Chapter 180 - Crimson Spirit, Infernal Spirit (2/2)
”Okay.” With Horell's last reply, Herellia had finally finished transforming, taking on the appearance of a female humanoid that was made up of crimson-red energy. In actuality, such a being could only exist in places that had an intense concentration of blood energy. These beings were only known as Crimson Spirits.
”Raaaa!” Herellia let out a cry in her Crimson Spirit form, instilling greater fear into the Inanimates of Chonk's army while Chonk felt intimidated from the cry. She then started to walk closer towards Chonk's army, with the intent of absorbing the vitality of all the Inanimates in the opposing army, which would allow her to have a greater chance of winning against Chonk.
Unfortunately for her, just as she was about to continue walking, a voice resounded in her mind, prompting her to stop in her tracks, leaving Chonk with a confused expression.
”Herellia, can you hear me?” This voice was none other than Aurus's, wondering if Herellia had lost her mind after transforming.
Fortunately for him, Herellia replied without a hint of going berserk, saying, ”Mhm. I'm just keeping up a facade that I've gone berserk. You've kind of broken it though.”
In response, Aurus let out an awkward chuckle as he pondered as to how he was going to phrase what was on his mind. A few seconds later, he said, ”Err…I apologize for that then. Anyways, can I oblige you to just attack around half of the Inanimates in Chonk's army? Also, please move while we're talking.”
”Ah, right.” After hearing Aurus's timely reminder, Herellia started to move closer to the opposing army in an imposing manner, giving the Inanimates a feeling that they couldn't escape her clutches. While this was happening, she pondered over Aurus's words and replied, ”Although the amount of power I could obtain would be less, I guess I can do that. Anyways, what for?”
”I'll attack the remaining half so that Chonk would have no choice but to target both of us at the same time,” Aurus responded to her question before adding, ”Before you ask me that I wouldn't have enough defense to withstand his attacks, I'll use a fusion attack to take on the same form as you.”
”You can do that?” Herellia was slightly bewildered, pondering over the possible things that could happen along the line as she waved one of her arms up in the air, manifesting a few thick blood-red tendrils that headed towards a few Inanimates. Of course, due to the fear that she had instilled in them, the Inanimates were too afraid to move that it looked like they had no choice but to be hit by the blood-red tendrils, with the tendrils siphoning all of their power, slightly increasing the intensity of Herellia's aura in the process.
”Yeah,” Aurus replied to her words before sending out a message to both Fenrir and Charisa, who were behind him all this time. It did not take long for the two to position themselves on both sides of Aurus, with Aurus taking a glance at Chonk while this was happening. He felt a slightly malicious energy coming from Chonk, prompting him to say to Herellia, ”Also, watch out for Chonk. I'm pretty sure he still has tricks up his sleeve.”
”Got it.” After Herellia replied to Aurus's words, the connection between the two had been cut, with Herellia's speed going up a notch as she waved both of her arms at the same time, allowing her to attack more Inanimates at once. Surprisingly, even though Chonk was seeing his men die in front of him, he did not retaliate at all. Noticing this, Aurus had a feeling that something bad was going to happen to him and Herellia sooner or later.
Nevertheless, this did not stop him from continuing with his plan, sending messages to both Fenrir and Charisa at the same time as he told them, ”Chant for the fifth skill! Charisa, you start!”
Rather than respond to her master's commands, Charisa hastily started chanting the incantation of the fifth skill, saying, ”As the origin of the Ignis, I shall become the body that wields unending destruction, razing everything to the ground with the flames of the infernal realm as the great being.”
Not long after, Fenrir followed up on Charisa's words, saying, ”As the origin of the Zephyr, I shall become the limbs of the body of the infernal realm, allowing the great being to show the intrepid strength and agility of the infernal realm.”
And finally, Aurus started his part of the chant while looking at Chonk, who still had not made a move after having a quarter of his army killed by Herellia. Although the ominous feeling he felt from Chonk had intensified, he continued with his chant, saying, ”As the origin of the Anima, I shall become the driving force of the body of the infernal realm, letting the great being exert the superb power of chaos with every movement.”
”We sacrifice our bodies to the infernal realm. Let chaos and destruction originating from the infernal realm tarnish this very world we live in!” At the instant the three of them had said this statement at the same time, the three of them had instantly transformed into blobs of energy, fusing as one as they took on a humanoid shape. A few seconds later, this humanoid-shaped energy had solidified, radiating the energy of flames, winds, and the void at the same time.
”[Ignis Zephyr Anima Form].”
”[5th Divine Art].”
”[Infernal Spirit Manifestation]!”
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Without hesitation, Aurus, who controlled the majority of the Infernal Spirit they had transformed into, ran towards the other side of the opposing army, raising his right arm as he manifested multiple orange flames covered in green swirls around him. Not long after, he waved his right arm, sending the orange flames towards the Inanimates as it incinerated their bodies in a matter of an instant.
And with that, two Pseudo-Animates, a Crimson Spirit and an Infernal Spirit, started wreaking havoc on Chonk's army, killing off the Inanimates that were a part of Chonk's army one by one as they gradually grew stronger with time. Meanwhile, Chonk was looking at how much members of his army were remaining, muttering to himself, ”Just a little bit more…”
At this moment, he had discarded the idea of proceeding with the third phase of Code Omega since the third phase ultimately relied on the number of Inanimate members he had. But since the two Pseudo-Animates, who were just Inanimates a while ago, were wreaking havoc on his army, he decided to fight with his full power…after weakening them, of course.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Eventually, all of the Inanimates in his army had been destroyed by either the Crimson Spirit or the Infernal Spirit, with the remaining members in his army being him, Horell, and Chungus. Normally, a commander of such an army would surrender to the opposing army as they knew that it was nigh impossible for them to make a comeback.
But since Chonk was a Rank 1 Animate, he still had a feeling that he could do the impossible.
The Crimson Spirit and the Infernal Spirit looked at Chonk with expressions of immense arrogance and pride, with the Infernal Spirit saying in a hoarse voice, ”You only have two members left, Chonk. We have won this war. Give up your dreams of ruling over Tempest Cliff.”
”Heheheh…” In response, Chonk started to chuckle, which gradually intensified to a laugh, before turning into a maniacal cackle. He then looked at the two Pseudo-Animates in front of him with an expression of arrogance of his own, saying, ”Are you really sure that your alliance has won the war?”
”What do you mean by that?” This time, it was the Crimson Spirit who talked. It then added, ”Don't delude yourself, Chonk. You've lost almost all of your combat power. Just give up.”
”You wish!” Chonk shouted in response to the Crimson Spirit's words before adding, ”Chungus, activate the magic circle!”
Whoosh!
In an instant, a large area that enveloped Chonk, Horell, Aurus, and Herellia had been created, with both Aurus and Herellia feeling that their combat power had grown considerably weaker. Noticing this, the Infernal Spirit could not help but look at Chonk with anger as it shouted, ”Chonk! What did you do to our bodies?!”
”[Code Beta: Grand Restriction],” Chonk replied to the Infernal Spirit's words, letting out a chuckle before he added, ”Quite a perfect situation, don't you think? Two beings from the alliance, and two beings from my army. 2v2.”
”Since you two have shown your full power to me, let us show our full power as well then!”
”[Zephyr Lupus Overdrive]!”