"Inspector? Since when did someone like him bother with us, Mortal Ranks?"
The leader of these white silk robes tribe answered doubtfully. At least he didn't just flip out and none of his people went out to report our arrival.
"And even more so, he picked someone from this world to do that. Sounds totally different than the one I remembered."
So, is he really someone with that kind of attitude? I only guessed but the way this guy described that Descendant of a Great One… it's full of disdain. It's like that guy was full of arrogance which he couldn't stomach. Despite not confirming anything yet, the way he dissed him sounds like he's someone who's not afraid of him.
This guy either didn't believe what I said or he's just that disdainful towards that descendant.
And the answer is most likely the former. There's just no way he could be that disdainful against someone powerful enough to crush all of them. Unless these white robes tribe have something they depend upon.
"I don't know. We're just someone he picked randomly. Are you refusing to show the result? You were given this Zone for your tribe, is this how you will repay his kindness?"
As I observed the changes in his expression I gave a silent command to everyone to leak out some of their Transcendent Aura, letting those near the edge of the Zone huddle together, squeezing themselves towards the middle.
"T-that…"
The leader stuttered before he turned towards his subordinate. It looks like my words intimidated him and he started showing signs of fear. Like I thought, he's just probing us with his words.
"Will you leave after showing it to you?"
"Of course, we have more zones to inspect. We couldn't waste our time in one."
I answered in which the leader nodded in reply.
The subordinate he talked to then ran off to somewhere. I followed him with my eyes and he ended up in the middle where he pulled open a lever.
From there, the ground opened which revealed neatly stacked Dark Energy-filled Tanks. And next to it, a mountain of Elemental Stones with at least intermediate-grade in purity.
? These guys accumulated that much, huh? Is it because it's a Merged Zone? The first six we cleared up didn't have any hidden stash. But thanks to this, we'll have more harvest.
Not only I got a gist of the descendant's attitude, posing as an inspector like this would let us round them up easily while only becoming vigilant.
"Great. You're doing great here. You can close that now. Someone would collect them."
I acted pleased while letting them close it. It's a shame if we hit it with strays.
"I understand, we'll prepare half of them to be carried out."
"You don't need to prepare, the collectors are already here."
I lifted my hand and gestured to everyone to start.
And likewise, the Incarnation behind me instantly made spikes out of her Energy which instantly rained down towards the ground.
"Y-you!"
The leader pointed at me angrily but he was pulled back by his subordinates, pulling him inside a defensive skill that blocked the rain of Energy Spikes
"There's no need to get angry, you're all going to die here anyway"
I smirked and opened Domain of Valor and Bedevilled Outburst joining the Incarnation to bombard them with hard to resist projectiles.
Jayna, Fleur, Hikari and Boris also started raining down their attacks below them.
Now that they were squeezed to the middle of this Merged Zone, running out to report what's happening became impossible so what they did was to defend and counterattack.
Somehow they formed groups of five wherein the frontmost or the leader of each group grew in strength before sending their counter-attacks towards us.
"They're using a method of combining their strength into one. It will be proven troublesome for ordinary Transcendents but with you and your logic-defying group wouldn't have any problem with it."
The Incarnation whispered behind me as she continued to weave her Elemental Energy to take down groups of these white robes Dark World denizen.
Though some of them could block the Transcendents attacks, there's still a lot who failed to do that. Maybe lacking in their group's strength or they're not versed with the method they're using to combine their strengths.
"No… I refuse for us to die here! Stop the 5-man Captain Formation! Switch to 25-man General Formation! Make the strongest one to receive your strengths!"
Seeing that the combined power of five was not doing any better, the guard leader who managed to calm himself down directed an order in which he became an example.
The subordinates behind him went into a V Formation with their hands holding onto the shoulder of whoever's in front of him.
Starting from the two ends of that formation, their strength started to get passed to the front one by one until it reached the two leading subordinates holding on to the leader's shoulders.
