The plan was relatively simple.
Arthur would help Sylvie against the Devils, then take care of killing the Tyrant commanding the horde of Nightmare Creatures, and finally leave the battlefield in search of the Terror south of the city.
If the Terror had started its plan when he went to the Dream Realm, that meant about eight hours had passed since he left the north of the city to intercept the evacuees in the south.
About eight hours in which it could have gone anywhere—but that was where the plan came into action, because what would be the reason for the Terror to abandon the evacuation routes after everything it had done?
The Terror wouldn't be near the city, but it also wouldn't be too far away. Moreover, if there had been no delays in the process, a convoy transporting citizens had left the city less than a few hours ago, and Davis would have to be in that convoy.
Arthur, using Godstep, could cover that distance in minutes. The only problem was whether that would exceed the distance limit he could have with Regis. If nothing strange happened, he wouldn't use many fragments to reach the convoy either.
With all that calculated, his focus shifted to the present.
Standing to his left was Sylvie, with Regis to her left, while to Arthur's right stood Seishan with Jet.
The five of them would be the main force to eliminate the horde of Corrupted Nightmare Creatures that were less than a few minutes from reaching their position. Even so, they were calm.
The group had faced many complications over the past two months together. Each of them knew what the other was good at and how to help them.
"This is just like any other Thursday, don't you think?" Jet commented with a slight smile on her face.
Regis replied after shaking his head.
"Yeah, sure. I don't remember having a horde of Nightmare Creatures for breakfast last Thursday."
Seishan frowned elegantly at that moment and leaned in to look at him.
"Are you eating the creatures you kill?"
Regis scoffed.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but my weapons are my claws and teeth… Where do you think the chunks of flesh and blood go when I kill them?"
Sylvie giggled.
"You can spit them out instead of eating them, you know?"
"I could," he admitted. "But it's already in my mouth, so it's easier to eat than to spit out."
The rest ended up nodding because it was a valid point.
They didn't speak further after that, as the horde of Corrupted creatures lunged at them.
Among them, some had multiple arms on their bodies, others walked on four or six legs, and others had antennae running along their entire spinal column.
Before any of the creatures could do anything, Sylvie moved to the front of the group and activated her transformation.
From one moment to the next, the form of an enormous dragon with black scales covering its entire body could be seen on the battlefield.
Sylvie moved her wings aggressively to create a wind force strong enough to make multiple creatures lose their balance.
The creatures that moved on more than two legs weren't affected, but the rest staggered slightly, providing an opening for the others to take advantage.
Even so, Arthur wasn't one of them. Seishan, Jet, and Regis accelerated upon seeing this and launched themselves at the weakest ones—which weren't that weak.
All of them were Corrupted rank, but most belonged to the Beast, Monster, or Demon classes. Those would be their targets, with the help of the government Awakened. It wasn't going to be easy, but nothing was at this advanced stage of the Antarctic campaign.
The rest of the creatures, corresponding to the Devil class and the Tyrant, would be Sylvie's and Arthur's mission.
Using Godstep, Arthur felt the Aetheric Pathways that took him onto Sylvie's back, who was already on her way toward the back of the horde.
Along the way, multiple creatures tried to bother them, but all their attempts were interrupted by both of them.
Sylvie used the ambient Mana to launch spells, while Arthur activated King's Presence interspersed with Static Void to freeze and prevent the creatures from moving freely.
Since these were of a higher rank than Arthur, they wouldn't fall victim to the abilities individually. That was why he had to use both in combination to achieve the desired effect.
Sylvie continued her path toward the end of the horde at great speed, and in a matter of seconds, they would achieve their goal.
Using that time, Arthur began analyzing the Tyrant.
The creature possessed an enormous body. Its height reached 6 meters without any complication, while its width, using its multiple arms, had a similar wingspan. Its skin was completely dark and seemed to have worms constantly moving in plain sight.
On each side of its body, there were three arms that didn't end in hands. The top pair of arms on each side ended in the shape of a spear with multiple vines hanging from them. The vines connected to the second pair of arms, which ended in the shape of mouths with multiple rows of teeth, from which a gray, slimy mucus dripped.
Finally, the lower pair of arms was completely flaccid. Their ends were constantly touching the ground and seemed disconnected from the rest of the body.
