Everyone gathered around the association chairman, waiting for instructions.
After giving a speech to raise the morale of the fighters, the chairman spread his hands wide and a dark blue energy began spreading from him. The energy extended from his feet and covered the ground where the people stood.
Cipher observed the bubbling dark blue ground. "Is this the space transportation ability of the void mage?" he wondered. The bubbling ground erupted and swallowed everyone on it. Cipher felt a sensation similar to when he entered the apocalypse worlds through the gate.
Suddenly, the scene around them changed and they were now in a huge open area.
But before they could even get used to the change in scenery, they noticed a massive fireball descending toward them. The chairman and Elaine jumped up, spreading their arms and creating a defensive forcefield over the huge crowd. The massive fireball crashed onto the forcefield with a thud that shook the land around them before it finally dissipated.
"Quite prepared, as expected of the association," a voice was heard. It didn’t sound anything like a human voice - deep and coarse with a dragging noise accompanying each word. At that moment, figures began rising from the ground. No, they weren’t people. Well... they might’ve been before, but now, they were just undead. Skeletons, zombies... all kinds of undead.
They were completely surrounded.
"Show yourself," the chairman demanded.
"Oh, but that would be so boring. Why don’t you find me..." the voice replied.
The chairman, still maintaining the barrier with Elaine, turned to look at Cipher.
Cipher shook his head. "~He’s at least not within a fifty-meter radius," Cipher said through voice transmission. "~That aside, we’re in deep trouble. These undead aren’t formed from normal people. Looks like they were formed from awakeners.
They have skills and everything," he said, having used his appraisal on the undead.
The chairman’s expression turned serious. If they were normal undead, it would be difficult but not impossible to handle. But if they were formed from awakeners and still had all their stats and skills, then this was going to be troublesome.
"Everyone, don’t let down your guard. These aren’t normal undead. They are formed from awakeners and still preserve their skills," the chairman said, causing the crowd to begin murmuring, though they still maintained their high guard.
"Oh, you noticed? How boring..." the voice spoke. "I was hoping to see the surprised expressions on your faces when the simple undead you looked down upon tore you to pieces. Well... no matter..." The voice said, and the undead charged toward the group, beginning to claw at the barrier.
"Did you really use your followers as ingredients to create undead, you cultist bastard? What will your god think of this?" the chairman asked.
The voice simply laughed. "Hahaha, did you really think I believed that stuff?" he asked. The chairman remained silent, his eyes still darting around the monsters, looking for the speaker. "Why would I believe in a god if I could just become a god myself?" he asked.
"Well, an inferior being such as yourself would never understand." At that moment, the attacks of the undead got even stronger and the shields began showing signs of cracks.
Elaine had an angry expression as she looked in a certain direction, not at all paying attention to the shield she held that was beginning to show signs of breaking. "Dammit!" she cursed under her breath.
"Elaine," the chairman called, but she didn’t seem to hear him. It was only after calling a few times that she finally realized he was calling and turned to face him. "Yes, chairman..." she responded.
"We can’t hold our shields forever," the chairman said.
If they just remained defensive, it would be a waste of mana and they’d be sitting ducks after they ran out. Although it seemed like they’d been set up - after all, how could the enemy be so prepared - they didn’t have the time to deal with that at the moment.
"I’ll drop the shield on my end and move out with a few people to push back the monsters," he began. "After we move out, instantly restore the barrier. After we push back the monsters enough, you can release the barrier and have everyone else join the battle."
"Alright," Elaine said.
"Good," the chairman nodded. He then turned to the others. "Vex, Draven, Orion, you guys come with me."
Draven smashed his mechanical and normal arm together. "Hehehe, I was wondering when you’d say that."
...
The chairman dropped his side of the barrier and teleported out along with Vex, Orion, and Draven. As soon as they went out, Elaine readjusted her barrier, extending it to cover the entire group.
The chairman appeared in the middle of a cluster of undead, raising his hand. Space twisted around him, and the undead were torn apart by invisible forces, their bodies crushed and scattered. He moved through the battlefield like a phantom, teleporting short distances and leaving using space magic to push back the monsters.
Vex emerged from the shadows formed by the undead, his figure flickering in and out of darkness as he weaved through the undead, marking each with a tap of his hand. After marking enough of them, black tendrils shot from his shadow, wrapping around the marked undead and dragging them down into the ground.
Draven charged forward with a roar, his mechanical arm gleaming. He slammed his fist into the ground, creating a massive shockwave that rippled outward, sending undead flying through the air. He grabbed a zombie by the head and crushed it with his bare hand, then swung the body like a club to smash through a line of skeletons.
"How barbaric," Orion said as he joined in, his sword flashing as he moved through the undead. His blade cut through undead cleanly, flowing gracefully from one target to the next as if it were a dance.
"You wanna go, old man?" Draven asked as he smashed another zombie monster, exploding its head. Orion didn’t respond, his focus entirely on his swordwork.
Cipher watched from inside the barrier. The association’s top ranks were really amazing. No wonder the association could maintain control over the guilds worldwide.
"Alright, that’s enough breathing room. Everyone get ready to move out," Elaine said. Everyone readied their weapons. After confirming that everyone was ready, she released the barrier.
After releasing the barrier, the chairman and the others fell back to the main group and began fighting off the monsters together. Cipher activated fly mode and instantly flew up. He rose to about fifty meters, which was the sweet spot for both using voice transmission and ESP.
"~I’ll clear up a path for you guys. Let’s go find the captives." He transmitted to his team.