As Xiao Wei and William's bodies began to meld together, the mass of rainbow hit them in a cascade of shimmering light. The attacks of over twenty Reader's Core abilities would have normally been catastrophic for a single being to endure; however, they were not alone.
As a bloody battlefield emerged from memory, and the fear of those attacking clawed at their very souls, the rainbow attack was weakened significantly, instead only boasting around a tenth of its original strength.
From the place where William and Xiao Wei fused, a ghastly creature began to emerge. First, three heads sprouted out of its neck like a Cerberus. The mouths of each head drooled in hunger. Seeing the Rainbow attack, they immediately sprang into action. Each of them is taking a gigantic bite out of the assortment of attacks. With each consecutive mouthful, the attack began to weaken further, before eventually disappearing altogether.
Although it was a fair bit smaller than Xiao Wei's earlier rampage size, the difference in power was imminent.
The reason they were able to do this was because of Xiao Wei's unique constitution as a being of Ingenuity, given substance through William's physical body, resulting in a mad creature with ridiculous power. This also meant that by devouring certain attacks filled with Ingenuity, they could replenish their own. Additionally, the chimera developed vital areas as a drawback to this fusion.
Then, limbs and a robust body materialized out of thin air, giving way for the chimera to truly descend onto this desolate plane.
It roared with anger and bloodlust, looking towards the horde of incoming fighters with hunger. As hundreds of blood-coloured eyes appeared all across its body, all simultaneously displaying the active effects of the seek skill, invoking fear into those who were gazed upon by them.
Combined with the effects of Fei Kangzhen's Fear ability and Li Jiaojie's Warzone Recollection, the horde of shadows was frozen in place. Unwilling to even take another step forward.
Not that they needed to, as the chimera beast immediately began charging towards them with gluttony filling its mind. Its ravenous nature is on full display.
'Must...Devour...'
Given that the horde of enemies was essentially sitting ducks, a slaughter began. Heads flying, organs soaring, and an ocean of crimson liquid forming beneath their feet. William was repulsed internally; however, his attribute managed to seal it away.
After their comrades' flesh and blood rained down on them from above like some kind of morbid sacrificial ritual, some of the Soldiers began to sober up and scream their lungs out before running away as fast as they could. They were, after all, human beings who wanted to live.
In his current state, William's actions were entirely instinctual, unable to form a single coherent thought because of the constant conflict between the souls in fusion. Even though they were on fairly good terms with each other, their unsynchronized actions caused the souls' interaction to worsen with every second gone by.
Around now, there were around fifty shadow soldiers left. William and Xiao Wei had ended the lives of thirty of the original eighty.
A few Readers fled to the sky, using Core Abilities that allowed them to fly. To this, the Shadow Chimera sprouted large, bat-like wings that were longer than a birch tree. It then cut through the crisp air and soared towards them, taking bites and clawing at them, taking them down from above.
As the carcasses fell from the sky, the legion of Shadow Soldiers seemed to have finally regained some of their composure, barely managing to attack the terrifying, ever-shifting, and changing chimera that was out to devour them.
Via the utilization of their Core Abilities, the remaining fifty or so soldiers gathered together their strength in different squadrons. The first, which was to William's North-West, was readying another massive projectile to pummel the chimera. The second, directly North of William, gathered together all of their debuffs and curses to weaken the Chimera. And the third, North-East of William, seemed to be stuck in place, the officer corps.
"W-why do w-we have to be the ones to do this?" One of the young soldiers mumbled with teary eyes.
"Shut it, through our actions, we can win this battle." Another soldier scolded him.
William sprinted towards the center squadron with dilapidated eyes, his three heads slobbering and all having their tongues sticking out.
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Lian stared at the air strangely, as if trying to talk to something beyond the regular human viewpoint. She was spending all of her Ingenuity trying to roll something helpful using her ability.
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It had seemed that her luck was abysmal, the lucky glove that her boss had given her had proved rather useless. She sighed turbulently while continuing to stare in the air.
"Haah...You sure this is the best you could give me...? I've seen black cats with better luck than this!" She exclaimed loudly.
Suddenly, a voice began speaking inside her mind. As her expression turned to one of surprise.
She listened intently to every word they spoke, determined to be of help to her boss, it was the least she owed him for saving her life and taking her in to the watchtower.
She nervously asked, "Is there anyway I can help?" Her entire skeleton shaking violently under the pressure of being in the mere restrained vocal presence of such a being.
Her face quickly twisted in distorted in into a dreary and desolate expression. As if rejecting what they told her with her whole body.
"W-what...N-no!" She panickingly protested out loud.
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Meanwhile, William wasn't conscious enough to comprehend what was going on with Lian, he was busy tearing into the incoming officer squadron. Who had intercepted him before he could reach the center squadron.
Attack after attack bombarded the chimera creature. Dozens of magically enhanced weapon appeared in the soldier's hands in an ocean of illusory text. Which were then used to unleash a furious onslaught of attacks containing the pure will and desire to survive of all these men. They yelled with rage and passion while this happened, faces full of fury. However, the moment the onslaught ended, their faces instantly became a pale white.
The murky breath of the shadowy chimera coated their bodies as it slobbered all across the floor, diluting and tainting the blood of their former comrades. It was able to avoid most of the attacks thrown at it by utilizing its transformation skill to move the most vital parts of its body away from any blows delivered.
Currently, it's heads were close to the ground, staring directly at the incoming forces with gluttonous grins.
Under the piercing gaze of the hundreds of blood-red eyes. The officer corps was no more, as they all began to gallop and zigzag away as quickly they could, choosing to betray their comrades for the slightest chance at survival.