A grey, graceful dress.
A lithe, perfect body.
And the face filled with fury.
If the three of these things were present on a normal woman, it might not have been such a threat, but the fact that they all belonged to a 200 m tall being which was towering over them menacingly… Made all eight sovereigns take a gulp and a step back even though Daneel had spoken those bold words.
Even though the final thing he had said was 'let's go', Daneel, himself, joined them as the most obvious thing to do was to first create some distance between them and this unique foe who had not moved to attack yet.
But a second later, this was no longer the case.
[Analysing host's opponent. Multiple core formations that are present within opponent's body are still being activated. Hence, it is possible that the maximum strength that the opponent can output will not be available for a small bit of time. However, no method has been found to penetrate the exterior layer of the opponent, which has been hardened to a level that will require 10 Hero level individuals to launch a constant barrage of attacks for 10 seconds if it needs to be broken through. A self-healing formation is also in effect, which will nullify and heal any damage taken. From all of these observations, a conclusion has been reached that the primary objective of this Amalgam is to defend, rather than to attack. Although the attacking formations detected are also numerous, more focus has been laid on defense, leading to the present invulnerable state.]
"Dammit, give me some good news!"
Daneel's frantic shout was due to the change that had come over the statue, which had raised its right hand, while its eyes which were so big that any of them could stand in them, upright, were still fixed on the spot where they stood with the intent to kill.
'Hey, I just showed you some actors from Earth! Maybe I spoiled your expectations in men for a few years…but that's it! Who knows, maybe you'll still find your Brad Pitts and Dicaprios here!'
The King of Lanthanor felt like screaming this as he detected the elementary particles that had been kicked up into a storm due to the movement of the Amalgam, which was what the system had called it.
Knowing that it might only succeed in making things worse, though, he controlled himself, and said, "Sovereigns, prepare to use your powers at a moment's notice! We aren't going down without a fight!"
Hearing him, the sovereigns who had still not completely snapped out of what had just happened finally managed to do so, and follow his instructions.
Of course, Aran was the last one to do this, but he successfully managed to return to his senses, too, when Cassandra saw his fists opening and closing in front of his eyes while looking as if he was seeing the most beautiful objects in the universe, which led to her setting his hair on fire for a brief moment.
He had been about to curse after she did so, but when he saw her glare and understood what had happened, he, too, began to activate his Path.
One by one, while Daneel waited for the system to respond to his wish, the sovereigns took up the formation which they had discussed idly after Daneel's return, in case they ever got into a fight together.
They hadn't expected that they would need to use it anytime soon, though, due to the existence of Daneel's terrifying backup force, but with those Heroes cut off, they had no other choice.
Elanev strode to the front, and with each step he took, his entire body started to swell until his muscles on his upper body tore through the robes he was wearing to expose their terrifying might. The Overdrive Inheritance which would allow him to strike with stored Energy that would also greatly amplify each and every one of his attacks had always been one of the most dominating Paths among Fighters, and he showcased why this was so in a perfect manner when steam began to rise from all over his body as he reached his destination, which was where he stood as the vanguard of the sovereigns.
Next was Faxul, who transformed into a gigantic Black Raven whose wingspan was at least 80 meters, and as swirling black holes came into existence at the ends of his talons, they looked ready to swallow all of existence.
His wings protectively covered the spot where they were all standing, and by the time he began to hover over them, Eloise and Robert had reached their positions in the middle of the group.
Robert was the weakest among the sovereigns as he had had to be taken along with Daneel and put in a slumber when he had been on the run, and even though Daneel had a plan for his Path which would definitely put him on par with the others, for now, he was designated to be the final line of defense for Eloise, while also acting as the commander who would call out opportunities or dangers if there were any.
And of course, Eloise was probably the most important individual among them who had to be protected at all costs, as her Path which she activated right away boosted all of their powers and made them feel as if they were full of Energy.
The commanders and the Grant Court Mage moved last: Aran and Kellor made a perimeter in front of Robert and behind Elanev as they prepared to confound(using Aran's Mindhunter Path) and then cut down(using Kellor's woodcutter's axe) anyone who might come against them, and Luther and Cassandra turned into a shadow and a Phoenix, respectively, as they went to either side of the formation and got ready to branch out and strike from the side, when the order came.
