Having killed their leader, the King had expected those soldiers to fall into some sort of disarray.
However, to his surprise, someone else swiftly assumed command and decisively began to call out what the King knew were formations. To which the group adjusted themselves immediately.
The young commander's eyes did not so much as waver— even though death stood before him.
Greater fury burned in his heart at that disgusting sight, causing the ground beneath him to quake. The King's thoughts spun, and many realizations dawned on him in the process.
His summoners had been prepared to lose their leader, but His people— the Eistorians, were a different case.
What would happen to them now that he was gone?
The only plausible response to that question formed in his mind, but the very thought of it caused his aura to intensify.
He clenched his teeth, and his chest BOILED.
The skies rumbled at that point and dark clouds rapidly gathered to cast an ominous shadow upon the observable world.
The winds howled as they blew fiercely, generating whirlwinds at random locations— which began laying waste to all that they encountered.
One such victim of the whirlwinds was a small town containing three thousand people. More than half of those lives were snuffed out.
The range of that phenomenon spanned tens of kilometers in all directions. It was as though a natural disaster of untold proportions threatened to spill into the world.
"Threatened," was the right word, because any educated mind could tell that much more could stil go wrong.
In fact, the king actually toned down the destruction he could unleash a 'reflex' action he called it.
It was a subconscious restraint he had learnt after thousands of complaints from prior generations of warlords who loathed his destructive capabilities. Subconsciously he still feared their nagging, even though all of them were long deceased.
Moreover, despite its area of effect, the King's anger had really only been directed at the battalion before him—even if they appeared the least affected.
Nevertheless, It didn't matter that those mages numbered a hundred plus, or that he felt significantly weaker than usual... they would perish for what they had done.
Still, the evident weakness in his bones intrigued him too much—enough that his attention partially fell on his surroundings.
Four black towers stood erect around he and the mages, generating an impressive barrier— one that his warlords would have failed to shatter at their best.
The King immediately understood the barrier's function too.
"Contain the events of this clash..." he deduced. "All in a bid to protect the town nearby. Even if it has failed."
Eistoriel's Monarch could sight rooftops from afar. It appeared that they had chosen a town as the summoning's location. He didn't know whether that had its root in rational logic, or boundless foolishness.
Still, their intellect was proven when they succeeded in their disgusting plan of summoning any entity suitable enough. And unaware at that!
The King's naked skin glowed eerily, and his hair floated in complete disregard for gravity, they seemed to have come alive even.
In the meantime, his aura grew thicker and thicker, until it became more prevalent than even the air in the environment!
A number of those mages collapsed at that point, but that group had come prepared for such too.
The evidence of that preparation was a high-quality blue barrier appearing around them to serve as protection.
A bit of calm settled on that confrontation by this point.
The King stood in wait for them to act, feeling the need for caution. But they too awaited a move from him.
He could decimate them in one fell swoop, but he didn't want to expend unnecessary energy since his next objective was to find a way back home. A task he knew would be costly, even for him. Especially so due to his current state.
Unfortunately, his patience ran out before theirs, and he advanced one step forward. To which they immediately reacted by taking a step backwards, before stretching their hands towards him in unison.
A blast of light unfolded as the King watched a series of shining yellow tendrils charge towards him at break-neck speed.
Numbering hundreds, they converged on him, trying to bind him, and for a while it seemed like they succeeded since those tendrils enveloped him in their light.
However Eistoriel's King had just come out of a similar experience, he wasn't about to allow the same scenario play out.
An explosion of power sudenly swept the area, however, shattering the ground in the process, but also forcing those tendrils to vanish.
The King emerged from the chaos unscathed and further vexed.
"We cannot bind him!" one of the mages yelled,horrified. Moreso that the king now approached them one step at a time.
The oower contained in his initial attack had been powerful enough to cause their barriers to flicker! And words could not explain how monstrous that feat was to those mages.
After all, that protective measure was a Seventh-leaf spell!
"Then put him to sleep!" The young commander immediately ordered, and they quickly heeded his order, despite the instinctive urge to flee that creature.
The King heard them and felt insulted that they would even consider such. Still, he let them begin to chant words, words he knew were for the activation of a spell.
