Charlotte, Kreil, Abner, and the Black Phoenix Army fought a fierce battle, each suffering losses. Fars lost one Saint Rank fighter and an entire Knight Order, while the Black Phoenix Army lost nearly most of its troops. Neither side launched a second battle.
With no ordinary soldiers left, the Black Phoenix Army could no longer hold its lines and could only retreat slowly.
Charlotte had originally intended to part ways with the Black Phoenix Army there and withdraw to Behemoth. But Kreil Brittany could not allow himself to retreat just like that and insisted on pressing forward step by step. In the end, Charlotte could only compromise helplessly. After the three Knight Orders reentered the South Seraph Region, they found the situation far better than expected—and far worse as well.
It was better because, having lost its rank-and-file soldiers, the Black Phoenix Army could no longer hold the cities it had captured earlier. Each time it withdrew from a city, it took away the troops it had left behind as garrisons and abandoned the occupation.
Charlotte and the others recaptured several cities with almost no bloodshed.
It was worse because South Seraph had begun to run short of food.
Charlotte had evacuated large numbers of South Seraph people, along with countless supplies. After the Black Phoenix Army invaded the South Seraph Region, it became harder for them to receive supplies from the rear, so they could only requisition grain and other materials locally. Naturally, the South Seraph people were unwilling to offer everything up with both hands—they needed to survive too. The Black Phoenix Army had no goodwill toward them and resorted to the cruelest suppression.
With every city Charlotte recovered, his heart grew heavier. The walls of nearly every city held dozens or even hundreds of hanging corpses—men and