Going back a few minutes...
"I'm here..." Alistair actually arrived when Yumi captured Kaiden but before he could even do something, things suddenly escalated one after the other.
The Profound Isolation Barrier broke and the princess suddenly gained an unbelievable amount of power. She was able to turn the tables around on her own. But Byron intercepted her attacks, toyed with her and captured her in the Domain of Darkness.
'The princess got captured by that male Malevolent Magnate. How do I proceed, knowing that he's leagues stronger than me?'
'That strange dark sphere even suppressed the Cross Clan princess which somehow has acquired strength slightly greater than mine, albeit unstable...'
'If I did attempt to save the princess, then I would most likely die by that Malevolent Magnate's hands. ' Alistair felt like that if he entered at this moment, it would be nothing more than a futile attempt.
'It seems I was right to assume that this female Malevolent Magnate had a protector, considering her absurd talent and abilities... If I step in needlessly, the City might also become the target of their ire.' He thought he had lost the chance to step in and save the princess already.
'But we have already deployed the Purging Army... it seems I would really need to step in no matter what... If the worst comes to pass, I can simply just self-detonate and hopefully take both of them with me... But if I also end up implicating the Cross Clan princess thereby killing her because of the explosion, the Cross Clan might proceed to obliterate our City...'
Alistair's thoughts felt heavy as all his actions would reflect the Soaring Cloud City and it would then cause a catastrophic outcome to his city. He felt like both outcomes would still negatively affect the Soaring Cloud City.
But to his surprise, the Domain of Darkness broke!
When he saw that Victoria had also stabilized her cultivation in a matter of minutes, Alistair had the same thoughts as Byron at that moment.
'A peerless talent!'
Victoria could now even match the terrifying Baron in strength. Seeing that the tides of battle changed, he knew he can be a determining factor for the conclusion of the battle. Therefore, he waited for an opportune time to eventually join the battle.
===
"I apologize that I could not act any sooner, princess." The City Lord asked for forgiveness.
"Do not worry, sir. It is completely understandably why you had to do that. You saved us. With your addition, I can focus on taking down that male Malevolent Magnate. I will need to ask your assistance in defeating or at least containing Yumi." Victoria was very grateful. She felt like she could now take on Byron but Yumi, despite being weaker, she was still a very dangerous foe.
"Understood, princess." Alistair nodded since they were of the same thought process.
He was nowhere near Byron in strength but he could certainly take on Yumi. 'Though she has the power to fight against a Half Saint, I think I can at least take advantage of her inexperience to defeat her.'
"How valorous of you, Soaring Cloud City Lord. But for this offense, you have already courted death." Byron spoke in a more serious tone.
His vision then focused beyond Victoria and Alistair.
"These pesky flies." Byron grew more irritated with another variable arriving.
*TOOTOOTOOOOT!!*
"Is that-" Victoria looked over.
"Yes, that's the Purging Army. They're here to assist us!" Alistair beamed with confidence as the tides of the battle was now slowly shifting to their favor.
"So, they're finished off the Large Monstrous Rat army faster than I thought..." Yumi contemplated.
The army that was the detachment unit of the Purging Army that was six thousand strong, tasked to suppress Yumi. At least that's what they used to be, currently, they only have around two thousand soldiers that were being led by Michael Paulson.
===
Earlier, the army was easily slaughtering most of the Large Monstrous Rats. They were all still sitting at around four thousand men as they continued their slaughter of these undead oversized vermin.
"We're actually crushing them easily right now!"
"This is for my brother!"
"Die, you fucking rodents!"
The pincer attack they did by creating two lines of the Cumulonimbus Formation - Impenetrable Clouds each side then crushing them in the middle was successful.
However, the legion of the Large Monstrous Rats suddenly started acting strange. They were no longer attacking as they stopped and started twitching unceasingly.
"What's happening?"
"The other's didn't react when I stabbed them like this."
"It's happening to all the remaining ra-"
*Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom*
While they had tactical advantage with Michael Paulson's strategy, the explosions from cancelling the Army of Madness created a lot more damage than they had thought.
"Aaaaarghh!!!!!"
"My hand!!!"
"Help... I'm dying!"
The aftermath was devastating!
"Men, I know we just lost many of our brothers! But we must remain strong. To honor their deaths, we must ensure the success of the mission that we set out to do it!" Michael encouraged his men.
"The enemy is within close proximity! So I ask you to steel your hearts as we move forward together!"
"General..." The soldiers knew they were being encouraged but they could not really bring themselves to get motivated. Too much has happened to them today...
"To the captains that are still alive, gather your men. I will temporarily assign soldiers that have lost their leaders to other units. For the injured, we'll take a few minutes to recuperate so ingest your healing pills!" The general quickly moved to reorganizing the army.
"My brothers, I will assign you to different sectors of this army. We will move forward within ten minutes!" He turned around and asked his trusted subordinates to help him quickly reorganize the army.
"Sir, yes, sir!" His lieutenant generals saluted as they swiftly carried out these orders.
It took them a while to regroup but with Michael Paulson's leadership they were able to successfully reorganize. Those subsequent explosions claimed half of their army, incurring over two thousand casualties!
===
Currently, the soldiers had low morale but they were still following Michael's command. He was kind of pressed of how he can move forward to motivate his men.
'If things goes as is, the soldiers would not be able to perform as needed.'
But as they approached the area of where the fight was happening, Michael saw a familiar figure and he immediately got an idea how to resolve this dilemma!
"City Lord, we offer assistance with the strength of two thousand men!" Michael Paulson shouted!
