Gilgen looked on at the Effer Kingdom royal cavaliers that were flanking his army from the side, and his expression darkened even further.

The formation of the Skycourt Kingdom's troops on the eastern side of the army was completely thrown into disarray by the 5,000 royal cavaliers, and even though the outermost foot soldiers had adopted such defensive measures, the royal cavaliers had simply built up too much momentum from galloping over the Marrod Plain. They were storming along like a force of nature, and there was no way that they could be stopped by things like shields and spears.

All of a sudden, Onean rose up into the sky from the back of her horse, and with a sweep of her silver staff, several dozen bolts of lightning were sent flashing through the air, wreaking havoc directly among the Skycourt Kingdom's ranks. Judging from her appearance and her impressive magic power, it was already clear to Gilgen that this woman was none other than Princess Onean. It was all thanks to Prime Minister Fuller that he had been able to develop such an extensive base of knowledge on all of the important figures of the Effer Kingdom. As for the man who was riding alongside Princess Onean, his identity was still a mystery to Gilgen.

With another powerful magician joining the Effer Kingdom's ranks, the unease in Gilgen's heart was only continuing to grow. Onean had arrived with 5,000 royal cavaliers, while the overall difference in the number of troops between the Effer Kingdom and the Skycourt Kingdom on the battlefield was only around 10,000. In addition to that, the 5,000 royal cavaliers had already flanked the Skycourt Kingdom's army to inflict severe casualties, so in reality, the number of troops on each side was roughly the same.

As a result, the Skycourt Kingdom's army had suddenly lost its numbers advantage, and it was still having to deal with all of the spells raining down upon them from above. As a seasoned general who was extremely sensitive to the ebb and flow of battles, Gilgen could already sense that the tide was turning firmly against the Skycourt Kingdom's favor. There were still close to 20,000 soldiers in reserve on the Skycourt Kingdom's side, but that wasn't going to make any difference to the state of this battle. Even if Gilgen were to call upon all of his remaining troops to join the battle, they would still eventually all be decimated by the court magicians of the Effer Kingdom.

The presence of Master Piro on the battlefield meant that the magicians of the Skycourt Kingdom couldn't take any part in the battle, thereby placing the Skycourt Kingdom's army at a severe disadvantage. In contrast, the court magicians of the Effer Kingdom were able to do whatever they pleased, attacking the Skycourt Kingdom's soldiers on all corners of the battlefield with reckless abandon. This was the impact that a single magician of Master Piro's caliber could have on a battlefield.

Gilgen knew that his most urgent priority right now was to deal with Master Piro, but he was unable to get to Master Piro as he was unable to overcome King Cameron.

"Didn't I tell you not to get distracted during battle? Have you still not learned your lesson?" King Cameron said with a cold smile as he sliced through Gilgen's metal boot with a swipe of his sword, inflicting a long gash onto Gilgen's calf in the process.

Gilgen clenched his teeth tightly to prevent himself from crying out in pain. He could feel that he was no longer able to move his wounded calf, which meant that this had to be a very deep wound that reached all the way to his tendons. Unfortunately for him, Cameron wasn't even affording him the opportunity to inspect his own injury. Cameron was targeting Gilgen's vital regions with every attack from his Wish sword, and Gilgen didn't dare to allow himself to be distracted any longer. Even though his mobility was limited due to the wound he had sustained to his calf, he was still able to ward off Cameron's attacks for now.

Meanwhile, Cameron seemed to be toying with his prey. All of his attacks appeared to be aimed at Gilgen's vital regions, but at the last second, he would switch his direction of attack to strike at Gilgen's wounds instead. Gilgen was standing on one leg, so he could only remain on the spot and concentrate on defending himself. Even though he was able to just barely hold his own for the moment, it was clear that he wasn't going to last very long if things were to continue in this fashion.

Standing atop the city wall of Illingburn Fort, Prince Lazaar and Archbishop Sirius were closely watching the battle between Cameron and Gilgen.

