Chapter 261 - Everybody Is Arte Fighting (Patreon)

Ten level 3s were a great force.

To put it in Earth’s terms, a Level 2 was a special forces’ soldier while a Level 3 was a tank. A Level 3’s Unreality Field that was impenetrable to conventional attacks was akin to the tank's thick armor.

Currently, Viers and the others were similar to ten fully provisioned tanks going rogue. On top of that, they had a Level 4, a high-yield mobile rocket artillery with them.

To subdue the rogue elements, Jerrold brought twice the forces before they could do any more damage.

However, just like having a stronger army didn't mean a guaranteed victory in war, it wasn't definite that the Church’s force would be overwhelmed by the Valkut forces.

Viers in particular was confident he would get through this debacle. It was only a matter of cost.

The main thing is whether Mita can keep Jerrold and Unem at bay. Five minutes… Level 3s can already fight at superspeed, in a heated battle, those five minutes can be very long. How much worse is it at Level 4s? Come on, Mita. I’m counting on you. As for the rest, leave this to us!

Viers ended his thought process by giving Russ a throw. He’d dragged the lover-boy far enough from the rest. The swordsman rolled off the grass a few times before he flipped and stood on his feet with a flourish.

“Move! I’ve to talk to Pinaca,” Russ growled.

“As she said earlier, she’s not your wifey. She’s Paina. Oh, and this is your Pinaca, by the way.”

After talking with a floaty tone, Viers showed Russ a pale blue ball of fire look-alike. One could see a face inside it, a woman's face as if she was sleeping.

Viers had a thought to make use of Paina’s likeness to Russ’ wife. To deceive him or something in that nature.

But it seemed troublesome so he didn't. At least, he didn't need it against Russ.

Viers was strong now, and the strong didn't have to use petty tricks.

“You bastard… Pinaca, it’s me! Wake up!”

“It’s useless. She can't hear you. So, now’s the reason why I take the trouble of explaining this to you. Do you know Pinaca is not human?”

“What!? Lies! There’s no way that's true!”

Looking at Russ’ expression, Viers was inclined to believe him. Even Viers and Mita didn't find anything odd about Pinaca and the drones during their time in Valkut. Viers only realized it after he held Pinaca’s soul in his hands.

“Oh… My sympathies,” Viers said.

“Silence! Even if she’s not human so what? My feelings for her wouldn't change!”

The sound of explosions drifted towards them. While they were talking, the others had begun battling. Talking was a fine strategy. The longer they talked, the less Victa Viers would have to spend against Russ.

The sound prompted Russ to draw his sword.

“Whatever the case, I am going to end you,” Russ’ eyes glinted with a calm sort of fury.

“Ha! Come at me, bro,” Viers made his signature smirk.

“After all that you’ve done, how dare you act so nonchalantly!”

Russ’s figure disappeared from in front of Viers but he wasn't perturbed. Viers raised his sword to the side without turning and defended against Russ’ high-speed attack.

At the same time, their Unreality Fields collided, vying for supremacy against the other.

The Lion’s Sin of Pride once said…

“Acting calm and composed is the privilege of the mighty.”

***

“Holy Light!”

Did that do it?

Ciel looked at Archie’s smoking figure. Holy Light was an Arte with a mix of holy affinity in it. Ciel hoped it could return the man back to normal.

Archie threw his ax at Ciel’s head. Ciel ducked before her head got sliced. The ax made a turn in the air as it returned to the thrower’s hand.

Khh… It really is no good. Is fighting the only option?

“Icy Glimmer!”

Hubert and Archie were hit with an aurora light as frost began to form on their skin. The grass below them instantly turned icy white. It stopped them in their tracks momentarily but the Arte was unable to completely freeze them because of their Unreality Field. In the meantime, Wendy came by Ciel’s side.

“I have the same reservation as you, but you know what we have to do, right?”

From Wendy’s question, someone that Ciel regarded as a sister figure, she inhaled and exhaled a breath.

“Of course… Archie, Hubert, as comrades who had fought together side by side. It’s truly regrettable it must come to this. If somewhere inside both of you can hear me, then know this: We’ll definitely save you. For we are the Silver Legion!”

Wendy saw the hesitation in Ciel’s eyes was gone and smiled.

“Good. Ciel, suppression strategy!”

Archie and Hubert were charging at them after freeing themselves from the ice.

“Right! Arte - Rainbow Prism!”

Ciel entrapped both of them in a prism of the rainbow. Their goal was not to defeat the pitifully controlled humans but to buy time until the Road of Silver activated so Wendy and Ciel used Artes to restrict the opponents’ actions.

Thanks to the two’s teamwork and synergy, the two women were able to keep Archie and Hubert under control using this strategy, despite the fact that the two captains were now as strong as the legionaries.

***

In another place, there was a vertical whirlwind hitting priests Baker and Moloney from multiple directions.

“Hahahaha! Take that! And that! And that!”

Bryan was using Whirlwind Rush Arte to slice and dice the two priests.

“Unlike Wendy and Ciel, I don't have control-type Artes. So I can only pummel you until you can't move anymore! Let me say sorry in advance, seniors! But don't worry, we won't kill you!”

“Great plan, Bryan! Arte - White Heat!”

