Uriel watched with great interest as the army clashed against the abominations, beginning a no-holds-barred battle. Dozens of Awakened abominations were eliminated by the hundreds of released Aspects. Leading the horde were Randal, Dale, surprisingly Lucien, and their Echoes.
Lucien moved with surprising speed. The Blood Flower enchantment combined with his Aspect turned him into an unstoppable force of excessive violence, eliminating both Awakened and Fallen abominations.
Looking elsewhere, he watched as Lily used her Aspect. Strengthened under the open sky, her strength, endurance, and speed increased enormously. Her Sable sword moved in rapid successions, avoiding being surrounded and attacked.
Her Flaw was certainly strange. In a world where an attack could kill you, wearing armor was the norm, but she didn't. Unable to use defense, she could only always go on the offensive and evade.
For now, she was fine.
Uriel looked elsewhere. Titan moved like a ghost among the abominations, causing a slow but constant massacre. His Aspect was good for killing the Fallen commanders that released the pressure. When they were eliminated, the Sleepers and soldiers on war platforms could unleash all the fury of their artillery in a single instant, killing them.
Elsewhere, Abel was positioned further away. His Aspect was surprisingly useful. Everyone participating in the battle, including himself, was surrounded by a golden aura that protected them from the weaker attacks of Awakened abominations.
Uriel was sure that if Abel ever reached Transcendence, he would be the ultimate shield.
Beside him was Miranda, who had received an Echo or two. Although her Aspect was more healing-oriented, she knew how to fight, though she chose to heal the wounded.
Uriel observed multiple explosions occurring on the mountainside, generating rock avalanches that buried more Nightmare Creatures. The arrows were fired by Asher, who was using a Transcendent bow that Dale had temporarily given him for the battle.
Speaking of the Master, Uriel watched the aforementioned man. He wielded a large blade. As he suspected, his Aspect was related to wind. Using the wind to his advantage, he could move at great speed, generating a large amount of damage to the abominations. Attraction, repulsion, and wind-cutting blades massacred Awakened and Fallen abominations.
Randal, for his part, was what Uriel would describe as a barbarian. His battle style was brutal, severe, and direct, without any eloquent or elegant technique.
Simply pure, raw strength. He wielded a large ruby axe that cut through abominations. When his axe couldn't cut an abomination, he punched them with his fists or kicked them with his legs, sending them flying.
Uriel broke out in a sweat seeing this. His impression of the veteran Master dropped slightly.
Frowning, he looked up at the sky. He could still hear the ravages of the battle between his two Dark creatures against the Corrupted Titan.
Uriel observed a sea of golden flames that lit up the sky, enveloping an enormous three-hundred-meter figure similar to a whale, with a massive narwhal horn protruding from its head.
'Why does that seem familiar?' he thought to himself.
Looking away from the battle in the sky, he looked at Skadi, who was using one of her abilities to subjugate the Nightmare Creatures under her will, attacking in conjunction with the abominations controlled by Soul, evening the odds.
Still, despite all these advantages, the abominations continued to arrive without signs of stopping, and the Corrupted ones hadn't yet arrived, staying on the sidelines for the moment.
Uriel wondered what they were planning. Abominations, after passing the Fallen rank, acquire malevolent intelligence. They aren't stupid; they are cunning, able to formulate twisted strategies.
Uriel, although he couldn't see them, could sense them. There were at least a dozen Corrupted abominations guiding the Fallen and Awakened abominations.
'Something has to change, otherwise we're going to lose by exhaustion,' Uriel thought with his arms crossed, still not moving from the top of the wall, having a complete view of the battlefield.
...
Lucien swung his Transcendent halberd, easily cutting through the skin and bones of the abominations.
Combined with his Aspect, his power was currently among the elite of the Awakened. And combined with the Blood Flower enchantment that increased his power, it was no different from saying he had temporarily reached the power of a newly converted Master.
Although he wasn't the smartest type, he realized something.
And that was that this was truly their only chance to survive.
They had been manipulated by a Corrupted Titan capable of launching a massive mental attack on a city of tens of millions, including Masters, to feed for several weeks. Until it was discovered.
At the same time, an army led by Corrupted creatures. Lucien felt as if this city was doomed to disappear, and them along with it.
But instead of feeling fear at this, Lucien felt something else. He felt amusement and excitement. As he fought, his senses sharpened, his attacks became more accurate and lethal. He dodged attacks, sought out weak points, and eliminated them.
His skill in battle increased. He didn't know why, but it felt incredible. He felt like he couldn't lose.
Unable to contain a laugh, Lucien began to laugh. A cackle escaped his mouth as he cut another Awakened abomination in half. He knew it was Fallen by the Spell's voice in his head.
