Chapter 38: Emergency Mission

The enormous golden eyes had barely opened when another notification suddenly appeared in front of Karl.

[Emergency Mission: Kill the Avatar.]

[Time Limit: 1 Hour.]

[Failure Penalty: Death.]

Karl nearly jumped when he read the last line.

What the fuck?!

He called for the system immediately.

System? Oi, don’t hang me out to dry now. I barely got another life and you’re already trying to take it back?

Karl tried again, but the bastard had gone completely silent after throwing a death mission into his face.

Another notification appeared before everyone.

[Divine Descent: 5%.]

Karl looked toward the enormous face becoming clearer above the city and clicked his tongue.

Great, I die either way if this continues.

Atherion was staring upward as well, his expression considerably worse than before.

"What the fuck do we even do now? Everything has gone completely haywire."

Karl looked from Armando toward the face forming behind him, then at the Divine Flame still burning among the remains of the tower.

"There isn’t another choice anymore."

Everyone turned toward him.

"We kill Armando before the divine being above him finishes descending."

Leon tightened his grip around the axe while Mira drew both daggers. Atherion said nothing this time and simply raised his sword, while the remaining Fitzalan members spread out beside him.

Armando watched them prepare and started laughing.

Before anyone attacked, the enormous golden eyes above the city shifted downward and their gaze passed across the ruined tower.

A notification rang through everyone’s minds.

[You have been affected by Divine Gaze.]

[All Attributes suppressed by 20%.]

[Corruption Level increased by 5%.]

Leon staggered when the suppression settled over him.

"You’ve got to be kidding me."

Atherion cursed beside him while more gold spread across his already corrupted skin, but Karl had received something completely different.

[Divine Gaze resisted.]

Karl blinked onc, at least I have something useful.

He did not waste time questioning it.

The open area around the destroyed tower had removed the biggest limitation he faced inside the chamber, and Death Energy immediately spread from the Death Stick.

Skeletons began appearing throughout the ruined streets.

Dozens became hundreds as knights, beasts and other undead filled the area around Karl, with enough space left between them for everyone else to move freely.

Armando looked across the growing army without any concern.

"What exactly are you trying to do?"

Golden fire moved around his body while the beam above remained connected to him.

"Are you offering your Sovereign a performance?"

His smile widened.

"If so, even weaklings such as yourselves are certainly invited."

Armando lifted his han and the entire street ahead burst into golden fire.

Karl sent the first rows of undead forward immediately, but the attack did not simply sweep toward them.

The flames split apart midway and curved around the larger skeletons while burning chains rushed through the gaps between them.

The first skeletons were destroyed almost immediately, but the larger undead absorbed enough of the attack for Leon and the others to split apart.

Leon rushed through the opening first.

Qi covered his body as he jumped from the back of a skeletal beast and swung his axe toward Armando’s neck.

Armando caught it with one hand.

Leon had barely realised what happened when Armando grabbed him by the chest and slammed him straight into the debris.

Atherion reached him from behind but his sword stopped halfway.

The weapon simply hung in the air before an invisible force ripped it from Atherion’s hands and threw it across the street.

Armando glanced back.

"Too slow."

Atherion was sent flying immediately afterward.

Karl swung the Death Stick and Death Severance crossed the street while several skeletal beasts rushed Armando from different sides.

Armando closed his hand and the beasts froze in place.

Death Severance stopped several metres from his body.

Then everything was thrown backward.

Karl moved aside as his own slash tore through several skeletons before disappearing into the street behind him.

Mira emerged from Armando’s shadow while his attention remained forward.

Both daggers were already beside his neck.

Armando leaned away from one and caught her wrist before the second landed.

Mira tried disappearing again, but golden fire spread through the shadow beneath her and broke the skill.

Armando threw her through the remains of a nearby wall.

Karl clenched his jaw. " can’t even fucking touch him now."

Several burning chains swept toward the undead formation again.

Seraphine raised her staff and sent golden threads around them, but the frost spreading along the chains cracked almost immediately beneath the golden fire.

She released the threads before the flames reached her hands.

"His divinity is reinforcing everything now."

Karl directed another group forward.

"Then figure something out before it gets worse."

"I am trying."

Armando raised one hand toward the sky.

Hundreds of golden blades formed above the district.

Karl immediately moved several of his larger undead over the others.

"Take cover!"

The blades descended and skeletons shattered throughout the streets while armored undead were slowly broken apart beneath repeated impacts.

Karl felt dozens of summons disappear from his connection within seconds.

Then another notification appeared.

[Divine Descent: 11%.]

[Divine Suppression increased.]

[All Attributes suppressed by 25%.]

Leon had just pulled himself from the debris when his movements slowed again.

"Can this bastard stop getting stronger for five seconds?"

Armando appeared in front of him.

Leon swung immediately, but Armando caught his wrist, drove a knee into his stomach and threw him across the street with one hand.

