The intention behind Prince Lazaar's gesture was very clear: he was telling the archbishop of the True Light Church that it was time to get moving.

Sirius naturally knew what he had to do, and thus, he quickly turned around before waving the golden rainbow staff in his hand toward the church army inside the city. The priests and magicians immediately reacted upon seeing this, and they rushed out of the city gates of Illingburn Fort. This was already the third time that a unit of troops had emerged from the city.

The troops of the church army were dressed in white robes and clad in suits of white armor, making them extremely eye-catching. Even though there were only 6,000 of them, they were all the elite of the elite, and in addition to that, they had been trained by Sirius over the course of many years, so they were already quite a formidable unit. Prince Lazaar was a brilliant tactician, so he naturally had his own reasons for summoning the church army at this particular point in time.

Cameron cast his gaze toward the church army from afar, then turned to Lazaar as a derisive sneer appeared on his face. "Are you finally bringing out your trump card? You and Sirius have been close for many years now. Has he finally been convinced to jump onto your sinking ship? So be it, this suits me just fine. I was going to deal with the True Light Church eventually anyway, so I should thank you for gathering all of their troops in one place. Now, I can eradicate this cult alongside the traitors of the kingdom!"

Lazaar offered no response to him as he continued to issue orders to the soldiers of Burmen down below. "All troops, disperse to allow your comrades from the church to pass through!"

After receiving the order, the soldiers of Burmen parted down the center in an orderly fashion, creating a path for the church army to pass through. For an army, it was considered to be quite shameful to admit that they couldn't take down an enemy fort and allow allies to take their place in the attack. However, that didn't seem to apply to these Burmen soldiers at all. All of them wore calm and composed expressions that didn't betray any emotional fluctuations.

This reaction from the Burmen soldiers felt quite abnormal to Erwin, and he had a vague sense that something wasn't quite right. With that in mind, he turned to look at Onean, who just so happened to be turning her gaze toward him as well. Thus, their eyes met, and both of them could see their own befuddlement mirrored in one another's eyes. They couldn't help but wonder what Prince Lazaar's objective was for unleashing the True Light Church's forces at a time like this.

Standing in the sky above the fort, Cameron also cast a meaningful gaze toward Count Friar, indicating for him to be careful. Truth be told, he had no idea how powerful the church army was going to be. All he knew was that the church's magicians formed quite a formidable unit. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to make such significant contributions in the battles against magic creatures in the Terarody Mountain Ranges.

Even though Master Piro had sustained a severe wound, he knew that he couldn't afford to rest and receive treatment at a time like this. At the back of the oncoming church army was a series of white-robed figures, and those were undoubtedly the magicians of the True Light Church. With that in mind, he immediately released a white magic blast toward the Court Magician Council of the Effer Kingdom, who was still situated on the northern battlefield, and even using such a simple elementary spell was enough to leave him gasping for breath. Professor Hawk and the other grand magic mentors immediately sprang into action upon seeing the magic blast, and after a brief discussion, half of the court magicians were sent to the southern battlefield.

Piro heaved an internal sigh of relief upon seeing Professor Hawk approaching from the north with half of the court magicians. At the moment, he was only just barely holding on through sheer force of will so that he wouldn't collapse in the presence of the two armies. He knew that if news of his injuries were to spread across the two battlefields, then the morale of the Effer Kingdom's army would undoubtedly be severely dented, while the morale of the enemy troops would be significantly raised. In that case, the tides of victory would begin to turn in the enemy's favor, and that was something he absolutely couldn't allow to happen.

He had already served the Cameron Family for his entire life, yet now, in his seventies and on the brink of death, he was still forced to put up a strong front, even having to force back the blood that was threatening to gush out of his mouth.

Onean's heart was throbbing with pain and sorrow as she watched her teacher swallowing the blood that was trying to force its way out of his mouth. She wanted to stroke his back to ease his pain, but there was still blood gushing out of the wound on his back, so she didn't dare to do that.

In the blink of an eye, the white-armored troops of the church army had already charged into the fray, while the magicians of the church behind them had also risen up into the air in groups.

"All soldiers, adopt defensive formations and be on your guard!" Count Friar was a seasoned commander on the battlefield, and he certainly wasn't going to be intimidated by an army of just 6,000.

Furthermore, in contrast with the elite soldiers of Burmen, this church army didn't appear to be formidable in the slightest. As the white-armored troops drew closer and closer, it gradually dawned upon Friar that the suits of white armor that they were wearing seemed to be rather special. This was because all of the cavaliers were looking very maladroit and cumbersome, and as a result, the entire unit was unable to gather much speed in its forward charge.

As the two sides clashed, Count Friar only became more perplexed. All of the soldiers of the church army were powerful martial artists, but most of them were especially adept in defense. In addition to that, their suits of armor were extremely thick and heavy so it was almost impossible to inflict any damage upon them, but at the same time, they weren't capable of dishing out much damage themselves. Thus, he was left wondering exactly what Lazaar's plan was. Even the elite troops of Burmen hadn't been able to break through the formation of the Effer Kingdom's reserve troops under Count Friar, how was a unit of troops that possessed far inferior offensive capabilities supposed to do any better?

