My puzzlement didn't last for long. I realised that something was related to the strange rays pouring down from that high up world gate.
"Be on alert!" I shouted before moving fast towards the centre part of the chariot roof.
If before my main task was to not allow more of the illusionists to come up here from down below, then this time I had to do exactly the opposite.
And I didn't face them all alone.
"Come back," I called back ten soulers without any hesitation before summoning them again, "scatter, kill any illusionist you find!"
And simply like that a brutal battle was moved up to the roof of the chariot.
This time my group didn't stand idle, petrified in fear like before. The jumper took out defensive items and distributed them to the two girls and the spearhead.
Then they moved and started to hit the air under the lead of the jumper.
Even if they couldn't see their enemies, they knew the enemy was here and their weapons wouldn't find it difficult to kill anyone standing in their way.
But how could we continue fighting like this?
Even if we could kill them, more and more kept coming from up above. I stood my place firm like a solid rock, killing every single illusionist that came into my range of ten metres sense skill.
But would that be enough? How would we end this?
I knew we couldn't keep going like that, and gradually the girls started to get tired, their protective items from the jumper became exhausted like running water.
After all, they were moving blindly, attacking and defending blindly, while their enemies were seeing them all the time.
The only three doing so well in addition to me were my soulers, the jumper thanks to his vast fighting experience, and the spearhead.
It was a bluff, or it was actually, for the spearhead to be able to kill so many illusionists so far. Thanks to his two heavy chained metal balls, he only needed to turn around himself and spin, leaving all the workload for his deadly weapons.
If this continued, then one end would come to us. I had only one option left, but before doing it, I made sure to use my strongest chariot weapon.
[Do you want to unleash the ground separation weapon?]
[Warning: To use it, the chariot needs to be in the air first]
"No problem," I simply gave the order and my chariot's brave dragorses spread their wings and started to lift the entire chariot high in the air.
I couldn't see them clearly until we began to fly. "Activate it now!" I didn't hesitate to use such a weapon now, hoping it would be enough.
However as we got near the high up world gate, something seemed to stand between my chariot and that gate, like an invisible force field of power.
But the chariot was already in the air and the next thing happened was for the entire chariot to emit a dazzling dark golden light.
Then I could see a large space of the ground down below, high in the air under a loud series of rumbling explosive sounds.
"Release it!" as a large area of the castle got higher than the chariot, I simply motioned to all my soulers to jump off it and reach my side.
After all, the part that got separated was nothing else but the central zone of the castle, in a radius of three hundred metres at least.
But there was a central hole, where the main building that held the emblem defied my chariot's ability and remained in the ground.
Once I gave the order, that big piece of land fell like a meteor on the ground. I could hear wails of races, monsters, and humans coming like never ending torturing chorus from down below.
Then another message appeared in front of my eyes.
[You used the ground separation skill]
[Almost half of the chariot stored energy was depleted]
[The remaining time for the full powered form is twenty minutes]
[The remaining time of the intermediate form is two hundred minutes]
[Decide!]
"Take us down first," despite this was pretty much expected, but I wasn't feeling satisfied. The size of the ground affected wasn't enough to kill every single living enemy in that castle.
Although I killed almost one third of their forces in just this simple attack, it was far from enough to secure my chariot and my forces.
So it had to come to the next step now, especially when the energy of the chariot was running low so damn fast.
I hadn't hit the rock bottom yet, but if I wanted to escape such a dead end I'd have to be daring and make such a decision now.
Even if it looked reckless, I had to do it!
"Get ready," I shouted, "once on the ground, run towards the emblem."
"What?!" I could hear the shocked exclamation from Isabella but I had no time to waste in explaining anything to her.
It was time to take back my precious chariot and turn the trojan horse strategy into killing the king and seizing the kingdom one.
"Come back," as I made up my mind, I took in my giant chariot before a magnificent scene appeared.
"What the hell…?!!" I was shocked when I found myself standing all alone in the middle of a grand emptiness left by my chariot.
That was expected. After all, my chariot took up almost a space of over five hundred metres square.
But what was epic was the fact that I stood there in the middle of such emptiness, all alone!
There was no one of my group present, not any of my warriors, or even my enemies.
How come this happened?!!
And the answer came instantly when I opened my inventory and examined my chariot to get answers while shouting over:
"Surround me!"
I was literally standing alone in the middle of the grand forces of my enemies. They weren't looking as grand as before, but against my lone self, they looked terrifying.
