Rollyet saw the army in front of him pick up the pace and charge, snapping him out of his daze. He quietly muttered, "Why are the Lotra and Westoria kingdoms attacking us? What's happening here?"

His head swiveled to the back, searching for Nova in a desperate attempt to get answers, but he couldn't spot him through the sea of soldiers between them.

There's no time to understand what's happening, and the two armies in front of me seem dead set on fighting us. At this point, I can only hope the Empire's army keeps their promise and helps us or, by the end of this battle, none of my knights will be alive, he thought, casting a complicated look at his army of more than ten thousand.

Although he commanded a sizeable force, they weren't composed of all the elites his kingdom had. Many knights were only at the first stage, and looking at the armies ahead, he could tell those were the true elites of their kingdoms. In a head-on fight, his army simply stood no chance.

The First Knight took a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs, "CHARGE!"

The army behind him roared, and with Rollyet at the front, they rushed toward the kingdoms' forces at full throttle.

Nova, standing a distance away with his own army, watched as the three kingdoms' armies collided. Bursts of Aura and Mana flashed like thousands of suns scattering their light. Within seconds, Blackridge knights fell in droves, while the opposing side, having double the numbers and higher quality,suffered far fewer casualties, their morale soaring to an all-time high.

'Weak. Too weak. At this pace, Rollyet might not even last ten minutes, much less weaken the two armies.' Nova frowned. 'Why are there so few mages in his army? I didn't have time to properly assess earlier, but now that I do, they might not even have three hundred… while the enemy has more than two thousand.'

His gaze shifted to the First Knight, who was locked in combat against three fourth stage knights from the Lotra and Westoria alliance.

One of the fourth stage knights from the Empire army approached Nova and said, "Sir, if the Blackridge army can't weaken the enemy, we might lose a quite a few of our comrades in this battle."

Nova chuckled inwardly at those words, but outwardly he replied sternly, "This is war. Losing one's life on the battlefield to slay rebels who threaten the safety of the Empire is an honorable way to die and what one ought to do. Don't you agree?"

The knight felt awkward. Who would dare suggest that a soldier, who'd sworn to defend the Empire, was permitted to cower in fear for his life in front of his superior? Despite being at the fourth stage while Nova was only at the third, he knew he had to treat Nova with the same respect as the Commander, given the authority Senna had entrusted to him for this mission. Thus, he quickly nodded and praised Nova for his farsightedness before quickly taking his leave.

Nova briefly watched him go, thinking, 'A fourth stage elite knight with such a weak mentality… If this were truly my army, I'd relegate him to guarding doors.'

Shoving the brief interlude to the back of his mind, Nova turned his attention back to the battlefield. The Blackridge army roared and fought desperately to hold the line, but they had already lost a thousand men. In contrast, Lotra and Westoria, though slightly strained in cutting down their foes, had lost only a little over a hundred. It seemed that with just a small push, Blackridge would collapse and be overrun by the two kingdoms.

At that moment, Nova heard Rollyet's voice carry across the battlefield, resounding for hundreds of meters.

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"EMPIRE! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? SAVE US!"

The shout was so loud that even knights fully immersed in combat could not ignore it. As if on cue, the Blackridge army echoed back in unison:

"SAVE US!"

The opposing armies froze in confusion. Some soldiers, lacking strong mental fortitude, broke focus and glanced around, only to be cut down instantly, granting Blackridge a fleeting moment of respite as a hundred of Lotra and Westoria's weakest knights fell.

But when the third and fourth stage knights steadied themselves and turned their gazes eastward, their eyes widened to the size of pinholes. In an instant, the situation became far more complicated.

One of Lotra's few fourth stage knights shouted, "There's another army to the east!"

Every knight who heard the cry felt their hair stand on end. They immediately echoed it to their companions, turning the entire battlefield into a collective shout that could have deafened even squires.

Nova's eyes glinted with a piercing cold as he stared at the more than twenty thousand soldiers on the field. 'At last, they've discovered us, thanks to Rollyet, of course. I wanted to wait a little longer, but this is what I get for letting the so-called First Knight act as a wild card.'

Wondering how his own army was faring, he turned his head slightly toward them, expecting solemn expressions. To his surprise, while a few faces were grim, the majority bore smiles and fierce grins as they clenched and unclenched their hands in anticipation.

'This is what an elite army should look like.' He silently gave a nod.

Nova turned back to the three clashing armies and spoke aloud, "In the name of our Commander and the Empire, soldiers…"

His voice lingered in the air, drawing the attention of countless knights from the enemy kingdoms.

As if on cue, the knights behind him shouted, "Yes, Sir!"

Nova's lips curved into a faint smile. "Kill them all."

The elite army didn't answer with words. Instead, they stamped the ground in unison and stepped forward, their march making the earth tremble as they blazed toward the Lotra, Westoria, and Blackridge forces.

Since they stood behind the Blackridge army, it was the first to experience the might of the Empire.

The moment they clashed, the elite knights tore through them like a hot knife through butter. Screams filled the air along with shouts of disbelief, panic, and terror.

"W-What are you doing? Why—"

"Stop attacking us! We're your all—"

"This can't be happening…"

Rollyet, who a moment ago had felt as though he'd finally brought the Empire to clean up this mess, now watched his subordinates fall like leaves in autumn. His face turned pale as a sheet of paper, and he screamed, "Are you betraying us?!"

The shout was so loud that it drew the attention of several fourth stage knights from the Empire, who immediately rushed toward him.

The fastest reached Rollyet first, sneering. "You talk about betrayal? You, three kingdoms, vassals who should've kept their heads down, have already betrayed us. And now you want to act righteous?" Anger painted every line of his face as he swung the blade in his hand with all his strength.

Rollyet heard the words, but in the chaos, his mind filtered through them. One thing stood out clearly: the Empire's army intended to slaughter them all.

With that thought, Rollyet blocked the blow, taking several steps back, and shouted, "Lotra! Westoria! The Empire's elite army is here! If we want to survive, we need to ally and fight them, NOW!"

Nearby, a few fourth stage knights from both Lotra and Westoria had witnessed the chaos and heard the words of both Rollyet and the Empire knight who had just arrived. Their eyes fell on the latter's clothing, and all of them drew in a cold breath.

"I can't believe the Empire is meddling in our business… How did they even find out about our mission?"

"I don't know, but we'd better run while they're busy cleaning up Blackridge."

"Enough!" The figure who appeared to be their leader said, making the others turn toward him. He continued, "If we don't ally with Blackridge now and let them be exterminated, we'll be next. We might be able to escape now, but the Empire will come for our kingdoms and slaughter us all along with our families. Do you truly want that to happen?"

For a moment, silence fell over this small portion of the battlefield, until a shout rang out from the very same knight who'd just finished speaking.

"Follow my orders! Ally with Blackridge and kill the Empire!"

Immediately, the knights beside him echoed the order, passing it down the line. Soon, it was picked up by the Blackridge army as well. Battles that had been raging against Blackridge halted as the three kingdoms united, turning their focus toward the Empire's knights who were wreaking havoc.

Soon, the shouts from the three kingdoms merged into one thunderous roar that was joined in by Rollyet who'd just managed to push away the knight.

"KILL THE EMPIRE!"

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