บท 365: Battle of Liguang: Sacrifice (7)
Imperian Qiang's expression flickered. He had his suspicions about Cardinal Hui since Guanhuang. What might be incomprehensible to others was surprisingly simple. Cardinal Hui's loyalty laid with the late Emperor Lianghu, not the Xingyuu Empire! A long time ago, Emperor Lianghu did something that made Cardinal Hui owe a debt for life, which led to him becoming the captain of the emperor's personal guard. Not many people knew this story since the two never shared the details and even Imperian Qiang did not know much about it either, but Cardinal Hui's current actions confirmed it. Cardinal Hui wanted to protect Emperor Lianghu and the Imperial Princesses. Since the Imperial Council acted against them, that meant that Cardinal Hui had to stand on the opposite side. It was that simple. He was currently their ally!
"Do not panic! Cardinal Hui is our ally!" Imperian Qiang shouted out and cleared any confusion.
At the same time, his statement invigorated everyone and rose their morale. Cardinal Hui was, after all, a legendary figure in the Xingyuu Empire and carried immense weight and reputation. His fearsome strength and accomplishments were known to all! He was the empire's strongest sentinel, a symbol of power for the Xingyuu Empire, and another person close to the doorway of Half-Instinct Realm. Although he was by himself, the confidence he instilled in everyone was almost tangible! Elizabeth was also surprised. Once their most powerful enemy turned into their greatest assurance, it was quite a magical feeling. She felt her hopes rising. Perhaps they could tide through this battle with his help!
"Surround and kill him!" one of the Phoenix Division's officers shouted in return. "He's only one person!"
He was about to shout more when an arrow pierced through his head, killing him instantly. It was Cardinal Hui! To spot the officer from across the battlefield, amongst hundreds of heads bobbing and weaving, perfectly displayed how outrageous Cardinal Hui's visual prowess was! Cardinal Hui glanced at the other soldiers, as if issuing a challenge: come if you dare! He stood arrogantly like an invincible guardian of the underworld! The tremendous and overwhelmingly sharp aura that he released was enough for everyone to reconsider their options. No one wanted to fight against a living, breathing legend! Against the normal masses, his appearance might have been a sufficient deterrent, but these were not ordinary soldiers. They belonged to the Xingyuu Empire's famous trump card Phoenix Division! Their resolve was far superior to the normal person. As expected, many soldiers regained their wits and charged at him, unleashing flying strikes along the way too.
Cardinal Hui remained as calm as a serene lake. He pulled out several more arrows from his quiver and nocked his bow. He did not move, even as the flying strikes closed in! Everyone was dumbfounded and they wondered if he was suicidal. Everyone had seen what those flying strikes had done at the start of the battle. They could effortlessly bisect a human body like air! It was the same whether their targets were armored or not. The result was certain death! Cardinal Hui did not respond, but his eyes sharpened. Under everyone's incredulous gazes, right when the flying strikes came close to him, they suddenly lost shape and vanished. Cardinal Hui was unharmed! Everyone was stupefied for an instant, but that opening was like an eternity in the cardinal's eyes. He quickly loosed several arrows at his opponents charging over and killed them! One hit, one kill! Five soldiers died!
The difficulty of this feat could not be underestimated. Unlike close-range combat, Perception Realms had the extreme advantage in long distance engagements. For example, Mingyu Loon could kill several Perception Realms in an instant precisely because her speed greatly surpassed her opponents' reaction speeds. They might be able to mentally sense the attack coming, but their bodies could not physically react in time. They could do nothing against her supreme speed! Conversely, the opposite was true. Archers, or any ranged combatants for that matter, attacked from afar, which gave ample time for their opponents to react to and for Perception Realms, this was especially important. Therefore, without a golden opportunity, the chances of successfully attacking a Perception Realm were thus vanishingly small.