"The City Lord?!"
"No way! The Soaring King himself??"
"It is him?!"
The army also recognized that figure right away!
"We greet the City Lord! We greet the Soaring King!" The army shouted with heightened morale.
The person in front of them was called the Soaring King. A legend that everyone in the city looked up to!
A symbol of might and leadership to the citizens of Soaring Cloud City!
It was said that with his prowess, he single-handedly stopped a beast wave of flying Mystical Beasts! His figure famously known as he soars in the sky slaying his enemies with the Soaring Cloud Sword and is known to be the only one who has reached the rank of a Six-Star General!
A Half-Saint!
Seeing him in person further invigorated the army! This was a living legend in their midst.
"We have the Soaring King with us!"
"There is no way we will lose now!"
"Prepare to die, invaders!"
The army rejoiced and cheered loudly.
They felt that with their hero beside them, they can do anything because the Soaring King will lead us to victory.
"How Impertinent!" Byron said with malice as he raised his staff and slammed its base to the ground!
The skeletal lich also appeared behind him. Its hollow empty eyes had a greenish glow that wanted to take the souls of those that dared look at it. Its skull devoid of any previous expression seemingly smirked as it imitated Byron's movement and slammed its own staff in the ground1
"Abyssal Surge!"
Seeing that Byron had made a move, Victoria immediately decided to step in.
"Star Crossing Sword: Starlight Piercing the Night!"
She immediately tried to send out an attack to interrupt Byron but it was far too late!
The ground was already being rapidly corrupted by the mass of Darkness that was erupting from the place that Byron stood.
Like an avalanche, it tried to swallow everything a whole!
The Star Crossing Sword: Starlight Piercing the Night could no longer advance as it was being pushed back!
Alistair also joined in and attacked with another sword technique to support Victoria's move.
"Soaring Cloud Sword Art, Splitting the Cloudy Skies!"
He also sent out a vertical slash to compliment the Starlight Piercing the Night as it was also a vertical Slash!
The combined weight of both attacks managed to cause Abyssal Surge to stop in its tracks.
However this was not the same case for the soldier behind them.
'The City Lord is on the defensive and struggling? Does that mean the opponent is stronger.'
This realization made him feel like the situation was dire. The color from Michael's face was drained after sensing the incoming attack.
Aside from Michael Paulson, all the soldiers had cultivations that were spread out from the early to the peak of Origin Palace realm. So an attack from a Half Saint was nothing short but overwhelming to all of them!
"Cumulonimbus Formation - Impenetrable Clouds!"
Michael shouted with urgency. He tried to command the soldiers and his men to do set up that defensive formation.
The Purging army contingent was already very well-trained by this point and had already gotten into position and raised their shields.
But it was too late... rather it was inevitable.
The shields folded like paper and the darkness devoured them completely. They were doing their best to push back the darkness but they were only delaying their deaths!
"Please hold!" The main and secondary shield-bearers prayed as they used all of their Innate Energy to try and defend despite having destroyed shields.
"Aaaargh!"
"Help!"
However, the main shield bearers already died immediately while the secondary shield bearers tried to regroup.
"How cute of you people. Trying so hard when you're already about to die. I hate seeing so many people try to act so knightly when they're not. These imposters should all just die!" Yumi had a very weird strange obsession with Knights.
Seeing that they were more concerned for their own individual survival, Yumi cut the arms of all the secondary shield bearers.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
Now, only screams filled with despair could be heard from them.
In just moments, two thousand people were killed mercilessly!
What was even more gruesome was that there was not even any semblance of remains from those two thousand soldiers. Nothing for there families to remember them for.
Only a ground tainted by darkness without even a single drop of blood remained.
The only ones that were left alive were Victoria, Alistair, Michael and the unconscious Kaiden. Michael was actually injured as he was hit by the waves earlier but he survived because he was able to fly.
Victoria could not help but gasp from the slaughter of so many soldiers.
It was Alistair and Michael that were trembling from the feeling of the loss of their soldiers. What used to be honorable and courageous soldiers that pledged to protect their city had now been reduced to nothingness.
'I killed them. I led them to their dooms.' They both thought. That was the weight of responsibility of a leader.
Tears flowed from their eyes and their eyes reddened with rage but they couldn't as their rationality was holding them back doing something reckless that would lead them to their pointless deaths.
'We cannot die without killing that man!' They both looked at Byron.
Byron did not even wait for neither a word nor a retaliation. He said, "You may have faired quite well against my disciples army. Now, it is time for you to witness what a true army is!"
"Legion of Darkness!"
===
The other contingent of the Purging Army who were also suffering from the explosions of the undead army. They were trying their best to regroup and tend to the wounded. The initial fourteen thousand soldier were now only reduced to seven thousand men.
They felt like they have been through a numerous expeditions in this one mission. Evil Cultivators. Malevolent Magnate. Undead corpses and undead beasts. Giant Mystical Beasts.
Now, those army of undead suddenly exploded taking the lives of their colleagues with them.
However, their suffering has yet to finish.
Suddenly, the entire main road was covered in darkness.
"What now?!"
"The ground is turning black?!"
"Those look like..."
One hundred figures rose from the ground. These dark giant specters appeared one after the other. Each with the strength of an Early Mortal Severing Realm.
"Specters?!" General Armstrong felt trepidation as he looked at the monstrosities in front of them.
===
Byron looked at Alistair as he said with a diabolic smile, "Like I said earlier, City Lord. With this offense, you have already courted death."