Chapter 800 The Targe
Right as everyone present marched onto the mountain which was in the shape indicated to them, they all disappeared.
The first thing that all of the sovereigns felt after finding their footing was that a very loud sound was coming from somewhere near them.
They had to take a few moments to allow their vision to adjust, and after that, they all saw that all 208 of them had been teleported into a large cave, resulting in them having to crowd together and lose the formation that they had carefully assembled before entering.
Although the cave was large, it could not accommodate all of them standing side by side, but still, the instincts of the Domination Corps which had been instilled in them again and again due to the training from the instructors of the Fists of Justice Training Hall kicked in, making them all form squads of 20 each, resulting in a long line of soldiers who were completely equipped with the dark armour and dark clothes that they had become famous for during the Olympics of Angaria.
It had been decided beforehand that the former commanders of Lanthanor would be the ones who would lead this army, while the rest would be in charge of other duties, such as reconnaissance and using everything that they could detect to form options regarding what they could do. Decisions would be taken together, unless they were in a war situation which required those with experience to step forward and take charge.
At the moment, everything seemed calm, except for the loud sound which kept growing in intensity by the second. It was almost like someone was… banging on something, again and again, but as they kept listening, they realized that it wasn't a single 'someone', but a large group who were all doing something together and with a certain rhythm.
Looking back, the group saw that they could only go forward as there was only a wall behind them.
"Prepare to move out!"
Luther gave this command, and all of the soldiers stood at attention and checked their gear. Some had tumbled to the ground due to being teleported into such a tight place, so they had to make sure that all of their weapons were in order, ready to be drawn at a moment's notice.
After all these preparations were done, the three commanders, along with Elanev and Faxul flew to the head, and the rest stayed at the back because they were both the intellectual force, and the slightly weaker one which had to be protected at the rear. Kellor and Robert had both been given the duty of protecting Eloise, even though she didn't really like it.
With that, the force from Lanthanor started to move to find out just what situation they had found themselves in. They used the trinkets that they had to illuminate the area around them as the cave was dark, and the more they moved, the more it started to expand until they could reform their formation so that they were standing in four rows of 50 individuals each.
On the way, the mages kept checking the area, and they soon realized that the entire place was under a very strong formation which both prevented them from communicating anything to the outside and teleporting freely. The complexity was way beyond anything they had ever seen, and comparing it with a few Hero level formations they had seen before, the mages were perplexed to see that it might be even a small step above them.
If the means of the one who was behind this hadn't been clear before, they were now, as everyone increased their estimation of their opponent's abilities to one step higher than what they had initially thought.
They continued marching for an entire minute, all while the sounds kept getting louder and louder. It almost seemed to be coming from inside them, now, and it also started to have a strange effect on them. It was like a worm which tried to eat away at their calmness and expose the fear in their heart which was present even though they had been emboldened by their commanders before, but for the Domination Corps who had been through grueling training day and night under the hands of the Devil, this was almost nothing. Each time they came close to succumbing, they remembered how they had spent their days- beating each other up, healing themselves, training, and then repeating the pattern over and over and over until they even stopped falling asleep naturally. If they got tired, they would just drop where they were, and they would be carried to their beds, where they would sleep and then wake up to continue the cycle again.
Nothing was forced on them, but they had risen to the challenge and kept doing it, even though it felt almost like their own sanity was being affected. They just kept their goal in their mind - to gain power, and bring glory and a happy life to their families, and the man who had believed in them and given them this chance that others would die for.
Compared to all that, this felt almost trivial, and even the commanders were quite pleased as they saw this. If it was a normal army, some of them would definitely have become adversely affected by now, so the Domination Corps truly was showing itself to be an elite force which could not be underestimated in any manner.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, an exit could be seen just as the path they were on began to slope upward. Because of this, they could not see what lay beyond it, but they did not grow excited and increase their place. Instead, they paused to check everything again.
The three commanders all gulped together, and after ensuring that the Army was ready, they flew to this exit, and as one, they gasped as they saw the sight that was presented to them.
Luther immediately raised his arm to command the army to wait, and he also sent a message to Eloise and the rest to come forward.
No sooner had they flown over, they also froze and felt their hearts go cold just like the commanders.
In front of them… the source of the sound they had been listening to until now was finally revealed.
A two thousand member strong army stood in front of them, and all two thousand of these individuals were carrying large, round shields made of some material that looked like whitish stone, but was not. They also carried various weapons in their arms, and it was these weapons that they were actively using to bang on these shields in a perfectly coordinated manner that made that sound echo in the entire area.
