Battle of Liguang: Clash (5)

"Have we found Imperian Qiang yet?" She wanted someone who could negotiate on behalf of the Li Family. Her list of candidates shrunk greatly with the Imperial Princesses as they were.

"This way, Your Highness."

Compared to his nieces, Imperian Qiang got off quite lucky with only some superficial cuts and bruises, though he did land a fair distance away. He brushed off a layer of dust and grime and he stood up with a pressing headache and wobbly balance. Perhaps it was the force behind the Featherwind Sect's attack, but he felt lightheaded. He had the urge to vomit. Qiang reasoned he must have suffered a concussion when he got blasted into debris. Blood trickled down his forehead and into his eyes, but he wiped it away.

Although he was muddleheaded, when he saw Elizabeth approach, he instantly grew calm-headed and cautious. The remaining Li Family's soldiers and guards rallied around Imperian Qiang, including the Four Dragons of the Loon Family. However, anyone could see an obvious difference. The Li Family's forces seemed miniscule against the Alzar Kingdom, and their overall injuries were worse. The gap between them widened up massively. Assuming that a fight broke out, the Li Family would lose! Anyone would feel suspicious when the massive attack that bisected the town did so little to the Alzar Kingdom's forces. Qiang could not help but think that the Alzar Kingdom planned this from the very beginning. They never had any intention of negotiating! If not for his concussion, he might have thought things through clearer.

"…What does Your Highness want?" Imperian Qiang asked warily. In this type of situation, where one side had the overwhelming advantage, the Alzar Kingdom had complete control over the initiative. They could make unfair demands, take them hostage, or simply massacre them! The fate of the Li Family hung in the balance.

Elizabeth could understand his suspicions because it was indeed strange that the Alzar Kingdom suffered as lightly as they did. Their Arcanists should not be the reason. She did not mean to downplay their abilities, but they were only Low Condensed Drop Arcanists. They were woefully deficient against an attack that could split the town in two! The Li Family's situation should have been the expected outcome for the Alzar Kingdom. Was it merely luck? Or was a special reason behind it? She shook her head and refocused. This was not the time.

"I'll get straight to the point. The Alzar Kingdom is looking to cooperate with the Li Family in a temporary alliance to break out of Liguang," Elizabeth explained.

"What's happening?"

She eyed him skeptically as though she was asking why he did not know. "The Imperial Council is preparing to attack Liguang with their Phoenix, Kun, and Qilin Divisions. The Featherwind Sect was probably responsible for destroying the town and trapping us here. That being the case, we would like to cooperate."

Qiang frowned thoughtfully. "Very well. The Li Family agrees." From his perspective, there were no disadvantages, so he quickly agreed. The Imperial Council took precedence over everything else.

"Thank you. Do you have any idea over your current fighting strength?"

The man frowned again. He took a quick glance around and assessed the situation. The Li Family's forces were still recovering, so it was unclear how many survived and retained their fighting ability. There were originally one thousand soldiers from the Lotus Division stationed in Liguang; however, less than a hundred were present. Qiang wagered conservatively that another hundred were probably alive and scattered around. That meant that over eight-tenths of their total fighting force was instantly removed! Losses this great would cause any other force to rout or surrender. The only reason that there was no widespread panic was due to the Lotus Division's outstanding training and discipline. Until their commander gave the order, they would not retreat!

In terms of apex combatants, it was equally as grim. Out of the Four Dragons of the Loon Family, two of them were absent or dead and another was heavily wounded. The Spider Seven was reduced to the Spider Four, and one of the Humming Swordsmen was incapacitated. As for good news, the Blind Snake suffered only superficial injuries like Imperian Qiang. There were other Perception Realms too, though the number came up to fifteen or twenty. To summarize, the Li Family's forces were reduced to two hundred with around seventy combat-capable, in addition to twenty Perception Realms. Qiang continued to look around except… where were his nieces? They should have been next to him when the attack came, but now they were nowhere to be seen. His gut twisted. He had a bad premonition.

"The Alzar Kingdom is administering emergency aid to the Imperial Princesses and Protector Chang as we speak. Their lives should not be in any immediate danger, though they will still require proper care," Elizabeth said. "As for Protector Tai…"

"…I understand. Has he already passed?"

"Yes…" She felt awkward.

"He was a brave and steadfast man and despite his numerous flaws, he was an exemplary man and Protector. I am forever indebted to him for protecting my nieces. I will make sure that he receives the highest of honors that I can give," Qiang concluded with a sigh. "Let's set that aside for now. We have one hundred combat-capable, including twenty Perception Realms. How about the Alzar Kingdom's side?"

After hearing a report from her subordinates, Elizabeth said, "We have three hundred, the Ten Dawns, and thirty Perception Realms. Currently, our Ten Dawns are working on a way to break through the spell trapping us here. We have also requested reinforcements from the main army and the Steel Eagle Brigade stationed outside Liguang. If we can defend until then, it should be our victory."

"The Imperial Council's three divisions have a combined force of nine thousand. If we consider the Lotus Division and the Steel Eagle Brigade, our numbers are similar. However, if they're prepared to attack, then it means they've made sufficient preparations. According to our reports, there are over five hundred Perception Realms in their ranks, including many famous experts from the Four Great Nobility Families. Most of them also have a fledging understanding of Martial Energy. In a direct confrontation, they would slaughter our forces. Our winning condition is to defend until our main armies arrive, but the first step is breaking out of Liguang. How much time do the Ten Dawns need?"

Elizabeth was stunned by the sudden wealth of information. As expected of the Li Family, they had extended their tendrils even into the Imperial Council's famous trump card divisions! That meant that in the Xingyuu Empire, the Li Family's intelligence network was superior to the Alzar Kingdom's! This was not too surprising though as they had a wide influence on all levels of government, military, economy, and culture in the empire. Gathering information from a vast number of informants would be a simple process. Compare that to the Alzar Kingdom, which the empire's citizens had a negative disposition against, and the difference was night and day. It would be much harder to penetrate to the same level that the Li Family could. However, Imperian Qiang did not know about this attack in advance, which further supported her theory that he was betrayed. Maybe he was surrounded by traitors right now, waiting for the right moment to attack? How troublesome.

Putting that aside, Elizabeth ruminated over this new information. Nine thousand was the same number that their informants reported too, so there was no problem there. However, five hundred Perception Realms… Elizabeth rounded her eyes in shock. They were practically their own army at that point! They could cleave through the battlefield and slaughter everyone! And to make matters worse, they could use Martial Energy too? That was the scariest part. Martial Energy allowed individuals to transcend limitations making the impossible possible! For instance, the legendary flying strike that Cardinal Shaolong trained his entire life to master would be easy for someone that grasped Martial Energy. Even Benedict could do something similar. She had no idea how proficient the Imperial Council's forces were, but their threat instantly jumped several levels. The Featherwind Sect aside, they were the strongest force here!

This isn't good… she thought grimly. We originally had plans for the Imperial Council's attack, but their strength is outside of our expectations. Not to mention, we've lost the territorial advantage. As Imperian Qiang said, fighting them in a direct confrontation would be courting death. To survive this ordeal, we need a good strategy to divide their attention and disperse their forces… Setting up an ambush would take too much time and splitting up also sounds like a bad idea… Are there any defensible locations? She glanced around dejectedly at the ruins. I guess not. Ah… this is bad, really bad!