Whether it was an Abyssal with a weak mental fortitude or a battle-hardened abyssal, their reaction was the same.
"H-How?"
"Im-Impossible!"
"This is a fucking illusion! I know it! Hahaha!"
The strongest Abyssals of the capital were like children who realized their entire life was a lie.
Forgetting the fact that they were about to fight an intense battle, they shifted their attention to the castle.
The same went for the human warriors.
While they already knew they couldn't quickly kill their enemies due to the capital city's illusions and Abyss' Will, there was also an undeniable fact that the city defenders were simply too strong.
If it was a one-on-one, only five human warriors were confident of taking any Abyssal down. The rest had to resort to teaming up.
'The castle collapsed. What should we do?'
The twenty-four champions of humanity suddenly recalled Varian's words before they battled the eleven defenders.
'You can kill them, but not so quickly. So, you wait for a chance. And I promise, there will be one.'
As if he knew what they were thinking, Varian's urgent and solemn voice sounded from their special earpieces. "Now!"
The human warriors flinched as they snapped out of their trance and attacked the Abyssal defenders, almost on instinct.
"Y-You!"
The Abyssal defenders quickly set up their defenses, but due to being taken by surprise and their shaky state of mind, it didn't go as planned.
With the sound of a mirror breaking, five of the eleven city defenders saw their shields crack and a flurry of attacks reach them.
"Stop!"
A tremendous roar shook the sky and the twenty-four human warriors halted for a split second.
Even though it's only for a moment, they were alarmed. So, they gave up any reservations and went for the kill.
In a matter of seconds, the northern quarter of the capital city that spread across more than a hundred square miles was destroyed.
A level 8s were able to escape, but most of them in the way got killed.
The level 7s and everyone else didn't even have a chance to resist. Like fallen leaves facing a storm, their lives were swept away.
"Y-You fucking bastards! You damn cowards! I'll kill you! Every single one of you!"
The rubble of the castle shook as a vengeful voice emerged from it.
Recognizing that familiar voice, the citizens that were fleeing the capital felt a fire of hope lit up in their hearts.
Archduke Laren! The strongest after Mirage Queen! If it's him, then he could sure—
Followed by popping sounds, five bodies exploded above the city as they fell prey to human warriors' unexpected attacks.
The Abyssals that still held hope felt their scalps go numb with fear. They didn't care if the Laren was still there, they did the sanest thing they could.
Be it through spaceships, flying treasures, or simply on foot, they escaped.
The human warriors didn't spare a glance toward the fleeing citizens.
Twenty old men and women engaged with the six remaining Abyssal defenders.
The remaining four humans, however, were looking at the remains of the castle with a guarded expression.
They pushed their senses to the sharpest and—
When the castle rubble exploded and millions of projectiles coated with poison were shot at their group, the four humans unleashed their full powers and built four successive elemental walls.
Earth, Fire, Water, Lightning.
Despite facing these defenses, at least ten thousand poisonous projectiles reached the twenty human warriors.
The ones far away dodged with ease while the four who set up the shields suffered minor injuries.
Despite receiving no harm, no one took the attack lightly.
Instead, they looked at the place where the castle rubble previously lay with a solemn expression.
Archduke Laren stood tall despite many injuries on his body. In his hands were five severed heads.
Out of their team of thirty old guys, six remained in the castle.
All of them died to Laren.
The old men and women got agitated and were about to lash out when Varian's voice rang out from their earpiece.
"Fourteen of you, engage with him."
"Ten, kill those six defenders. Hurry! We don't have time."
The impulse in their hearts cooled down and the human warriors suddenly understood why they had that impulse.
Two of the surviving six defenders, in their spaceship, were using their psychic powers to amplify their emotions.
If they really acted on impulse and attacked Laren, they would've suppressed and even killed him, but the price would be too many deaths and too heavy injuries that would eventually lead to their total annihilation when the reinforcements arrive.
"Charge!" Alpha 1 roared and shot towards his target—Psychic Abyssal in protective armor.
When he raised his hand to punch the armor, Alpha 1 froze as he was pulled into an illusion.
The Psychic Abyssal was confident in trapping Alpha 1 for at least ten minutes before being defeated.
But.
Two more humans appeared beside Alpha 1.
"Shit."
With Alpha 2 and Alpha 3 joining, the situation quickly changed.
Even though the Psychic Abyssal tried her best, she was quickly suppressed to the point she couldn't strike back.
Three minutes later, the Alpha Trio managed to end her in her mindscape.
At the same time, the other groups managed to end three defenders.
But due to the reckless attack by the defenders during their final moments, an old woman was killed.
So, now, there were only two defenders surviving and they were both heavily injured.
But since they were second only to the likes of archdukes, they were still standing tall against the nine human warriors.
At the same time, the sound of air being sliced apart reached their ears.
Turning around, they saw the archduke waving his hand and countless strings shooting out of his hands.
The strings were thin to the point of being almost invisible, but they easily cut down the defenses of even the strongest level 9s.
Using the advantage of their numbers, the fourteen old men and women were able to completely suppress and heavily injure the Archduke.
The strong figure a few minutes ago was now a bloodied figure.
But astonishingly, the fourteen fighters had countless small cuts on their body and were bleeding non-stop.
Even they had to acknowledge that if even ten of them grouped against him, he'd be able to fight them on equal footing.
Thankfully, the addition of four more men titled the battle in their favor.
"End them quick! The reinforcements could be here anytime!" Varian's hurried voice reached them.
As if responding to his words, the clouds in the horizon were suddenly cleared as powerful auras shot into the sky and approached the capital at a rapid pace.
"Oh fuck."
