Fourteen against seven Transcendents. That's how the odds became after one of their Transcendents took off to the field to deal against Reinys and the other two.
However, even with that kind of odds wherein we had to each take down two of them, it's not as bad as it seems.
Because I egged him to go up the stage first, Raiden was somewhat grumpy when he called out two Transcendents of the enemy camp to fight with him.
One Beastmaster Transcendent and one whose tribe I don't know.
The Dark Beastmaster's Soul-bound beast looks like a giant lizard. Not close to a dragon though. It has deep-orange color and it oozed out, from the cracks of its skin, lava.
When it flew up, the Corrupted Barbarians as well as the Mortal Rank Dark Beastmasters hurriedly got out of their way, afraid that the lava from the lizard's skin would fall on them.
However, given the cramped battlefield wherein it was hard to get out once one entered, some of them failed to get out the way and got burned and melted by the lava. And it didn't stop at that, that drop made a puddle of lava, leading the unlucky ones who only thought of retreating, tripped on it and swam inside until their deaths.
Just by that, it's fairly easy to see that Mortal and Transcendent Rank battlefields shouldn't be this close. The Mortal Ranks would receive unaccounted casualties.
Nonetheless, the ones battling up above didn't really care about it. When the lizard reached Raiden's distance, it opened its mouth making its long tongue stretch towards him.
Raiden didn't opt to dodge that and instead, even in mid-air, he stepped forward and a burst of Psyche Energy was discharged from his palms. It's not the initial Temporal Acceleration but another skill borne from that.
That burst of Psyche Energy was eerily similar to a H*douken shot towards the lizard who didn't even try to dodge or its master failed to recognize the threat coming from it.
When it hit one of the lizard's legs, in a blink of an eye, the leg got bent down in a weird angle, not just once but a lot of times that I already lost count after a hundred.
Following that, a loud shriek of pain from the lizard rang out and the mess which is its leg finally got ripped off its huge body. That resulted in its scalding violet blood to drip down the ground, hitting the fighting Mortal Ranks.
On the enemy's side, the Beastmaster Transcendent appeared to be surprised at it but he gritted his teeth and sent down his Dark Energy to close his Soul-bound beast's wound.
Taking his eyes off that master and pet duo, Raiden then turned his attention to the other Transcendent who probably got a scare of his life seeing that happen.
Truthfully, that skill of Raiden could easily be dodged but the Beastmaster Transcendent opted not to. That's overconfidence.
Raiden pulled out his sledgehammer and three Pillars materialized on his side. Without turning them to their Guardian Forms, Raiden brought all three as he rushed in to attack the Transcendent.
When that happened, a loud burst of Brute and Dark Energy sprang up from the point of impact. With that clash from them, the battlefield for the Transcendents opened.
Down below, I already activated every enhancement, buffs and Blessings I have except the Supplementary Skills.
Watching that fight also made the girls beside me eager to fight.
"Daisuke. I'm going in. Watch me."
With a bright smile on her lips, the first to step up was Avelin. Her weapon already changed to the great axe I looted from that horned Transcendent back at the World of Elements. Calling out her Pillar Guardians, the innocent Barbarian rode her giant falcon to fly up.
Upon seeing that, the descendant at the other side commanded 2 of his controlled Transcendent to face her.
As soon as Avelin noticed the two incoming Transcendents, her Crown appeared, perfectly fitting her little head. One of the Jewels embedded on it shined and a burst of Brute Energy hit the incoming Transcendents.
Although they put their guard up, Avelin's Jewel Skill drilled onto their Energy Barrier and successfully hit them, putting the two to a stop and dazed for a second.
Looking at the Barbarian girl, once her skill hit the enemy, her Transcendent Aura grew in intensity. With her great axe that was covered with her Axeforce, she instantly traversed the space between her and the two vacant-eyed Transcendents.
Avelin yelled as she swung her great axe in full strength. From the sharp edges of her weapon, devastating energy cleaved right into her opponents' body.
Following that, the elephant-like Pillar Guardian stretched its long trunk, coiling around the defenseless enemies and to end her first round of attacks, gorilla-like Pillar Guardian delivered a shattering punch which sent the two Transcendents down to the ground creating a huge crater.
