"Kneel?"
"KNEEL?!"
"The voice of the Sect Founder!"
"It has been won? Wait, someone can win it?"
More than the sight of the King, it was this statement spoken by that ancient voice which made gooseb.u.mps rise on the hands of almost all the Fighters who had previously been inside the Fortress of Unyielding Might"s secret archives that stayed in their minds even as it echoed throughout the forest before disappearing.
It looked like the King was as equally shocked as them, because even he angled his Head up with a puzzled expression on his face.
Yet, the next second, his eyes widened, and he immediately began to step back with a very serious expression on his face.
As many were watching him, they saw him do this, and they, too, glanced up to see what was the matter.
And that… Was when they saw a different kind of magnificent sight - one which made fear arise from a deep, deep place in their hearts that made them almost cower and hope that they would not perish.
…
Two seconds before the conclusion of the King"s fight, and the statement that echoed throughout the area.
The Head and the Chief was still engaged in the stalemate, and it did not look like the two from the Church had any intention of actually bringing it to a quick conclusion.
When anyone thought about it, they would be able to understand the motivation behind this. If the objective of the Chief was to show the top disciples of the Big Four that the Church was nothing to fear, then they would want to quickly finish the fight and end it in a victory that would stay for a long time in those young minds.
So, instead of that, if everyone from the Big Four simply saw even the two supposedly most powerful individuals in Angaria having to enter this kind of stalemate, then the opposite effect might occur, which would be perfect for them as any force would always face an easier time fighting against a demotivated foe.
Knowing this, the Head sent a message to the Chief, saying, "What do we do, Chief? I don"t know when this guy got here, but his power has exceeded my expectations. And you already know that I cannot take out our trump cards. What should we do? I really, really don"t want to see their smug expressions if it reaches a point where we will have to break off the fight, or allow them to flee as they wish."
The Chief took a second to answer, but as the Head glanced toward him, he could see that the man had just looked down to take in the state of the battlefield.
At the same time, the Head did so, too, and he was once more impressed by this feat by the King that had not been achievable by any Warrior in the Legacy Battle before him- at least, in the last few thousands of years.
The next moment, he received a decisive answer that made him harden his face.
"Ready your latest spell. It"s worth it. You"ll know when to use it, and it will be soon. Take care not to miss."
If it was anyone else, the Head would have questioned them, but this was his mentor whom he trusted with his life.
A Hero was one who could affect the world in ways which others could not even comprehend. Their power was something that could only be looked up to by all below their realm, and if they wished, they could bring devastation the likes of which could wipe out entire towns or even cities.
Hence, the attacks that they had been using till now were not a true indication of what they were capable of. Instead, it was like a careful dance to find the right moment, as they knew that if a major attack failed, they would be placed in a disadvantageous position that would be hard to come out of.
The Chief"s Path was one which used his words to affect the world around him, and of course, the world of his opponent. In many ways, his Path was said to be invincible as the types of attacks that he could use were only limited by his imagination.
Till now, he had been using his Path"s effects on the man from the Church to slow him down or constrict his usage of the elementary particles around him. However, he stopped that now and conjured a thick barrier in front of him before joining his hands and making another "sun" appear between them.
This "sun" looked different, though. Where the others were made of light and would only look like bright, glowing blobs of Energy, this one was a dark shade of red, and anyone who had honed their instincts even a little bit would be able to detect that it was something that they should not mess with.
Indeed, as it came into existence, the amount of heat inside it was so high that the atmosphere, itself, began heating up.
If those in the pavilions weren"t so engrossed in the spectacle of the King"s final fight, they would have noticed this, too.
Seeing this attack, the man from the Church let out a short laugh and said, "So, it seems you finally lost patience. Very well. I guess it really was required to remind you monkeys that you are nothing in front of the Church."
With this, it became clear that that really was the objective of these two men, and the reason behind them staying and not leaving like they typically would in such an engagement.
Closing his eyes, the man in purple robes stretched out his hands and hid himself in multiple layers of formations.
Inside it, if anyone could see him, they would observe that he had taken out some sort of object that looked like it was a figurine of a man wearing long robes and holding a staff aloft which seemed to start releasing Energy of the sort that was present in a Natural Energised Training Chamber the moment it is exposed to the air.
Even Daneel would have been shocked to see this kind of phenomenon, as on Angaria, it was impossible to make such an object in which Energy could be condensed to such a degree that it became solid.
With a sly smile, he muttered to himself, "Do you think this is some kind of stupid battle where honor might prevent me from using trinkets that you cannot possibly possess in this sh*thole? Hehe, get ready to get a taste of the Church"s most profitable weapon."
Of course, on the outside, nothing was visible to the Head who simply looked like he was preparing to bombard the layers of formations created by his opponent in an attempt to defeat him and end this fight.
Beside him, the Chief looked like he was doing something similar. However, his style was different.
