Rayen was pissed off.
He couldn't even remember the last time he was this angry, and helpless. Even when his son had been about to die, it had been pure, mindless rage, and thankfully, it had been followed by the episode with the king where he had been made to kneel. Even though his anger has surged, then, it was nothing compared to what he felt now.
None of them had had any inkling about the fact that anything could be wrong with the trinkets that were given by the order of the Big Four, and the High Council. After all, part of being Angaria was trusting these individuals who had always had the good of the continent in their hearts, and even though he had known that the entire situation was wacky, he had thought that there was no possible way for anyone to be harmed if they equipped themselves with those powerful defenses. He had even scanned them, and had found nothing wrong, and besides, such a thing was even supposed to be impossible, according to all of the conventional magic rules that were known to all the mages and even Fighters.
At that moment when that… disgusting thing had made its move, he had realized it, and it was too late.
All he could do was berate himself, and even though it was a fact that many, many more powerful and even smarter Heroes had fallen for the same trick, he just couldn't stop from scolding himself again and again.
'When everything felt off, why did you care about whether you have a better Hero level trinket, or not?'
'Why can't you just have used what you had?'
'Why couldn't you have faked it?'
Even in his own consciousness, he kept asking questions like these, but no matter how much he did, there were no answers. He had also extensively analysed the situation, and found out that the one who had planned this all had also kept in mind the lingering fear that was in every Hero - that they would perish and lay waste to all of the lifespans that they had gained with so much effort on the battlefield, which meant that they would definitely not forego any chance to decrease the probability of this happening.
Also, even if he had tried resisting, there was nothing to say that he would not have been labeled as a traitor who had ulterior motives, maybe to backstab those around him, but still, Rayen was of the opinion that he should definitely not have been defeated this easily.
He had felt it the second it had started - it had used the bond that was formed usually between trinkets and living beings using the blood of the latter, and although it had looked simple on the surface, that command from the thing had changed a few of the formation lines' position, and had resulted in an entirely different formation appearing out of nowhere. It had put them all in a half-waking, half-unconscious state, and even though they could not detect anything that was happening outside, they could think in this manner in the void within their minds.
Perhaps… This was even worse than being knocked out, because they could all imagine the fate that Angaria must be subjected to in all of their absence. They knew that if someone was this capable, that they must definitely also have planned something for the rest of the Heroes who had also appeared from that secret force, so it definitely did not seem as if things were good for the continent.
Of course, Rayen's only, only hope was the king, but still, he couldn't help but wonder what an Amateur Champion could even do in the situation. Even a thousand Champions might not be able to accomplish much, but could the king perform a miracle?
Well, he was known for them, so the only thing that Rayen could do was pray.
Until… He heard a voice reaching out to him.
It was strange. There was no concept of time in the void that he was in, and he had settled in for a long, long wait. His mind went in circles, going over the same topics again and again, torturing him in the process, and he had thought that he would find no respite anytime soon. In fact, he had even been convinced that he might never wake up and be massacred in his sleep, and hence, he had started to list out all the regrets in his life, chief of which was that he hadn't been able to spend more time with his son.
However… That voice changed everything.
"Do you wish for revenge?"
"Do you wish to break your shackles and be unleashed upon the world?"
"Are you willing to stop being so useless, even if it means that you will have to give up your sanity?"
"Answer, and change your fate!"
"Answer, to rise and fight for your home!"
"Answer… Or die in this void, and forfeit your final chance to live…"
"Answer now!"
"I'll do it!"
Rayen didn't even need time to give the answer. And the moment he did… Strangely, it was as if a red film came over his vision.
And the next second… he rose, and his body started to swell with strength and power.
He watched it all happen… And he was laughing as he did so, feeling his sanity fading away.
It was the same with all of the Heroes who had collapsed near him. Like an army of zombies who had all been called upon by a powerful necromancer, they rose as one and started to transform into the scourge that had arisen to torment Angaria all those years ago.
They were back… But this time, there were here to save it.
Watching them all, Daneel shot another glance at the barrier behind him, which was barely holding on. By this time, the green fire had spread everywhere, and it was quickly burning through the energy reserves.
This had always been the bane of stationary protective barriers- they could be targeted and quickly depleted of their resources, and it was probable that there was nothing more effective than this green fire to accomplish that.
However, looking back at the field of Champions and Heroes, Daneel nodded to himself, while the Head watched on, completely flabbergasted.
Seeing him, Daneel decided to explain a bit, because they had a few seconds of time.
