Chapter 2278 My King
Marcello was shocked. This was the capital of the Tarius family, the core of the Constellation Alliance. How could there be an attack here without any further information? How could they not have been alerted? Any family worth their salt would have countless outposts stretching from the edge of their territory to the very core. Even if dozens failed, there would still be dozens more. It simply didn"t make sense for anyone to get this far without their knowledge.
Marcello"s expression changed again as he realized something else. The planet"s protective formation, a formation that had stood for hundreds of years and was maintained with the full force of the family, had fallen already.
The quaking of the planet was none other than a sign of its collapse, and at this moment, the n.o.blest of the Tarius family were on the chopping block. A single string from a Tier 2 Wars.h.i.+p could destroy the entire planet. Even if the Ancestors took action now, it would still be too late. Just how had this happened?
The worst-case scenario that Marcello was expecting didn"t happen.
In the skies, half a dozen stars.h.i.+ps surrounded the planet. They were far smaller than anything Marcello had ever seen before, but the power of their lasers was so precise that they perfectly targeted the weaknesses of their formation.
Each was about the quarter the size of a normal moon, and their swiftness was unlike anything he had ever seen before. They moved with such fluidity out of the way of the retaliation of the Tarius family and then flew to one another"s sides, forming a large Force Art between them that repelled another onslaught back toward the planet.
And then they appeared. Armored like a rainbow, battalions and troops of all kinds of solid colors.
Marcello had never seen an army like this one. It was normal for an army to have a single banner they flew under, and a single uniform they all shared. But he had never seen an army that had so many different armors at once, at least not when attacking as one unit. It felt disjointed, unprofessional, even a bit childish...
Until it suddenly wasn"t.
A troop of a million wearing s.h.i.+mmering white gold armors flickered, and before Marcello could even understand what was happening, the next volley of attacks to the army pa.s.sed right through them as though they weren"t there. In fact, the volley flew right through the stars.h.i.+ps to their back as well.
It wasn"t until there was suddenly a devastating boom on the ground that Marcello realized what was happening. It was all an illusion, maybe they had never been in the skies in the first place. No, maybe it was that they had been in the skies, but while they were all focused on what was happening above, the battle on the ground had already begun.
...
The retaliation of the Tarius family was swift. There were already several powerhouses of the Constellation Bow Alliance present all focused on planning for the coming war. In addition, like Marcello"s family had said, they were very ready for war as well. The moment their enemy didn"t choose to destroy their planet with a single laser strike, they were able to recover and begin their counter a.s.sault.
However, even as they did so, they found their options being whittled down one by one.
First, their large-scale war machines became useless because they couldn"t pinpoint the stars.h.i.+ps in the skies. On top of that, the army made it to the ground and targeting them with such weapons would mean targeting their own citizens as well.
Second, they realized that their greatest advantages as bowmen suddenly vanished. Their Bow Force couldn"t gather at all, and this was the most devastating blow they could have faced. Their most powerful weapons and large-scale Force Arts all relied on Bow Force, without it, they couldn"t even communicate with their Constellation.
And that was when it settled in. Where had they seen this ability before?
...
"The Morales are attacking!" A young man far too big and burly to be an archer roared into the hall of elders.
The elders looked toward this messenger, their gazes dark. They already knew this, they had figured it out the moment their Bow Force stopped working. There was only one person that they had ever seen do this.
And they had already decided on a course of action. They would send an Ancestor to kill Leonel, no matter what the cost. And they did exactly that...
Unfortunately, the moment this Ancestor appeared, they were cut down by the stars.h.i.+p.
They sent a group afterward, but they were cut down by the stars.h.i.+ps as well.
By the time the regular populace and the leaders of their armies realized that the Morales were the ones attacking, the Constellation Bow Alliance had already lost four of their Ancestors. In the entire Alliance, they only had nine, four of which were the Ancestors of the Tarius family, and the other five of which came from their allies.
And now, the Tarius family had lost two, while the various families had lost three. This was the most devastating blow they had taken since the loss of the Bow Domain Ring. They almost lashed out at the messenger for bringing them news they already knew, but they didn"t even get the chance to.
...
Deep within Tarius territory, even deeper than the elders" meeting room and in a location similar to the Morales Holy Land, the Tarius family had already begun to evacuate their future. Among this number, there was Nazag, and he had been the first on their list of priorities. So long as he lived, everything else could be negotiated.
That was why it was so surprising when Nazag suddenly tapped his forehead and a resonating Force Art suddenly formed. Beneath the astonished gazes of the escaping Constellation Bow Alliance members, Leonel suddenly appeared with a smile on his face by Nazag"s side.
"My King!" Nazag said with a resounding voice.
Leonel ignored him, waving the hand that Tolliver wrapped around. In that moment, a woman deep within Tarius territory stirred and the World Spirit of the Tarius family was ripped from her body.