The combined might of the major factions was truly frightening. Their collective pressure seed to warped the air, turning it suffocating.
Even from the incomprehensible distance each soul in the span watched from, they could feel it, the power, the might, the sheer weight of the major factions.
Their absoluteness had long been etched into the minds of many. Until this devil god appeared, none had ever seen them lose.
And now, with their entire forces gathered, elites to cannon fodder, no one could imagine them losing.
Yet, the mont the screen shifted to Eldoralth's lines, a ripple ran through the hearts of the people.
To face the incoming tide… they had sent only one person?
Atticus Ravenstein.
"Tch… the kid's too arrogant."
"He really is. Didn't even try to save face. Even if we win like this, it won't send the ssage we want."
"…Yeah. Right now, we just look like a bunch of grown n ganging up on a child."
"…a child?" A voice cut in. "That 'child' wiped out the Willguard, the Redflas, the Abyss, and the Nature factions."
The hall fell into silence.
"…The mont we treat him like one is the mont we lose. Stick to the plan. Overwhelm him, wear him down, then kill him."
"I've seen him fight… more tis than I can count." another said, brows drawn slightly. "I've never seen him get tired. Are we even sure that's possible?"
"It is. Our wills are being capped at the peak of the span. That puts him on sothing we can asure. A true will is strong, but it's not absolute. Keep the pressure on him, and he'll burn out."
"…And his weapon? If he gets an opening, he'll cut straight through our wills."
"Exactly. Which is why we don't step in yet. Let the army handle him first. Numbers like that will force him to expend sothing. Once he starts slowing down…"
"…we move."
"…and finish it."
"Good."
As the words settled over the hall, faint smiles spread across the leaders' faces.
"Sound the signal."
A loud, piercing horn tore through the wasteland, and every soul watching the clash held their breath.
It was finally beginning.
The deafening noise abruptly died, replaced by a deathlike silence that pressed down on the wasteland like an iron vice.
Then…
"Attack."
Blinding glow erupted across the sea of soldiers, flooding the wasteland in a chaotic burst of radiance.
The glow surged higher and higher until the entire sky was swallowed in its brilliance. As it began to fade, what followed was trillions of attacks cascading downward, filling every inch of space.
"ROAR!"
The tide of soldiers surged forward like ink spilling across the land, their unified roar shaking the very ground beneath them.
The earth trembled under their advance, gravity thickened, and the air grew so heavy it beca difficult to breathe.
A wave of gasps swept across the span as countless onlookers straightened in their seats. They had never witnessed anything like this before. A battle of such scale, such overwhelming power… it defied belief.
So this was the might of the major factions… unmistakably terrifying.
Even more staggering was the fact that all of this had been unleashed for a single person. Many had already begun to shake their heads.
Under an onslaught like this… the child was as good as gone.
Regardless, the mont their gazes fell on Atticus, their eyes narrowed into thin slits.
The wind lashed against him, whipping his attire and snow-white hair into motion.
Despite the approaching trillions, despite their suffocating auras, despite the overwhelming storm of attacks descending upon him, not a single ripple crossed his eyes. Before their advance, he stood like an unshakable mountain.
Then, beneath the baffled gazes of countless onlookers, Atticus slowly raised his arm. A faint streak of purple flashed through his irises.
"Absolute Domain."
A surge of purple light enveloped him in an instant, then collapsed inward, shaping itself into a trench coat that billowed as though stirred by an unseen wind.
A low murmur began to spread through the watching crowd just as Atticus spoke again.
"Disperse."
The trillions of attacks descending upon him… dimd, then unraveled into nothingness.
"What!?"
The eyes of the leaders, and of those watching across the span, snapped wide. What… what just happened…?
Those attacks had been ford from countless will arts, each ant to erase him completely. Yet not only had they failed to touch him, they had simply… vanished.
Before anyone could process it, Atticus spoke once more.
"Stop."
The advancing tide of soldiers… halted.
The battlefield fell into a suffocating silence. Every soldier froze mid-step, unable to move, unable to speak.
Within that stillness, Atticus swept his gaze across the field, calm and unhurried.
'Hm, it works well.'
The major factions, for all their strength, shared a single flaw, one only Atticus could exploit. Their unified wills.
At a glance, he counted no more than eight to ten factions present. In essence, eight to ten distinct energies.
Even if they numbered in the trillions, he only needed to seize control of those few sources.
Right now, he had done just that… seized control of their wills. Gods or not, they were now entirely within his grasp.
Atticus slowly raised his arms, his gaze turning cold.
"Explode."
In an instant, every soldier present began to radiate a blinding light. Eyes trembled in horror, so lost control of themselves, others tried to resist… but it was futile. The light swelled rapidly, reaching a violent crescendo, then…
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
A thunderous explosion tore across the land, vast plus of smoke surging upward as though clawing at the sky. Countless flashes of light flickered within the dense haze, and even seconds later, the ground continued to tremble.
Many of the broadcasting artifacts were obliterated in the blast, but the few that remained still captured the aftermath.
Across the span, countless spectators had already fired to their feet, their eyes stretched wide in shock.
It wasn't long before the thick haze started to clear, revealing a massive, gaping crater of impossible scale carved into the wasteland. No matter how hard they searched, there was no trace of the soldiers.
"T-they're… d-dead."
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