There were 4,000 church cavaliers charging at the front, while the remaining 2,000 church magicians were facing the court magicians, led by Professor Hawk. Even though the court magicians were at a disadvantage when it came to numbers, they were superior when it came to average magic power, so even though there were only 1,000 court magicians, they were still able to hold their own against the 2,000 church magicians. Occasionally, a few spells would strike the reserve troops of the Effer Kingdom, but they were all spells that inflicted negative status conditions such as sluggishness or paralysis, so they weren't enough to cause much harm.

As a result, Count Friar was becoming even more confused. With his extensive experience as an army commander, it was becoming more and more apparent to him that the objective of this church army seemed to be to stall for time rather than to overcome the Effer Kingdom's reserve troops. Thus, he couldn't help but wonder exactly what Lazaar's objective was.

Not long after the two armies clashed, Erwin also noticed that the church cavaliers were sorely lacking in firepower, and the church magicians also weren't as fearsome as the rumors suggested. However, he wasn't in a hurry to rush into battle. Instead, he chose to stay close to Count Friar and Princess Onean, who were the most important people to him on the battlefield. 

Of course, in his heart, Lana was just as important as Onean, but she was in the opposing army from his own father, so he couldn't stand by her side. Upon catching sight of Lana earlier, he felt as if his heart were about to melt, and he didn't even dare to look into her eyes. After the Pillow Sword Tournament, the two of them had gone their separate ways, and this was only their first meeting since then. However, they were situated in opposing armies as enemies. Thinking back to the kiss they had shared during the Pillow Sword Tournament, he desperately wanted to join her, but under the current circumstances, he didn't even dare to take a single glance at her. As his mind began to drift, he couldn't help but think back to the question that Onean had asked him back in the royal palace. What was he supposed to do here? Of course, his hope was that King Cameron would emerge victorious from this battle, but if that were to happen, then there was no way that the Lazaar Family would be spared, and the thought of the fate that would befall Lana immediately had his stomach in knots.

If I can find an appropriate opportunity, I'll take her with me and escape from this battlefield. I'm still not powerful enough to change the outcome of this battle, but I should be able to protect her and escape from here, Erwin thought to himself. He then thought back to his conversation with Lana on that night. The two of them could set off by sea to a faraway land, leaving this continent far behind to lead a life of exploration and hedonism, and that was not an unattractive thought to him. In any case, he had never been very fixated on things like wealth and status.

As always, Erwin was very self-centered and conceited. He was mapping out this entire plan in his own mind without considering whether Lana would be willing to go with him. In fact, he was already thinking about tying Onean up and taking her with him as well. However, Onean was the rightful heir to the throne, so it wouldn't be so easy to bring her along, and that was quite a vexing thought to him. If the two women could see what Erwin was thinking, they would undoubtedly be inclined to administer some physical punishment upon him again.

In Erwin's mind, there was no point in forcing himself to answer the question of which woman he loved more out of Lana and Onean. All he knew was that he loved both of them, and that he was willing to protect both of them with his life. Deep down, he was a selfish person who only cared about the people who mattered to him. As for the likes of King Cameron or Prince Lazaar, he couldn't care less whether they lived or died. In fact, he didn't even care about the outcome of this war. As had always been one of his life philosophies, he saw no point in worrying about things that were outside of his control.

Standing in the sky above the battlefield, Cameron was looking down at the cumbersome church cavaliers with a derisive sneer on his face. "Are these supposed to be the best soldiers that Sirius has to offer? Why does it look like they don't have any firepower to speak of? It's incredible to me that you felt like this was a trump card worth keeping up your sleeve!"

From Cameron's perspective, he didn't mind stalling for time. The purpose of the reserve troops of the Effer Kingdom was to keep Lazaar's elite troops occupied anyway. Cameron's overall plan for this battle was to take care of the Skycourt Kingdom's army first, then focus his attention on Lazaar and his men. Thus, in his eyes, Lazaar was doing him a favor by sending out this defensively adept church army as a blatant time-stalling tactic.

Looking at the derisive sneer on Cameron's face, a faint smile began to play on Lazaar's lips.

Cameron was rather bemused to see this, but most of all, he was struck by a sense of anger. What he was frustrated by was that he couldn't tell if Lazaar was doing this as a bluff or if there were actually a purpose behind his actions, and what he was enraged by was the hint of mockery in Lazaar's smile, as if he had already won the battle and was merely toying with his prey. He knew that Lazaar was never the type of person to display much emotion, so the fact that there was such a clear look of triumph on his face meant that he had to have prepared some type of unexpected trump card.

...

Meanwhile, on the battlefield between the two kingdom's armies, General Gilgen was ecstatic to see that half of the Effer Kingdom's court magicians had been diverted away to the southern battlefield. He immediately called upon the Skycourt Kingdom's magicians, who had been completely dominated this entire time, to attack the remaining court magicians on the battlefield.

However, the overall quality of the Effer Kingdom's remaining 1,000 court magicians was still very impressive, and even though the Skycourt Kingdom's magicians outnumbered them two to one, they were still able to gain a significant edge during the direct clash that ensued.

However, none of this came as a surprise to Gilgen. He wasn't expecting the Skycourt Kingdom's mediocre magicians to turn the tide of the battle anyway. All he needed was for them to keep the opposing court magicians occupied so he wouldn't have to worry about the Skycourt Kingdom's army being bombarded by spells from above.