As the battle raged on, more corpses piled up. The pungent smell of blood was thick in the air as the symphony of clashing swords rang in the forest.

Ethan grew worried as the six knights around him were panting for breath. They were severely exhausted by the constant onslaught of swords and hidden weapons coming at them from all sides.

Nearly thirty minutes had passed. There were no visible signs of the barrier collapsing although it shook even more violently with each strike and attempt to break it down.

Ethan narrowed his eyes wryly as he looked at the knights with a pained gaze seeing that one of the knights had taken a hidden flying dagger head-on with his own body to protect him.

The dagger had pierced the knight's shoulder as he cried out in pain. However, without any hesitation, the knight jolted the dagger out of his shoulder while gritting his teeth in agony and angrily threw where it had come from, instantly taking the assailant's life.

This was not the only instance of struggle as all six knights were bleeding heavily from all parts of their bodies. Their armor soaked blood red and their expressions were savage as they tried to ignore the pain completely to protect their masters.

Seeing the carnage around him, Alier was steadfast. His gaze went across the battlefield as a resolute glint flashed in his eyes seeing the situation.

It was obvious that the knights wouldn't be able to hold off much longer without any assistance. Ethan could also see this as he looked at Alier doubtfully.

Alier narrowed his eyes, his demeanor suddenly changing to a completely different countenance as he coldly looked around him.

Ethan suddenly felt shivers going through his spine and the hair on his skin rising standing straight. The atmosphere became frosty and cold as Alier raised his hand with an unforgiving expression on his face.

The only one among all the assailants who could remotely challenge Alier's might was the chief. Seeing Alier making his move, the man could no longer hold back as he too activated the power of his blessing.

"Ice Manifestation - Walls of Glacier!"historical

Alier spoke with a chilling tone, his entire demeanor had flipped on its head as his current self looked more like some tyrant about to go on a slaughter than an amicable nobleman.

The frigid particles danced as hints of terror could be seen on the assailant's faces seeing that Alier was stepping into the game. This only proved how famed the White brothers were.

Taking advantage of the slight hesitation of the assailants, the knights finally managed to catch their breath momentarily before once again getting busy attacking and defending.

The air grew increasingly cold in just a matter of seconds as the sturdy walls of ice manifested around Ethan hiding him behind the protection of the blue ice walls.

Alier simply gave the knights one single glance and drew his sword as he darted sideways making some distance between Ethan and himself.

The knights nodded at each other, understanding Alier's intentions as they only focused on protecting Ethan. The six of them unanimously moved in front of the ice wall as their formation changed.

If the previous arrangement was tight and left no blind spots, the new formation was more expansive as the knights increased the distance among each other. This way, they could fully use all their strength and go on an offensive while keeping the assailants far away from the ice wall.

The chief had red particles dancing around him in fury. This was the difference between self-acquired and Ancestral Blessings. While Alier could mobilize his powers in a blink of an eye and manifest them into the physical world in mere seconds, the chief of the intruders was comparatively slower.

Only after the Ice walls suddenly popped into existence that the chief managed to attack.

Illuminating the entire vicinity with a yellowish hue, a fireball flew toward the ice wall hoping to blow it up so that the other assailants could force the knights to fall back.

"That fucker wants to use me as a weakness?" Ethan muttered to himself behind the twelve-inch walls that surrounded him from all sides. Although he couldn't see what was happening due to the walls, Afriel was the one who narrated everything to him that was happening.

"Yes, Master, it would appear that these assailants are not complete newbies. It is as you said, they are neither a professional army nor random hooligans." Afriel said from inside the temple as he kept an eye on the situation using his divine senses.

"They are either mercenaries or superior bandits," Ethan stated calmly.

While Ethan was leisurely having a conversation with Afriel, the fireball that flew towards him was vanquished by an ice shard that pierced through the fireball like cutting through tofu leaving behind a mere puff of black smoke in its wake.

"Your opponent is me!" Alier roared as he drew his sword.

The sword soon glowed with the white-blue glow of his Ancestral Blessing as Alier channeled his true essence into it. Just as he noticed the leader of the assailants muttering an incantation preparing to launch a greater strike, six foes shot toward him forcing him to deal with them first.

"Oh Agni, Burn Thy Enemies! Cleanse The Evil with Thy Holy Flame! Lend this Servant Thy Strength, Rain of Fire!" The man bellowed as the fire particles around him grew to a large extent dancing all around him as they formed countless bullets of fire.

The sky brightened slightly as countless flames in the shape of bullets, arrows, and spikes illuminated the entire vicinity to the point that the glow could be noticed even from the City of Adenberd.

And like the shooting of stars or the descending of countless meteorites, the fire began raining descending towards Alier, Ethan, the knights, and even the assailants who were in combat with the knights while others desperately darted at Alier.

The situation was critical as countless projectiles flew forward. The knights were already exhausted and would not be able to defend themselves from countless projectiles. Ethan was behind the ice walls but it was doubtful whether he was safe from the fire projectiles and Alier was being attacked by multiple foes. It seemed impossible to handle so many things at a moment's notice.

Ethan had a faint smile on his face as Afriel worriedly narrated the situation to him. Ironically, he had complete confidence in his uncle.

"My Lord!" The knights cried out in alarm as they each dodged a flurry of slashes from multiple foes. Being pushed back towards the ice wall, the knights were not in any position to assist Alier. They could only try and protect Ethan.

At this moment, the knight that was previously injured by a dagger was once again cut by the sharp edge of a cutlass. He had a ghastly, crossed scar on his chest from which a constant stream of blood oozed out.

The man smiled seeing his end in sight. He looked at his brothers-in-arms and smiled bitterly giving a silent farewell as a determined glimmer flashed in his eyes.

He bravely charged forward at five foes holding his sword tightly. Although on his last leg, the man had the same vigor and a sense of honor that he had at the beginning.

The man swung his sword in a berserk manner not caring if he was being cut or amputated. All he wanted was to take as many as possible with him to the underworld.

The brave knight felt a piercing pain in his abdomen as he was stabbed after jumping into the fray of five foes. Ignoring the immense pain, he swung his sword with all the strength that he could muster. The sword created an arc of light as the glow of the fire projectiles in the distance was reflected by the steel blade.

A gruesome sound of blood being splattered and flesh being sliced echoed, and a silhouette could be seen of a head falling off the body as the trees burned in the background.

Enraged by their mate's gruesome demise, the assailants yelled in rage, "YOU BASTARD!" As they all jabbed their swords at the knight in unison.

As the knight could feel his eyes close, the four swords approaching him, and death just nearby watching, waiting to take him to the underworld, he vaguely remembered his family who was blessed by the grace of the White Family.

The knight only lived to serve the White Family because it was glorious. He could still vividly remember going into war years ago as the White Family's banners fluttered in the wind after subjugating the enemy's army. The man had only one regret that he would no longer be able to go into battle.. For the Glory of the Whites!

Or perhaps he just had one more regret, that he couldn't kill more of those bastards before dying. Thinking this, just as the swords were about to impale him, a new and final wave of energy surged in his body fueled by willpower.

The man caught all the swords coming at him with his arm, blocking them momentarily before the arm flew away somewhere. The knight then quickly slashed one final time spending all his vitality on that one swing of a sword.

Everything became silent for the man as his lifeless body fell on the floor, he still held his sword tightly to his final breath and even after his final breath. As his corpse collapsed to the ground, four heads too, rolled on the floor.