"What?! Lucas"s barrier went down?! Xuan, try to protect the rulers and his body! We only need 1 minute! But whatever you do, DO NOT endanger your own life!"
Even while Xuan heard this message from the Matron, she was hurrying to the King"s side.
Daneel was currently in the air between the knights and the spot on the ground where the bodies had landed, so he was practically in the way.
Seeing Xuan quickly teleport to that spot and put up a barrier, Daneel frowned with worry.
This was bad.
These &^%(*&( from the Church clearly wanted to kill the rulers, and the only thing standing between them and their goal was that barrier of Xuan"s.
However, he had a sinking feeling that it wouldn"t last very long.
"King Daneel! We only need to hold on for 1 minute! Help is on the way! Please help me protect this man and the bodies of the rulers!"
CRACK
"ARRRGHHH!"
Clearly, those from the Church weren"t the type of people to stand around when they had the opportunity.
Right now, they had just pa.s.sed through the barrier set up by Xuan, but they were stopped by another one that had just come up.
After they had made their attack, Daneel had gotten a glimpse of them.
Their clothes were completely covered with blood, and both had parts of their limbs missing.
One was even missing an eye, while the other"s head looked like it was bashed in.
The sight made Daneel feel startled. These were injuries that would kill any Exalted Human! How were these men still standing?
The obvious explanation was: they were out of his league.
The seconds seemed to be ticking slowly, as Xuan was taking out barrier after barrier. Even though the two were taking a little bit of time to break each one, the worrying fact was that they did not seem to be having any difficulty.
If he wanted to help, the time was now.
However, he was only a clone.
"Xuan, how powerful are these people?"
"Pseudo-Champion level-they are beyond Warriors, but not Champions yet. King Daneel, you can forget about using soldiers or teamwork. Even if they are injured, no matter how many soldiers band together, they will just be cut down. I"m running out of barriers! I can only hold on for 20 seconds!"
Indeed, she had read his mind.
He had been thinking about whether deploying the Domination Corps would do any good, but against such a large power difference, they would just be crushed.
Hence, he only had one thing left, and although he was loth to use it, he had no other choice unless he wanted to die.
Daneel had kept this option in his mind since the very moment he had heard the words from those from the Church, but he had held back knowing that Sister Xuan would act.
Now, he stepped forward in the air with a smile and raised both his hands in the air.
Well, if he was going to do it, then it was going to be grand.
…..
"DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT! BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK!"
Outside the secondary barrier set up by the individuals from the Church, the Matron and Marcus were standing around and waiting for the team of mages in front of them to finish their work.
All of these mages were standing in a circle with their hands raised, while a spear similar to the one used by the Matron before floated in front of them.
However, this short spear was made of a different material, looking more refined with sharp edges.
The one who was pacing around while saying these words in frustration and occasionally kicking the barrier was Marcus, while the Matron was standing on the side with an expression that showed that she was resisting the urge to do the same.
With gritted teeth, she asked, "How much longer?!"
"40 seconds, ma"am. With all due respect, I must inform you that asking every 5 seconds will not make it work faster."
Now, she felt like the bas.h.i.+ng in the face of this head mage.
Yet, being the head of the team which comprised entirely of Warrior Mages, the Matron wondered whether she could even do it.
Right now, she couldn"t help but distract herself with thoughts like these so that she wouldn"t be faced with images of her star disciple killed.
She had told the girl to prioritize her own life, but knowing her character, she definitely wouldn"t do so.
"Nearing breach point. The opaqueness property of this barrier has been compromised."
As she heard this from the head mage, the Matron immediately cast a spell to magnify her vision.
As a Champion level ent.i.ty, she could even see a fly 200 kilometers away if she wished. Hence, it was a piece of cake to view what was happening in the stadium after teleporting into the air.
Marcus saw her go, but he was honestly afraid of what they might see.
He couldn"t bear to lose his son, and if that was the reality, he wanted to stay in this bliss of not knowing for as long as possible.
However, if he really were a coward, he wouldn"t have been able to train to his level.
Hence, putting on an expression of determination, he teleported beside the Matron but looked away.
"Just…tell me if he"s dead. I can take it from you."
He forced out these words, but hearing no response, he said in an angry tone, "Why aren"t you-!"
He had turned around mid-sentence to confront the Matron, but he had frozen as he saw something which chilled him to the bone.
Dragon claws.
Dragon claws that looked so realistic, that if he ignored a couple of details, they would be an exact replica of the images he had seen in their records.
4 claws were currently a.s.saulting two people on the ground from multiple directions, and although the men, being Pseudo-Champion level individuals, launched devastating attacks that would even destroy a Warrior, the claws kept regenerating and attacking again and again.
Only after getting over the shock and looking closer did Marcus realize that each claw was made of thousands of mosquitoes.
These mosquitoes were a red-gold color, which was coincidentally the exact shade of the legendary dragon whose image he had seen before.
Each claw seemed to be comprised of layers and layers of mosquitoes, as whenever an attack was going to hit, the claw changed form to either form a hole or go on the defensive, which exposed its insides.
Even when a claw was destroyed by a sudden inferno or tornado, the individual mosquitoes would just disperse and come back together.
"She…was right. He"s controlling the doom mosquitoes, and that too so intricately. How the h.e.l.l does he know the correct structure of a dragon claw anyway?"
The structure of a dragon claw was something that had come to be after meticulous honing by the dragon race, leading it to have maximum power in as many combat situations as possible.
Clearly, this man was utilizing all of those principles, and this was actually the main reason why the claws were persisting for so long against the onslaught.
That, and the fact that the two from the Church seemed to be severely fatigued.
If there was a fire attack, the 3 fingered claw would use one edge to, sort of, fan away the flames. If it was a barrier, the ridges on the back and the sharp edges could effectively pierce through. If it was ice…
Like this, every elementary particle had some counter, and although the entire power of attacks wasn"t ablated, it helped to a large degree.
How was it possible for the one controlling the mosquitoes to have such a thorough understanding of the anatomy of a dragon"s claw?
Marcus gave the answer after thinking for a bit.
"Remember, he"s from Lanthanor, the land of- never mind. If it weren"t for that d.a.m.n empire spirit, Angaria would have much better chances. I-"
"Not now. 10 seconds left. And the mosquitoes are all dying."
As Marcus shut up and focused again, he saw that it was indeed a losing fight.
Although the mosquitoes were large and numbered in the tens of thousands, they were being killed too quickly.
As the two waited to jump in, Daneel had a frustrated expression on his face.
He had been happy that the day was over, but these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds had jumped in threatening his life.
And now, with just one second left for those outside to break through, it seemed that it might be their victory.
At this moment, a single curse sounded in Daneel"s mind, knowing that it was time for the last trump card.
[email protected]^[email protected] EXP!
"Purchase and deploy 1 magic-less spell. Spell: Domineering Gaze."
[Spell purchased and deployed]
"KNEEL BEFORE THE KING!"
Startling everyone, Daneel shouted these words at the two from the Church.
Their smiles disappeared, and as they unwittingly looked into the eyes of the King of Lanthanor, they felt two mountains descend on their backs.
It was only for a second, but it was enough.
On this day, Daneel did something that made everyone watching from the Big 4 raise their eyebrows with shock.
He made the Church of Rect.i.tude, kneel.