The guards of the House of Han charged at Ralph’s Second Corps divine guards like an unstoppable spear. But as they charged, they maintained formation, perfectly organized, moving in perfect unison.
While charging at Ralph’s army, these divine guards of the House of Han looked after one another with great rapport. The demonic combat formation they used when marching at their enemy maximized their firepower potential and allowed them to break apart their enemy in the most effective way.
The divine guards of the House of Han wore emotionless faces as they calmly coordinated themselves with their teammates. Every step they made was of millimeter precision.
If one was to observe from above, one would see that every guard in a squadron was at an equal distance from each other. The squadrons were also well-coordinated with each other as though each squadron was an individual in a bigger group. Those guards with great strength and the ability to make formidable attacks stood up front, acting at the edge of the spear. Meanwhile, those with more ordinary abilities but cultivated the energy of water or earth – energies with great defensive power – would stand in the middle. Their job was to deploy layers of boundaries to defend against their enemies’ attacks.
The individual strengths of these House of Han guards weren’t substantially greater than those of the Second Corps divine guards. However, when they worked together as a team, when every individual’s potential was utilized to the fullest, they could unleash an exponentially greater amount of power and become far more formidable than the Second Corps divine guards.
Seeing the House of Han guards charging at them, those Second Corps divine guards immediately employed defensive measures. Their leaders, Ralph, Locke, and Walter, were occupied with Sanguis, Bollands, and Gilbert. Without the three highgods to take the brunt for them, intimidated by the House of Han guards, they employed defensive measures without thinking.
Though they had made the right choice, it was still not enough!
As soon as the conical-shaped formation made contact, the defensive wall that the Second Corps divine guards formed in haste immediately crumbled as though made of paper!
Right after that, the House of Han guards shot into the gap between those Second Corps divine guards. The squadrons and companies spread out like inflating balloons before quickly reaping the lives of those divine guards nearest to them.
When the Second Corps divine guards launched attacks on the House of Han guards, they would be handled by those guards who specialized in neutralizing incoming threats. Meanwhile, those guards in charge of attacking could completely ignore their enemies’ counterattacks, allowing them to focus on what they did best.
With that, even though the two clashing forces had around the same number of troops, the two sides were not being ground down at an equal rate. The attacks that the Second Corps divine guards made were mostly ineffective, which would cause only some light injuries at most. Meanwhile, the attacks that the House of Han guards made would often cause severe injuries if not death.
The fatal flaw of those Second Corps divine guards was immediately exposed. It was obvious that they lacked rapport and did not know to cooperate. When facing an attack, they were typically only focused on preserving their own lives, which would lower the frequency and deadliness of their attacks. Those divine guards were also very selfish. Not only did they not give a shit about the lives of their comrades, but they would also sacrifice their injured teammates just to keep themselves unharmed.
The gap of strength between the two forces was revealed as soon as they clashed and it only grew larger as time went by. Most of the miserable shrieks came from the Second Corps divine guards. More than a hundred died from the bombardment from the House of Han guards in just moments, during which the House of Han suffered just two casualties and a dozen or so injuries.
Having been taught to fight in demonic combat formations, the House of Han guards knew how to work together to maximize their firepower and defensive power. They had way surpassed the Second Corps divine guards in cooperativeness and team cohesion. In large-scale combat like this, the House of Han had an absolute upper hand as they mowed down those Second Corps divine guards.
Ralph had been rather passive since the start of his battle with Sanguis and he found himself rather helpless against the ferocious bombardment of bloody radiances. He did not expect Sanguis to possess such formidable strength and to be so damn ferocious.
Ralph could not feel more remorseful as the miserable shrieks of his troops played over and over in his ears. He had not just underestimated Sanguis, Bollands, and Gilbert’s strengths; he had severely misjudged the situation. He did not expect to find that not only had those refugees escaping from Fort Lasberg not suffered any casualties, but they were still bursting with energy and at the top of their game.
<i>Fucking hell, did Hofs and Larikson even invade the Fort? How is it that two late-stage highgod experts with so many highgods and divine guards have not been able to leave the slightest scratch on the House of Han? What the fuck happened?!</i> cursed Ralph internally as he watched his divine guards being slaughtered.
Before Ralph was Sanguis, staring fixedly at him with his blood-red eyes. A broadsword giving off the reeking of blood whooshed past him and caused the blood in his body to rush chaotically.
Ralph was confident that he could eventually defeat Sanguis. He realized that Sanguis was only barely able to stay on top by relying on the bizarreness of the energy he cultivated. Based on Ralph’s assessment, Sanguis was overdrawing his energy and he wouldn’t be able to keep it up for too long. Sanguis would soon be exhausted and he only needed to defend himself until that moment.
But Ralph also knew that if he kept on waiting, more and more of his divine guards would perish. The only other option was to risk his life and go on an all-out fight against Sanguis, which he himself would suffer greatly for, even if he could defeat Sanguis.
Ralph had been passively waiting because he would rather let his subordinates die than risk injuring himself.
As Ralph silently defended against Sanguis’ ferocious attacks, he found the time to observe Locke and Walter. He had high hopes for the two experts sent by Wallace.
But he soon realized that his hope was misplaced.
Locke and Walter, the two trusted aides of Wallace were also being passively bombarded by their opponents. In fact, Locke and Walter were in a worrying situation. Against the ferocious attacks of Bollands and Gilbert, the two highgod experts were candlelights in a storm – they could be extinguished at any moment.
