Looking up, I saw no one else but Helia herself standing on top of the elevated platform, with her hands locked on her chest, as she looked down at the central square with disgust visible even from so far. Behind her, a few other men were visible, holding on to short knives and some other simple weapons. Just by this sight, one might disrespect their power when compared to undoubtedly better-equipped guards of the sanctuary, yet just a single scan with my energy vision was enough to uncover the truth that has to pain the princess mind - all the rebels were a few cla.s.s stronger than even the best of the guards, with only two or three exceptionally strong royalists.
Yet despite the clear disparity in strength between the two forces, not only the princess remained in power so far, but the whole situation didn"t seem to faze her at all! Instead of coveting in fear, she stood her ground with confidence, even going as far as to grace Helia with a wide smile!
"So you finally decided to show yourself. Ah, luring you out of your rat holes was truly annoying!"
Instead of looking at guards to make sure they would protect her from any attack, the princess simply hit the bottom end of her staff at the floor, striking precisely in what looked like a runic switch.
In an instant, the entire central square light up, with the familiar carvings in the floor reaching through the entire place, both the tribunes and the elevated platform included. Even without my energy vision, I could tell that a huge amount of energy flooded the altar, starting a strange reaction in its b.l.o.o.d.y content.
"I don"t really care what kind of tricks you prepared for today. Leaving yourself open, without innocent s.h.i.+elds all around you was your gravest mistake!"
Pointing her dagger forward, Helia rose from her squat and squinted her eyes.
"Men! Kill her!"
With this single command, everyone gathered at the elevated platforms instantly jumped down from them. Despite the huge amount of guards that easily outnumbered the entire rebellious group, all their focus was placed on the princess, as if dealing with the guards could be put to the later date.
But there was no way everything would go so smoothly. Just like Helia most likely planned and prepared for this moment, so did that b.i.t.c.h of a princess!
Just as the first man was about to cross the edge of the central square, a powerful s.h.i.+eld suddenly appeared, turning his body into nothing but a handful of red dust!
Seeing the strange thing, most of the attackers somehow managed to pull back, yet a good four more of them had no way to stop their midair momentum, losing their lives in a similar manner.
At this point, I couldn"t wait any longer. It wasn"t just some internal struggle of people I didn��t care about, but a pointless fight between my own subjects! But once again, before I could intervene in the fight itself, my attention was drawn to the insides of the altar, where some really peculiar events were happening.
"To think that you would go so far in your denial of the Hero"s sanct.i.ty! Can"t you see how your people are dying only because of your own stubbornness? Offer your life, and I might let them live the rest of their lives in peace as the sanctuary slaves!"
With how her first countermeasure seemed to work wonders, Princess instantly took a haughty att.i.tude, ridiculing Helia"s efforts. Yet that wasn"t enough to put her into obedience either. After a short moment of looking around and a.s.sessing the situation, she gestured at her men once again.
This time, rather than attempting to cross the barrier right away, they moved to the tribunes, helping all the spectators out with their fists and kicks. While I found the entire situation quite interesting to watch, seeing how what used to be nothing more than just a pile of bones and rotting flesh was now turning into some kind of Golem, I couldn"t really pay it any more of my attention.
Rather than taking up the baton of the leader of this place and stopping the fight, I had to do something about this monstrosity that was slowly lifting itself up from its birthplace, yet failing due to the lack of cohesiveness between the bones making up its limbs.
"You still dare to claim this utter bulls.h.i.+t? If not for your envy about the fact that Bart never f.u.c.ked you as opposed to me, none of this would ever happen!"
As I put almost entirety of my attention into sabotaging the growth of the monster, I only noticed those words, putting them into my memory rather than actually thinking about the meaning hidden behind them.
Only when I finally managed to find the core of this golem and destroy it with a whisp of entropy, despite how reluctant I was in using it ever since I learned a bit more of its nature. With this done, I could finally stop this madness from escalating!
But this time, instead of being stopped, the actions of others simply preceded anything that I could do. With the crowd already chased away from the tribunes, the rays of light that connected them with the central square dimmed up and disappeared, leading to the entire barrier failing and breaking apart.
"You see? All your tricks are worth only as much!"
With a triumphant smile on her face, Helia jumped down from the platform herself, not even bothered to do the super-hero landing upon touching the ground. Simply bending her knees a tiny bit, she immediately straightened up, knocking away one of the spears flying straight towards her face, while allowing her retainers to take care of the rest of the guards too enthusiastic about their job here.
"Did you really think that this barrier was all that I prepared for you?! Let me present you with the greatest gift that the hero left us! The golem made with the addition of the only droplet of his blood that we could obtain!"
Smas.h.i.+ng her staff once again into the floor, I could see a powerful gust of energy emerging from the bas.e.m.e.nt, through the several sets of underground floors, all the way towards the altar. At the same time, the sucking force on my chains also increased almost twofold, as if aimed to dry my entire body and soul dry.
But since those chains became quite an annoyance right now, instead of letting them continuously suck on my precious energy, I simply released the seal on my own body, instantly shattering the shackles with the overload of my power.
While some might be worried that this additional energy would be enough to resurrect the monster that I just managed to prevent from fully forming, with its core already crushed in my hand, no amount of energy could prompt its re-creation.
"Golem? Bart"s blood?! You would dare to desecrate his memory just for your own power?!"
Instantly putting up her guard back, Helia recalled all her people to a single spot, most likely aiming to defend this single position till the last man standing, while throwing a longing look towards the altar, looking for the face of her brother and sister-in-law, only to turn puzzled when she saw my fake, unfamiliar face.
"You will bow in front of the power of our hero!"
Disregarding Helia"s words, Princess simply raised her hand high into the air, a.s.suming the victorious pose, yet no matter how long this tense moment extended, nothing had happened!
"Okay then, I think we all saw enough of this farce."