Max’s signature white flame engulfed the priests. The heat was dizzying.

Unlike Wendy and Ciel, Bryan and Max employed a straight-up battle approach. The two boys didn't even think of using another way. They were hammers and their job was to hit nails.

“Ghuooh!?”

“Bwagah!”

Bryan was hit by Moleney’s stone fist counter and Max was hit from the front by Baker who charged out from the inferno while being covered by a water barrier.

“Peh,” Bryan spat blood on the ground. “Pretty spry punch for an old man.”

“That's more like it,” Max licked the blood that trailed from his forehead near his lips. “Come at us with all you've got. Our righteous conviction will surpass them!”

“Well said, brother!” Bryan approved.

“Together, brother!”

Bryan used wind and Max used fire.

“Fusion Arte - Firebird Tornado!”

A powerful combination Arte from the pair of hot-heads emerged on the battlefield. It was good they went away from the others. It would have implicated their allies otherwise.

But the two priests were not done. If it was their original selves, Bryan was confident it would be over then and there but the priests had received a mysterious boost in power. It wasn't an improvement in their cultivation but something else. Bryan and Max didn't think about it too much, though. They had one job and that was to beat the priests without killing them so if they got hit, hit them back, harder.

And so the scorching hot battle continued.

***

“It’s nice of you two to come but we’re still outnumbered,” Rachel threw two boxes to the ground. “Let me even the odds a little more.”

From each box, a golem came out. Both were mechanical in nature, their metal skin sheen from the moonlight. Although the design was similar, there was a difference between the two. One had big arms while the other had big legs.

“My partners, Rush and Crash,” Rachel pointed to the big legs first before the big arms golem.

When Rachel met Tomthur the first time, she asked him to repair the golems. They needed repairs after the ambush that separated Ciel from them due to the Bone Ravens. Now the two golems were back in working order, there was no better time than using her trump cards now.

“Oooh!” Dia made an impressive sound. The golems were two and a half meters tall and looked really strong. Even Farley gave the metal allies an appreciative look.

Only Paina did not react. She only looked at Enzo in silence. Her role was to fight her half-brother but that was not what unsettled her. It was her calm. Pinaca was in soul form because of her desire to know the truth and she was about to fight a family member but she felt calm.

It surprised her how much she had changed.

She wasn't sure she liked it.

Unlike the other fights, this one had the most combatants and arguably the most crucial ones after Mita’s. The reason being the Road of Silver array was here.

The Church and Valkut forces knew the key of the battle, the magical array. One side sought to defend it, the other to destroy it.

The more battlers involved, the more variables on the battlefield. Ordinary Pathseeker were no match for Rose and the others but they were not ordinary Level 3s.

From personal experience during the escaping battle in Valkut city earlier, Viers realized that the controlled people were not normal. Aside from their base specs, they also had additional buffs. The nature of said buffs still escaped Viers.

Therefore, Viers sent Farley and Dia as reinforcements.

It wasn't without cost. Aside from Dia who had her own Victa, Paina and Farley could only battle in the real world using his Victa.

With his own battle, Viers basically shouldered the Victa cost of three people.

He didn't like it but it was a necessity. Thankfully, he still had quite a bit of Victa. But the Victa spending since he'd arrived at the Valkut region was starting to take its toll, especially from the debacles with the assassins and the Chevrys.

Damon was incharge of protecting the all-important array so Rachel took command. She directed the golems to the front, Farley to the left wing, Conn to the right wing, Rose and herself at the center, and June plus Damon at the back.

Rachel refrained from giving a command to Paina because she still didn't know what Enzo’s actions would be. The two seemed content to glare at each other for the time being.

After Rachel’s formation took shape, the army of thirty Level 3 Pathseekers finally acted.

They were eerily silent, as if there were no souls behind their eyes. They didn't talk to each other, not making eye contact or bodily gestures. Other than Jerrold, Unem, and Russ who retained their personalities, the rest were like limbs of a greater will.

Their response was to drown Rachel and the others with more numbers.

They also summoned reinforcements. Not golems, but monsters.

“Oh, shoot. They got monster tamers with them,” Conn sighed.

There were Pathseekers who specialized in taming and raising monsters in a fight. There were many kinds of Profound Codex in this world.

Despite so, Farley did not detect any despair in Rachel and the rest. She realized the reason the next moment.

These demon hunters are veterans in fighting against superior numbers. Just monsters are no big deal.

The monsters numbered about twenty. Five of them were at Rank 3 while the rest were at Rank 2.

“Be that as it may, fighting against those numbers would be a hassle. Dia, may we count on you?” Farley whispered to Dia who sat on her shoulder.

“Okay, Fayfay ghost. Friends, come aid me!”

Dia sent her energy to the ground and in a few seconds, the ground shook.

Patches of dirt overturned as something emerged from beneath the earth. Rose and company didn't know what was going on. They saw something red. Five, ten, until twenty sprouted from the ground.

“Are those… plant monsters?” Rose gasped.

A red body, headless, eyeless, a bit of green on the top. They had multitudes of long vines under their bulbous body to move around and to function as limbs. Most noticeable was a toothless mouth directly on their bodies, spouting fire as they breathed.

“Arte - Habanero Hunters. Come, come, friendsies. Spicy, spicy, crispy the baddies~!”