The strangest thing was that all of the members of this army were wearing masks which were a bright white in color, and only had slits for their eyes. Each mask glowed brightly, and one would have to squint if they wanted to look at the soldiers' faces.
They also wore white, spotless ropes with white armor on top, and it looked as if the entire army consisted of only Fighters.
Yet… If one looked closer, an even more horrifying thing would be revealed, and it was something that would strike fear into any foes who dared to go against force.
In a mage's elementary vision… It would become clear that each and every soldier was casting a spell to keep their masks glowing, and this made one reach the terrifying conclusion that this entire army was one made up of those who were traditionally called Vanguards- talented individuals who could train as both a Mage and a Fighter, and bring forth the best of both paths so that they would be flexible and undefeatable on the battlefield.
All of these things would have been enough to give pause to any normal people, but these were eight of the Nine Sovereigns of Angaria, who had heard of much more fantastical things from their king.
So… The reason behind their surprise wasn't this army.
It…was what lay right behind it.
"Welcome to your grave! I see you didn't dally, like I asked. Well, I'll be done here soon, and after that, I'll come crush you all with impunity. Until then, have fun with these toys of mine."
These words were shouted out in a way that they echoed throughout the humongous cave that they found themselves in, and as soon as the last word was heard…the banging stopped.
"RAAAAWWRRR!"
In a sight that would strike fear into the boldest of warriors, the two thousand-strong army started to run forward, in the direction of the cave entrance at which the sovereigns all stood.
There was something…inhuman about them, whether it was the way in which each of their movements seemed exactly the same, or the inhuman roaring which was almost like something that one would expect from a rabid beast.
"Domination Corps, defensive formations! Deploy the Thorny Turtle Shell to barricade this entrance!"
Luther quickly gave this command, taking charge as the senior-most commander present.
The Domination Corps were all alert, so they immediately ran forward on hearing the order.
They didn't even pause to check what was in front of them, as they had been trained perfectly to first follow orders, and then do things which were not urgent.
One by one, the two hundred individuals all assembled themselves in a peculiar way.
There were fifty who stood on the ground, with equal distance between each of them, and after checking their positions, they dropped to their knees.
Fifty more jumped up onto their shoulders, making a lattice of individuals, and as soon as these fifty stabilized themselves, they had already almost reached the roof of the cave opening.
Fifty more still jumped onto these people's shoulders, and as one, they all grasped formations that they activated together.
SKKKRRNNGGG!
With a sound akin to a sword being unsheathed, a five-feet(1.5 m) thick barrier with interlocking hexagons each formed from each trinket that had been activated sprang into being, and the last fifty soldiers all flew into the air to position themselves at the spots from where their vision wasn't impeded by the rest.
They joined their hands together, and fireballs began to form that kept growing in size.
It was only then that all those present looked forward, and saw the image that had shocked their commanders so.
If not for their training, they would have lost control of what they were doing, but at the last moment, all of them managed to control themselves.
At the corner of the humongous cave…was a man floating in the air, spread-eagled, with silver cuffs around his arms and legs.
He was unconscious, but his face still seemed to retain the sense of royalty that he had awed many with.
He was the one they had come to save, and in front of him was someone who looked as if they were the very embodiment of evil, itself.
This…thing was 10 feet(3 m) tall, and except for the fact that it stood on two legs, there was nothing else human about it.
Its entire body was filled with arms that sprouted out from almost every inch of its skin, and within that massive ball of limbs which looked especially grotesque because of the way they were twitching, almost with excitement, no face could be seen.
Even the legs were barely visible, so the monstrosity almost looked like a clump of arms which had been affixed together.
The King was surrounded by layers of barriers, and it was clear that they were the ones created by the trinkets that he always carried. Even if he was unconscious, they would protect him, and that was exactly what they were doing.
After those words were heard, the figure which was straight of the nightmare of someone with an overly active imagination turned around and began striking at the barriers.
It's objective was obvious: it wanted to use brute force to break through, and then kill the King who had somehow been taken hostage.
Taking a deep breath, Luther said what was on everyone's minds.
"We have our target in front of us. Sovereigns, if we can't even defeat this thing which looks like it is just at the Peak Champion level, then we really don't deserve this title that we were christened with. The Domination Corps will handle this army. As for us…let's go make that thing beg with all its arms if it wants us to not break them off and use them to smack it into oblivion. Move out."