There was nothing special about this - this was the force they had already antic.i.p.ated, and even if their numbers were lower than this group, they would have had no trouble getting past it, as had been showcased in the original fight where these 100 mindless creatures had first appeared in the skies of Angaria.
"Defensive formations," he growled, knowing that the logical move of anyone in the king"s shoes was to use a blitzkrieg method and even sacrifice his own forces to take on the enemy.
That was what he would have done, and in fact, if he didn"t know a certain few things such as the exact powers of the Heroes on the Church"s side, which was a closely guarded secret, he would have been smart to make that decision.
Only… After raising his eyebrows as if he was bored, the king flicked his fingers again and turned around before walking away nonchalantly.
With the second flick, the 100 Heroes all began to interlock with each other.
Like jigsaw pieces, they began to align themselves so that their figures formed a perfect surface, and after they found their place, a trinket on their hooded robe began to s.h.i.+ne, transforming them into a solid, white barrier.
With all of the barriers together, a dome formed around the king, which moved with him.
Typically, domes like these would be opaque to hide whatever was inside so that an attack could secretly be formed underneath.
This one, though… Was transparent, and hence, when the King sat down a second later and materialized a table with a pot of tea and a cup on top, all of the Heroes of the church could see, and grit their teeth.
"He"s mocking us. Prepare the Piercing Formation! His plan must be to surprise us when we attack!"
This time, Vohler did not miss a beat. His calculation was off again, but it wasn"t by too much, as this might be one of the plans he had already prepared against.
With the cunningness of the King, it was possible that he was playing a recording on the dome while preparing his counter-attack.
The Piercing Formation was ready in a few seconds. It was in the form of a hawk made of light, being led by a Hero who had broken through on the path of this creature which was supposed to have been another G.o.dbeast in the past which reigned over an entire area, before being killed off.
All of the other Heroes were standing behind him, lending their power, allowing him to take the form he was most familiar with.
And that form… Was extremely good at forcing its way through anything and everything in its way.
So large that it could easily fit over 50 people in its beak if it was real, the resplendent Divine Hawk took flight and made an arc above the Heavenly City before beginning to dive straight for the dome.
It only needed a few seconds after beginning the dive to break the sound barrier, and after that, it accelerated even more, quickly turning into a blur.
When it was a few hundred meters away from the dome, the air resistance even formed a spherical ball of fire that burned brightly, and as the people from below quietened down and looked on with apprehension, the Hawk made contact.
BOOOOOM!
The attack made by the king on the barrier had only deactivated the formation which blocked out the vision, so no sounds were being heard from inside the golden globe trapping the king.
Yet, seeing that impact, it was almost as if the people and everyone watching could feel it, as they felt their hearts stop beating for a second.
The point of impact on the dome glowed brightly as soon as the s.h.i.+ning tip of the Hawk"s beak met it, and at the same time, the rest of the dome turned dim, as if it was concentrating all of its power on that one point to defend.
For a moment, both the barrier and the hawk seemed to stand still, as the power of 100 Heroes perfectly combined seemed to be enough to stop the attack which was straight out of the legends.
A moment later, as the hawk finally gave up and let itself be deflected to the side, a cheer sounded from the crowd.
Yet, Vohler waited and watched.
A second later, his patience was repaid: the part of the dome which the hawk had just struck dimmed and then fell, revealing a hole in the dome for the briefest of moments.
It was covered up by a different Hero instantly, but it was enough to make it clear that his tactic was working.
He didn"t need to say anything. The hawk had already used the force from its deflection to propel itself far away, and as it turned around to begin another dive, the people below began to talk among themselves.
The force of the attack which stilled their hearts seemed to have made it clear that even with their combined strength, there wasn"t much they could do to make a difference.
They had known the same, too: when they had begun training, they had been told that if they all worked together, they might ultimately meet the strength of a few tens of those who stood at the peak of the continent, so it was a fairy tale to think that they could make an impact in a battle that involved hundreds of Heroes.
Yet, the motivation from the fact that they were fighting to protect their future, while not being relegated to the useless role of waiting in fear had spurred them on.
That same motivation urged them to try, even if it didn"t work, now.
Some had already begun to form into the groups they were familiar with, while others also looked like they would begin doing the same soon.
However, when a strong voice rang out over the millions of Angarians, everyone stopped in their tracks.
"Continue the process of unification. I am Joselyn, and I have been told by the King that the best thing we can do right now is to make sure that we are not stopped. The King has asked you to trust him. He says that they fear our unity. They fear an Angaria which stands as one. And so, they"ve snuck out of their burrows to stop it happening. We won"t let them! Black Ravens, Arafellians, Lanthanorians, a.s.sa.s.sins, to your stations! Angarians, prepare to welcome our one true leader! Everyone, move!"