It's so hard being a hero!

The young guard asked a question, his tone much more familiar than yesterday.

"Well, I'm also here to complete the enlistment procedures."

The guard paused for a moment, glanced at the form in her hand, and then stepped aside to make way for her.

"She's over at the training ground; you can find her just by going there."

Sofia said thank you and strode into the camp.

The training ground was on the east side of the camp. As she walked over, she saw Lyra's figure from a distance.

Chapter 128 Fighting Side by Side with My Daughter

Sophia took the stamped form and walked to the edge of the training field. From a distance, she saw Lyra standing in the middle of the field, talking to several knights.

No one knows what she was saying, but she made the young knights next to her laugh so hard they almost fell over.

Sophia had only taken a few steps closer when Leila seemed to sense something. She turned her head and saw Sophia.

Leila was taken aback for a moment, then her gaze swept over Leila's new clothes before finally settling on the form in her hand.

Leila's smile slowly froze. She strode over, snatched the form from Sophia's hand, and immediately raised her eyebrows when she looked down at it.

"Is this a temporary formation of the Dawn Knights, or a combat order? You've signed up for the battle?"

Sophia nodded.

"Yes, it was just taken care of."

Leila looked up and stared at her for several seconds, her expression somewhat complicated, as if she was trying to figure out how to start the conversation.

"Sophia, let me tell you, this isn't an academy. On the battlefield, no one will show you mercy just because you're a genius. Do you even know how ruthless the demons are?"

"I know."

Sophia met her gaze, her tone quite calm.

“Since I dared to come, I know what I’m going to face. Besides, I’ve already had my strength tested by the Adventurers’ Guild, and your mother knows about that.”

Leila opened her mouth, wanting to say something more, but when she heard Sophia bring up her mother and saw her determined look, she swallowed back the words she was about to say.

She didn't speak, remained silent for a few seconds, then folded the form in her hand and stuffed it into the bag at her waist. Then she crossed her arms and looked at Sophia, changing her tone.

"Okay, you can stay if you want, but I have one condition."

"What conditions?"

"Fight me."

Layla raised her chin toward the center of the training field, a faint smile playing on her lips.

"If you can last three minutes under my thumb, I'll officially let you join our Dawn Knights. Otherwise, you'll have to obediently go and help out in the logistics unit. That's my bare minimum."

Sophia didn't hesitate at all when she heard the condition; instead, she smiled.

"Alright, let's have a match then."

Upon seeing this, the young knights nearby immediately perked up, retreating to the edge of the arena to make room, and one of them even whistled.

"Laila, don't be too harsh on her, she's still just a young girl."

"Is it any of your business? Stand back, don't get in the way."

Laila retorted without turning her head, then walked to the center of the field and stretched her shoulders.

She didn't draw her sword, but simply assumed a fighting stance, her right hand loosely clenched, a ball of golden battle aura gathering in her palm. The light danced at her fingertips, radiating a scorching heat.

"Come on, let me see how much you've improved in the past year."

Sophia didn't stand on ceremony with her either.

She raised her right hand, and a silver rapier materialized in the air, with a pale white light flowing across its blade. The magical energy emanating from it felt very stable and solid.

The two men faced each other for a moment, about ten steps apart, before moving at the same time.

Layla rushed out first, her speed like a golden lightning bolt. In the blink of an eye, she was in front of Sophia, her right palm wrapped in scorching battle aura, and she slapped directly at Sophia's shoulder.

She didn't use her full strength in that palm strike, but it was incredibly fast and the angle was very tricky.

Sofia didn't take the hit head-on. Instead, she slid her body to the left, and the silver rapier in her hand grazed past Lyra's wrist, the tip of the sword pointing directly at her elbow.

Laila reacted just as quickly, flipping her wrist and sending her battle aura into a golden light that deflected the sword tip. At the same time, she swept her left leg out, kicking Sophia's shin.

Sofia jumped up to dodge the kick, then flipped halfway in mid-air, pointing her sword downwards, and thrust it towards Layla's shoulder.

Laila neither dodged nor flinched, but simply raised her hand and grabbed the sword.

The moment she grasped the silver blade, golden battle aura surged up the sword, emitting a hissing sound, as if the two forces were devouring each other.

Sofia didn't confront her head-on. Instead, she released her right hand from the sword and made a sweeping motion with her left hand, creating an ice-blue magic circle in front of her.

Three ice spikes shot out from the magic circle, heading straight for Lyra's chest and abdomen.

Laila had no choice but to loosen her grip on the sword hilt and take half a step back. She slapped the first two ice spikes twice with her right palm, shattering them. The third spike grazed her waist armor, leaving a white mark on the surface.

Taking advantage of the moment she retreated, Sophia gripped the sword hilt again. After landing, she didn't pause at all, pushed off the ground with her right foot, and transformed into a streak of silver light, sticking to the spot.