"It is no easy process to turn someone into a monster. First, this 'turning into a monster' thing is all a misnomer- what is basically happening is that one is turning back into their primordial form, where they enter the state in which they can use the most power, but in the process, they lose everything that made them human, or part of any other high-level race in the first place. They lose control over magic, too, because their Mageroot is also actively boosting their physical form, calling upon the power of the World to allow them to destroy as much as possible to survive. You saw me do the same thing with those Heroes before, and the ones here, and it was only possible… Because of their vulnerable positions. The spell I cast was based on the memories of the commander of that entity which I could scan through, and get a clear understanding of just how the transformation happened then - this was not possible for me before, as I never had access to someone who had lived through the Apocalypse and seen it with their own eyes. The spell gives one the choice of giving up their rationality in order to change their fate. You must already have observed that this is common in both of these groups - in their case, those Heroes were all pretty damn enraged because they were being forced to follow oaths like pitiful mongrels instead of the glorious individuals they once were, and given the choice, not one of them looked back. They all gave in and transformed, and it is the same here- I have no idea how I'm supposed to break the effect of the bond with the trinkets that was used by that entity, but I do know how to bypass restrictive measures. Also… I'm not proud of it, but I also know how to manipulate those who are in helpless situations. I just phrased their situation correctly, and…"
ROOAARR!
WRRAARRR! ROUW! ROUW!
RRRRRRAAAAAAAA!
The rest of Daneel's sentence was drowned out by the numerous roars that sounded on the battlefield that had been silent till now, and in fact, that was the perfect end to his explanation.
Turning his gaze, the Head could only watch with an expression of disbelief as thousands of monsters of various sizes stood up and started to look around the world which they had thought they might never see again.
The sizes seemed to correspond to the power level of each individual, and this change had only come upon the Champions and Heroes, just like it had happened back during the Apocalypse.
Now this… Seemed like an unbeatable force, but just as the Head was about to praise Daneel, he saw something which stopped him.
One of the Champions that was nearest to them was done relishing the feeling of being free, which they could still experience even though the rest of their mind had been swept away, and with nothing else to do… He had started attacking the one near him.
This started a chain effect, but before the Head could react and say that they might all kill themselves before they even attacked the enemy, he felt the king casting a spell.
It was a strange one, as he had never even heard about something like it before - it seemed to form some kind of… odor, and along with a carefully crafted breeze, it started to waft into the land of Axelor.
It had to be noted that there were many, many villages and towns still unscathed in the Kingdom, and although Blood Sacrifice formations had been formed around them, none of them had been activated.
Still, it looked like the people were used to strange things happening around them, as all of them were holed up in their homes, huddling behind any defensive trinket that they could find.
Everyone was ignoring them, as it was like they were the ants on the ground when a fight between humans was going on. True, they might be stepped down and killed, but neither party would really care.
However, Daneel did, and he made sure that the breeze that he had created passed over all of these places before heading to the Citadel, and also to all of the individuals who were standing in a circle around it, throwing globes after globes of green fire across vast distances at the barriers which were on their last legs.
By the time they felt that something was wrong… It was too late.
"Now!"
With Daneel's shout, the Overseer nodded, and the barrier went down. It had been about to break down in the next few seconds, anyway, and for a split second, the teleportation formations which were still creating human-sized mosquito after mosquito were exposed, with only a single last line of defense present that had been set up by the Domination Corps.
Only… It was only for a second, because in the next one, a shadow fell over them, as a swarm of beings flew above them, in the sky.
They were all headed to the same target, and as those in the Annihilation Corps realized what was going on with shock, they began to hastily set up more defensive measures as they definitely had not been expecting to be instantly mobbed by thousands of monsters whose power levels were all jacked up to a level that they had not reached in their life.
Seeing them all being swarmed in this way, Daneel allowed himself a small smile and said, "I didn't think that the pheromone extraction spell that helped me to find Elysium would be utilized in this way, too… But I guess a monster is a monster, whether it be in the form of a shark, or a human who has given up everything."
With that, he turned to the Head, and with a determined tone, he spoke.
"That'll keep them for some time. Head, I think you realize that doing this will jeopardize the lives of around two million more Axelorians, who are all hiding now, scared, unaware that their kingdom is soon going to be destroyed. Should they have to die for the bad luck of being born there? No! They all have to be saved, and we have to do it before the final explosion that will set Axelor adrift, which is one minute from now. Every second is precious, and my plan is to save each and every one of those people, before equipping them with everything that I can to avenge their home that will soon be destroyed. Come on. We have a kingdom to save."
Confidence growing in the Head's eyes, he nodded, and Daneel began to lay out his plan.