Made up of all kinds of people from different parts of the Mainland, the Chameleon corps were known to shout and scream with bloodthirstiness and the zeal to destroy whenever they set out to war.
There was none of that now. Accompanied by somber silence that was occasionally interrupted by the lightning from above, the large and final force of the Church moved in the direction of Angaria.
Jonah had gotten used to not paying too much attention to the words of the Bishop, as he had realized by now that he could never know when she was being truthful and when she was acting disingenuously. Hence, when he heard her short speech, he had immediately wondered whether there was a fourth wave that none of them knew about.
If it was true, it would be both extremely anticlimactic and illogical. He pondered for a few moments on whether he was right, but a few seconds after their departure, the Bishop did something that set these doubts to rest.
Without even looking back, she waved her hand and made a loud sound appear from behind them.
Jonah initially thought that this was something she might have planned before along with the rest of the third wave, but when he saw many of those in the Chameleon corps also turn around just like him, he realized that he was wrong. As for the source of the sound… it was that of the headquarters they had lived on for all these days folding in on itself until there was nothing left but a small, fist-sized object that floated into her hand.
Truly signifying the fact that there was no coming back, the Bishop had decided to dismantle the hours of effort that had gone into setting up the secondary headquarters that had been indispensable in the war effort until now. He wondered what would happen to the analysts who were supposed to stay back and study the battle, but soon, he saw the last of them huddled together in a small group behind all the soldiers. He hadn't spotted them before, but as he saw them now, he noticed that they were all holding hands as if to draw strength from each other.
The fear they felt was palpable, and he could guess that it had been born after they had seen the fate of their companions. Averting his gaze from them, he studied the eyes of both the remnants of the third wave, and the reinforcements that had come from the Church.
He spotted doubt in a majority of the former, which meant that they must be questioning their decision to drop their plan from before. He knew that the punishment that would be waiting for them back on the Mainland was no joke, so they must have decided that they would take their chances as their numbers were also replenished… but now, they seemed to be wondering whether they had been foolish to give in to the fear of what the Bishop would do to them. When they had been waiting outside, he had seen the woman close the door on them once after giving them a chance to witness the carnage within, so it was obvious that they had seen a taste of what might be waiting for them even though she would be breaking the rules if she subjected them to the same fate.
She had already broken the rules with the analysts, though, so how could they guarantee that she would hesitate from dismembering them?
"If you thought I was joking, think again. I have the only way in which all of you can return the Mainland, so you better ensure that you do everything you can to ensure victory. Let's increase the pace… I'm anxious to meet our dear friend."
He saw many gulps of concern as a result of her words, but then, most of them were replaced by the bloodlust that had been missing before.
"To victory!"\u2028
"Kill! Kill!"
"The Church shall stand supreme!"
They did cheer, now. It was a jumble of many different shouts, but the Bishop was still pleased by it. With a smile on the corner of her lips, she pointed her finger in the direction of Angaria and made them shoot through the air.
The cheers lulled, then returned when they passed the invisible barrier. Louder than ever, they echoed over the Sea to herald the coming of the final wave that had to be overcome.
THRUM Thrum thrum thrum… THRUM Thrum thrum thrum… THRUM Thrum thrum thrum.
Out of nowhere, a drum was unveiled by a group of the Chameleon corps. Its steady, yet heart-thumping song made their pace increase even more, until they were barrelling toward Angaria like there was no tomorrow.
When the shore came into view, shouts of fury could be heard from all around. Entranced by the beat of war, the Chameleon corps brandished their arms and waited for their foes to show themselves.
The Bishop stopped at a spot 50 km away from the shore. He stopped with her, and all around them, the wave of soldiers swept forward without a pause. It was simple enough to cast a spell to see all the details of his home clearly, and as he lay his eyes upon it for the first time, Jonah was overwhelmed by all sorts of emotions.
The one that dominated him the most was anxiousness, though, as he saw the same giants that had baited them during the assault of the first wave appear once again. All precautions had been taken: the final wave had been flying at a high altitude, so Daneel could not use his superiority over the Sea once again. Their plan was to break through the barrier and then strike down from above, and it looked like Angaria was aware of this as they had positioned their Heroes at the same altitude.
Their massive bodies rippling with Energy, all of the giants raised their hands. It almost looked like they were on the outside, vulnerable and ready to be destroyed, but when the Chameleon corps reached within a few hundred meters of them… the continent-wide formation of Angaria activated, and revealed the fact that they were protected by multiple reinforced barriers.
Without another option, the soldiers of the Church came to a halt then. The barrage of attacks from the Heroes of the Order began, but as Jonah had seen it before, he looked all around, searching for the next force that would be unleashed as these giants were definitely not enough.
The Chameleon corps was unfazed even though they were being attacked by hundreds of individuals who were all mostly stronger them. Their ranks were not comprised of peak individuals like the squadrons of the first wave, and even though this might make many think that they would be weaker, there was a certain reason behind their renown that was unveiled in a spectacular fashion.
Jonah had only heard of the 'Mastermind', so this was his first time seeing it in action. It came alive in the form of a glowing orb of purple light that became visible around the head of one of the soldiers who was standing at the back. Like a plague, it spread from him to those nearby, increasing in speed with each member that it consumed. Every time it covered the head of one of the Chameleon corps, they would scream first as if in defiance, but in the next second, their face would instantly change to that of someone who was long dead.
Indeed, there was no better way to describe it. All the muscles on each face would sag, and the eyes would lose focus. The bodies would go completely still as if waiting on the command of some unseen specter, and together, like zombies prepared to drown out the sea of humanity in front of them, they congregated into groups of various sizes.
In only the span of a few heartbeats, they were ready. Six groups of varying numbers had formed, each ablaze with the purple light that unsettled Jonah as he gazed at it. The Heroes of the order were quick, too, as they managed to launch another barrage in this period of inactivity. A single moment was supposed to be enough to decide the outcome of a battle, but in war, this was not always the case.
On the way, Jonah had realized that there was a secondary reason behind the Bishop dismissing the headquarters: with not many resources left to them to maintain its defenses, it seemed stupid for them to leave all that Energy behind when it was true that the place would mostly be empty, anyway. Instead of doing that, she had relegated all of those resources to this battle, too, which meant that the barriers that were being used now had enough power to resist Angaria for at least a few minutes.
However, it did not seem that she wanted this to happen as the glowing barriers around the Chameleon corps disappeared after they were struck by the second barrage. By that time, the third was ready, but before it could leave the Order's giants…all six groups fell upon Angaria like vultures from the sky.