdom. He had thought that King Cameron would've only been a shadow of the warrior he once was, given that he hadn't stepped onto a battlefield in decades, but to his surprise, Cameron's attack had been rather difficult to ward off, so much so that he was panting slightly in the aftermath of their clash.

"Why are you out of breath already? You seem a little younger than me. Surely you shouldn't be so unfit," King Cameron said with a derisive sneer. "Where's all that bravado that you showed while killing Jenkins just now?"

A cold smile appeared on Gilgen's face, and after taking a brief moment to compose himself, he lashed out with his Zhu Yan sword like lightning, sending it racing directly toward Cameron's throat.

"That's a pretty fast attack, but it's not fast enough." King Cameron's smile remained unchanged, and he was still quite calm and collected as he raised his sword in retaliation. With what appeared to be a completely nondescript parry and slash combo, he was able to force Gilgen back by a few steps.

Gilgen was very surprised by this turn of events. Cameron's swordsmanship was very bland and devoid of flair, completely unlike Gilgen's aggressive and domineering style, but it was extremely practical and powerful nonetheless.

With that in mind, Gilgen knew that this was an opponent that he couldn't afford to take lightly. Thus, he swiveled around and slashed his Zhu Yan sword through the air in a crescent arc, unleashing the very same "A Drop in the Ocean" that he had used against Jenkins.

"I've already seen this attack of yours," Cameron remarked in a calm voice, then easily evaded the attack with a sidestep.

A cold look appeared on Gilgen's face upon hearing this. "Is that so? Then how about this one? Drunken Youth!"

All of a sudden, General Gilgen's movements took on a sense of laziness and grace, as if he were dancing with his sword in a drunken state. A red glow began to spread from his sword in all directions, much like the setting sun giving off its final rays of light before surrendering to the night.

The smile on Cameron's face gradually faded upon seeing this, and he adopted a serious expression as he prepared to oppose the attack.

...

Right as a battle began to ensue between Cameron and Gilgen, Master Piro was beginning to crush the Skycourt Kingdom's magicians with his powerful magic.

"Magic power restriction!" Master Piro cried out, and his staff-wielding hand was trembling slightly, while his hair began to flap around in a disheveled manner. He was already over 70 years of age, yet in this instant, he seemed to have become noticeably older, so it was clear that even for him, this spell had been extremely taxing to unleash. Following the completion of his incantation, a forcefield that covered a massive area began to unfurl in the sky above the Skycourt Kingdom's magicians.

As a result, the Skycourt Kingdom's magicians instantly discovered that they were no longer able to use their magic power to alter the elemental matter around them. Thus, all of their spells were instantly cut off, leaving them to stare at one another with bemused expressions, at a complete loss for what to do.

"Attack them now! Don't squander this opportunity!" Professor Hawk immediately yelled at all of the court magicians, then released a ball of green light from the tip of his staff, which flew directly into the forcefield before striking a Skycourt Kingdom magician. The ball of green light seemed to be dissatisfied with just taking down one target, as it erupted in all directions after exploding upon the Skycourt Kingdom magician's chest, splitting up into a series of smaller blasts that flew toward the surrounding magicians of the Skycourt Kingdom. The green light was spreading like a cobweb as it danced joyfully through the enemy ranks, feeling one Skycourt Kingdom magician after another with glee.

Due to the magic power restriction enforced upon them by Master Piro, the only means of self-protection that the Skycourt Kingdom's magicians had were their accessories. Once their protective accessories were triggered, they could only withstand the oncoming spells with their bodies. Without being able to use magic shields, they were like lambs to the slaughter in the face of the enemy magicians.

Thus, a completely one-sided massacre ensued between the magicians in the sky. Firstly, a fiery crimson dragon tore through the center of the forcefield, harvesting the lives of one Skycourt Kingdom magician after another with reckless abandon. After that came a storm of lightning that pierced into the forcefield, zapping Skycourt Kingdom magicians out of the sky, followed by a flurry of ice spears that plunged through the chests of one Skycourt Kingdom magician after another.

The Skycourt Kingdom magicians were completely powerless to resist within the forcefield, so they could only hurriedly retreat out of the forcefield, but even so, close to 1,000 Skycourt Kingdom magicians lost their lives inside the forcefield. before they could get away.

Thus, in just a short while, close to a third of all of the enemy magicians had already been killed, and the terrifying power of the Effer Kingdom's Court Magician Council was put on full display.

The Skycourt Kingdom foot soldiers who were too late to get out of the way were also affected, and the barrage of spells came raining down onto their heads from the heavens. These foot soldiers had thought that they'd be able to charge forward safely with their allied magicians covering them from above, but the power of the Effer Kingdom's court magicians had caught them completely off guard, and none of them had anticipated that their allied magicians would be forced into retreat so quickly. Looking up at the enemy magicians, all of the Skycourt Kingdom's foot soldiers were struck by a sense of dread.

Sure enough, the Effer Kingdom's court magicians had no intention of sparing them, and all types of spells quickly began to hurtle down from above. Many of the advancing Skycourt Kingdom foot soldiers didn't even get a chance to raise their shields in defense before they were blasted to the ground, and after a few rounds of spells, the formation of the Skycourt Kingdom foot soldiers had become slightly disrupted. Those who were charging at the forefront were already engaged in battle against the Effer Kingdom's troops, while those who were lagging behind were forcibly dispersed into chaotic clusters by the falling spells, making it impossible for them to form a tight and cohesive unit.

Taking into account the losses that had been suffered by both sides since the start of this battle, there were currently still around 50,000 Effer Kingdom soldiers on the battlefield, compared with close to 65,000 men on the Skycourt Kingdom's side, so the Skycourt Kingdom still held the numbers advantage.

On a vast battlefield like the Marrod Plain, almost every single unit in an army would have a chance to face enemy soldiers, particularly once both of the armies began to spread out and occupy more space. Due to the fact that both of the armies were extremely well-trained, the Skycourt Kingdom was unable to take down the Effer Kingdom's forces in a short time, even with their numbers advantage. In addition to that, the Effer Kingdom held the absolute advantage when it came to the battle between the magicians in the sky, so at the moment, it was still very difficult to predict the outcome of this clash.

Even though the battle was very much in the balance, the 30,000 soldiers behind Count Friar remained completely still, displaying no intention to reinforce their comrades. Most of the military officials standing beside Count Friar were old subordinates who had gone into battle with him many years ago, and they knew the reasons behind his decisions. Thus, all of them were watching the unfolding battle without anyone raising any doubts or objections about their inactivity.