He stretched his hand forward however, and the ground gave birth to four massive arms that crashed into the barrier causing it to shatter immediately!
Gasps of pure horror followed that sight, and the group threatened to fall into disorder if not for the commander compelling them to not stop their chanting.
Unfortunately, the initially planned result could not be achieved since some of them had already been killed—crushed by the residual force in the king's attack.
Still, the mages that had completed the chant activated the spell, and its effects manifested instantly!
The ground beneath the king came alive with bright yellow markings and strange runes.
He didn't like what he saw, and threatened to fly away, when suddenly, the force of gravity exploded in magnitude, hundreds of times its normal strength.
The ground beneath him sunk, forming a deep crater as tremors unfolded, causing everything to shake. The ground also softened, as rocks began to melt from the intense pressure.
That increase would have crushed any of his warlords, but it only managed to startle him for a mere moment.
Fortunately for those mages, that 'moment' was all they needed.
Out of the marking came a sudden burst of light that ascended to the sky as a large yellow pillar evident from kilometers away.
The light died down as quickly as it appeared, but the deed had been done.
Confusion seeped into the king's steady mind when he checked his figure and found no physical damage whatsoever.
What?
Had he overestimated them? He had actually been cautious, but all his wariness appeared unnecessary.
Those thoughts flowed through his mind until a dose of drowsiness struck his senses. It was so strong that he fell on one knee!
!!!?
Shock, confusion, curiosity. These three emotions washed over the king's partially conscious mind. Yes, partially conscious!
Whatever they had done to him had been powerful enough that it had almost caused him to pass out immediately.
"Wha– have y-you done to me?" The king stuttered, finally collapsing with a loud thud—unconscious. Asleep.
Calm returned to the world at that point. Those men couldn't believe their eyes. They had subdued that monster of a man?!
Battered and bruised, and tired enough to slumber for a whole week, five of those mages stepped forward to confirm if indeed he was down.
An act of bravery to the rest… akin to a death wish even.
An ominous gust of wind swept the area.
Rejoicing was about wash over their hearts, when the worst-case scenario occurred.
BOOOM!
A blast of force that directly killed those men and seriously injured every person within range barreled out in all directions.
The four towers shattered, raining chunks of debris as the figure of the king arose eerily—emitting an aura so ominous the ground beneath him lost its brown color to carry the crimson hue seeping out of his body.
"You actually believed you could succeed?"
The king's inhuman voice reverberated across the entire area, and the sheer level of mana he exuded was dense enough to become a thick mist that surrounded him.
"Think again!" He roared, then the image of a colossal glowing tree possessing NINE massive branches flickered into existence for many to behold.
The tree's leaves shimmered with the seven colors of a rainbow, but unlike usual manifestations, his felt… tangible. Such that after casting an enormous shadow on the world, its brilliant lights coated entire kilometers with their radiance.
!!?
Terror; existential one, overwhelmed every human and creature within miles of that resplendent manifestation. Causing those who saw it to feel conflicted as to whether to feel awe, or crumble in horror.
Moreover, while untold millions didn't get to witness that divine manifestation, ALL felt the aura of its source touch them—the aura of an entity possessing a level of might considered to be a myth—a thing of fables and legends.
No human in the world had touched such realms! But the manifestation of his power was there—right before their eyes and senses!
The king's overwhelming presence disturbed every magical and non-magical beast within the surrounding regions. And many would witness thousands of creatures fleeing their natural habitat under the influence of their survival instincts.
The image of the tree vanished after sitting in existence for a couple seconds, and by this point the King felt prepared to snuff out the lives of anything available in his range. He would no longer hold back.
Still, before he could lay waste to all life, five figures abruptly flickered into existence around him—cloaked in uniform apparel.
One of them hastily stepped forward from behind the king to lay his hand directly on his head, before voicing a simple command-like statement.
"SLUMBER."
Before the King's mind could even propose a response, a powerful force destabilized his thoughts, allowing the effects of the previous spell to regain control.
He crashed to the ground. And this time, for good.
Still, all five figures fell to the ground, voicing agonizing grunts as they writhed and shook in untold suffering.
Blood gushed out of their eyes, nose, ears, mouth, and behinds forming puddles of dark blood.
They had survived.
BARELY.