Atherion attacked before Armando could follow.

His sword had returned to his grip and dark-red energy covered his body as he struck repeatedly.

Armando pushed the first slash aside with his forearm and blocked the second with his palm.

When Atherion attacked again, Armando stepped inside his range and struck him across the face.

Atherion recovered and drove one clawed hand toward Armando’s chest but his entire body stopped.

Armando lifted him from the ground without touching him and threw him into Karl’s undead.

Mira attacked again while Balder and the others released their skills from farther back.

Armando raised one hand and the air around him twisted.

Mira was thrown sideways while the attacks from behind bent away and crashed into the surrounding ruins.

Karl sent Death Severance through the middle.

Armando stopped it less than a metre from his face before forcing it into the ground.

Karl immediately sent another wave of undead.

The numbers were the only thing keeping Armando occupied now.

Seraphine suddenly moved toward the corpses scattered around the ruined streets.

Several golden guards and Holy Knights had died during the collapse and fighting around the tower.

Her fingers moved and Golden threads entered their bodies.

One corpse stood and then several more.

Karl glanced toward her.

"Seriously?"

"Your army is disappearing too quickly."

Seraphine sent the marionettes forward while raising her staff.

"I need replacements."

Two Holy Knights attacked Armando together.

He caught the first sword, but Seraphine froze the weapon the instant he touched it.

A second marionette attacked from the side while frost spread beneath his feet.

Armando released the first and kicked the second through a wall before crushing another against the street with telekinesis.

Seraphine immediately replaced them.

Karl used the opening and pushed more undead forward while Leon, Mira and Atherion forced themselves back into the fight.

Armando was surrounded from every side but he brought both hands together and golden fire exploded outward.

A telekinetic wave followed it and ripped undead from the ground, throwing them into one another while burning chains swept through whatever remained standing.

Leon still forced his way through feinting with the axe and while punching toward Armando’s ribs instead.

Armando caught his fist and threw him over his shoulder and diving him into the street.

The fight continued across the ruined district, and the difference between them kept growing.

Karl’s undead were being destroyed faster than he could replace them, while Seraphine’s marionettes barely lasted long enough to create openings.

Then another notification appeared.

[Divine Descent: 19%.]

[Divine Suppression increased.]

[All Attributes suppressed by 30%.]

[Corruption Level increased.]

Leon had only just stood again when the additional pressure forced him to brace against his axe.

More than half of Mira’s hair had already turned gold, while Atherion and the surviving Fitzalans were slowing as well.

Armando only became stronger, the flames around his hands were nearly white now, while broken pieces of the tower began rising from the ground around him.

Karl noticed immediately.

"Move!"

Armando flicked one finger and the debris shot toward them.

Undead rushed in front of Leon and Mira while Balder raised his shield before the Fitzalans.

Several skeletons shattered on impact and Balder was pushed backwards across the street.

Seraphine sent another group of marionettes forward while her threads wrapped around several burning chains.

Frost spread across them as two Holy Knights attacked Armando from opposite sides.

Armando tore one arm free, grabbed the first knight by the head and threw it into the second.

Armando then looked towards seraphine, she barely raised her staff before the invisible force struck and sent her flying.

She landed several metres from Karl and slid through the debris before finally stopping.

Seraphine remained there for a moment before pushing herself up with the staff.

She looked toward Armando and then toward the enormous face above the city.

"It seems we’re going to die a horrifying death."

Karl sent another group of skeletons forward.

"I don’t need to know that."

Several chains tore through them.

"Do you have anything better?"

Seraphine watched Armando for several seconds before nodding.

"Yes, I definitely do."

Karl looked toward her.

"But I need time."

"And how exactly am I supposed to arrange that?"

Seraphine smiled slightly.

"Restrain him."

Karl stared at her. "Are you joking?"

"Nobody has managed to hold him for even a second and you want me to restrain him?"

"Correct."

Karl clenched his teeth but before he could answer, another voice came from behind them.

"I’ll do it."

Karl turned sharply, Lyra was standing among the broken remains of the tower.

For a moment, Karl simply stared at her.

He had completely forgotten about her during the collapse.

Blood still covered most of her body and the wounds left by the iron rods were clearly visible, but the damaged flesh was already closing rapidly.

Within several moments, she could stand without leaning against anything.

Karl looked at her with immediate suspicion.

"You?"

Lyra kept her eyes on Armando.

"Yes."

"And what exactly are you planning to do?"

She finally looked toward him.

"I’ll hold him long enough."

Karl’s expression did not change.

Lyra noticed.

"You don’t trust me."

"Should I?"

A faint bitterness crossed her face before she looked back toward the man she had called Master only minutes earlier.

"No."

Karl tightened his grip around the Death Stick.

Lyra stepped past him as her claws extended.

"But when I restrain him..."

She looked toward Armando.

"Make sure you use the chance properly."