Chapter 264: Fight of the Steele Army

Aron waited for the enemies to approach him. He knew that even if he tried to flee with the best of his abilities, the enemy would still be able to chase him down and catch up with him. And he knew that the enemy would also crowd and exaggerate the attacks that they would do.

And this was what Aron hoped for. He needed to be able to wipe out as many of them as he could.

The biggest problem was that he couldn't move freely. But that scenario pushed Aron to the very limits.

"If I have awakened the power of Hyperion Steele, then can I cut things by applying force like a sword to cut, or do I wield power to cut itself? Is cut a result of force, or is it a concept that Hyperion Steele created?" Aron pondered.

And so, at that moment, he harnessed the power that he had and produced a force like a blade that cuts through the magic that was drowning him.

The space and time that had an ocean of water around him suddenly lost its power with a power to cut occurred. The cut created the opening that Aron needed as he made his Force energy explode out as the Crab Commander did.

The Commander felt it and was horrified at the sudden loss of his spell.

"That's Shellcross's ability!" The Commander realized it. But what he couldn't understand was how his magic was forced out. 

"It's a far, poorer imitation of my brother's push, but it got the job done." Aron smiled. He realized that while he could recreate it, he could never reach the level of his brother.

Aron pushed the Magic energy with a clumsy method and even created a pushing force to throw him forward.

"Even though I feel slow, I'll kill you!" Aron revealed his extremely dismal acting skills and charged forward.

BOOM!

With the hindering power gone, Aron made a swift slashing motion. The power of the Quick Blade appeared as Aron harnessed the speed of a quick blade. He slashed out at the approaching Berserker and the knights nearby.

"No Quick Blade has harmed me!" The Berserker Vampire roared and dove faster. Whether it was because Aron's acting was so bad or that the Vampires had not known that the magic of his lord was removed, the front line of Berserker and Knights charged forward.

At that moment, the assassin-type Champions that were so far behind were also enveloped with strange water that created a current towards Aron, and the pair moved faster than the knights and berserkers. Even though they were the last to attack, they actually became the first to arrive.

"Everyone! Retreat!" The Commander commanded, but it was too late.

The sideward slash was made.

"[Force Severance]!"

The power of True Cut was harnessed, and it occurred. The power that Aron wielded was able to cut anything that had toughness equal to 350 vitality points. Be it ice, armor, or innate toughness, it was able to cut through it.

And the power that Aron released was unlike a sharp sword in which speed and power would decrease as it met resistance. Instead, it was a constant force that severed everything in that area. And the force was consistent. Everything was being severed.

SLASH!

Skin and soul were severed as the sharp sword sliced through the several savage soldiers.

The Commander felt their souls disperse in that instance and felt a painful sensation as his connection with all of them was severed. The strange attack that Aron used harnessed True Cut that even his mental connection with them was severed, leading to a mind attack.

Two knights, the Berserker, one swordsman, and one assassin, were caught in the attack of Aron.

The surviving vampires felt the pain, as well as their souls, felt a slicing pain as if a sword was stabbed on their forehead.

After delivering the attack, Aron used his force energy to push him down to the army of shadows below.

The shadow beings were still marching and moving towards the portal, and the constant movement allowed Aron to blend in.

"That was nice. All the experience was given to me. Kyros was right. Since I'm the only one around, I get the whole pie." Aron smiled as he fell. He could feel the energy building up, and he was close to yet another level up. 

He began to move and would perform stabs and slashes when he could. With his talent, these attacks didn't consume a bit, and he was slowly using the shadows to regain his spent strength.

"Now, I just hope Kyros's theory will work." Aron secretly gazed and observed the Champions.

"I need to kill at least a hundred of these shadows to regain the force energy I spent..." Aron thought.

The angry mages shot their massive ice magic as they recovered.

Two huge ice beams were shot down on the area where Aron disappeared too.

BOOM! BOOM!

The ice beams exploded out and created a shockwave of blue energy.

