The Bishop and a few of the commenters laughed as they heard this, and then, when she spoke, it was to give a command to the Knights.
"Enough of this farce. Kill him. Kill him in one strike, and I'll make sure your lives will change when we return."
"With pleasure."
The response from the head of the Knights was filled with glee. He sent an unheard command to his subordinates, and together, all of them raised hands, palm-forward, and pointed them in Daneel's direction.
True to their special status, the Tenebrous Knights were also garbed differently than any other squadron in the Church. Their hooded robes were the exact shade of green that matched the flames, and their style made it seem as if they were weapons, themselves. Tiny, burning skulls that looked like they were laughing flew all around the fabric, and seeing them, Jonah was reminded of the rumor that each of them represented a life that each Knight had taken.
As the number of skulls on each of them was different, Jonah realized that it was very likely that this was true. The leader could thus be identified as the man with 6 hands who stood in the middle of the group, as his robes had at least a half a million of those skulls crammed so tightly together that there didn't seem to be any place for any more.
All of their palms began to glow with a green light, and seeing his disciple just stand there without doing anything, Jonah felt concerned.
A moment later, the attack from the Knights shot forward. The same massive green skull that had been protecting them had been sent to devour their most dangerous enemy, and as it hurtled through the air with its jaw hanging loose, the commanders all leaned forward to see it swallow the pest that had caused them so much worry.
Do something, dammit. What's your plan?
As soon as this thought came in his mind…the Godking finally moved.
This immediately made confused expressions appear on the faces of many present, as all he did…was breathe in.
"Wait, wh-"
At the same moment that this doubt-filled question was heard from the commander of the Tenebrous Knights, the Bishop and the commanders noticed what was wrong, too.
That breath of the Godking that had almost looked ordinary…had formed a whirlpool below him, on the surface of the Endless Sea.
By itself, this was nothing special as it was quite simple for any Champion to cast a spell to create one. Only, the thing that took away the breath of all of the commanders of the Church…was that the whirlpool glowed white.
And a white glow could only mean one thing.
In an instant, the Godking swelled to 4 times his size. His bulging, veined muscles ripped through his robes while his face turned completely red due to the fury that he seemed to have completely unleashed, and as the large green skull reached him, he caught it in his hands…and bit.
This incredible sight made dumb, slack-jawed expressions come on the faces of many of the Knights and almost all the commanders.
With each bite, the Godking consumed the flames as if they were naught but a snack thrown at him by a friend. In four bites, there was nothing left, and with a snarl, he laid his eyes on the Knights.
He was beyond reason. Beyond control. And beyond frightening.
Yet, as the Knights were trained soldiers, they did not flinch before shifting to a different attack.
Raising both their hands this time, they began to conjure ghostly figures made of flames, but that…was when all hell broke loose.
It happened so suddenly that Jonah and the rest did not understand what had happened, at first, as the entire image grew dim.
They saw vague shapes moving, but they couldn't make out anything. The Bishop seemed to be frantically trying to hail the commander, but it looked like she wasn't receiving any response as she bashed the communication disc on the wall at one point, as if hoping that that would make it work.
Finally, after a few seconds, a few shards of lights appeared in the image and they were once again able to see something.
And that…was when they realized that this view they were seeing was underwater, through a charred hole in a wall of flesh.
Puzzled, everyone waited for the Knight to climb out. He did so after widening the hole, and when he finally turned the transmission trinket around, Jonah and the rest were able to see the cause behind it all.
At the same time, the audio also began to work, so they were able to hear the messages being sent by the Knights.
"Help! Help! There's too many!"
"The damn sea rose and swallowed us whole, and we can't get out!"
"Commander, I am sure of it! There are no beacons attracting them, or anything of the sort! He's somehow…"
"He's controlling them! They're attacking together! Save me, I've been cornered by five- ACCCCHHHGG!!!"
That last message ended with the sound of someone choking on their own blood, and if the minds of all those near Jonah wasn't already filled with shock and awe and sheer bloody fear, it might have had an effect.
The image showed a sight that had never been seen in the history of Angaria, or even of all the continents that had been conquered by the Church so far.
An endless army of beasts of the Sea was in front of the Knight, and somehow, instead of attacking each other as was the norm, they were working in perfect sync to bring down the rest of his unit.
To his left, five Knights who had managed to clump together were being hounded by three Divine Sharks who were swimming in formation and blocking all escape routes. They were accompanied by a Thousand-Hand Octopus which was shooting countless attacks with its innumerable tentacles to keep the Knight occupied, and below them, a Golden Hammerhead Shark was trying to pound them into nothingness.
To his right, 20 Knights had formed a defensive formation, but they were quickly being overwhelmed by the thousands of lesser beasts that kept coming at them in coordinated waves. Each wave was followed by a synchronized attack by a group of greater beasts who tried to break through the barrier set up by the Knights, and every time they did so, they were coming closer and closer to achieving their goal.
The most spectacular sight was in front of him, though, where all the remaining Knights…were running for their lives.
A monster was following them through the sea. Every time it caught a Knight, it would use its two hands to crush through any and all defensive formations that activated before mashing the body into a ball of flesh…and roasting it into nothingness with the green flame it had swallowed before.
Killing them with their own flames…is there anything more fitting, or more badass? My dear disciple, you have successfully exceeded all expectations...HAHA, I was right! It was all worth it! All of it! Oh, thank the Heavens!
As this thought came in his mind, Jonah relaxed his shoulders and slumped back onto his chair.
He was the only one sitting in the room, and also the only one breathing steadily. The rest either gasped in the air as if they couldn't get enough of it, or stayed so still that they could pass as petrified statues made of stone.
Each Knight that was caught tried everything to escape, but it was futile. The endless Energy of the Sea was thrumming through his body, and as they had been foolish enough to enter his domain…they were doomed.
One by one, he killed them all. The Bishop and the commanders watched the massacre without speaking a single word. It was almost as if they believed that breaking the silence would somehow cement what they were seeing in reality, which was bad as they were definitely hoping that it was all a dream.
He came to the Knight with the transmission trinket last. By this time, the man had found out his fate, and it was futile to even attempt to run.
He had tried it, though. He had tried to turn around and flee, but what had greeted him when he did so…was a wall of beasts who had stayed still in the water and stared.
The sight of their numbers stretching to the surface had scared him so much that he had abandoned that notion and turned around again, resigned to at least finish his duty as the one sending the transmission.
Hence, when Daneel came to him, he did not resist.
They would never forget his face that looked like it was drenched in blood, while his army of millions of beasts looked on from behind him. The veins that bulged on it looked like angry snakes streaking across his face, and seeing this image, Jonah felt all the anger leave his body as his disciple had taken revenge in his place.
Before reaching for the last of his prey, the Godking smiled, but even this was a frightening thing due to his teeth that had grown along with his body to look like they belonged on the deadly jaw of a shark.
They saw him move so fast that he became a blur, and then, the last thing they saw was a severed head floating in the Sea…before everything went dark.