The Juggernaut kept War busy.
He was losing far more Zephyx than War, and in the long run, he would definitely die to War.
But everything was about time in this battle.
He just needed to buy time.
Famine was dealing with the Wall and the Protectors.
Pestilence was slowly dying to the Politician and the Technician.
Death was occupied with the Champion.
This had become a brutal battle.
Suddenly, more Protectors appeared from the distance, and they all focused on Famine.
The Wall was running out of Zephyx, but Famine was facing the same issue.
BOOOM!
The hearse exploded, and the lone zombie pulling the hearse flew out of the vortex.
Pestilence had abandoned its greatest weapon.
The next moment, the zombie grew to a height of over 500 meters as all its muscles bulged, turning into a hulking behemoth.
Then, with one gigantic hand, it broke one of the bowls suppressing Famine.
The locusts dispersed, and all the Protectors focused on Pestilence.
BOOOM!
The Wall blocked one of Pestilence's fists but was thrown deep underground.
The locusts were finally free and fell on the Protectors.
But then, the vortex reappeared.
The Politician was now focusing on Famine.
The Protectors represented Aegis' biggest offensive capabilities.
One Protector couldn't do much in this battle, but there were over 30 of them.
The Technician pointed his lasers at Famine as well, burning through the locusts.
"Focus on Famine!" the Politician transmitted to the Protectors, and they did just that.
But then, Pestilence's fists reached the Protectors.
Seven Protectors exploded into showers of blood.
The next moment, the Wall reappeared.
He blocked Pestilence's next strike but was thrown into the distance again.
Pestilence managed to kill another five Protectors.
In Pestilence's current state, he had incredible offensive capabilities, but he also had almost no defensive capabilities.
Every hit it received was devastating.
However, the Protectors needed to deal with Famine first.
Sure, Pestilence was slowly killing them, but if Famine got out, it would kill all of them in an instant.
More Protectors appeared from all around the globe.
Humanity was gathering all its power in one spot.
Famine was rapidly dying.
There were no longer millions of locusts but only tens of thousands.
The Wall charged into Pestilence again.
BOOOOOOM!
Suddenly, his shields exploded and showered Pestilence with shrapnel.
The shrapnel pierced deep into its body, and Pestilence was pushed back.
However, the Wall's Barrier wavered.
This attack had used up almost all of his Zephyx.
He had injured Pestilence quite a bit and managed to buy some time, but the next attack would kill him.
Famine was slowly dying.
Pestilence recovered.
The Juggernaut was rapidly losing Zephyx.
The Champion still couldn't help.
Pestilence stepped forward.
Its next attack killed twelve Protectors.
This time, the Wall couldn't block the attack.
With no one to oppose it, Pestilence readied its next attack.
SHING!
For just a moment, the battlefield fell silent as everyone looked at the coast of the ocean.
The Knife had appeared beside Death.
There was a deep cut in Death's neck.
The Knife looked back at Aegis' headquarters with a content smile.
She saw the devastation Pestilence had caused.
'Humanity can't survive without a sacrifice,' she thought.
She looked at her ritual dagger.
'Let me be that sacrifice.'
The image of Nick appeared in her mind.
'Go free humanity.'
Then, she rammed her dagger into her neck and cut her own head off.
The infant wailed as the cut stretched across its entire body.
The darkness in the sky vanished as an impossibly bright explosion of light swallowed everything.
The Champion looked at Death with unending rage.
He readied his gigantic sword and unleashed his most powerful attack.
A kilometer-wide beam of light shot at Death.
Death couldn't evade.
SSSSSSS!
The Trio of Destruction acted immediately.
War appeared between the laser and Death, blocking most of the attack.
Pestilence appeared behind War, its hulking body covering even more of the attack.
The locusts couldn't help due to the Politician.
War's weapons and armor vanished, leaving behind a Specter Core surrounded by molten metal.
Pestilence only had parts of its torso remaining.
Death hadn't been hit by the attack at all, but its entire body was still covered in the devastating cuts the Knife had inflicted on it.
All the humans gathered to strike War and Pestilence.
"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
Death released a terrifying wail, and everyone was pushed back as the world was covered in darkness.
Pestilence engulfed Death and shot into the ocean.
War was right behind them.
Famine couldn't join them.
The Politician was glaring at Famine as he now also started to age.
He had been using his ability for a long time.
The Technician and the Juggernaut joined him.
The Champion glared at the ocean with teeth gritted in frustration.
He couldn't chase them!
The Salt Trident and the Shark Mother were huge threats!
If he entered the ocean, those two would get involved, and he would die.
The Champion's glare turned to Famine.
BANG!
He unleashed a terrifying blast of light, and all the locusts turned to ash.
Silence.
The battle was over.
They managed to kill Famine.
However…
The Technician looked at the headless corpse before looking at the Politician.
Or, more precisely, at the location the Left Arm had been earlier.
The victory hadn't been easy.
The Left Arm and the Knife had died.
In just one century, the Right Arm, the Left Arm, and the Knife had died.
Three dead Shields in less than a hundred years.
However, the loss of their Protectors was arguably worse.
They had a bit over ten Peak Protectors who could become Shields, but they did not have many Peak Heroes who could become Protectors.
In terms of combat power, humanity lost almost a third.
They also lost thousands of tons of Zephyx stored in Aegis' Barrier.
It would take decades to regain their strength.
However, they had managed to kill Gluttony and Famine.
Except for Death, Famine was the most troublesome to kill since it was effectively a Force Specter.
This only left Pestilence and War.
As always, Death would have to stay near Aegis' headquarters.
Without Famine, humanity could act more aggressively.
But…
The Technician sighed.
Who was there to direct them?
The Left Arm was gone.
Humanity would have a lot of difficulties in the future.
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