"That skill of Avelin… It's now that strong that even controlled enemies who couldn't think for themselves became dazed from being hit by it."
I still remember. That's the first Augmented Skill she created, the Pulse Wave. When it got upgraded to a Halo, the skill would give her a burst of strength when it successfully affected someone. All her skills leaned towards giving her overwhelming strength and those Pillar Guardians of her also appeared to be doing the same.
Before going down to follow the two Transcendents below, Avelin looked back first and showed another bright smile. I returned it and nodded at her.
She's already fully buffed by me and of course, she's now strong enough to even fight a Rank 2 Transcendent. Those two mindless Transcendents wouldn't be able to keep up with her.
"I'm next, right?" Without waiting for my reply, Erin already disappeared from her previous position. We could only see a patch of shadow traveling up to the sky, when she reappeared, Erin's shadow clones appeared and dived down straight to the enemy camp.
Upon seeing that, the descendant who now had a creased forehead after seeing that all five Transcendents he sent out were all at a disadvantageous position.
Until now, the only skill I know he possessed is that mind control. His system probably hadn't given him that much benefit yet. However, given that he already completed his Mortal Pathway, there's a lot more thing he could probably do if he went all out.
According to Irja and her limited understanding of the Great One Omnibus, his Spirit-type Pathway was also geared towards controlling the battlefield. Although he's strong as an individual, his real prowess could be seen in full display whenever there's a group fight. He's probably the Support-class among the six Great Ones.
One thing to note about their Pathway was how it could even affect their enemies. And that's what we have to watch out for when that descendant finally goes out to engage us in battle.
For now, it will be his subordinates.
With Erin's shadow clones not stopping their descent, the descendant waved his hand and a skill activated from his fingertips leading for Erin's clone to disperse in an instant.
Following that, three of the vacant-eyed Transcendents jumped up to meet and engage Erin in battle.
The remaining four Transcendents who could think for themselves flew up next, sending their skills down below.
Upon seeing that, Zerina and Yuko looked at me as if waiting for my permission.
"Be careful but don't hold back. I'm here. I'm watching all of you."
I'm always ready to charge out and help if one of them is put into a dangerous situation. I'm their support. Of course, I don't need to go out at the forefront.
This is also a chance for them to gather more experience and maybe their chance to show off in front of me.
If it's me who flew up first earlier, these girls would surely stop me and tell me to just sit back and watch them.
The two flashed a smile with my words of encouragement. With Yuko pulling out her saber and Zerina unsheathing her two short swords, they flew up and marked their opponents, fully showing off their new Pathway's abilities.
"Here, use this again. Do not let him get away. When he finally realized that all their Transcendents were no match for us, he might turn tail and hide somewhere." Handing out the Totem, I reminded Irja.
"I know. Leave it to me. You're watching. I also need to show off like them, right?"
"Not really, even if you all didn't do that, how I look at all of you will not change."
It's great to see them this enthusiastic. I know. Even if I wanted to protect them all by myself, I will not be able to stop them from going in headfirst when it comes to this. We're all treading the same path now. With them acting as my swords, we will cut down any obstacle that will hinder us.
For now, I just need to be their Ultimate Support.
Watching Irja fly out and transforming into her Vibrant Spirit Form, I also flew up and moved closer to the battlefield.
I had my Transcendent Senses in full attention, making sure that nothing will go wrong.
And while they're all inside my line of sight, I pooled the Flux Energy inside me to stack more buffs to all of them.
Support Hero's Haste!
Support Hero's Protection!
While my Supplementary Skills gradually affect everyone, up above, the sky suddenly stirred and the white clouds parted. In place of it, the familiar thunderous dark clouds appeared. Inside it, I could see the Barbarian-like World's Will Incarnation.
He first looked down at me with the same cold gaze before waving his hands.
In a blink of an eye, the thunderous dark clouds encompassed the whole battlefield as Brute Energy rained down below, wrapping every uncorrupted Barbarian as well as Raiden and the girls in it, enhancing them.
Finally, this one gives its denizens aid. Did I manage to knock some sense into him?
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel