On glancing toward the Hero who had made the Hawk, Vohler sighed as he saw that even his body had been burned up to ash, so right away, he knew that that was the fate waiting for this man who had unluckily stood at the worst spot possible.
The crazy smile on the king's face only broadened as he saw the body of the one he had killed shrivel up and start to disappear, and once again, another Hero fell from his hand.
A Hero for a Hero.
That was the trade he was proposing, and by now, it was clear to all of those who had begun the assault that the King was going all out.
Seeing doubt appear on quite a few of those near him, Vohler suddenly spoke out.
"Stay calm! He knows that the one thing that scares Heroes is the prospect of giving up our long life. I order you all using the oath you have sworn to support the Church to not step back. If you do, you will die at his hands anyway. This is an unexpected development, but the way I see it… It still ends in our favor. The names of those whom I call out will be assaulting from the front…"
Saying so, he began to rattle off a few names, and after a few seconds, it became obvious that these were all the Heroes who were the weakest in the group that he had made.
Many of them tried to protest, but all it took was a single flick of his fingers to make them clutch their heads with pain, as if it hurt so much that they were afraid that their brains would explode.
This was all being studied by the king who was hovering in the sky, with the sword glowing almost like a hungry demon that had tasted flesh after a long time, and yearned for more.
"Cowards," He said, before beginning to fly down to the ground, but it was exactly at that moment that the bubble disappeared, and 50 Heroes began to fly towards him from different directions.
For the slightest of moments, an expression of vexation came on the king's face, and although many missed it, Vohler didn't - with that, it became obvious that the king had been hoping that his action of killing two Heroes in quick succession might make the others stall and give him enough time to finish the unification.
'Scheming isn't exclusive to you,' he thought, while with a grim expression, he saw Hero after Hero fall to the ground, with their eyes turning into embers which lit up the transparent surface he had made in the Artefact almost like stars in an early night sky.
Of course, each Hero was accompanied by a large hooded figure who disappeared, or rather, was swallowed by the sword whose cross guard began to shine gleefully as the eyes that were set in them danced with merry abandonment.
The King's expression as he slew Hero after Hero was one of angry passion. Most of those who were looking at him could tell that although it must be fun killing Heroes so easily with just a single strike of his weapon, it was definitely not entertaining to see his forces which had helped him so much over all these months dwindle more and more until there would soon be none left.
Soon enough, that point did come, with barely two or three Heroes remaining from the large force who had managed to do so much in such a short period of time.
By now, Vohler had had to use the authority given by him to the Church to command the oath sworn by those who had changed sides, and it was only with grave threats that he was able to send them forth.
They did so with the hope that they would succeed in defending themselves where the others had failed, but alas, most of them were wrong, and after 100 Heroes fell to the ground, the smallest of smiles once again came on Vohler's face.
He only had 30 Heroes who were unscathed, as another 50 had managed to defend themselves using various means, but had gotten injured in the process as the sword seemed to have some kind of power which was able to damage them quite significantly even if it managed to make only the slightest of contact.
Still… Those 30 were more than enough.
"Well… What else, king? It was a good trade… For us."
He almost felt like chuckling as he said this, as it was clear that the Artefact could no longer be used by the king, unless he wanted to kill himself.
Sure enough, after landing on the ground looking exhausted, the king gave one last, sad look at the last of his Heroes who were smoldering away, but after that, he unclenched his hand and let the Artefact disappear.
Looking down, he saw that there were only a few minutes left for the unification. All of the people had been gathered, and all that was left was for the representatives to begin.
They were all also ready, but on his orders, they were waiting for noon to arrive so that they could begin.
Vohler followed his gaze, and after seeing the hint of hope deep in the King's eyes, he could not help but speak.
"The Grand Inheritance will need some time to be activated even after you get everyone on your side. You won't live until then, King. I think you know this, too. Still, why are you so intent on seeing it happen? Do you want to die an Emperor, rather than as a King? Or is there something else? Don't bother answering- I don't mind finding out leisurely after your death."
As soon as the last word left his mouth, he casually flung out his arm, and in its wake, an invisible force sped toward the King.
It was clear as day that it was an attack, and just like he had done until now, the people of Angaria, whether they be normal citizens, or esteemed Heroes of the Order, all waited to see the King dodge it, or defend himself with no trouble whatsoever.
Only…as a collective gasp of shock was heard over the continent, the King moved to the side, but he was too slow.
The Windlord's blade which had been sent with the help of the remaining Heroes behind him, who had been preparing for this moment while seeing their brethren die, did not fail.
It had been aimed to cut him in half, but because of his movement, it cut off his arm, which had returned to normal after all the Heroes had died.
Even as a knowing expression appeared in Vohler's eyes, the King's brows matted together, as right away, almost all of those watching came to a horrifying conclusion:
The King…was out of backup plans.