"Looks like that general of the Skycourt Kingdom isn't going to be able to last much longer," Sirius said as he turned to Lazaar.

"It's about time. It's not like we ever expected him to win this war on his own," Lazaar replied in an indifferent voice.

Right as his voice trailed off, an agonized howl rang out from Gilgen, and the reason for it was because a chunk of flesh had been sliced off the wound on his calf by Cameron.

"Lazaar, are you going to keep your promise or not?" Gilgen roared as he looked up at the top of the city wall to the south while using his own sword as a crutch, paying no heed to Cameron's Wish sword, which was piercing toward him from behind. His voice penetrated through the Effer Kingdom's reserve forces, which were led by Count Friar, to directly reach the ears of Prince Lazaar.

"I knew he wasn't going to be able to stay quiet for much longer," Prince Lazaar said with a cold expression, and Sirius nodded with an amused smile upon hearing this.

Cameron immediately stopped what he was doing upon hearing what Gilgen had to say, and he cast his gaze toward the southern city wall of Illingburn Fort.

Count Friar had naturally also turned around to look up at Prince Lazaar on the top of the city wall.

Gilgen's thunderous voice was audible throughout the entire battlefield, and even the court magicians of the Effer Kingdom in the sky involuntarily had their attention drawn to him.

Of course, Onean, Erwin, Kaiba, and the others had also clearly heard what he had just said.

Thus, in the blink of an eye, everyone on the battlefield had turned their eyes toward Prince Lazaar on the city wall of Illingburn Fort in unison.

...

Prince Lazaar paid no heed to the scrutiny that had suddenly been directed at him, and he picked up one of the black flags on the city wall bearing the golden lion's head emblem, then set it on fire. The flames immediately surged up the shaft of the flagpole, and in the blink of an eye, the entire flag had been incinerated into ashes in Lazaar's hand.

He then cast a cold gaze toward King Cameron from afar before raising his hand, allowing the remaining ashes of the flag to drift away with the wind.

After that, all of the soldiers on the city wall picked up all of the black flags with golden lion's head emblems sitting in the flag holders on the city wall, then tossed them down onto the ground at the foot of the wall. The entire process was very synchronized, and it was as if it had been rehearsed beforehand. After the black flags were removed, they were replaced by Prince Lazaar's signature brown flags.

Prince Lazaar has betrayed the Effer Kingdom! 

The troops of the Effer Kingdom were very much shaken by this shocking revelation, and many of them were still turning around to steal glances at the southern city wall during battle.

Even though many people had already anticipated that this was going to happen, they were still struck by a sense of irrepressible shock now that it was actually happening right before their very eyes.

King Cameron and Count Friar had naturally anticipated this possibility as well, but they had always been hoping that this wouldn't happen, or that it would only happen after the war against the Skycourt Kingdom had already been decided. After all, no one wanted to have to deal with an invasion from a foreign kingdom and a rebellion from within at the same time, particularly when the rebel forces consisted of Prince Lazaar's elite troops. For King Cameron, the ideal situation would've been to have Prince Lazaar killed through political means, but that plan obviously fell through.

Thus, he had to settle for the next best thing, which was to instruct Lazaar to keep all of his troops in Illingburn Fort this entire time. He knew that if these tens of thousands of elite troops were to be sent out and dispersed, it would only be more dangerous for him. He knew just how much influence Lazaar had among the troops of Burmen. Even if he were to split all of these troops apart, Lazaar would be able to quickly gather them back together again. If Lazaar were to suddenly reassemble his troops and make a surprise strike during the final showdown between the two kingdoms, the situation would only be even more perilous. At the very least, with all of Lazaar's troops gathered in one place, they were fighting a known and quantifiable foe.