In their next encounter, the two fought back and forth.

Sofia's swordsmanship was fast and cunning, each strike accurately targeting Laila's weaknesses. Laila's fighting spirit, on the other hand, was fierce and domineering, each palm strike generating scorching waves of energy, forcing Sofia to frequently change her position.

The young knights nearby were dumbfounded. One of them muttered to himself, "Who is this little brat? How can she fight Sister Lyra like this?"

Vinard, who was standing next to her, naturally recognized Sophia and explained, "She is a student at Tianxing Academy and also Aunt Frey's student."

"Lady Frey's student? No wonder she's so strong..."

“Look closely, Sister Leila is serious. That palm strike she just delivered was full of real skill. Most people couldn’t withstand it.”

The battle on the field continues.

The two had been fighting for about two minutes, and Sofia was still very agile. Her breathing rhythm was very steady, and her steps were not disordered at all.

Lyra felt something was off as the fight went on. She could sense that Sophia's power output remained consistently at a level, neither too high nor too low, neither advancing nor retreating, as if she were controlling the course of the entire battle with a particularly mature rhythm.

Laila was now really serious; she was even preparing to summon her weapon and get down to business.

But at that moment, a muffled horn sounded in the sky above Zhenmo Pass.

The sound was low and long, coming from the other side of the city wall. It pierced through the noise of the entire camp and clearly reached everyone's ears.

Leila suddenly stopped moving.

She withdrew her hand, took two steps back, turned her head to look in the direction of the city wall, and her expression suddenly became serious.

That was the horn signaling the enemy's attack; the demon army was coming.

The knights by the training ground also stopped chatting and laughing. Some ran quickly to get their weapons, while others began to organize their equipment.

Leila glanced back at Sophia; exactly three minutes had passed.

"Alright, you pass."

Sofia said nothing, but simply sheathed her sword and waited for Lyra's next command.

Laila didn't waste any more words and shouted at the knights beside her.

"Everyone, assemble! Prepare for battle!"

A few minutes later, the Knights of Dawn had lined up in formation.

Sophia stood not far behind Lyra, her gaze passing over the heads of the people in front of her, looking at the huge iron gate of the Demon Suppression Pass that was slowly rising.

The sight outside the door made her pupils shrink slightly.

Augus, the Grand Master of the Knights of Dawn, rode a black-armored warhorse and held a battle axe taller than a man. He stood at the front of the column and shouted a sentence in a loud voice.

Sofia was too far away to hear clearly, but a deep response came from the queue.

Then, the iron gate was fully raised.

Sunlight streamed in from outside the door, illuminating the ground in front of the ranks, as if laying a golden carpet over the battlefield they were about to enter.

"set off!"

Augus spurred his horse, raised his battle axe high, and was the first to charge out of the city gate.

The Dawn Knights followed closely behind, the sounds of hooves, footsteps, and clashing armor mingling together like a torrent of steel surging out of the Demon-Suppressing Pass.

Sofia followed in the middle of the group, her feet on the smooth stone path, and ahead of her was an increasingly open plain. The temperature and smell in the air changed completely the moment she stepped out of the city gate.

Further away, the surging black tide had already spread out in the field of vision.

Leila walked two steps ahead of Sophia, glanced back at Sophia, and looked at her with a serious expression.

"Stay close to me, don't be reckless, and don't fall behind."

Sophia gripped the silver rapier in her hand and nodded to her.

The demon army is approaching, and they have already stepped out of the city gate.

As soon as they stepped out of the city gates, the human legions and knights surged towards the demon army like a tidal wave.

Those at the forefront were all at the King level, while the Saint level experts on both sides still hadn't made a move.

Frey and the other Saint Realm experts stood on the city wall of Zhenmo Pass watching all of this.

She wasn't too worried about Sophia, and as long as the Holy Demon and the Demon God of the Demon Race didn't intervene, there wouldn't be any major danger.

Chapter 129 Battlefield of Light and Shadow

The moment the vanguard of the demon race and the human race collided, all sound vanished.

It wasn't that they couldn't hear anything at all, but all the fragmented sounds—the shouts of battle, the sounds of weapons clashing, the sounds of footsteps—were completely drowned out by an incredibly muffled roar.

That was the resonance of the fighting spirit and magic power unleashed by tens of thousands of people at the same time, feeling as if the entire earth had been struck by a hammer from below.

Then, the sound came rushing back, even louder and more piercing than before.

Sophia's ears were filled with the sharp sounds of metal clashing, the sounds of magical explosions, and an indescribable muffled sound like bones breaking.

She took a breath and glanced around.

Lyra was about two steps in front of her when the golden figure, like a sharp knife, pierced into the demon's front line.