Chapter 315: Against the Clock (1/2)

Worry marred Zac’s face as he looked out at the ocean of silver puppets. He already knew the force that Salvation could summon was huge, but it was still intimidating to see such a line-up in person. The endless silver rivers looked like scars in the sky, and the combined aura of the puppets on the ground was extremely daunting.

“This kind of power should not be available to an F-Grade warrior,” Ogras muttered, his face slightly pale. “There must be some kind of drawback.”

“I didn’t sense any weakness last time, apart from the fact that his actual body is pretty weak. He needed to use treasures and his puppets to stay safe. If I can get to him I’d be able to kill him in one swing,” Zac said, mustering up some courage.

He was still not happy about the situation, as the arrival of the army arrival was too fast. The forest they were in was an hour away from the central city that Salvation had occupied, a chunk of former Los Angeles. It should have taken the puppets even longer to get here, meaning that Salvation set out toward this place hours ago.

Had they already been spotted?

“Well, so much for a sneak attack,” Ogras muttered, echoing Zac’s thoughts. “So what do you want to do?”

Zac frowned as he kept looking through the incoming horde through a pair of binoculars. Every single one was a puppet, which in a sense was good news. It meant no one had allied with Salvation, not even the Zhix under control of the Dominators. He did spot a few of the insectoids, but they had invariably been turned into puppets, just like the humans and Ishiate.

However, there were simply so many of them. What if he summoned another face in the sky, except that this one was a hundred times larger? Zac doubted that even he would survive such a strike. But he suddenly froze when he spotted the familiar form walking among the puppets.

Salvation still looked like an insane hobo, but Zac could spot even from this great distance that he had noticeably aged. Silver streaks ran through his oily head and wild beard, and his face was marred with wrinkles. Had he been forced to utilize Life Force in battle recently? If so he might be weakened, making this an opportune moment to strike.

The mad prophet had also arrived at a similar solution to his amputation as Ogras. The hand that Zac managed to chop off at the last minute in the hunt had been replaced by the metallic liquid that ran all the way up to his shoulder. Suddenly Salvation’s head snapped straight toward their direction as Zac scouted him out, and it felt as he looked straight into his eyes. Zac didn’t know why, but he was sure that it wasn’t just a feeling, but rather the truth.

They had already been spotted.

“Let’s head down,” Zac said. “Perhaps we can surprise attack him while speaking. He’s the kind of lunatic who likes an audience.”

Ogras nodded and the two jumped down from their position up the tree. Just two minutes later they stood in front of the enormous army of puppets, with Salvation having walked toward the front. The world had almost turned monochromatic from the rivers obscuring the suns, but Zac’s whole attention was on the lunatic wearing the dirty sheets.

“Like a moth to flames the spirit longs for salvation,” Salvation said as he stepped forward, with ten silver rivers circulating him for protection. It looked like he wasn’t taking any chances with Zac within axing distance. “Are you ready to join the Great Undertaking?”

“Unfortunately not. I’m here to finish what I started back in the hunt. Why don’t you call your Zhix allies here as well?” Zac said, making a gambit that Salvation was too crazy to realize he was digging for information.

“Those three are but tools of the Great Lord,” Salvation said with some disdain. “They lack the piety and the dedication to the cause and only serve a purpose until they've led the Great Lord here. They know better than to encroach on the holy land.”

Zac felt some relief when hearing that, as it didn’t look like Salvation was lying. His mind was consumed with his insane crusade, and things as subterfuge were beyond him at the moment.

“This one is even loopier than I thought,” Ogras muttered with some interest as he studied Salvation like one would a rabid animal.

“Do not worry, horned one. Not even the scions of Lucifer are beyond redemption,” Salvation said, throwing Ogras a pitying glance.

“Oh? You know of Lord Lucifer?” Ogras said with surprise, making Zac look over with some shock.

“What?” Ogras asked with some confusion after seeing Zac’s look. “Lucifer is one of the most powerful demons around, a true hero. This whole region should know of his name.”

Zac wanted to ask a dozen follow-up questions to that, but there were far more pressing matters at hand.

“How did you find us?” Zac couldn’t help but ask of the grimy man.

“The Lord hears all, sees all, is all,” Salvation lifting his eyes far into the air. “How can I not sense your Sapience, your suffering. Let me free you.”

That was all the time Salvation was willing to waste on the conversation as five rivers descended from the skies to charge at the two. Meanwhile, an enormous change took place with the rest of the rivers. They started to change and form fractals in the sky, creating a circle of inscriptions.

A dozen shadow spears suddenly appeared around Salvation that tried to skewer him the moment they rose out of the ground. But it was as though the swirling rivers around their enemy had a mind of their own as they blocked all the strikes before Salvation himself even had time to react.

Large clouds of dissipated silver rose into the air, and a few dozen of the innumerable spare puppets immediately liquefied and joined the defensive perimeter around their master. Ogras tsked in disappointment as he looked up at the change to the liquefied puppets, his spear already having appeared in his hand.

“They seem to be forming an array,” Ogras muttered. “We should probably disrupt it.”

“Can you handle it?” Zac asked. “I’ll try to go straight toward the source.”