<i>What the fuck! No wonder the House of Han won the last time! No highgod my ass! What a liar!</i> cursed Ralph in his mind. He had no idea that Sanguis, Bollands, and Gilbert in fact were not highgods during the competition and that they had simply soared in the little time since. He thought that the Fifth Corps defeated his Second Corps because Sanguis, Gilbert, and Bollands were too powerful.
<i>We can’t keep going on this path. Otherwise, we would all be finished!</i> After re-evaluating the situation, Ralph finally stopped being so passive in the battle. He finally put his life on the line and went on an all-out fight against Sanguis.
When Ralph stopped being overly cautious and stopped being so reserved, his strength substantially improved. While spending divine energy to stabilize his blood, he fought Sanguis without a care about getting hurt.
With that, Sanguis no longer had the upper hand. Against a mid-stage highgod going all-in, Sanguis had no choice but to strive even harder. He had gained many more fresh wounds in just moments.
But somehow, when his blood escaped from those wounds, Sanguis felt that the blood in his body had become even more energetic while his broadsword glowed even brighter.
His firepower was increasing!
In just a matter of minutes, more than three hundred Second Corps divine guards were slaughtered by the House of Han guards, with the latter suffering just three additional casualties and around twenty injuries.
“Kill them all! Stop at nothing!” commanded Phoebe coldly from behind the House of Han guards. She could tell that Sanguis, Bollands, and Gilbert were overdrawing their energies and they wouldn’t last long. She realized that the House of Han guards had to destroy the Second Corps divine guards as quickly as possible and assist the three.
The House of Han guards promptly changed their combat formation. From a conical shaped formation, they turned into daggers stacked like a flower. The seven hundred of them divided into seven groups and shot out like seven daggers, slaughtering those panic-stricken Second Corps divine guards.
It was soon evident that this formation was even deadlier than the previous. When the seven daggers dispersed, they turned the Second Corps divine guards into seven rivers of blood.
Ralph was frightened!
Ralph suddenly realized that at this rate, even if he managed to kill Sanguis, he wouldn’t have any troops left by then. He calmly re-evaluated the situation for a moment before he suddenly shrieked, “Mission failed! Everyone retreat!”
Ralph stopped attacking Sanguis and flew away.
Locke and Walter too immediately broke off from Bollands and Gilbert and flew towards the valley nearby.
The Second Corps divine guards who had received the command to retreat started fleeing frantically. Their hearts were filled with dread. They did not expect to fare so poorly against an army of similar size, that they would be so fragile from start to finish.
When Ralph and his Second Corps divine guards started fleeing, the House of Han guards very calmly pursued them. They wished to cause even greater casualties and maximize the damage to Ralph’s Second Corps.
“Do not pursue!” shouted Stratholme hastily.
“Get back here, we cannot afford to waste any more time on them!” commanded Phoebe calmly.
Both Stratholme and Phoebe understood that Larikson and Hofs wouldn’t have given up so easily. They might have started pursuing them by now. If Hofs, Larikson, and his experts caught up to them, this time, there wouldn’t be any demonic formation that they could hide behind.
It was crucial for them to make full use of every second of every minute. They simply had no time to waste on Ralph and his gang. Besides, it wouldn’t be too late to kill Ralph along with Wallace later in the future when they had the capacity to return to the City of Shadows.
They knew that Ralph was no longer a threat to them, and they could always take his life in the future.
Upon hearing Stratholme and Phoebe’s command, the House of Han guards rapidly flew back to them. They re-assumed a defensive formation around Phoebe and Stratholme.
“Sanguis, Gilbert, are you alright?” cried Emily suddenly.
The crowd immediately turned their gazes towards Sanguis, Bollands, and Gilbert. After the great battle, all three of them were panting heavily and drenched in sweat. It was obvious that they had exhausted a great amount of energy.
This was especially the case with Sanguis. Although he seemed as though he was supported by the inexhaustible willpower of a warrior, the moment that Ralph left, he turned pale and his blood-stained body collapsed. It was after Sanguis had the time to relax that he realized he had exhausted too much energy in the battle.
“Sanguis, you okay?” asked Gilbert concernedly. Although he too was sweating profusely, he still looked quite healthy, unlike Sanguis.
“I will be fine in a moment,” said Sanguis after he forced a smile. The broadsword in his hand suddenly flew up, hovered in the sky, and started spinning at high speed.
Strands of bizarre energy emanated from Sanguis’ broadsword. Suddenly, the blood spilled by the perished Second Corps divine guards seemed as though it was drawn by some sort of energy. They transformed into mist, flew into the air, and gathered around the broadswords. The mist slowly condensed into streams of blood and spun on the surface of the sword.
Gradually, every drop of blood on the ground had condensed on the broadsword and the reeking scent faded. The broadsword returned to Sanguis’ hand before streams of red radiances flowed from the broadsword into Sanguis’ body.
Moments later, Sanguis was no longer pale and his eyes no longer tired. He seemed recharged and as energetic as usual. Sanguis took a deep breath and smilingly announced, “Alright, I’m good. Come, let’s hurry on!”
Stratholme, Ayermike, Phoebe, and the House of Han guards were all dumbstruck by what they saw. They did not expect that Sanguis, who couldn’t even stand just a moment ago, could regain his energy just like that. It was simply unimaginable to them.
“Pff, that’s nothing to be shocked about. Our Master’s energy is nothing that you can understand. Sanguis is my Master’s disciple. it’s quite normal that he can recover so quickly.” When Gilbert saw that everyone was in a daze, he hastened, “Get a move on already! Don’t tell me that you want those guys to catch up?”
The crowd came to their senses after hearing those words. They hastily re-embarked on the airship and continued their journey to the Death Dominion.
