"You idiot, how quickly you had to use your special power!"
The 6th Apostle, after looking towards the dawn that suddenly lit up, turned his head slightly to the right and took a deep breath. Even though his body language said he wasn't pleased with the developments, the smile slowly spreading across his face was saying the opposite.
"Whoever their enemies are, they are dead now. Let me go and help those incompetent humans!"
The Apostle turning his face to the south disappeared in the duration of a blink; the afterimages he previously left in the darkness were now too faint to be seen by the eye.
In the direction of his target, the most interesting struggle on the battlefield was about to begin. The Hell Army was advancing behind their King Joshua, but their speed had been stopped by the enemies appearing before them.
Hundreds of the prototype Michelangelo managed to defeat, albeit with difficulty, during the daytime hours were in front of them, in fact, it would be more accurate to increase this number to thousands. Looking at their clothes, the people understood to be the civilian populace of the Golden City were inside the battle robots controlled by the remotes in the hands of the engineers a hundred steps away.
"Bookworm, you take the Elite Ten and advance. We will deal with this place!"
The Hell King risked dividing his forces in two; Bookworm thought over the offer for the duration of a few breaths, then along with his signal, the orcs accelerated towards the right side. This movement of theirs caused the engineers using the remotes to direct their attention to that direction, but there was a very important thing they forgot.
"Blood Needles"
When Joshua swung his two hands crossing them and united them in front of his chest, a red cloud formed in front of him. The cloud advanced ceaselessly until it hit the human-based robots trying to go towards the area where Bookworm and the Elite Ten moved.
The blood-red needles touching the cast iron limbs exploded at that moment. The way was opened for the orcs slipping through the robots flying in the air; going after them now would only be a loss for the Machine Empire.
"Let them go, I wonder if they will be able to deal with what they see?"
When a person among the engineers, whose hair was one shade lighter blond than the others, shouted, all the human-based robots turned to the direction of the Hell Army. They had cold weapons in their hands, and traces of element energy could even be seen on the weapons of some.
"My warriors, be careful! By using the affinity inside the humans, they even managed to transfer element energy to their weapons. Do not be taken prisoner!"
If they managed this with humans, the robots with the people of the Hell Realm, whose fighting method was transferring element energy onto the weapon, could become extremely powerful. Joshua didn't hesitate while giving his order; he preferred they die rather than be taken prisoner.
The Hell Realm army, holding the numerical superiority, became the first side to take action. Their King stayed behind and watched them; the day had come when they needed to show their loyalty and fighting skills.
The engineers were enthusiastic too; perhaps they were conducting their greatest field experiments, they unleashed the human-based robots upon the enemy without hesitation. The first clash was a sight to see; when the metal bodies of the robots clashed with the weapons possessing the glimmers of four elements on them, sparks scattered into the air.
The human-based robots possessed the ability to regenerate themselves, and they had the advantage in hand-to-hand combat, but the Hell Realm warriors wanted to show themselves to Joshua too.
They consisted of the remnants of the sects that were almost entirely destroyed. If they wanted to be taken seriously in their homeland in the future, they had to be victorious here. The battle of the sides, mutually possessing high motivation, was destructive and didn't look like it would end anytime soon.
On the other hand, Bookworm, advancing through the opened path, together with the Elite Ten members advancing right behind him, was heading towards the depths of the Southern Part of the Golden City. Maintaining their speed was a hard task for them; they had to be cautious against the Machine Empire people, who were experts in stealth and setting traps.
Even if not a single shadow was seen for five minutes, they couldn't relax; the Elite Ten members were ready to neutralize the danger that could appear at any moment, but the man they encountered in the wide courtyard they stepped into a few steps later looked extremely relaxed.
"If number seven had done his job properly, I wouldn't have had to deal with a bug like you now. And you brought ten more pests with you, what a hassle!"
The Sixth Apostle, leaning against a marble pillar thick enough for two humans to barely grasp and carved with vine patterns, was greeting the orcs in the quadrangular square surrounded by buildings standing with the help of the same pillars.
No answer came to his rude words; the Elite Ten members placing Bookworm at the very back took a defense formation according to physical strength order. Two metal whips were cracking; number three possessing the bodily transformation skill and number Two specializing in Body Hardening were positioned next to their friends.
While number nine held the right side with his shield, number six had prepared his spear against the dangers that could come from the left. While those capable of executing long-distance attacks and the Leader of the Elite Ten stood at the back part of the formation, they took the duty of detecting the attacks that would come from the surroundings.
"How scared they got? It's just me; you can be at ease but don't get too happy, I hate it when there is a smiling expression on the corpses of my enemies!"
A second after the shining teeth disappeared from sight, he appeared next to Bookworm; his right hand was advancing to its target like a spearhead. No one could understand what happened; the Elite Ten members holding the front lines couldn't find the time to react, even the person in the target stood frozen.
"Shatter Wind Claw!"
Only one person saw everything and summoned a wild creature in spirit form from the totem she threw to the ground. The Sixth Apostle had to retreat due to the attack coming from his left side when he was a step away from his target, otherwise he could be wounded before reaching Bookworm.
"Look at that! It turns out there is someone here who can follow my movements!"
While the Leader of the Elite Ten held the head of the wild creature in spirit form she summoned, she was watching the enemy retreating to another pillar. The Elite Ten members changed the direction of the formation too; even if it was a futile effort, they had to do this.
"Your body might disappear from sight, but that putrid spirit of yours can't go anywhere. No matter what you do, you can't hide its filth from my eyes!"
"Ah yes, there was that matter, wasn't there? Well, you are just one person; how will you protect yourself if I attack you!"
"Rise Totem – Attack and Shatter"
The response came not with words but actions; a thousand warrior spirits bursting from the totem flocked upon the Sixth Apostle. Some of them were orc warriors, some were Mercenaries, and some were spirits captured from the Hell Realm lands.
The words 'you are just one person, what can you do if I attack' were reversing; the apostle with bright hair was left alone against a thousand. Despite this, there was confidence in his body language, and a bizarre, even distorted smile on his face.
Knowing all the enemies could pass them at once and reach her, the Elite Ten Leader had arrayed the warrior spirits she summoned in layers. Besides, since the one before her was a spirit, the spirit of the Sixth Apostle wouldn't be able to move so easily either.
As a matter of fact, number six of the Master's loyal servants chose to escape. It's unknown if the wound he received from the axe of the first orc warrior spirit reaching him had an effect on his choosing this method, but he looked as if he was looking for an opening by relocating rather than attacking.
Seeing the traces of blood flowing from the Sixth Apostle's right arm and dripping to the ground, Bookworm took a deep breath. The one before them could be wounded, even bleed, just like them, and their confidence that he could somehow be killed now increased.
"We continue this way; as the spirits disappear, increase their numbers. We will be the winner of the war of attrition!"