Chapter 933 In the Sect of Hedon End
Three hours before the event was scheduled to end, those who had still not gotten a chance to enter the stall of the King were looking forward to testing their luck and walking away satisfied that they had at least gotten something out of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that had graced their otherwise boring week.
Strangely, though, they began to notice that as each minute went by, the area around them began to empty more and more, until it seemed as if they were the only ones present.
Stalls began to be shut down, streets began to become empty, and an ominous silence started to settle on the area of the event, which was only punctured by the whisperings of those in this queue, in which only a few knew what was up.
A few minutes later, though, it became clear to everyone, because suddenly, in the air right above this area, a gigantic structure came into existence.
All of the mages present were shocked as they saw it, as they could see elementary particles all binding together firmly to create a flat surface that seemed unbreakable even if a Hero launched an attack.
Flabbergasted, they could only stare as tiles started to fall into place around this surface's edges, allowing it to expand more and more until it covered the entire sky above the area of the event, which was capable of holding at least 10,000 people.
As if on cue, sect member after sect member appeared in the air all around the surface, and initially, those on the ground could not see what was happening above this structure.
However, another minute later, it seemed that the expansion was finished, and as if a switch had been flipped, the entire thing suddenly turned transparent to reveal that all of those who were missing from the area around them… Were present in the air right above this newly formed arena.
And right in the center of it, exactly above the Dragon-shaped stall stood the King, with his hands folded behind his back, as if he wasn't concerned whatsoever about the 2000 mages who were all staring at him angrily.
He only had a small smirk on the corner of his lips, which was actually more infuriating than anything else that could have been present on his face, and looking at it, it was as if the fire of anger that was already burning within many in the air was showered with fuel, allowing it to roar and step into the world in the form of angry shouts.
"We won't allow this! We won't accept that you won!"
"Yes! You cheated! I don't know how…but I bet it'll be revealed after we beat you up!"
"YES! The sect is united! We will take you down and reveal the truth to everyone!"
"Dear fellow sect members! Let us all show this man that hedonism isn't our only strength! Prepare to use your deadliest attacks!"
"You think you can say you defeated our sect through this contest? Humph! Beat us now, and then we'll talk! Everyone, let's do this!"
2000 to 1? What the f*ck?
This question appeared in the minds of many who had just found out what was going on, but soon, as if they had been waiting, a group appeared in the area of the event and began to walk around holding a trinket in which an announcement had been recorded.
"All sect members, unite to drive away this arrogant King who believes he can defeat us! It is a question of our honor, and resources! Drive him away, and everything he promised will still be ours, as we will still be defeating him! Fly up! We attack together! And if you think it's unfair…he was the one who cockily asked to take everyone on at once! Why are you still thinking about it? Come join us!"
The twisted logic in the first part of the announcement startled many, but the revelation that such a kind of fight had been asked for by the King, himself, caused the anger present in those above to spread to many of those who had decided not to take part.
The feeling of being looked down upon was something they were used to dishing out instead of experiencing on their own, and even though they didn't recognize it for what it was right away, they couldn't take it.
Whoever dared to look down on them so… Had to be smashed into the ground.
More and more people started to join the large group in the air, and soon, it swelled in size until it held more than 3000 people.
In the air above the sect, seeing all this, Elanev said, "In the Fortress, there were only a thousand, even though Fighters are supposed to be much more common than mages. But here, there are 3000 mages going up against my dear brother! Can he really do it?"
The one to answer was Eloise, who still had a slight blush on her cheeks as she remembered what they had just shared.
Smiling at her childhood friend, she said, "Yes, Fighters are more common, but the Fortress has always had the policy of only accepting the best. In that case, relatively speaking, the thousand Fighters were all elite individuals who could be said to be the best of the best. But as mages are more scarce, even those with good, but not great comprehension levels are accepted into the sects. In fact, the Sect of Hedon actually has some of the laxest requirements, and that's why you're seeing this scene in front of you right now. Most of those 3000 are just Humans and Warriors who are practically cannon fodder, and just as we saw in the Fortress, the real threats hiding among them so that they can attack at the perfect moment. As for what he's going to do… He did tell me to have a communication eye crew ready, as this is also supposed to help our mission to ascend his status to Godhood. Let's wait and watch."
