859 Ater Vs Fae [Pt 3]

A Knight, A Mage, and An Archer.

These were the three Undead that Ater summoned, and this seemed like a basic maneuver on his part—one that he didn't need prep time for.

However, that assumption would be false.

'I had to merge all the Undead in my arsenal and divide them into three… just so they stood a chance against her.' Ater thought to himself, a false front of confidence still being displayed to fool the opponent.

'I have nothing left in stock, but if I didn't do this, then they wouldn't stand a chance at all.'

Merging his Undead and then splitting them took time, which was why he engaged in that pointless discourse with Fae.

It was pointless… but not untrue.

'Time is slowly running out. I have tried my best not to be impatient, since all the conditions are perfect this time around. But… with The Oracle's warning to Rey, and even this Fairy's instinctive animosity towards me, it's only a matter of time before this World is fully aware of what I am.'

Once that happened, a purge would take place.

'I am so close, though. I can't allow any further discrepancies to the plan…' With that in his mind, he ordered his Undead to take formation, and they responded immediately.

The Archer stood right in front of Ater, and the Mage remained beside him.

As for the Knight, it prepared to march forward.

'These ones should give me enough time to properly analyze her abilities and develop a proper counter.' He told himself.

He wasn't confident that they could defeat Fae, but if they managed such, then it still ended in his benefit. The main goal was to make sure she didn't retreat to the wall of trees—a possibility that now existed in his mind now that he was assured of her intelligence.

'I can only hope that her desire to eliminate me is stronger than her inclination to retreat.'

Ater still felt like the odds were in favor of her remaining, though.

'She did swear on her name, after all…'

What did he know about Fairies and their culture, though? Even though she made it sound so serious, the whole thing could be a flippant declaration of war that she could take back anytime she wanted.

To properly assess an enemy and develop a working countermeasure was to not rely on assumptions.

'I need hard, reliable facts.'

And the best way to get them was to control the battlefield himself and glean whatever he could from his target. That was how he liked to do proper battle.

"Go."

~WHOOOSH!~

The Knight charged at Fae with breakneck speed.

Even Ater couldn't see it move.

However, almost as soon as it rushed towards Fae, a loud explosion erupted, causing a wave of heat to burst through the air.

A massive crater suddenly existed between Ater and Fae—at the calculated range that the Knight would have had to be in at the moment of the explosion. Speaking of the Knight… he was nowhere to be seen.

At least, until one looked into the crater.

'Ahh…' Ater's eyes widened slightly as he observed the state of his Black Knight.

The Knight was currently in a kneeling position, with tons of weapons piercing it at practically every place in its body. From spears to swords, to arrows, to even more blades—they were all lodged within the enemy.

The Knight tried standing, but the weapons made it impossible for it to even move a muscle.

'Even though it's practically immortal, it can't move because of the weapons.'

The fact that the Knight couldn't use any of its abilities also proved that the weapons had some sort of special ability that restricted its flow of energy.

In essence… it was currently useless.

'One of my three Undead has been neutralized, and we've barely even begun.' Ater was tempted to break into a cold sweat once again, but he chose not to.

He still had his two other Undead, after a—

~WHOOOSH!~

~SWOOOSH!~

In a flash, a barrage of weapons descended upon Ater's surroundings—easily striking the Mage and Archer as soon as they were launched.

'What?!' Ater raised his head and his eyes were forced to widen slightly.

Littering the sky was a host of various kinds of weapons—hundreds of them—and they all seemed ready to be launched.

They all had golden luster, oozing powerful energy that made it evident that they were Enchanted Items. Before he could open his mouth to say another word, another volley was shot from the air, and nearly a hundred weapons fell.

"Tch!"

~BOOOOM!~

If the first batch were warning shots, this next round was the real deal.

In only a few seconds, the two Undead were reduced to the same sorry state as the Black Knight—completely rendered useless by the tons of weapons they were impaled with at every angle.

They were also stuck in a crater—one that now connected with the Black Knight's crater.

In essence, all three of Ater's Undead now dwelled in a joint crater; a massive site of devastation.

As for Ater…

~VWUUM~

He appeared from a pool of darkness a few meters away from the crater's edge, a portion of his body missing.

'I was nearly torn to shreds just now. If I hadn't preemptively activated the shift, I would have—'

"You continue to impress me, Ater." Fae spoke up, forcing him to look in her direction.

She was currently hovering above the crater of her creation, just a few dozen meters from where he stood. He could tell that he was completely at her mercy, and the brilliant glow in her eyes proved that she was well aware of that fact.

"You made me use two Skills in succession. That's not bad. The other Fairies never let me use more than one…'

Fae had used [Royal Authority] a few times, and just now she had to utilize [Art Of War].

"But…" Her smile was broader than it had ever been. "... This is the end of the line."

Ater coughed a little, spitting out blood as he made a pained smile, his crimson eyes narrowing on Fae.

"I couldn't agree more."

~BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!~

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