Count Friar had once asked why Cameron wasn't sending Prince Lazaar into battle against the Skycourt Kingdom's forces. In that case, the regular army from Sarus could simply remain in Illingburn Fort and conserve its forces while Prince Lazaar and General Gilgen duked it out. However, Cameron decided against that idea in the end. Firstly, Jenkins and his faction wouldn't be willing to watch Lazaar earn all the accolades, so they'd be sure to object to such a plan. Secondly, given how cunning Lazaar was, he knew that Lazaar would definitely try to get into contact with Gilgen in private after returning to Burmen. Thus, even if he were to send out Lazaar to oppose the Skycourt Kingdom's forces, he would only engage the enemy in battle in a halfhearted manner, and nothing would arise from that. The longer this war stretched on, the greater the chance that unforeseen circumstances would arise, so in King Cameron's mind, it was in his best interest to put an end to things as quickly as possible.

...

Gilgen had been howling in agony just a moment ago, yet he had since turned around to look at Cameron with a mocking expression. After witnessing what Lazaar had just done, even the injury on his leg didn't hurt as much anymore.

"You've finally revealed your sinister true self, you traitorous scum!" Cameron cursed as he cast his gaze toward the south, but there was no panic or surprise on his face at all.

"All troops, prepare for battle!" Count Friar was already prepared for this, so he was able to react extremely quickly as he swiveled around on horseback. The 30,000 reserve troops behind him were also completely calm and collected as they turned around in the blink of an eye, ready to oppose the forces that were their allies just a moment ago.

Lazaar cast his gaze toward the 30,000 troops in the north, and the gleaming Bai Ze sword in his hand had already been raised up high, while waves of thunderous roars were ringing out from within Illingburn Fort behind him. 

 [1] 

"Long live, Lord Lazaar! Long live, Lord Lazaar! Long live, Lord Lazaar!"

It was clear that the 60,000 elite troops under his command were already raring to go. Their blood had been boiling as they heard the sounds of the battle unfolding outside, and it was finally time for them to go into battle as well. These Burmen soldiers were loyal only to Prince Lazaar, and they had no respect or loyalty toward the king who had come from Sarus. In fact, it wouldn't be inaccurate to say that they couldn't wait for Prince Lazaar to finally rebel. Only once Prince Lazaar seized power would they be able to receive promotions to higher ranks.

Outside Illingburn Fort, gusts of cold wind were sweeping over the battlefield, which was already laden with bodies.

The city gates of Illingburn Fort swung open again, and the cavaliers of Burmen charged out of the city with the ground trembling violently under the hooves of their horses, making their way directly toward the 30,000 troops under Count Friar.

"What are you looking so smug for? I'll kill you right now, then send Lazaar to join you!" A fierce look appeared on Cameron's face as he turned back to face Gilgen, then raised his sword and thrust it directly toward Gilgen's heart. Even in the face of such a stunning revelation, King Cameron was still able to remain quite calm and reasoned. He knew that if he could kill the general of the Skycourt Kingdom's army here, he would be able to control the state of the entire battlefield. The best course of action for him to follow was to kill all of these Skycourt Kingdom soldiers before taking care of the rebel forces.

Gilgen had let down his guard slightly now that Lazaar had joined the battle, so he was unable to react to Cameron's attack in time. By the time he returned to his senses, Cameron's sword was already no more than two feet away from his own chest, so it was already too late for him to raise his sword to defend himself, and he could only accept his own imminent fate with a dejected expression.

However, a crisp clang suddenly rang out as a streak of white light hurtled through the air before knocking Cameron's sword aside, right as it was about to pierce into Gilgen's chest.

A sword had flown through the air to knock Cameron's sword off its original path.

After that, a figure rose up into the air from the top of the city wall before rushing directly toward Cameron.

"So you still decided to betray me in the end, Lazaar," Cameron said as he withdrew his sword before turning his gaze toward the approaching figure.

"I had no choice, Your Majesty. If it wasn't for this Skycourt Kingdom invasion, you wouldn't have allowed me to return to Burmen alive," Lazaar said as he spread open his palm, upon which Bai Ze returned to his grasp.

1. The Bai Ze is a mythical creature in Chinese legends. ☜