Aron managed to escape the attacks and stood at the very edge of the explosion.

And then he felt it.

"Interesting. It doesn't require us to kill, but as long as deaths happen. Kyros was right. As long as we can cause the deaths of the forces of Destiny, Fate will reward us by directly gifting us with recovery and even the needed experience points to level up..." Aron smiled.

"My lord!" The two mages turned to their Commander.

The Commander had peered into the ground since the start and began to look at each of the shadows that moved.

"No good. The disguise is too perfect. I can't tell them apart. But that attack isn't something a Champion can perform several times. Craft ice burgs or ice spikes with your magic. Your magic force can kill those shadows, but ice burgs and ice spikes can't kill our forces." The Commander ordered.

The mages began to shoot out their attacks on the ground.

"That Commander is quite smart... Oh well... I've killed Champions through guerrilla warfare. Let's see if I still got the moves..." Aron smiled as he disappeared. He didn't just have Shadow Ghouls. But Kyros bestowed on him Dark Cloak with a portion of Wings of Darkness.

Back in the Nephilim Temple...

The armies of the Steele family continued their advances. Branze used [Eyes of the Supreme Commander] to ensure no one would die and focused his attention on instructing the Coven. Even with the ability, the massive creatures proved trouble that even the Coven was having a hard time. Only Gojirrah and Reptilia could slay the beasts easily, but the rest were struggling.

But with Branze's teachings and strategies, the group was able to fight and challenge them. 

The first retreat occurred when Gregory was critically wounded, and his legs were crushed.

Branze, Diana, Gojirrah, and Reptilia held the line while the rest fled. And when everyone was in the Temple, they retreated.

The servants took their positions as archers and began to attack. But the massive creatures had means of creating protective coverings forcing Branze to give instructions as to how to attack.

The Coven had to make another attack as the massive creatures were reaching the walls, and this time, the Coven managed to push back even without Branze's help.

The army advanced, and later, the knights and servants joined the Coven's struggle, and another strategy was being implemented.

As the killings continued, more and more of the Steele family reached Captain-level strength. And with Branze molding them, they were acquiring more and more abilities.

Soon, Branze didn't allow the Coven to fight in the battle but only accompanied the team to help them. Through Branze and Diana's Molding, the army had yet to suffer any deaths. But those critically injured were many. So whenever that happens, Diana and Branze would create a strong wall to help bring back those wounded back to the Temple.

But each time they made their attacks, it gave the knights and servants a great amount of experience and increased their confidence. On the first few attacks, many were trembling to the bones. And Branze and Diana had to summon their shields several times to hold the enemy. But soon, the team grew acquainted.

Even against the monstrous beast, the Steele family no longer had fear in their eyes.

"It's time. Alright, everyone! We are at the last line of our training. We will be attempting to push beyond the limits of where the Temple can bestow its Holy energy! Coven, you will become the main group that will make the killing blows. The rest will only serve to distract and defend against it. The purpose of this is to mold you all to become Force users! And not just any force users, but Holy Force users!" Branze declared.

Diana was stunned. But she realized that everyone believed the insane proposal that Branze had declared.

"You have all fought and felt the power of Holy. Now it's time to take off those training mechanisms and be a force user. Do you believe that we can do this? Do you believe that you giant slayers can become Holy users?!" Branze asked.

"Yes!" The army chorused.

"Good! Charge and fight! Our first goal is to reach the distance where the Temple's empowerment fails. That will be our training ground!" Branze shouted.

No longer were the Steele servants and knights an immature group of weaklings. The moment they charged, they charged like a disciplined army.

The Steele Family finally had an army.

The Steele army roared and fought the army of giants.

"Husband... You've changed. I can feel powerful energy in our words." Diana called to Branze.

"I got a Job. Or rather, I awakened it. The power of Push isn't just the movement of displacement. Its advancement and moving forward.. Because of that, my very words can drive a man to move forward even in this situation.

"What job did you awaken?"

"It has a strange Title. It's called Motivational Speaker."