...
Tiffany pierced another abomination. Her Sable sword turned a ghostly green, piercing an abomination several times, which fell to the ground inert.
Jumping, she avoided being caught by enormous jaws that emerged from the earth, trying to devour her.
Landing a few meters away, her body became intangible, letting another abomination pass through her. Without hesitation, she attacked it. Several cuts later, it was dead.
Distracted by a loud noise, she received a claw swipe, but a golden barrier protected her from the attack. Without hesitation, she drove her sword into the creature's head, piercing it completely.
[You have killed—]
Tiffany ignored the Spell's voice, more focused on her own survival. Her sword and her body moved. The longer she used her Aspect, the more minor memories disappeared from her mind.
Clenching her teeth in anger, she increased the speed with which her attacks eliminated more abominations.
...
Asher was on the wall alongside the soldiers, Sleepers, and Awakened whose Aspects were long-range, forming a sniper line. Their purpose was clear: eliminate and slow the abominations descending from the mountains.
Around him, he looked at the mundane soldiers and the Sleepers preparing their Memories or weapons to fire. Since he was the best shooter in Camp Erebus, he had guided the Sleepers with long-range Aspects to attack with precision, and his Aspect could detect everything within an enormous radius without anything escaping them.
The soldiers were ready, and the weapons were loaded. Without thinking twice, he ordered the attack.
"Artillery, fire!" he ordered with the loudest voice he could muster.
As soon as he shouted, projectiles launched at the speed of sound, fired against the abominations, striking several, killing some, and slowing others.
The energy cannons glowed with power for a few moments until they fired enormous bursts that impacted, erasing dozens upon dozens of Nightmare Creatures.
After the artillery stopped, he ordered the second attack.
Asher summoned his bow, a second-tier Transcendent bow that Ascended Dale had lent him for this battle.
Summoning the quiver of replica arrows, he grabbed three arrows. After nocking them, he fired at the mountainside where a Fallen Tyrant was descending. The arrows flew, embedding themselves in the creature's eyes and chest. An instant later, the arrows exploded, destroying the Fallen Tyrant's body.
[You have killed a Fallen Tyrant, Malignant Descendant]
[You have obtained a Memory]
Asher didn't stop. He continued firing at the abominations, spending more and more of his arrows and essence to eliminate as many abominations as he could.
As he continued firing, he noticed something. His shots were faster and more precise. He didn't even feel tired; instead, he was full of energy. He wondered why that was.
Looking around, he found his captain's new, strange Echo, who hadn't moved at all, maintaining an impassive gaze.
Asher suspected that this Echo was related to what was happening to him. But for now, he just had to keep firing arrows and leave his questions for later.
...
Abel devoured the peaches at an unprecedented speed. His Aspect generated defensive barriers for everyone—soldiers, Awakened, and Sleepers alike—regardless of their rank. Although the essence consumption he used was brutal, thanks to the peaches, he could continue recovering his essence as long as he kept that delicious fruit.
Although his Flaw was a minor problem, the Echoes he had received from Miranda eliminated any abomination that came near them. They were his line of protection. There were two Ascended Echoes, three Awakened, and two Transcendent Echoes of monstrous rank.
...
In the sky, a few hundred meters above the sea of gray clouds, a devastating battle was taking place.
An enormous whale, bone-white in color, with enormous sharp fins and a long, pointed bone horn protruding forward.
That creature was a Corrupted Titan with Insidious powers. However, that creature, which would require several Saints to kill, was being repelled and damaged by two creatures.
An enormous dragon eighty meters tall with hundred-meter wings and claws so sharp they could pierce the strongest steel. Beside it was an enormous butterfly with legs as sharp as scythes and an unsettling pattern that generated mental attacks, somewhat countering its abilities.
The Corrupted Titan let out a roar that shook the clouds beneath it.
At the same time, a sea of mist emerged from its jaws before being burned away by a torrent of golden flames that enveloped its body.
The Titan shook off the flames, only to receive a deep wound on its body. The wound released an enormous trail of hundreds of liters downward.
This wasn't the first wound. The Titan's body, being so massive, couldn't avoid attacks quickly enough. Its mass was too great to turn violently, resulting in large, deep wounds.
The Illusory Butterfly positioned itself above the Corrupted Titan, releasing a purple dust that was inhaled by the Titan, lightly numbing its senses. The dragon took advantage, flying toward the titanic whale's face, using its claws to destroy one of its eyes, followed by releasing flames that burned the eyeball and much of the internal tissue, causing great damage.
Shaking violently, the dragon flew a few hundred meters before regaining its composure and avoiding being impaled by the enormous horn, while the butterfly continued causing damage.