Daneel rose in the air and took his place above those on the ground, and below Faxul. His job was to direct the battle and also deploy his numerous offensive methods in the way he saw fit using the system, and for that, he was ready.
Almost at the same second that they finished arranging themselves…the Sanctorium struck.
Until that point, a globe of bright light had been forming around the upraised hand of the Amalgam, and in a flash, the hand moved, hurling this globe at lightning speed at the opponents it was looking at as if they had betrayed it in the worst way possible.
"Brace!"
Daneel knew, from the announcement of the system which had told him about the defensive properties of the Amalgam, that it would be futile for them to attack even though they had figured out a few ways to combine their power.
Even though those would be pretty spectacular as Daneel had gone through a lot of thought to create them, they wouldn't be enough, so it was better not to expose those trump cards unless they would work.
As the globe came nearer and nearer, the ground suddenly started to shake, and looking in front of them, everyone realised with horror that after throwing the attack, 200 meters of ferocity given life was hurtling towards them with the clear intent of superimposing a physical attack on top of the magical one that it had just launched.
They didn't know yet whether both would reach at the same time, but even if they didn't, enduring one after the other would definitely be pretty devastating.
Recognizing this, Daneel shouted, "Prepare to evade after defending! Aran, try to slow that thing down- aim for the Matron, who's inside the spot where the Mageroot would be! Faxul, fly over to a different side and use the attractive power of your black holes to pull that thing over to you! Cassandra, go with Faxul and lay a trap with your flames! Everyone else, DEFEND!"
His last word coincided with the moment of impact of the globe of light, and as soon as it struck the layers and layers of barriers that popped up…it felt as if the World was going to end.
This was the perfect combination of the power of hundreds of Champions, which was something that was supposed to be impossible, and even a couple of Heroes would have been blown away and gravely injured if they weren't giving their all, and then some, to protect themselves.
Thankfully, Daneel had a wide variety of defensive methods to choose from, and this time, the system's choice of using an 'armadillo method' turned out to be the perfect one.
All of the layers of barriers turned into a semi-circular ball, and as soon as the attack arrived, they started rotating at an incredibly high speed.
Hence, even though all of those left inside after Daneel's orders felt as if they would be crushed at any moment as their eyes were filled with the fiery intensity of the globe that was made of pure Energy concentrated and wound together in order to eradicate everything in its path, the truth was that its power began to be whittled away, bit by bit, by the rotation of the layers of barriers, which held on for dear life with the perfect management of the system.
"NOW!"
Daneel's shout came a few seconds after the impact, and hearing it, all of the rest of the sovereigns jumped to the side.
They felt a ferocious wave of wind buffet their bodies right as they did so, and as they turned to look at the spot where they were standing, a heavy feeling came upon their hearts.
A large foot of stone was present there, and from the remnants of the barriers which they had to leave behind so that the remainder of the globe wouldn't destroy them, they could tell that they would have been ground to dust right away if they had stared.
Even that escape had only been possible because Daneel's commands had caused the Amalgam to slow down a tiny bit, thus thwarting its original plan to arrive at the same time as the magical attack.
The good news was that they had escaped, but right after they found their footing…Aran collapsed, with blood coming out of his nostrils and eyes.
"He did well delaying them! Sadly, that thing is shielded against mental attacks, too! Throw him into the inner circle!"
With anger now apparent on his face, Daneel said this as the Amalgam started to raise its leg.
That attack had expended a lot of Energy, so it would need a brief moment to recover.
Looking at his sovereigns who were all already tired due to what they had just endured, he let out a breath.
They had also worked to create those barriers which had been managed by the system, and if it weren't for their presence, Daneel might have been injured by losing the part of consciousness that was present in his apparition as he would definitely have not had a way to stop that attack.
But what to do? Why was he even in this situation?
And how was he going to get out of it without being defeated, or worse?
As soon as both of these questions came to him at the same time…a sudden idea came in Daneel's mind, and ordinarily, he might not have chosen to act on it.
Now, though…these women whom he had not intended to antagonise in the first place were just being too unreasonable, and hence…he had no choice.
"*Sigh*…I didn't want to do this. Everyone! I'm sending you a multi-person formation blueprint. When the time comes, hand over your consciousnesses to me. I will direct them all to cast it. But keep watch, as in the future, I want to be able to do the same with you guys casting it on your own. This is just the first of many attacks that I've chosen to temporarily call 'Sovereign Strike(SS)', so this would be SS1, if we choose to stick with the name."