If most of those in the pavilions hadn"t been distracted by the incredible sight below that had managed to captivate even many of the Heroes and Champions, they would have witnessed the scene that only a few in the Fortress had seen till now.
In the span of a fraction of a second, the Chief"s entire body transformed into one that belonged to a youth that had just reached the peak of his Path. He looked many years younger, and there was even a confident smile on his face that was only present on those who were a.s.sured of their victory.
In this state, he prepared to once again shoot forward in order to attack his opponent, whose expression also changed as he realized that it was time for what he had been waiting for.
Just like his companion, he also prepared to use a figurine, but he held it inside his pocket so that it wouldn"t be exposed.
This resulted in the moment of silence that had been present in the span of time when the King"s fight had concluded.
The Chief looked down, and knowing what was going to come, he sent a message to the Head.
"Just like old times."
This made a smile appear on the Head"s face, and if anyone on the High Council saw it, they would be pretty surprised as they would realize that this meant that the one they had been seeing on him all this time had been fake - this was one that was real, as it had come to be because of a feeling that had been born due to many memories rus.h.i.+ng back into his head.
"Just like old times," he echoed, before taking in a deep, deep breath.
It was this scene that caused Daneel to instantly feel such a strong sense of danger that he was tempted to break the trinket around his Mageroot and teleport away, as he wasn"t sure that the formation still in place would be enough to protect them from what was going to happen next.
Opening his mouth wide, for the first time since Daneel had seen him, the Chief actually… Shouted.
"FOR ANGARIA!"
"A single shout to break the world."
That day, Daneel understood the meaning of this phrase, as he saw visible shock waves erupt from the Head"s mouth as they headed towards his opponents, driving away all the elementary particles that were being controlled by them in order to both stop the spells they had been about to use, and also break the barriers they had conjured.
In an instant where shock appeared on both of their faces, the barriers instantly cracked, and both the attacks short forth unhindered.
The Chief"s was first. Leaping from an invisible platform in the sky, he turned into a bullet that seemed to part the very heavens in front of it.
Nothing could come in its way.
The Chief also began to rotate at a speed that turned him into a bright blur, and his hand that was held forth with that short blade made him appear like a missile that had set out with the singular purpose of destroying its target.
He struck first, but the sound of that impact was only heard for a moment before it was overshadowed due to the Head"s attack.
The Head had also thrown forth that ball of intense heat, and as it flew through the air, the temperature of the atmosphere rose to another level. And as soon as it reached near its target, it exploded into a supernova that caused waves and waves of fiery force to batter everything around it.
Of course, the purple-robed man was the main one who had to handle the brunt of its power, and because all of his defensive measures had been blown away due to the Head"s shout, he was left with nothing.
For a second, he took on the attack with his bare body, but after that, he managed to use the figurine to cause a thin layer of Energy that looked like it would break at any moment to cover his body.
On the other side, the white-robed man"s fate was worse. With nothing stopping him, the Chief had successfully driven that dagger deep into his chest, while both of their bodies flew backward in the air. The impact also caused various injuries to appear all over his body, and the Chief used that moment of time he had to drag back that dagger and repeatedly slash, aiming at all the vital organs.
So what if they came from the mainland? They were still humans, and they still had weak points that could be targeted.
Yet, it was that figurine that stopped him, too. That same layer of Energy appeared around this man"s body, too, and detecting danger, the Chief immediately used the man"s head as support and leapt back to return to his original position beside the Head.
That was when a broad smile appeared on his face as he saw the pitiful condition of the purple-robed man.
His clothes had all but burned away, except for a few shreds that remained. Nasty burns could be seen all over his body, and because he knew that this man was probably someone who had gone through some sort of hardening process that was present in the mainland that could allow a Mage to cover up their drawbacks, he was pretty d.a.m.n impressed with the attack.
Even the skin on his face had been burned away, so his expression couldn"t be seen. However, his eyes made it clear what he was feeling.
In them, shone the anger that came from losing to someone he had deemed unworthy of even battling him in the first place.
"Retreat!" He shouted, and immediately teleported away, while his companion did the same.
"For Angaria!"
"FOR ANGARIA!"
This magnificent sight made those on the pavilions who had had the shadow of fear in their hearts burst out with cheers, and others also followed.
On this day, two Heroes from the Church had been defeated and driven back, and it was a victory after a long chain of losses and draws.
Amidst the cheering, though, no one forgot the command from before.
Were they really supposed to kneel to this previously unknown n.o.body from the Central Continent?
Even Daneel had this question, and at the moment, he couldn"t help but hope that he could gain control of such a ma.s.sive force so easily.
Yet…the Chief sent him a message at that moment, which made the smile that had come on his face disappear.
"Congrats. You won. But if you think even for a second that the entire Sect is yours, you are very, very mistaken, King."