The rest of its body, covered in that layer of worms, was relatively thin—as if those worms were constantly eating it, as if they didn't belong to the Tyrant.
Its head was considerably small compared to the rest of its body. It had multiple eyes along its forehead, no nose, but occupying that space was a jaw that took up most of the head.
Arthur could only define it as a completely horrible thing.
When he finished analyzing the Tyrant, the latter lifted its head and stared intently at both of them. Then, opening its enormous jaw and showing multiple rows of sharp teeth, it let out a constant screech that Arthur and Sylvie felt in their bones—so high-pitched and headache-inducing it was.
Sylvie immediately lost her balance in flight from the attack and began descending unconsciously. Arthur activated the Runes trait of Djinn of War and canceled all sound from entering his ears—immediately becoming deaf.
But that was a condition that didn't affect him in the slightest. He had already practiced fighting deaf multiple times throughout the Antarctic campaign. Though never against a Corrupted Tyrant.
The last Corrupted Tyrant Arthur had faced didn't bring him good memories right now. That was why he sent a signal to Sylvie to return to her human form, and when she did, he used Godstep to move her away from the Tyrant's affected area.
They both appeared several dozen meters away from the Tyrant—enough for Sylvie not to be affected by the screech and for the rest of the Corrupted Devils to focus on them.
As soon as they appeared on an open stretch of the snowy mountains, the rest of the creatures changed direction and lunged at them.
Sylvie, using a strategy similar to Arthur's, decided to manipulate the ambient Mana and form earplugs for herself. These wouldn't be as effective as Arthur's tactic, but they would help her maintain her sanity and focus while facing the rest.
Even though she was an Ascended Titan, she was also tired, making her remaining essence reserves dangerously close to the minimum necessary for the fight.
However, fortunately for her, due to her nature as half-Noble Creature and Beast God's blessing, her essence regenerated at a higher rate than the average Awakened. Sylvie wouldn't run out of essence mid-fight, but that didn't mean she could use it recklessly—she would have to regulate it and fight intelligently.
With that in mind and her longsword appearing in her hand, Sylvie was ready for battle. But before the fight began, she turned her face slightly and exchanged glances with Arthur.
He already had his six augmentations coursing through his body, while Djinn of War protected him. In his right hand, covered by the layers of his armor, was Dawn's Ballad, while his eyes held a slight emotion of rage, along with urgency.
The first Devil attacked Arthur, running on four legs, its two heads acting as a pair of eyes staring intently at him. Its height was approximately two meters, and it was three times longer than it was tall.
Fortunately for them, the fact that the creatures were so large worked in their favor—it meant that only two or three creatures could attack them simultaneously.
Two or three fell within the acceptable margin when facing Corrupted Devils. Although that might sound strange, it was a reality for them—for Sylvie as an Ascended Titan and Arthur as an Ascended Tyrant.
The Devil lunged at him with madness in its bloodshot eyes, opening its jaw and letting out a screech, then raising one of its legs and sending a row of sharp claws in his direction.
Arthur didn't react to the Devil's screech—he was still deaf at that moment.
The Devil moved very fast for its size, but Arthur, using his experience, managed to take a step to the side, and the claws grazed his chestplate. Using the Devil's momentum, he tried to take advantage by bringing Dawn's Ballad down in a vertical cut at spine height.
However, at that moment, he sensed through his Aether Sense the movement of another Devil that had launched a cloud of gray ash in his direction.
With no intention of experimenting with what the ashes did, he abandoned the plan and tried to use Godstep to move away from the attack zone. But at that moment, sensing the Aetheric Pathways, he realized that the only one that worked would take him completely out of the fight zone.
He could have manifested an Aether platform in the air and appeared up there, but instead of doing that, he preferred to give Aether Manipulation another use.
Arthur didn't create any weapon, nor did he give it a solid form.
If this ability had helped him turn a lethal fall into a peaceful one, and in the future would allow him to fly, then he could affect the density of Aether in an area so that the ashes wouldn't target him, but rather the Devil he had just dodged.
Using his Awakened Ability, Arthur modified the Aether's density in the path of the ash cloud, and from one moment to the next, they changed course.
The ash cloud made a thirty-degree turn, and the first Devil that had attacked him was engulfed by them.
