Perhaps the other Nemesai were relieved to see Randidly Ghosthound’s image leave, but the Winged Serpent felt sweat trickling down its scales as activity slowly resumed in the powerful man’s absence. The forces that would kill the Nemesai took the chance to take a breath and gather themselves.

But the Nemesai needed every extra second they could get.

Randidly Ghosthound had kept everyone enthralled as the Winged Serpent was rather helplessly continuing to maintain the ritual that he had gotten from Straud. When the Ghosthound had arrived, the Winged Serpent had largely continued to operate the ritual just to maintain the status quo and not draw unnecessary attention. And it continued to do so during the Ghosthound’s pursuit of Straud, it became clear that this image hadn’t been concerned with them at all and the Winged Serpent had been content with watching.

But now… The Winged Serpent’s tongue flicked out nervously. Its image had been so tightly wound through the powerful ritual that extracting it quickly was impossible. Which mattered not so much when Randidly was present because the Ritual would finish quite soon, but now became important as seconds ticked by and the Winged Serpent could only watch and flap its wings.

It would still finish soon, but not soon enough.

It glanced to the right and met Thea’s gaze; it seemed their minds were on the same page. It was time to play their last card. It probably wouldn’t completely even the scales, but it would buy them the time they needed.

Bringing her fingers to her lips, Thea released a loud whistle that was so loud and piercing that everyone looked over toward her. Then she reached into her pocket and pressed the switch while the other Nemesai rapidly gathered around her in a loose circle. As they did so, the Winged Serpent examined the individual fighting capabilities of the Nemesai. The Bandit King and the Grey Lich were largely unharmed after the initial scuffle, although it seemed that finally seeing Randidly Ghosthound and finally understanding why the Nemesai on Earth were so cautious had been something of a shock to the Bandit King. His face was pale and he kept shaking his head.

Thea looked slightly scorched and scratched, but would be fine. The girl was hardy. Meanwhile, the Obsidian Duke was clearly nursing his right leg as he hobbled back over to join his allies. The Jade Prince watched him with an intense gaze the entire time. As the guards from the Order Valorem flooded onto the field, it seemed like the Jade Prince was preparing to make his move.

The Winged Serpent let the lids of its eyes slide to half-closed. About thirty more seconds… if we can just hold out until the wheel of destiny aligns and this damn ritual-

The secret platform beneath the turf behind the stage exploded upward along with another wave of shimmering fireworks, as the Nemesai had planned. But rather than the teeming flood of Raid Bosses that the Winged Serpent had expected to be released, perhaps only a dozen hopped out of the lowered platform and looked cautiously around.

More monsters soon followed, but it was nowhere near the number that it should have been. There were some lesser monsters and some lieutenants that accompanied the Raid Bosses, but these monsters didn’t possess a very high Level; they were chosen for their ability to reproduce. A handful wouldn’t make much difference.

With the shuddering sound of mechanical servos engaging, the platform the Nemesai had prepared was lifted up to the level of the stage. And as it did so, everyone saw that two wounded men were facing off against three powerful monsters, surrounded by the corpses of Raid Bosses.

As the platform shuddered to a stop, the central monster spun forward and brought its brass saber crashing down at the two men.

Twenty seconds. The Winged Serpent recognized at least one of the figures, although the symbol on their shoulders made his intestines twist. These were representatives from the Order Ducis, and the man standing in front with his fists raised was Naffur.

Naffur’s fist blasted outward and met the Rakshasi’s strike directly. The Level 86 monster was actually on the losing end of the contest of Strength and took several steps backward. In his offhand, Naffur brought up a long knife and slashed forward, cutting a deep gash into the Rakshasi’s side. Naffur settled back into a defensive stance and slowly surveyed the situation on the field.

The Rakshasi that the Nemesai had struggled for months to find and convince to join them was covered in wounds. They were less serious than the wounds on the two men from the Order Ducis, but the bodies of the raid bosses around them was a testament to the high cost that had to be paid in order to wound them to this degree. At this point, it seemed like the special present the Nemesai had prepared had been completely neutralized by the Order Ducis.

Our destiny on this day is not auspicious. Fifteen seconds.

Alana hopped of the Dragon Broodmother’s back and the beast loped forward to assist against the Rakshasi. The fanged monster screeched again and raised its two heavy brass sabers to ward off the new threat. But Wivanya didn’t slow down at all. While the two began to fight in a series of lightning-quick clashes between saber and wing, Alana spun her spear and began walking directly toward the Winged Serpent.

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Despite the fact that they were on opposite sides, the Winged Serpent had a deep respect for Alana Donal. She was not a foe that could be distracted from the truly important points in a fight.

Thea raised her hammer as fast as she could, but Alana stomped her foot and accelerated faster than Thea could adjust. The Bandit King was there in Alana’s path, but he seemed to still be a little numb from seeing the capability of Randidly Ghosthound; when Alana’s Sunstrike smashed into his jagged blade, his attack was held at bay and she slipped past.

Ten seconds.

There was no one between Alana and the Winged Serpent. Alana’s eyes were a burning orange as she adjusted the shaft of her spear so that the tip was pointed to lance through the Winged Serpent’s scaled torso. The Winged Serpent’s tongue flicked outward lightning-fast and tasted the air. It would likely survive the experience of Alana’s brutal attack, but him being wounded would make their escape that much more-

A burning light appeared in the sky above the stadium. From a soft yellow, illumination became a harsh white. The shadows quickly lengthened and darkened. Just as Alana’s foot touched the ground to launch her the last ten or so meters and strike at the Winged Serpent, a giant beam of energy shot downward like a judgment from a furious deity. The Winged Serpent was struck dumb for almost a full second and then hummed in pleasure.

The time from shooting Mjolnir and the beam arriving at this location is likely about two minutes… That foolish President likely fired before the Ghosthound even arrived to finish off Straud… and based on the different brightness, she paid a dear cost to up the power in the hopes that this version of Mjolnir would be able to break the barrier… Heh, humans, always your own worst enemy...

The Winged Serpent lowered its gaze and met the eyes of Alana. That orange fire raged furiously in her eyes with an intensity that made the Winged Serpent slightly nervous she would be swayed by emotion. But she twisted her foot and dispersed her forward momentum. The moment hung their as the Winged Serpent even took the chance to smile slyly at Alana. Her returned gaze was cold, despite the flames.

Her leg flexed and she threw herself up into the air, her image rapidly gathering around her body. The wings growing from her Valkyrie’s helmet stretched wide into the air.

That’s why I always wanted to be a Nemesis, not a Champion, The Winged Serpent thought contentedly as he looked up at Alana preparing to meet the blast of energy that was heading toward the Stadium. Don’t need to worry about protecting civilians.

Five seconds.

Hank Howard spun the cylinder of his revolver and then flicked it into place. When he fired his pistol, a blast of energy ripped upward and smashed into the side of Mjolnir’s descent. To the Winged Serpent’s surprise, the bullet and image had impacted the attack in the right position to shift Mjolnir’s descent very slightly to head directly toward Alana’s position.

That took a lot of control. Hank Howard is also dangerous… the people of this planet are growing quickly...

One of the men who had been fighting the Grey Lich waved his hands and several twisted mirrors spun upward to hem in the radiant energy spreading along the periphery of the attack. The mirrors seemed to strain to contain it, but no blast of force smashed outward as the hammer descended to the area right above the stadium. As long as the main beam could be contained, there likely wouldn’t be any ancillary damage.

Of course, if the beam were to smash into the turf and collapse the many sub-basements beneath the stadium, several of the surrounding blocks were likely to also collapse from the aftershocks. This area would become a swamp of melted concrete and molten steel. Setting aside the people in the stadium as the whole thing came tumbling down, there would likely be casualties in the surrounding area.

Of course, that was assuming that Alana was unable to block this empowered version of Mjolnir.

Her image was pure and strong, but it wasn’t at the tier of the Grim Chimera or Straud. Without their clarity or detail… the power would become relevant. And with the obvious difference in Mjolnir’s light...

For the second time in the last minute, Thea and the Winged Serpent looked at each other. Yet this time there was a hard set to Thea’s jaw that let the Winged Serpent know that she was not willing to indulge its idea this time. The Winged Serpent could see why she was unwilling: Although it was a good chance to weaken the forces of Earth, if they went too far, so many people would die from Mjolnir fallout.

The Winged Serpent’s gaze flickered in something between exasperation and amusement. Yet you already let so many die today, Thea. Ten thousand lives ended to create a single drop of lifeblood… and you let it happen. How is this different than that?

She obviously couldn’t hear the Winged Serpent’s thoughts, but it was clear from her glare that she understood the implications of its heavy glance. And then she sighed and whistled again.

Instantly, all the Nemesai straightened and came together in a tight formation. It seemed that everyone understood what was about to happen, although this hadn’t been in any of the contingency plans they had prepared. But no one survived to their level of experience fighting without being able to recognize a chance when it was presented.

Zero.

The ritual finally finished and the precious Lifeblood Accumulation that Straud had arranged all this to make fell to the turf. As it was a clearly powerful material that the Winged Serpent didn’t understand, it didn’t rush to pick it up right now. Instead, it memorized the spot it had dropped and joined the other Nemesai as they exploded into motion.

BOOOOOOM!

The stadium shook once more as Alana used her image to impact the blast from Mjolnir. A split second later, the people of Earth shouted in fear as they noticed that the Nemesai came to wound Alana Donal while she was distracted.