Cardinal Hui could kill five Perception Realms simultaneously not because of dumb luck, but because of his supreme senses! He was not dubbed the man with the strongest eyesight without reason. Even without Magic Perception or understanding what interference meant, he could see that the flying strikes were growing weaker over time. At the beginning of the battle, they had the power to slaughter an army one-sidedly, but as time went on, their potency weakened, whether it be in power, range, or speed. He calculated this distance perfectly, so that when the flying strikes came too close, the interference strength caused them to lose shape and disappear on their own accord. It looked like he made the flying strikes disappear! At the same time, he used that opportunity to counterattack and kill. Even Sir Winstin and Mingyu Loon had to admire his skill. He was a frightening man to behold.
A dozen more Perception Realm soldiers rushed out to handle him, their expressions extremely serious. They did not feel shame about using their numbers. Cardinal Hui was worthy of their attention! They moved in a tight formation with shields in the front to prevent another miracle from happening again. Aside from close-range combat, Cardinal Hui also had another principal weakness: his lack of arrows! Any archer suffered from the same problem, and Cardinal Hui was no different. With the attacks on Reverent Monk, Poisoned Widow, and the soldiers, his quiver was nearly empty. All that remained were a few unique arrows, designed in the likeness of a verdant phoenix. These arrows were his trump cards, capable of exerting far greater killing potential than normal arrows, equivalent to national treasures. They were the main source of Sir Winstin's grief when they fought before. However, Cardinal Hui chose not to use them and opted for a different approach.
He casually jumped down from his vantage point and ran perpendicular to the incoming soldiers. He used one hand to snatch up the used arrows across the battlefield and then loose them at his opponents. He always found gaps to exploit and send the soldiers to an early grave. It was almost frightening how easily Cardinal Hui spotted weaknesses. It was like everyone was an open book before him! No matter how much the soldiers tried to approach, they would be helplessly executed. His motions were reminiscent of a dance of death as his kill count rose!
This was not too surprising though when one considered the disparity between the two sides. The Phoenix Division might consist of Perception Realms wielding Martial Energy, but their improvements were made too hastily. Although their combat power did increase, they needed more time to properly consolidate their newfound strength in combat. Furthermore, with the growing interference strength in Liguang, their reliance on Martial Energy became another weakness. Facing Cardinal Hui who spent decades pushing the upper boundaries of Perception Realm, this outcome was expected. This was also why the Alzar Kingdom, and the Li Family's top experts could barely manage, despite the overwhelming odds!
But as they say, against true power and numbers, all manner of trickery was useless. Assuming that Cardinal Hui could kill twenty or thirty, so what? He was not facing a small one-time platoon. He was facing the full force of the Phoenix Division, a force exceeding one thousand soldiers! Although the soldiers tried surrounding him time and time again, Cardinal Hui managed to escape their encirclement every time. Despite that, his concentration was pushed to the limits. He might have transcended human limits as a Perception Realm Master, but he was only mortal after all. Otherwise, why would he rely on the other Four Cardinals to help him? A soldier grinned, channeled Martial Energy into their legs, and promptly charged at him at meteoric speeds! Cardinal Hui realized the severity of the situation, prompting him to immediately draw one of his special arrows. His aura sharpened like the sharpest knife, cutting into the faces of everyone. His killing intent was almost tangible!
The soldier pre-emptively dodged and moved in an erratic pattern to confuse Cardinal Hui. The instant that they saw Cardinal Hui release his bowstring, they changed directions no less than three times! However, the cardinal was one step ahead and predicted everything. His arrow sliced through the air, giving the impression of a green phoenix taking flight! It attacked with unstoppable power! Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Bang! The arrow tore through his opponent's chest like a knife meeting paper and out the back. It was a perfect hit! It continued to fly and hit another person behind. With one arrow, Cardinal Hui could kill one and heavily injure another! But he was not particularly happy. His enemies were endless, and his arrows and stamina were running out. It was only a matter of time before he slipped up. Once that happens, how would he protect the Imperial Princesses?
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