The creature had no chance to dodge, and as soon as the gray ashes touched its body... its skin began to melt. It opened its mouth to let out another screech that Arthur didn't hear, but he was sure it wasn't an attack—it was a cry of pain.
He couldn't focus directly on that creature's fate, and at that moment, an idea occurred to him to take advantage of the power of the creature that had launched the ash cloud.
Seeing that its attack had failed, it decided to try again, and Arthur used this to move toward the next Devil in line.
This one had a strange body, and being someone who had read a book or two, Arthur identified the creature as a Slime. But obviously, Corrupted, with multiple chunks of flesh inside its translucent body.
As soon as he finished identifying the new target, the ash cloud was already heading in his direction, so using Aether Manipulation again, the cloud ended up enveloping the Slime and melting it as if it had never existed in a matter of moments…
'Apparently, this is going to be easier than I thought…'
Seeing that it was a working strategy, Arthur communicated it to Sylvie immediately, and they both started using it.
Arthur didn't end up killing many of the Devils because the ash-throwing creature did it for him. Even so, Dawn's Ballad didn't fail to claim a couple of victims.
The first received a horizontal cut at spine height, separating both parts of its body. The second was pinned to the ground at neck height after committing to an attack, and the ash cloud melted its legs. The rest met no better fate.
When the number of creatures decreased enough to use Godstep safely, Arthur didn't hesitate.
Feeling the Aetheric Pathways, he took the one that brought him closest to the Tyrant.
It had a light escort of three Devils while it observed the battlefield with its multiple eyes.
Even with so many eyes, it failed to identify Arthur appearing in front of one of its escorts and claiming its life by driving Dawn's Ballad into the Corrupted Devil's forehead.
It fell to the ground, staining the snow with blue blood, but Arthur was too busy taking advantage of the situation to focus on those details and the Spell speaking to him.
Using Godstep again, he approached another of the Tyrant's escorts.
This one had an elongated body with black hair protruding from its skin. It looked somewhat like a bear, but it had two heads, and where its belly should be, there was an enormous mouth with no lips, its teeth straight fangs shaped like triangles. These fangs were stained red.
'This guy didn't brush his teeth…'
Ignoring the intrusive thought, he grabbed Dawn's Ballad with both hands and went for a vertical cut to split it in half. However, the creature reacted in time, twisting its body backward, and the edge of the sword ended up bouncing off its fangs.
A tremor ran through Arthur's arms from the impact, and he ended up in an awkward position with his arms raised above his head.
At that moment, the other of the Tyrant's escorts lunged at him with multiple tentacles that held him at the ankles and wrists, leaving him completely immobilized.
In front of Arthur, the Tyrant opened its jaw again, showing multiple rows of fangs. But instead of letting out a screech, a cloud of gray ash began to form in its jaw.
'…This is bad.'
He could try the same strategy as before, but now the Tyrant was much closer to him—and not only that, it was a damn Tyrant!
Previously, against the Devil, it had worked because of the distance between them and because it wasn't strong enough to break the density change in the air.
But the Tyrant wouldn't have those problems!
It was about to release the ash cloud in his direction when an idea occurred to Arthur. But it was something he had never used before.
Djinn of War possessed several Traits.
Two of them were [Djinn] and [War].
The [Djinn] and [War] were connected but mutually exclusive, as they were forms the Attribute could assume. Djinn was a dormant form, while War was an active form.
Then there were: [Adaptable], [Bound], and [Aether].
The [Bound] trait's function was that it bound the armor (Attribute) to Arthur's soul. While [Adaptable] was the possibility of making the armor change size, shape, and color. Then, Aether was the armor's ability to absorb Aether from the environment.
Finally, there were [Runes] and [Godrunes]. The first was one Arthur had used multiple times, as it was very versatile. While the latter was the ability to reproduce the effects of his Godrunes on the armor.
Arthur had never used the last trait, mainly because he hadn't needed to. But in a situation like the current one, it came in wonderfully.
There was only one Godrune Arthur could use on the armor that wouldn't have the same effect as him using it on his own.
Destruction.
He could use the Godrunes trait to manifest Destruction in Djinn of War so that it would consume the cloud of gray ash.
So, at that moment, Arthur called upon the Godrunes trait and selected Destruction.