"We won't have to wait long, though! It's already starting!"
This was said by Kellor, and right away, everyone focused on the arena to find that there were no more people joining the group.
The entire number of individuals that had joined the event was around 5000, and the final count of those going up against the King… Was 3800 to 1.
In the center of the arena, Daneel's smirk was still firmly present on his face as he said to the system, "Are we ready to deploy? And here I was thinking that I would be able to go down in history for defeating 5000 at once… Well, this will have to do. Besides, when has history ever been always accurate, anyway?"
Daneel did not expect the system to respond to his jest, but funnily enough, it did in its own unique way.
[Protocol ready to deploy. Parameters have been adjusted according to data collected from host's surroundings. Would host like to create 1200 additional individuals that can be added discreetly to the attacking force to create the record?]
He chuckled in response, and weirdly… This chuckle was the ember that set the Sect of Hedon ablaze.
"GET HIM!"
No one knew who shouted this, but suddenly, all hell broke loose.
Working together was always something that needed a lot of training and practise in the path of magic if one wanted to output more power than would usually be possible if people were acting separately, but when the number of mages swelled to the thousands…this was something that didn't matter.
Multicolored beams, shiny weapons, elemental attacks, and in some places, even attack-oriented apparitions started to form, all targeted at one lonely man who almost seemed puny and weak in front of such a large force.
In just two seconds, the air was filled with destructive forces in all directions, and in a moment, it looked like the King, and maybe even a large part of the sect that was below him would be blown to smithereens, with nothing remaining to show that one man had stood against thousands on that spot.
Even the leader took in a sharp breath and waited for the scene to turn out in the way he hoped, but suddenly, the King…raised his hands.
"Deploy…Legion."
He said these words both out loud and to the system, and for a moment, it seemed as if it was just the bluster of someone who was close to being decimated.
But a moment later…everyone found out how wrong they were.
Perhaps, the best way to describe it would be the words that Kellor would come up with much later.
"First, he stood alone, but then…he was everywhere. On that day, in the Sect of Hedon…the Supreme Godking descended, and with his descent…the World, itself, stood still."
In more direct terms, though, the shouts of the Mages were the best things which summed it up, and these shouts were because of the fact that in front of the eyes and each and every one of them…a replica of the King manifested into existence.
The fact that this happened with no preamble was itself a shocking thing, but what really caused storms to be kicked up in the minds of the mages…was the fact that each replica had in its hands the exact copy of the attack that they were going to unleash.
And a second before they could attack, using their state of being in shock, the replicas struck, and from the sky over the Sect of Hedon…blood began to rain.
3800 clones, each equipped with the exact attack of the Mages who had been about to strike at the form of the one they had taken, managed to use the minute flaws that were present in all those who had yet to reach perfection to both nullify their spells, and take the upper hand by directing the force unleashed by the nullification in their direction.
It was like two expert swordsmen attacking each other using the same move, but if one among them knew a minute flaw in the form of the other, they could target it to break apart their opponent's attack and even turn their own sword on them.
In magic, this was known as 'Master's Gambit', as there was a great chance that if the one using this method didn't know the attack of their opponent well enough, the reverse would happen, and they would find themselves injured, or worse.
But, of course, with Daneel's relationship with the World, was there a chance that his attacks could be imperfect?
Not at all.
His Path allowed him to read all of the elementary particles perfectly, and the system smoothly sent the commands to each and every clone regarding what it had to do.
If Heroes were going up against him, this move might have been countered right away in multiple ways, but against Humans and Warriors? There was no chance.
The Humans fell first. One by one, bodies began to fall to the ground as each of them were knocked out, and if Daneel wished, he could have ended their lives then and there.
