Chapter 546 - A Hard Pill to Swallow

"Where do you think you are going?!" barked out the sadistic soldier who, until now, had led the group of soldiers in the battle against the injured and currently retreating champions of Morality's domain.

While his words were ignored by the two still standing members of the fleeting party, whose priority was to carry the injured friends back to the portal, that was not the same for the several attacks which obliterated the surrounding spatial and dark essence, and dug straight towards their backs.

Unable to safely avoid these attacks, the warrior in golden armor stepped in between the beams of essence and his injured companions, and with his sword charged to the limit with his innate power, he braced for impact - An action that caused the observing young cultivators to shake their heads in disappointment. 

Many champions of the younger generations would usually look forward to fighting against the members of other domains, and the Exalted Assembly represented a perfect, yet also extremely rare opportunity to do just that. For that reason, unlike the warrior in golden armor and his friends, who were just spending an evening together, virtually every other cultivator present had spent every moment they had since the announcement of an Exalted Assembly, studying the information their domains had collected of their adversaries.

For a strategic force like the domain of War, who's fighting patterns were heavily reliant on formulating strategies specific to their adversary, the advantage in preparation was not only able to compensate for their individual inferiority, but also to allow them to obtain a devastating victory.

However, their preparation was not all.

The main reason why the party of the warrior in white gold armor had been so utterly defeated, was not because of an advantage in numbers.. but because as champions of war, morality had no place in their mentality. Sacrificing a member of their own, making use of a numerical advantage, attacking the injured, or even being ruthless towards a retreating adversary.. were all virtues, while gracefulness and indecisiveness were considered weakness.

On the other hand, a battle between champions of morality was usually easy to predict, as one's morality, whether honourable or malicious, would usually give away how each champion would fight. For example, someone whose morals revolved around camaraderie would be selfless towards their companions, an honourable character would usually attempt to fight fairly, and a malicious person could often be seen using poisons, or play into their opponent's weaknesses.. Be it physical, or psychological.

The difference in preparation, paired with the difference in behavior, made the domain of War the worst possible match, for the champions of Morality.. And everyone was aware of that. 

Having done as much research as the domain of War, the observing young cultivators knew that the closer to victory their domain would get, the dirtier they would fight.. And that was exactly what happened.

-

In an attempt to block the incoming beams of light the same way he had done more than once in the past few minutes, the warrior in golden armor placed his sword vertically in front of his body, making its hilt cover a portion of his body that started from his knee, and reached all the way up to his eye level. He then prepared to block the blow by injecting as much power as he could into the sword, and leaning onto it.

With his left eye pointed at the incoming attack, the warrior noticed that as they approached his position, the beams drew closer together - Indication of the fact that they would eventually merge into a more powerful attack right before reaching striking. A tactique the soldiers had used before. 

Aware of this, the warrior took control over the power he had injected into his sword, and released it from the other side of its blade in a conic shape of pure and dense innate power.. His hope was that this cone could lessen the impact, and make the attack bearable to some degree.. Unfortunately, it would not take long until that hope would succ_u_mb to realization.

As he expected, the beams of power drew closer to one another the more they neared him, but at the moment in which they should have merged into one stronger beam, they instead ricocheted against one another, bouncing shot in different directions.

A feeling of doom creeped down the warrior's spine, and for a moment, he realized what pure ruthlessness was. He could only look in horror as the beams of light curved around him, and headed for his injured companions.

Only able to save one of them, the warrior found himself instinctively dashing towards the sorceress, whose body he covered with his own in order to protect her from the incoming fatal attack that was aimed at her. Similarly, with great struggle, the monk managed to produce just enough power to attempt to counter the attack that was aimed at the injured archer, leaving unprotected the giant in massive armor, who despite his injuries, was still able to put together a defence that he hoped was enough to protect himself from the third and last beam. 

From an observer's perspective, no sound could be heard. Be it as one of the beams pierced the monk's attack and managed to land on his c_h_e_s_t, as another snapped the warrior'ìs unreinforced sword in two pieces before landing on his lower back, or as the last beam pierced right through the body of the already injured giant in massive armor, and created a fist sized hole in his stomach.. Nothing could break the absolute silence of outer space, until a clear voice was heard.

"STOP!" screamed the warrior in golden armor with the least bit of power he could muster. "W-We surrender.." He said as droplets of blood left the lower part of his back in large drops, and quietly floated away into space.

These few words were able to stop the soldiers from continuing their barrage of attacks, as well as convince them to, if possible, talk it out.. 

Regardless of their intentions, the soldiers seemed to accept this invitation.. as they stopped their evasive maneuvers, and appeared as a tightly packed formation just a few hundred steps away from the injured warrior, and his unconscious companions. Standing a few steps to the front, was the soldier whom the warrior in golden armor had challenged in the restaurant.

"Why should we stop?" Said the soldier with a malicious grin that, even more than his previous actions, was indicative of the excitement he was feeling, as well as his sadistic personality. "You are more powerful than I am, and after accepting your challenge, I have humiliated you. Should I not expect you to want to return the humiliation in the future?" Asked the soldier while stepping closer to the injured warrior, and pointing his gun at his neck, the only uncovered part of his body.

For the first time, the warrior in golden armor became aware of the difference between the domains.. If he couldn't appeal to any form of morality, was it still possible for him to at least find a way to keep his friends alive? After all, his opponents were calculative and pragmatic, and therefore, no apology or promise could ever convince them of his sincerity in not wanting to find revenge.

Nevertheless, he could not allow his friends to die like this. With clear fatigue, he straightened his body, and removed his helmet. He then looked the soldier straight in the eyes, and after slowly turning to look at his unconscious companions, he said, "I am their leader, as well as the one who issued the challenge.. Kill me, and allow them to surrender.. Please." In his voice was no trace of fear. If his sacrifice was enough to grant his companion's survival, then he was willing to do it.

As the warrior in golden armor finished speaking, from behind the sadistic soldier came the voice of one of his talkative companions, who, surprised by how the warrior was able to make his case in terms that they as soldiers could understand, said to his sadistic companion, "Hike, remember what the generals told us? Our ranking is influenced by every battle, including the ones fought during the Exalted Assembly." He then turned to look at the state of his companions, and after holstering his gun, he said, "One injured, no losses.. If we let them surrender we get a perfect score.. I know you want to kill them, but don't screw it up for us too."

The malicious grin disappeared from the face of the sadistic soldier, but his finger never moved away from the trigger. He then slowly turned towards his companion, and responded by asking, "What did the generals say about hierarchy on the field?"

A flicker of annoyance appeared on the face of the second soldier, who immediately tried to cover it by brushing the tip of his nose. "He said that the officer in charge decides strategy and outcome.." He said with irritation before adding, "You are going to damage our ranking just to kill these nobodies?"

While maintaining his relaxed attitude, the sadistic soldier turned to look at the pitiful appearance of the warrior in golden armor and his unconscious companions.. With their armor and clothes reduced to tatters, and surroundings engulfed by the large beads of blood they were still losing, they awaited the soldier's decision.

Seemingly convinced, the sadistic soldier holstered his weapon, and lifted his arm to the height of his companion's shoulder. He then wrapped his arm around it in a friendly manner. "I guess you all owe me big for this one.." He said as his lips curved into an amiable smile.

"Of course." Said the second soldier with a more relaxed attitude. It was clear that the survival of the champions of Morality was not a concern of his. However, as a champion of War, his performance was witnessed, recorded, and judged based on his degree of success, and the best evaluation could only be obtained through a sign of complete victory, in the form of their opponent's surrender.

Relieved, the second shrugged the arm of his sadistic companion off his shoulder, and turned around to join the rest of the group.. when suddenly, he heard the words, "On second thought.. I don't really care." followed by the clear sound of gun discharging. 

Enraged, the betrayed soldier turned around to a confusing sight.

The malicious grin had reappeared on the face of his companion, as he aimed his gun at their prisoners of war in an attempt to execute them.. From the end of the barrel emerged a beam of light that reached forward by only a few steps before being stopped, frozen in space just like the wielder of the gun was. However, that was not the only confusing part.

Standing next to the frozen sadistic soldier, was the figure of a calm and unbothered young man. With his elbow resting onto the soldier's shoulder, he looked at the sorry appearance of the champions of Morality with slight interest. In his hand were a handful of peanuts which he would quietly shell one by one before pushing them into his mouth with an imperceptible thread of essence, and storing the removed shells into the front pocket of the soldier's uniform.

"That was stupid." Said Daniel with a matter-of-fact tone. Behind him, the remaining soldiers looked at his figure with alertness. They had never felt Daniel's presence ever since he had left the restaurant a few minutes ago, nor had they felt him observe the encounter from anywhere their senses could reach. And yet, he had managed to come close enough to not only interrupt, but catch their entire group by surprise. "What did you think was going to happen?" Daniel asked the warrior in gold armor.

Before the warrior could overcome his surprise, and respond to Daniel's question, the soldier that was still standing a few steps away from Daniel instinctively retreated back to formation. "Why are you interfering? This is a duel between the champions of Mortality and of War." He said as him and his companions reached for their weapons.

Almost as if annoyed by the interruption, Daniel turned his head around, and with an indifferent expression, he said, "I'll be with you in a minute." he then casually waved his hand in front of his c_h_e_s_t, causing a wave of power to engulf the entire battlefield.

While this casual action seemed to be ineffective to the soldiers, for which Time had stopped, that was not the case for Daniel, the champions of morality, and the observers could see the entire group of War's champions almost completely frozen in time, forced to live at a speed infinitely slower than usual.

Shocked by how easily Daniel could incapacitate a group of soldiers that his team could hardly injure, the warrior in golden armor said grimly, "It was a lack of experience on my part.. I should have known better." He then turned to look at the state of his companions with an apologetic look. Once he made sure that they weren't in immediate threat, he turned to look back at Daniel, and asked, "Why did you help us?"

After swallowing a handful of peanuts, Daniel asked, "Why not? I am new here, is there a rule that says I can't do whatever I want?"

"Not written.. But.." said the warrior in golden armor with a hint of worry, before being interrupted by an immense and oppressive power.

"Since you do whatever you want, mind if I join in as well?" Said a voice that resounded throughout light years worth of space, and that was followed by the grizzled appearance of a middle aged man in worn out military attire. On his face was nowhere near as much cordiality as there was in his request, and instead, was an expression filled with open hostility. "I thought I told you to stay out of it." he said with a threatening tone.

"Sir, this is a matter between us, and your juniors. Please don't imp-" Said the warrior in golden armor, aware that this man did not belong to the young generation, and therefore, was not someone any of them should be able to handle.

"Oh, cut it out. Will you?" Said Daniel, interrupting the attempt of the warrior in golden armor to save him from the wrath of the elder of War's domain. He then turned to look at the middle-aged soldier with indifference, and while grabbing the throat of the sadistic soldier, he added, "Why should I care if you join? Your presence means nothing."