"I choose neither! Haji, Jita!" Achim shouted and took out a golden disc with the Armakea symbol engraved at the center.
Haji and Jita, the male and female attendants, who had regained their wits, immediately took out a black orb each. After which, they threw the orb at the man before attempting to summon their Divine Armaments.
The black orb was a rare one-time use lost technology the Armakea had excavated a decade ago. It did not require any magic energy or mana to activate. As long as the owner willed it, it would go off using its internal energy. The orb only had one effect: it could remove any active spell on its target.
Although the three did not communicate with each other, they were able to coordinate their thoughts.
Before the man entered, the three felt an invisible force sweep through their bodies. From this, they suspected it was a large-area effect spell that the man had cast. As for what it did to them had something to do with their inability to summon magic.
Such spells usually last only a few seconds, the longest being half a minute. However, even after a minute had passed, they could still not use their magic. Thus, they suspected that the man's spell had a longer duration. In this case, they could only counter it by using the orb.
And that was what Achim wanted Haji and Jita to do, and they responded well.
Usually, using one orb was enough to counter one target. But since they knew the man's strength was unfathomable, Achim knew that aiming the orb at one spot of the man's body would not be enough. If the man evaded it, then they would fail. Thus, he had Haji and Jita attack and aim at different spots.
It would have been better if Achim could also aim at the man because by then, the latter would surely not be able to evade all three simultaneously. However, he could not do that because he had a different task. Besides, he trusted Haji and Jita's coordination. He knew they would aim at two different spots that would be hard for the man to evade.
As for Achim's task, it had something to do with the golden disc he took out.
The disc was a summoning token his family's ancestor created using the lost technology.
Frankly, the disc was one of the reasons the Armakea Royal Family believed the lost technology was their inheritance. Because they discovered the disc was created more than a thousand years ago, it was far older compared to the lost technologies the other nations had discovered. Apart from that, they discovered a tablet that showed different lost technology blueprints. In these blueprints, they found several lost technologies that the other nations had claimed as theirs.
The summoning token only had one effect: summoning all the knights linked to the token's owner to his position.
Once Haji and Jita hit the man, Achim would use the token to summon all his knights to his location. The man before them was strong, yes. But he did not believe he could fight all hundred of them by himself.
Haji and Jita added a spin to the orb before throwing it toward the man. Doing this gave them more chance to hit the man even if he tried to dodge.
Clang! Clang!
The two orbs hit Kyran with a loud clang, like metal hitting metal, before it fell to the ground with a thud, rolled away from him, and stopped.
...
Achim, Haji, and Jita all wore blank expressions as they watched the orbs roll away without even affecting the man.
Kyran, too, looked down at the orb in front as it rolled to the left before stopping.
Silence.
"Kill!"
Achim was the first to regain his wits and grabbed the man's forearm that held him. He hoisted his body and hooked his legs to the man's shoulders before trying to twist his arm.
Frankly, the move was hard to do, given their practically similar build. Nevertheless, Achim did it to distract the man and give Haji and Jita a chance to attack rather than attempt to break free.
Still.
Achim's expression darkened when his attempt to twist the man's arm failed. As a matter of fact, even before he tried twisting the man's arm, he already had a vague feeling that he was not dealing with a person with flesh and blood but one made of steel.
The man did not even budge when Achim had moved!
Haji and Jita were oblivious to their Prince's thoughts and already moved.
Since they could not summon a weapon or their Divine Armament, they grabbed the nearest object to them and swung at the man.
Haji broked two of the steel legs of the chair to his right while Jita pulled the hem of the table's cover.
Using the ripped hem of the table cover like a whip, Jita whirled and aimed at the man's right leg. At the same time, Haji, lowered his body and hacked the two steel legs of the chair at the man's torso.
Kyran lifted his right leg, avoiding the hem. At that exact moment, Haji had already closed in on him and was about to hit both sides of his torso.
Kyran bent his right foot inward to hook the hem without moving in his spot, still rushing forward. He then raised his leg and tugged it with great force.
Jita's eyes widened at how smoothly the man reacted to her move. She planned to wrap the hem around his shin before pulling it and disrupting his balance. But the man did not let her do as she wanted. Nevertheless, he used his ankle and intentionally wrapped the hem on it so he could drag her closer.
'As if I'd let you!' Jita ground her teeth and was about to let go when she saw Haji's back.
"Haji!" She exclaimed. Whether she let go of the hem or not, she would collide with Haji.
It was almost a repeat of what happened to them earlier.
It was too late for Haji to stop. And he did not have to because after dealing the man a blow, he could still avoid Jita and even give her a chance to kick the man's back.
"Chance!" Haji responded as the steel legs finally landed on the man's torso.
CLANK!
Haji's arms shook in pain as he dropped the two steel legs.
"Ack!"
Jita's eyes widened because she had already guessed what Haji meant about a chance and was poised to kick the man. But since Haji had failed in his attack, it would be too late for him to move aside.
It was at this time that Kyran finally made a move. He turned, with Achim still trying to twist his right arm. He kicked Haji, who was groaning behind him. Then, forcefully throw Achim at the approaching Jita.
The three groaned in pain as they hit the ground.
But they were not given a chance to recover.
When the three hit the ground, Kyran approached the nearest one, Haji. He grabbed him by the front of his robes before smacking his face with his right fist.
"Guah!" Haji spat out some blood and even some broken teeth.
Kyran was not done. After smacking Haji's face, he lifted and slammed him at Achim, who barely regained his bearing after colliding with Jita.
The two grunted in pain as they were again forced to the ground.
Jita also shouted in pain since she was still lying on the ground when the two men slammed on her.
"I did say I don't want to spill blood tonight," Kyran sighed as he looked at the blood from the three, who spat out a mouthful each after getting slammed.
Kyran knelt beside Achim. He grabbed his head and forced him to look at him.
"I'll say it again," he told him. "Submit to me, and I will let you live. Or, resist, and all of you will die."
Still somewhat dazed, Achim managed to glare at Kyran and spat, "I know you needed something, which is why you have not killed us."
"Yes, you're right."
Kyran replied almost immediately that Achim was rendered speechless.
With an amused smile, Kyran added, "But whether you agree, I have ways to get what I want. I just found it troublesome, to be honest. That is why I am giving you a choice."
"What is it that you wanted then?" Achim asked, grounding his teeth.
"Your knights."
Achim frowned, "You just said if I resist, all of us will die."
"True. And I will still get what I want when that happens."
"How—?"
Before Achim could complete his question, Kyran raised his hand, and suddenly Haji and Jita were trapped inside a semi-transparent purple half-sphere. The two were still in pain but tried to break free when they found themselves trapped. However, their clothes sizzled and disintegrated when they tried to touch the sphere, forcing them to retreat.
"What are you doing—?"
"I'll start with them if you don't answer me in three seconds."
"Three seconds—?"
"One."
"Oi—!"
"Two."
"A second has not even—!"
"Three."
"Alright! Fine, I'll hear you out at least."
"That's a wrong answer."
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