Of course, this was not what he had come to do, but he made sure that each of them saw before fainting that it was simple for his clones to kill them.
Bodies with frightened and panicked expressions began to thud onto the ground as the arena opened up in places to allow them through, one by one, and soon, the area of the event which had been bustling earlier began to be filled with bodies again, but this time, they were all unmoving.
The Warriors came next. They put up a fight, but they were done in 4, or at most 5 attacks.
There was even more shock on the faces of these Mages, as they couldn't understand how it was possible for anyone to replicate their own Paths or Inheritances so perfectly.
Monster.
This word echoed in almost all of their minds, and many of them would look with reverential fear in the direction of the King's real body, which still had its hands up, as if it was directing a macabre symphony of dominating violence.
Finally, only the Champions were left, but there were only a few hundred of them.
Of course, with the departure of the rest of the sect, the clones were left free, and as they saw the thousands of Kings divvy them up as if they were but dead meat on a chopping board, fear struck their hearts.
The members of the Sect of Hedon always knew when to fight, and when to flee, and once again, they showed this quality.
"We surrender!"
"You win! We were wrong!"
"Yes, I didn't even ask to be here! I was dragged here by that guy!"
"Me? No! HE DRAGGED ME HERE!"
As fights began to break out among them, the leader of the sect buried his head in his hands, but his face still had the astonishment from before, when he had seen the situation change in that awe-inspiring way.
Chuckling, Daneel looked like he was going to let the Champions go, which led to these individuals letting out sighs of relief.
Not all of them had gotten up to these antics, with the real elites still being on guard in case they were attacked, and in the next second, it turned out that they were right to be cautious.
"If you had all been united from the beginning, I might not have gotten this chance, but each of you only cared for yourselves. Now…pay for that foolishness, and go take a nap with your fellow sect members. Get 'em!"
With his shout, the thousands of clones attacked, and it didn't even take 30 seconds for all of the Champions to be swatted to the ground, too.
While they fell, though, they saw the reason behind their loss: a formation more complex than anything they had ever seen was present beneath the King's feet, and below it was a large, concealed mountain of Ker Gems which was being depleted by the second.
Seeing the quantity that had already been depleted, the last thought they got was the realization that it had taken the amount of Energy that would have been required for their entire sect to operate for a year to result in this scene, but when they asked themselves whether it was worth it…the answer was clear in the last image they saw.
It was that of one man standing over thousands who had sought to vanquish him, but in a feat that would go down in history, he had turned the tables and overpowered them all, resulting in a silent field filled with defeated foes who all paid homage to his strength by lying unmoving under his feet.
Such images…would make the blood of those who even read about them generations later to boil, and as for the effect it would have on those who were present to see it in the flesh…it couldn't even be put into words.
The rest of the sect that was staring with jaws hanging wide open were suddenly startled out of their stupefied state when the King spoke, and his voice was something they would not forget for a long, long time.
"Today, the Sect of Hedon has fallen. Today, I have squashed it under my feet, and if anyone disputes this claim, come forth, and I will show you the truth in it. Today, I beat you all in all the areas you thought yourselves to be experts, so before you even think about looking down on others ever again, remember this scene. The Sect of Hedon is mine, now and forevermore, and if anyone dares to think otherwise, speak now, or forever hold your tongue!"
Before Daneel said the last sentence, he turned to the leader with the fierce eyes of a conqueror, and in the silence that followed…the Hero did not raise his head.
With a humph, the corner of his lip rose, as he said, "Yeah…I didn't think so. Lick your wounds, everyone, because I'll be back, and when I arrive…a lot of things are going to change, whether you like it, or not. Remember, if you want to wipe away this humiliation, all you have to do is show me that you are not what you were today. That's only if you still call yourself a proud member of the Sect, of course. Farewell!"
Saying so, the King shot one last look at the field of bodies under him, before disappearing from where he stood, and bringing an end to the saga that would forever be known as 'A Scam that ended in a Conquest'.