The reluctance in the first sentence was met by surprise from the sovereigns who had definitely not expected that they would hear something like that at this juncture. But as soon as a blueprint began to be communicated to them…they all almost dropped their jaws collectively, but this was interrupted by the Amalgam, whose loud steps were heard again as it seemed that it was done recovering.
"Guys, you can marvel at it later, but now, consciousnesses please…we're kinda' on a tight schedule."
His idle words did two things: first, it allowed them to snap out of their state of shock, and second, it made them all relax, as once again…their king had a plan.
That was all they needed to know. With the backdrop of the thundering steps of the Amalgam which had seemingly decided to crush them with its physical might instead of replying on magical attacks, all of the sovereigns gave up their consciousnesses to the person they trusted the most in the world, and at that moment…a wonderful thing started to happen.
If the ladies in the Amalgam weren't so blinded with rage, they might have seen it and felt danger, but alas…fate had decreed that this would be a day they would remember with shame for not one, but two resounding reasons.
It was ready not even two seconds later, and that also happened to be the time at which the Amalgam reached them and struck out with its hand.
By this time, Faxul and Cassandra were back in their assigned places, and standing in the air among the sovereigns, Daneel sighed again and spoke in a casual tone.
"Ladies, you're the ones pushing me, and later, when you think back to this, remember that. Normally, I would never have done this, but now…"
As soon as that word left Daneel's mouth, it was the moment at which the Amalgam's hand had retracted to launch towards them with the full might of hundreds of Champions.
However, suddenly, in front of the formation of sovereigns, an object began to form.
The World, itself, seemed to fear its creation, as the elementary particles in the area all fluctuated violently, which was something that would normally happen on the advent of a natural catastrophe.
Fire danced in the air. Sprouts of water came into being and disappeared randomly. Cracks came in the ground, and lightning briefly flashed everywhere.
Among them all…a spear began to take form.
It was long, double the length of a normal spear, and first, its shaft came into existence.
Gilded with gold and decorated with the images of the Dragon, the Black Raven, and the Phoenix, it made voids appear all around it as it seemed to be yawning as if it had been awoken from a long, deep slumber.
With each inch of the spear that formed, the fluctuations grew wilder, and finally, when the time came for the spear-tip to appear, Daneel spoke again.
"Take form, Sovereign Spear of Annihilation. And system…deploy Reverse Harem Jutsu: Stage two."
The second sentence was obviously spoken within his mind, but in that instant, the elementary particle fluctuations all vanished, and they were replaced…by hundreds of people.
At first, the women in the Amalgam were confused, but again, it was the Matron who understood what was happening.
However…she was a beat too late.
"Stop, everyone! CLOSE YOUR EYES! CLOSE THEM! CLOS-"
That last word froze in her thought, though…when two people kissing passionately appeared in front of the Amalgam's face.
It was the Matron and Marcus, and the image had a strange allure to it, which made the Matron automatically imagine herself in its spot.
'Oh, how nice would it be if this was real…'
Similar images appeared all over the place, and in no time, each of the ladies in the Amalgam found their replicas engaging in bolder and bolder acts of passion, and seeing this, they were all hopelessly captivated.
In that moment where there was absolute silence except for the sound of lips smacking against each other…Daneel's voice rung out grandly.
"Strike."
SHHHHRUMMMM!
Accompanied by a shrill sound, the Spear flew at unimaginable speeds, and in no time at all, it was at the spot in front of the Matron, with just a few centimeters of stone between them.
As it did so, Kellor couldn't help but speak.
"Wings of the Phoenix.
Voidspeed of the Black Raven.
Power of the Berserker.
Evasiveness of the Shadow.
And finally…domination of the Dragon."
As soon as the last word came out of his mouth, the spear effortlessly pierced through the formations protecting the Amalgam, which had all been weakened by the lack of attention of the Goddesses.
A noiseless scream erupted from the Matron as she saw this, but just as she was going to accept her death, the tip stopped right in front of her forehead.
As her eyes tried to focus on this Godly weapon of destruction, the King's voice rang out again, and this time…he didn't mince his words, at all.
"B*tch, I've had enough of your tantrums. Kneel, or die."