After that brief parley, Zaphiel, Belial, Pharzuph, and Rahab returned to the flagship to discuss their strategy.
"A-Are we really fighting against that kid?" Belial turned to Zaphiel.
"What’s wrong, Belial?" Zaphiel replied calmly. "Are you scared?"
"S-Scared? ?!" Belial snorted. "J-Just who do you think I am? I’m Belial! The Fiend of Lawlessness! I do what I want and rampage whenever and wherever I want!"
Normally, Pharzuph would have already teased Belial for stuttering. But he wasn’t in the mood to laugh, let alone make a joke like usual.
He could still rember the suffering he experienced in the Temple of Courage.
’To think a human kid could make all of us this anxious,’ Pharzuph thought. ’How irritating!’
Rahab kept quiet, but his gaze had also seen the hesitation in Zaphiel’s eyes. Their reaction was understandable, especially after what they had been through.
They had only t Zion’s clone in the temple, and now, they were facing the original.
Despite knowing the Clone had been strengthened to match them, that shouldn’t have been enough to defeat higher beings who had lived for centuries like them. Was the Clone stronger than the Original? Not knowing the answer to that fueled their anxiety.
"He only has the strength of a throne," Zaphiel stated. "He’s no threat to us."
The Celestial reassured his allies, but it sounded like he was trying to reassure himself.
Not only that. A newly born Celestial popped out of the blue and joined the battle. Specifically, it had joined the teenage boy’s side.
"We’ve already co this far." Zaphiel stared at his allies. "Let’s just change the plan a bit. I will focus on targeting Wormwood because he will definitely be a threat to all of us unless we get rid of him first.
"Forneus is also annoying, so I’ll leave him to you, Rahab. As for Dantanian and that new Celestial, Belial and Pharzuph will handle them."
"I’ll handle Dantanian," Pharzuph comnted. "His abilities and my own abilities repel each other. I can keep him busy while Belial makes short work of that Rookie Celestial."
"Hah! Leave him to !" Belial cracked his knuckles. "I’ll show him who’s boss!"
Rahab then coughed lightly to catch everyone’s attention. "All of us are going to fight soone, but who will face Zion Leventis?"
"W-Why do we need to face him?" Belial asked. "He’s no threat to us."
"Wrong," Rahab replied. "He is the greatest threat to us. Did you not notice it? He’s surrounded by Celestials and Fiends, yet he looks completely unbothered? Even the two ladies on his side looked anxious. He’s even more composed than we are, as if we pose no threat to him."
"Obviously, he’s just bluffing," Belial insisted. "What can a weak Wanderer do?"
Rahab shifted his attention to Zaphiel. The two stared at each other for nearly a minute before Rahab spoke his intention.
"I will eliminate Zion Leventis first," Rahab declared. "If he’s as hopeless as we think, he will die instantly."
Even a Monarch would not be able to survive a Celestial’s attack, so killing a Throne wasn’t a problem.
"Very well." Zaphiel nodded. "I’ll leave him to you, Rahab."
Right now, Zaphiel, Belial, and Pharzuph were still under the spell of their defeat back at the Temple of Courage.
None of them dared to take a chance to attack Zion even if he was really a weak human.
Only Rahab who had observed Zion’s fighting style had co out on top of their encounter. Although he managed to secure the keys by winning the Flip Coin challenge, he hadn’t fought the teenage boy in a true duel.
This was why he was itching to find out if he was really the real deal or just bluffing his way out of this situation.
"When we attack later, block anyone who will try to stop ," Rahab said. "I only need three seconds. As long as you can give that ti, I’ll kill him without fail."
"Good." Belial nodded. "Three seconds it is."
Pharzuph also nodded. "I’ll give you that much ti."
Zaphiel also agreed, and with this, their preemptive strike against Zion Leventis had been finalized.
"Blow the horn to advance!" Zaphiel ordered his commander.
A mont later, the horn of war sounded, and the ship advanced forward.
The Celestial Army opened their wings and rose to the sky, forming their battle formations.
"Aim!" the Commander ordered.
The angels summoned their bows and nocked their magical arrows for the opening barrage.
"Fire!" the Commander waved his hand.
Countless magical arrows covered the sky, montarily blocking the sunlight.
The Army of the Sea summoned their defensive artifacts to block the incoming attack. They were truly at a disadvantage in this battle because their attacks couldn’t reach the bastards flying in the sky.
But just as everyone was preparing to endure the barrage that was about to rain on them, Thirteen made a few hand seals.
The grand magical formation laid out under the sea ca to life.
It expanded like a spiderweb and covered the entire battlefield, including the location where the Celestial Fleet was at.
Countless rotating razor blades materialized from the sea and shot toward the incoming arrows, repelling them.
But the razor blades didn’t stop spinning and flew to the Celestial Formation in the sky.
A cloud of blood mist erupted from the army of heaven as Thirteen’s razor blades sliced them in half.
"How rciless," Rahab muttered before he flew towards the island.
Zaphiel, Belial, and Pharzuph closely behind him. After seeing the magical formation, they had indeed confird that Zion must be eliminated at all cost.
"Let’s go!" Forneus roared before he shot up to the sky to et Zaphiel and his cronies.
Dantanian and Cranky followed behind him, while Wormwood enlarged its body, ready to attack.
Belial transford into his Manticore Form and clashed against Forneus and Cranky. Zaphiel ignored Wormwood because just like Rahab, he had decided to eliminate Zion first in this battle.
The two Celestials had enough ti to cast spears that could travel at great speeds. That was why they needed exactly three seconds because these spears were like missiles. Even if they missed their targets, they would still explode, dealing AOE damage.
However, both of them didn’t intend to miss.
One flaming spear and one water spear broke past Forneus’ and Cranky’s defenses.
Dantanian’s face turned grim when he realized what Rahab and Zaphiel intended to do.
Just as he was about to go down and block the attacks to protect Zion, Pharzuph blocked his path, preventing him from helping anyone.
"Die!" Rahab declared as his Water Spear descended on the island like a railgun, aid to annihilate Zion instantly.
But when the Water Spear was about to hit the young man, Thirteen once again made a hand sign.
Two small portals appeared on the path of the spears, where they passed through, and disappeared from sight.
A second later, two small portals opened behind Zaphiel and Rahab, and the two spears they used to attack Thirteen were returned to them in a heartbeat.
The Fire Spear flew towards Rahab, and the Water Spear flew towards Zaphiel.
Both only had enough ti to defend themselves from the unexpected turn of events.
Two loud booms spread across the battlefield as two explosions happened at the sa ti.
Forneus laughed as he transford into his Sea Serpent form and used his tail to slap Rahab to the sea.
The Celestial was unable to defend in ti, forced to block Zaphiel’s Fire Spear that Zion had returned to them.
A large wave expanded outwards, as Rahab crashed to the surface of the sea.
"That felt good," Forneus said before shifting his gaze to Zaphiel. "You’re next!"
The first exchange between the powerhouses was won by Thirteen’s side, who managed to get first blood.
The spectators remained silent, but one of them clenched his fist as if displeased that Zaphiel’s team failed to eliminate Zion Leventis on their first try.
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