"Right here," Nick said. "A couple hundred kilometers underground. It can't sense us from there, but I can sense it."
The Shields all stopped behind Nick.
They talked amongst each other, preparing for battle.
"Take this and keep us up to date on its location," the Champion said, throwing a small device to Nick.
Nick looked at the small device and understood it almost immediately.
It was just a communicator.
"Sure," Nick said as he put it on.
Then, Nick shot into the ground.
The other Shields followed Nick and spread in different directions.
After around a hundred kilometers of depth, their Barriers activated.
Luckily, they were regenerating Zephyx faster than they were using up.
"Stop," Nick said after a while.
Everyone stopped.
"Just a couple more kilometers more, and we will be entering its perception. It is exactly 55 kilometers below my position."
The Shields coordinated with each other and spread in different directions.
After a while, they had essentially surrounded Death from all directions.
"Is it still there?" the Champion asked.
"It has not moved," Nick answered.
"Good," the Champion answered.
"Attack!" the Champion ordered.
Then, everyone at once shot toward Death.
"I can sense it!" the Tinkerer said.
BANG!
The Champion charged downward.
"Moving to my position!" the Icestorm transmitted.
Everyone adapted.
Meanwhile, Death had been completely caught off guard.
How had they found it?!
Death immediately released its black veil, disrupting all senses.
"It changed direction," Nick transmitted. "It's moving to the Right Arm."
The Shields entered the black veil, and their Zephyx rapidly dropped.
A moment later, Death appeared in front of the Right Arm.
The infant wailed, and the Right Arm's Zephyx dropped rapidly.
Endless tortures assaulted him.
Yet, the Right Arm just retained a peaceful expression.
BANG!
The next moment, a huge shield of magma appeared between Death and the Right Arm.
The Wall's replacement had become active.
Death attacked the shield and broke it in an instant.
BOOOOOM!
But then, an incredibly powerful beam of light covered Death's body.
The beam broke through the veil, dispersing it.
Death's body became injured, and it vanished the next moment.
"It cloaked itself," Nick said. "It's not moving. It wants us to think that it moved somewhere else when it actually didn't."
The Shields all converged on Death's position.
This had been a risky gamble.
Usually, one's first instinct would be to run away, but Death stayed in place.
If the Right Arm had moved, Death would have an escape path.
And yet, they managed to see through its cloaking ability.
All the Shields readied their attacks, and the Champion pointed his shining sword at Death.
The next moment, Death reappeared.
"I concede," it said.
There was no way it could escape.
It could kill three Shields, and it could flee from maybe five.
But all seven of them were there.
Additionally, the Champion was not like the other Shields.
Since six of the Shields were all relatively new, they were not very powerful.
The new Left Arm and the Wall's replacement were only Initial Shields.
The Right Arm, the Icestorm, the Inferno, and the Tinkerer were all Early Shields.
However, the Champion was a Late Shield, and he was incredibly powerful.
In a duel, Death would not be able to win against the Champion, but it would be able to escape.
But with all the other Shields present, this became impossible.
Everyone kept pointing their weapons at it, and Death didn't dare to move.
Yes, it was humanity's enemy, but its survival was still its highest priority.
So, it conceded.
The Tinkerer approached Death and wrapped the most powerful Zephyx Suppressor they owned around it.
After that, they dumped it in the most powerful Specter Cage they had.
It was over.
The Shields took deep breaths.
Suppressing Death had been easy.
However, that was only the case because they had caught it off guard.
If they hadn't surrounded it beforehand, this wouldn't have been that easy.
The Champion looked at the Specter Cage with furrowed brows.
This was too easy.
Then, he looked at Nick.
When they had dealt with War and Pestilence, they had lost two Shields, and that fight hadn't been as easy.
But with the Trickster's help, Death had had no chance.
The Champion was reminded of the times Nick had helped Aegis against the Corruptors.
The Trickster was terrifyingly powerful.
Maybe not in a direct way, but it was incredibly powerful in a very indirect way.
The Champion was confident that he could take the Trickster down in a battle.
But battle wasn't the Trickster's strength.
It simply outsmarted everyone and avoided situations that would be bad for it.
"Bring it back," the Champion ordered.
Everyone left the underground and reached the surface again.
Now, everyone was focusing on Nick.
They now had Death in their custody.
If they wanted to break the deal, now would be the time.
Nick just casually looked at them.
The atmosphere became tense.
Nick wasn't afraid.
Even if Aegis attacked him, he could escape.
He would just teleport halfway across the world and vanish.
And if they actually attacked him…
Well, then he would take the Shields by force.
He needed the power for humanity.
He was willing to work together with them and give them something in exchange, but if they refused, he would take the Shields without asking.
"We will check its authenticity," the Champion said. "You can follow us to our headquarters."
Nick nodded without saying anything.
A moment later, everyone moved to Aegis' headquarters.
Nick remained outside, accompanied by the Inferno and the Right Arm.
The two of them didn't say anything to Nick.
Based on their expressions, they had already accepted their fate.
A couple of hours passed.
Finally, the Champion left Aegis' headquarters.
"It actually is Death," he said.
Surprisingly, his voice didn't sound prideful or victorious.
He almost sounded like he was delivering bad news.
'He changed quite a bit,' Nick thought. 'He actually cares for these two.'
In the beginning, the Champion had been cold, calculating, and ruthless.
But over time, he became friendlier and more open.
'Being surrounded by people who are willing to sacrifice their lives for a greater cause can change a person,' Nick thought.
The next moment, the Champion looked at the Right Arm and the Inferno.
"I'm sorry," he said.
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