Chapter 177 - Striking Fear (1/2)
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Not long after Herellia told all of the alliance members that Aurus's words were her words as well, all of them made their way towards their portal, still holding a bit of fear as to where it led them. Noticing this, Herellia let out a sigh inwardly as she started talking about how the portal was safe. Unfortunately for her, no one took the initiative to enter the portal. In the end, she decided to go and enter the portal first instead. She did not mind as she thought that this would allow her to initiate Code 1 faster anyway.
Whoosh!
With the accompaniment of a soft sound of wind, Herellia jumped into the portal on her own accord, disappearing from the vision of all of the alliance members. Soon after, the alliance members that were around the periphery of this portal could not help but look at each other, deciding to jump into the portal together.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Eventually, everyone realized that they had no reason to be scared of jumping into the portal, entering it like the waves of a tsunami as Aurus watched them enter from the side. Before this, he commanded Fenrir and Charisa to stay inside the system until he summoned them out, to which the two had no qualms about. While looking at them from the side, he could not help but think about the next part of his plans, deciding to add Herellia's plan of using Code 1 into the mix. After pondering over it for a while, Aurus realized that he was the only left in the alliance hall, making him lightly chuckle as he jumped into the portal like everyone else.
Whoosh!
It did not take long for Aurus to appear at the other side, with him appearing in front of what seemed to be the alliance members arranged in a semicircular formation. Aurus looked behind him and noticed that the portal was on the face of a stone wall, giving him a few ideas as to what to do next in his plan. Nevertheless, he dispersed this portal soon after and turned around to look at Herellia, who flew towards him at the very instant he appeared.
”I've never been to this part of the alliance base before,” Aurus could not help but mutter to himself as Herellia landed beside her before adding, ”It's quite a beautiful sight.”
Behind the semicircular formation of alliance members were trees that looked like they came out of paintings done by great artists, complemented by the hazy mountain view far away and the fluffy clouds in the sky. It made him want to yearn a faster end to this war, which would allow him to enjoy more picturesque sights like these.
”What's the next part of your plan?” Noticing that Aurus was getting a bit offtrack, Herellia asked him this question to snap him back to his original train of thought, to which Aurus thanked him not long after.
”As I've said before, I'm going to use a hidden trump card of mine to break through the barrier,” Aurus replied to her question after recollecting his thoughts. In response to this, Herellia radiated an aura of curiosity around her as she asked, ”I'm still curious as to what kind of trump card it is. Can't you tell me about it?”
”I'm sorry, it's not the right time yet,” Aurus let out a sigh before replying. He then pondered for a few seconds before replying, ”But if we win this war, I'll show you a glimpse of this trump card.”
In response, Herellia answered, ”Okay then. Make sure you keep that promise.” She then focused her field of vision towards the semicircular formation, saying, ”Go and do what you have to do. I still have a ton to do to prepare Code 1. Plus, wouldn't it have better effect if both are used at the same time?”
”That's true,” Aurus lightly chuckled as he responded. Not long after, he emanated an aura of seriousness as he said, ”Once my preparations are done, I'll send a strand of energy to let you know that you should make a move.”
”Mm,” Herellia let out a grunt as a response. She then said, ”Let's hope everything goes well. For the survival of the alliance.”
”For the survival of the alliance,” Aurus muttered not long after before disappearing from the sight of all of the alliance members, including Herellia. A few seconds later, Herellia let out a sigh before radiating an aura of seriousness as well, shouting at the alliance members, ”Everyone! Get into the arrow formation! Make sure to use your strongest skills for this one!”
”We're going to blow Chonk's mind away!”
…
On the other hand, oblivious to what had happened inside the Tempest Branch Alliance's base, Chonk looked at the members of his army, noticing the increase in the aura they radiated, being twice as strong than before. He then looked at Horell, noticing that there was only a slight increase to the aura he radiated, while he noticed that the increase in aura for him and Chungus was barely noticeable at all.
With all of these things laid out in front of him, he hypothesized that they would need to reach Fivefold Power if Horell's aura was going to become twice as strong, while for him and Chungus, he hypothesized that they would need to reach the highest level possible for [Imperium Orbis], Tenfold Power.
Seeing as how everyone had adjusted to their newfound strength, Chonk looked at them and asked, ”Is everyone ready for the next level?”
”Yeah!” Unsurprisingly, the members of the army were addicted to the feeling of their newfound strength, giving them the feeling that they would be unhindered amongst the Inanimate existences in the world. Not long after, they charged up their ultimate skills yet again, shooting them out as they converged into one point before Horell and Chungus shot out two large beams that transformed it into a double-helix yet again.
After that, Chonk went through the process one more time, slashing at the double-helix before spreading his energy throughout the area, instantly increasing the intensity of the aura of the members of his army by one more level.
”[Imperium Orbis: Twofold Power]!”
Whoosh!
While this was happening, Horell was thinking about another thing, looking at the entrance of the Tempest Branch Alliance's base from time to time, slightly anxious as to what had happened inside as he muttered to himself, ”I hope they didn't give up on this war.”
Not long after, he felt the slight increase in his aura, hastily giving him a bit of inspiration as the anxiousness inside him had been washed away with slight confidence and hope.
”But if they did…”
”Then I shall rekindle their will to fight for survival!”
…
Whoosh!
With [Zenith Nihility Dash] not being deactivated, Aurus was able to teleport to the location he wanted to appear at in just one move. At the moment he appeared, Aurus looked around his surroundings and muttered to himself, ”As expected. This is truly an ideal spot for me to look at Chonk's army from afar.”
The location that Aurus chose was in fact, the top of the alliance base. With trees and shrubs on the top of the alliance base, this allowed him to blend in with the surroundings so he could not be seen by Chonk's army. Of course, he also activated his morphing skill, transforming him into a mundane-looking stick that would not stand out against the surroundings…just to be sure.
Rolling a bit forward to get a better view of what Chonk's army was doing, he then said, ”Alright, Phase 1 of the plan is complete. Time for Phase 2.”
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Unbeknownst to the opposing army, eight soul balls, which surveyed over their territory a while ago, had now started to move closer to where they currently were. Naturally, these eight soul balls were the soul balls Aurus deployed a while ago, which he discarded after seeing the need to fluently control six beings at once, only to return it after obtaining the current [Pentatasking] skill.