The patterns of purple lines in Djinn of War began to change, taking the form of the runes that described Destruction. A helmet began to grow around his head, while the runes along the armor began to vibrate with intensity, and like someone throwing a match onto a pile of dry grass… purple flames began to grow from them.
The flames moved like serpents through all the purple patterns, each time gaining more speed and intensity until the tentacles that bound him in place were consumed little by little.
The cloud of gray ash left the Tyrant's jaw in his direction at high speed. However, what they found wasn't something they could consume and melt. The ashes ceased to exist, consumed by Destruction.
Seeing that its attack hadn't worked, the Tyrant kept its jaw open, expelling more and more ash in Arthur's direction.
A grave mistake.
Due to Destruction's aggressive nature, the purple flames began to consume the ashes even before they reached Arthur. Causing them to keep going and going until they reached the Tyrant and consumed it as well.
The purple flames began to consume the Tyrant's body. First, its head with multiple eyes, then they traveled through its worm-filled body until they spread across the set of three arms…
In a matter of seconds, there was no creature standing in front of Arthur—the Tyrant was completely consumed by Destruction.
[You have slain a Corrupted Tyrant, Maw of Rot.]
[Your Aether grows stronger.]
[You have received a Memory.]
Arthur felt no joy upon hearing that the Tyrant had died. Mainly because this one had an extra escort, the one who bound him with tentacles, but using the Tyrant's example and confirming it by expanding his Aether Sense, he realized that the Devil had also been consumed by Destruction.
He didn't hear the spell speak to him because he was focused on the stupid action of the Tyrant!
After a few seconds he deactivated the Godrunes trait and began analyzing what the hell had happened in the last five seconds. Because that was all the time the fight had lasted.
If the Tyrant hadn't kept attacking, it would have survived, since Destruction expanded through the constant supply of ashes it was throwing in his direction.
Now, what was important to Arthur was the fact that he hadn't gone mad when using Destruction… every time he had used it before, he became a maniac. But it made sense that it didn't happen—in the end, it was the armor that had used it.
'Does that mean Djinn of War had manic tendencies while using it?'
That was a strange thought, since it was an armor! It didn't have a consciousness or anything like that!
Analyzing the changes within Djinn of War more deeply, Arthur finally realized what had happened.
The purple patterns of the armor had a lower intensity, indicating that there was much less Aether circulating through the armor.
Instead of storing the Aether in a core or something similar to humans, it stored them in the patterns delimited by the plates that formed it.
Checking the intensity of these patterns and taking into account that the fight had only lasted five seconds, Arthur calculated roughly how long he could keep the Destruction trait activated in the future.
'If my calculations aren't wrong and this works like this, it should be 35 seconds…'
Each core he obtained and empowered the armor with would be 7 more seconds. So if he now had five cores, the time would be thirty-five seconds.
With that ready and calculated, he turned around to see the horde's situation, and it looked much better than he had expected.
At some point, Regis had arrived at Sylvie's side and started helping her, reducing the number of remaining Corrupted Devils to a dozen.
Further back, Jet and Seishan were fighting together with the help of the rest of the Awakened. While the two girls were performing well, without Regis's help, it would be complicated for them to eliminate all the Corrupted.
Still, they only had to hold out for a minute at most. In that time, Sylvie and Regis could eliminate the rest of their group and go help them.
Arthur's plan was to leave after killing the Tyrant and go search for the Corrupted Terror on the evacuation routes. But seeing the reality, it would be better if he didn't follow the plan and helped them.
Mainly because nothing said a Gate couldn't appear inside the city, and if he left to search the Terror while the cohort was too tired, it would be impossible for them to stop the crisis.
In a campaign like Antarctica, where every drop of essence could mean life or death, it was better to be conservative.
With that in mind, Arthur felt the Aetheric Pathways and appeared on the battlefield next to Jet and Seishan.
If the Terror had followed the convoy, they would be talking about thousands of civilians. But if a Gate opened in the city or on its periphery and the cohort was too weak to defend it, they would be talking about a much larger number of casualties…
Arthur felt himself facing another impossible choice. One was certain—the Terror and the convoy—while the other was a potential danger.
Both were evils, and faced with such a choice,
Arthur chose not to choose.