The intensity of their Energy already reached as high as a new Transcendent who just got out of the Transcendent Trials. And when it was passed to the leader, his strength could be said to have reached the UPL 200 as cracks started to appear on his skin.
A Mortal Body couldn't afford to hold too much excess in Power Level. Even if it's an amazing method or ability they're showing, I just couldn't imagine how much backlash they would receive.
It would probably be too godly if they're all Transcendents but being a Mortal Rank, the damage in their bodies would be enormous once everything ends.
Following him, five more groups led by someone at the threshold received the strength of those 24 Mortal Ranks behind them.
If I could make a reference to what they did, it's probably that so-called Battle Formation? In any case, we were suddenly faced with six Pseudo-Transcendents. Whether it would have a time limit or not, it became harder to gauge as the six of them picked their opponents.
Jayna faced a woman whose white robes were almost tattered, the cloth hiding her face was also pulled down as it revealed a badly-cracked face where Dark Energy started to leak out.
Though she was startled by it, she instantly recovered herself as vines pulled her up and her miniature Spirit Ocean turned into a shield, defending her from the unrestrained attacks by that Pseudo-Transcendent.
Following that, the other three also started facing those Pseudo Transcendents who picked them.
Among the three, only Fleur could easily dodge and counterattack against the Pseudo-Transcendent who's facing against her while the strays of those attacks fell down to some white robes who failed to form a group and was trying to gather up to form more Pseudo-Transcendents.
"Stop looking away!"
The leader who appeared in front of me furiously shouted as his hand produced an Output Enhancing Equipment in the form of a silver dagger. Filling it with his temporarily gained Dark Energy, an explosive attack aimed at me was unleashed.
However, Quintuple Shields and the Nullification Zone which I opened effortlessly weakened the explosion that should've happened. I pulled out the Willful Sword and sent a Sword-force enhanced Lightning Dragon towards him, sending him down to the ground.
After that, I pulled out the Totem and started conjuring my clones.
"If their strength overwhelms you, just continue dodging, they will run out of gas soon. If you can, divert the attacks towards the ground and prevent them from forming up."
Though I said it in an unhurried tone, it was heard by the five. The Incarnation of the World's Will also nodded before she charged towards the Pseudo-Transcendent who just got sent down by her kick.
It's unexpected, yes, but it's not like we didn't prepare for the unexpected. These are from a higher world after all. It's not surprising that their skills will be more diverse than the Elemental Spells. Or even the skills of those stuck at the Mortal Pathway.
With my eyes calmly observing the battlefield, the first clone I conjured went down towards the ground where another Pseudo Transcendent was formed.
However, since their strengths also varied, only the leader's 25-man General Formation produced someone like him with an estimated UPL of 200.
When another clone was conjured, I sent it to another Pseudo-Transcendent which immediately exploded. The body of the Mortal Rank who received all of those combined strengths couldn't contain it.
At least, he managed to take down that clone…
Time passed and the leader flew up from the crater where I sent him down, his face already cracked down but still, he's the one with a more stable condition than any of the Pseudo-Transcendents which formed from them.
"Why?"
Looks like he calmed down after being pummeled down there, eh?
"Because everything I said was a lie? Why do you need to know though? It's not as if we'll spare you."
"… My tribe. We don't have any Transcendent. This is the only chance we have to finally have one. But you… you ruined it."
"I see. So you're not just a leader but a chieftain? Which Great One are you under?"
The Principal mentioned about the Dark World having 30 Tribes. But it seems this white robes tribe wasn't really part of that 30. They're most likely from a new world they assimilated. That Formation was probably unique to them or the others just don't see the merit in using them.
In any case, it's not like I will sympathize with them. With none of us getting injured, it's already clear to see that they will be annihilated here.
"None. We're just like you. Attacked by them and have no choice but to submit."
Confirming my thoughts like that, this leader whose face was already about to burst from the excessive energy he contained shed a tear.
"I see. Then you can guess why we are doing this, right? We don't want to be like you. Or rather I don't want my Companions worlds to become like yours."
There's no time for sympathy when it's already at this point.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om