The next instant all my fighting soulers flickered and flashed to appear around. They stood in layers, tightly protecting me from any enemy.
And that included the still pouring like rain from above illusionists.
As I secured myself by this simple move, I started to examine my chariot, hoping to find answers over this mystery.
And the moment I did, a row of messages started to pour in front of my eyes.
[Warning: Your chariot has been taken back in the middle of war]
[The chariot activated the still time prison inside it, using the rest of your provided energy]
[There are five hundred and eighty-seven individual inside the chariot now]
[You can decide either to release whoever you like, trap them there until you resummon your chariot again, or force a binding contract with them]
[Your choice human race Hye!]
I looked up at these messages before stopping in front of the number provided by the system. In the middle of all the cries of deaths and the rumbling noise of the war, my mind ignored all this and focused on such numbers.
"Five hundred and eighty-seven… my forces can't reach such a number at all!" I muttered while the explanation was obvious. The moment I saw the description interface of the chariot, I found an option of the trapped living beings list inside my chariot.
And when I selected it, everything became more obvious!
"Take all my warriors and the human race out," I didn't hesitate to add, "and force a binding contract with all the illusionists inside!"
How could I refuse such a heavenly gift? The illusionists were, and would continue to be, one of the most terrifying races ever existed in this apocalypse!
Their reign or terror would leave deep impression over humans for decades after. And now? I had over three hundred of them trapped forcibly inside my chariot!
I never expected such a great number of intruders to be present inside my chariot. But right now I just hoped this number would be bigger so my gains would be larger.
[All the selected individuals will be released now for free]
[Forcing a binding contract over each individual you selected will require one thousand stat point or an equal source of energy to be completed]
[No need to buy any binding contract. As long as you keep the possession of the chariot as the owner, they'll be bound to you by unbreakable contract]
"Damn!" I sucked in a deep cold air of breath, "just taking all of them will deplete this much of my stat points reserve?"
It was a pain to consume all this in one go, but I didn't have any other option. The future up ahead seemed to hide many deadly encounters, and the illusionists would be a fine addition to my growing elite forces.
"I agree," I said, "bind them all!"
Just as I said these words, my own forces came out at this moment. My group looked puzzled for a few seconds, even the jumper wasn't an exception.
"What happened just now?" Once regaining the clarity of his mind, he looked around in clear vigilance.
"Go and kill those enemies around the emblem," I didn't give any explanation. As I could see, this heaven defying ability of my chariot could be considered a game changer in many deadly and hopeless situations.
"But…" the jumper didn't move as he seemed more puzzled the more he thought about it.
"No time to get confused, just do as I say," I turned to my small army of warriors before adding, "soulers at the outsides, shield warriors and bulltors follow behind. The rest will stick to the centre… Let's go!"
As I gave such clear orders, everyone started to move towards the central building of the castle.
The ground wasn't even. After the last attack I used before calling my precious girl back, the ground became more like a deadly meteor just hit it.
But that also stood in the path of our enemies, buying us more time to go towards the emblem.
The closer we got there, the more concentrated the illusionists were.
[Binding process update: ten percent]
[Estimated remaining time: Five minutes]
It wasn't long for such a grand number to be forced to follow me, but in these five minutes the outcome of this battle would be decided.
No matter how many illusionists were thrown into our path, my force crushed them all.
Thanks to the soulers, and the great contribution of the jumper and the spearhead, these illusionists didn't pose any threat to us at all.
Even the ones who were sent directly in the middle of our forces were dealt instantly by me. I didn't let even a single souler to come inside, focusing all their strength over going near the emblem.
And the moment we passed the door of that three story building, I found the emblem I was looking for.
It was hovering a few metres off the ground, emitting bright silver white light like a little star in the night. It was a brilliant scene that I didn't have any time to appreciate.
"Surround this place," I shouted while moving as fast as I could towards the emblem, "ten soulers stand inside, kill anything that dares to intrude."
At this point, all we needed to do was to hold the fort. The heart of this place was this shining little star. Once controlled, all the enemy forces would lose all the augmentation they had from it.
And that would turn the tide finally to my advantage.
"Stand your hand off the emblem!"
Just before I could reach there, such a calm snort came from high above. In a reflex I turned and jumped away before a muffled explosion erupted just at the point I was standing at.
*Boom!*
The explosion happened so fast, but my shield warriors acted faster.. They activated their combined defensive ability and pushed the aftermath of that explosion away while creating a deep crater.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel