Chapter 458: Day 901 (3) – It’s A Reverse Trap!

Chapter 458: Day 901 (3) – It’s A Reverse Trap!

“Zin Bin!” I heard the distorted and muffled words next to my head, but nothing triggered. At that moment I felt absolutely nothing trying to disable me. Hopefully that meant that the energy I had used around my ears and the damage I had done to my hearing was enough to stop a verbal disablement. I crossed my fingers, letting Captain Francis keep my protection detail back, as I collapsed to the ground without a word. The captain knew the sign. If he didn’t intervene, then no one else should intervene. It was a lot of trust I placed in him, but if things went poorly, I could always start shouting and giving orders.

There was a chance I had already gotten rid of the problem. So, playing along would only help. I felt danger approaching, and while I was on my back, I looked straight up and saw a ripple of energy. Acid Shot x5. Force Wave.

Whatever was coming at me from above meant a wall of annihilation. Their skill or attack consumed in my response, but I stayed on the ground, not moving as bits of burnt flesh and the occasional drop of acid rained down around me.

That was one threat down. I then noted plummeting humanoid golems. Massive metal warriors that reminded me of that one golem from the tower. There were six of them. They landed across the plaza, squashing several and causing the ground to shake. I could tell they were hybrids since they had human appearances that were colored with silver.

Squinting upwards, I noted an airship way up in the sky. The Avatar had made her move. It was not something that I was expecting, but using summons was an obvious method of attack. Air dropping high level hybrids was inspired. It made me wonder how she was able to create them.

A bell rang out, which was the signal for the soldiers waiting in a building that Clarissa had purchased right away and with the utmost of secrecy. She never visited and only a small group of highly trusted soldiers knew its location to prevent a person from disabling it. There was no possible way anyone but me could fight these hybrids, but it was enough to put us in check.

That was why we had to make a counter move to put our enemies in check. Also, why no soldier was using a summon during this event. A shame the airship wasn’t lower, or I might have thought about attacking it.

The city shield activated. A glowing white dome snapped into place around Purgatory for the third time in known history. The first was the Ritualist. The second was during the upgrade. And now a third time to counter the ploys of the Astrologer and Avatar. Everything turned monochrome and I felt an itch across my skin. The Avatar should be cut off at this moment, preventing any interference when things reached their climax.

It was something Clarissa had been planning in secret and let me know as discretely as possible. After getting the note I had just nodded at her and that was it. What our enemies lacked was absolute trust in each other and a large organization to call upon. Clarissa and I were going to use both to triumph and win. Also, if something worked, no need to reinvent the wheel. The city shield was a great way to mess everything involving energy up.

I could vaguely hear muffled shouting, but I was content to lay on the ground while my soldiers kept their distance around me. Beam attacks were unleashed across the plaza striking two of the hybrids. They were both blown apart in a gory mess. A third attack followed up and took out a third, leaving only three behind.

Already soldiers were forming up and lobbing skills at the giant half human, half golem monsters. They were struggling and screaming in pain.

The stupid thing had a stealth mode, but I was already putting the corrections I needed to in place, so I could act and remember what I needed to. I tried to slow him down with an annihilation attack, but he split it easily and was almost on top of me.

Even as he rushed towards me. The city shield and his focus close to him would be his undoing. Tunnel vision was very dangerous, and the signal had been sent. I was just an actor playing a role for my final trap. The soldiers for the final maneuver had been waiting the entire time.

The one good thing about the long war with the Dragon Empire was a large reserve of soldiers who could use beam attacks. They were considered the best skill for conflicts and for protecting the city. Every single one that was available that wasn’t a governor or vice governor had been recalled to Purgatory.

While most were one shot and then spent, when you had enough people with the skill that didn’t matter so much. Also ambush tactics had been perfected during the constant fighting and then hiding from the Divine Empress. We had proof that certain methods worked to hide from the Sense stat.

This was all part of the original plan. I had confirmed when the hybrid golems had fallen down and I had moved towards the Astrologer, that their position hadn’t been ruined.

Hands stuck out of gray enchanted blankets that were covering soldiers up at the buffet tables that had been prepared at the edge of the plaza for the victory celebration. The reason my soldiers retreated was that this was going to be very close.

Only the best of the best had been selected for this role. This was far more critical than my pretend attack plan to make the situation appear more dire than it really was. The one rule about a battle of wits was always have one more trap than you think you could possibly need, since the other person will have something as well. Also, to never go against a Sicilian while death was on the line. While I wasn’t Sicilian, I had stacked the deck in my favor so to speak in every way that I could.

The moment the Astrologer was present in the plaza he had lost no matter what, unless he could pull something out that was completely improbable. I didn’t put it past him. Whatever he had done to Esperanza was very concerning, but I couldn’t let fear hold me back.

Beams of energy lanced horizontally across the plaza, just above body height just as the Astrologer was about to reach me. “Null Refraction!” His quick speak trick was clever and the beam that was going to hit him split apart into a light show between us. I could see the hate and anger etched into his Astral Projection’s face.

That was when a beam attack struck him directly in the back. He fell towards me. I hadn’t isolated the tumor fully, but I could still use my skills. Air Burst. Acid Shot x5. Force Wave. I shot backwards just above the ground as I attacked him.

The annihilation blast hit him head on. Soldiers rushed in from all directions. Air Burst. Air Burst. I forced my body away as skill after skill was lobbed in his direction. This team had been on standby the entire time. Even with the hybrids rampaging, they were not to act until the Astrologer was revealed. It was a sacrifice that my people had to make to draw him out and kill him once and for all.

There was suddenly a massive burst of energy, and the nearby soldiers were blasted backwards. The Astrologer was standing there in his child body breathing heavily, with the Astral Projection visibly fraying and breaking apart. This was his end.