The moment Xuan had seen Eloise become engulfed in flames, she had gone mad.
While the rest of the continent gave itself up to chaos and confusion, fury had permeated all of her senses and made her lunge in the direction of the Bishop.
It had taken all of the Goddesses of the sect to stop her from going on what would certainly be a suicide mission, and for that, she still resented them.
'I wanted to grow powerful enough to never be held back like this. I failed! Why can't I stop letting myself down? I hate it!'
Thoughts like these had filled her head, making her seethe as she joined the others in an attempt to calm down the people of Angaria who had lost the rock they had been depending on.
And when Daneel had awakened… she had been the first to throw her hands in the air and scream with relief.
With the rest, she had watched as he rose like the being they called him. When he had spoken about what the people of Angaria deserved and flicked his fingers to bestow them all with power, she had widened her eyes and punched the air, echoing his thoughts and looking forward to dealing with this threat that he had left to them.
'He's confident that we can handle it. At least in this, we can't let him down!'
Just like he had put them out of his mind, she stopped caring about what was going in the part of the continent he was in and focused on the situation at hand.
Above them, the final weapon of the Bishop was accelerating with every second that passed. Around her, the people were still gawking at the strength that they could now control, and as for the sovereigns, most of them still had their eyes on Daneel. They had all trusted that he would return spectacularly, but the way he had done so had left them staring, still embroiled in the shock that his newfound power had filled them with.
'Aren't you used to this, by now? I would have been shocked if it didn't happen!'
With slight irritation, she had looked around, and a moment later, she had understood that the reason behind her doing so was that she had been looking for someone to tell her what to do.
The Godking had given them a task, and usually, Eloise was the tactician who led them to victory. She was no more…so who would take her place?
'The commanders? No, they haven't recovered, yet. The Emperor? He hasn't stepped in, yet, and it doesn't look like he has the intention to do so, either. Who else?'
Slowly, it dawned on her that there was only one answer.
'Me? But…'
She searched for a reason due to which this answer might be wrong, but none of them felt right to her. She still dithered, looking around franticly, but in the end…it was her memories of standing behind Eloise when she had led them that convinced her.
'Haven't I been watching, and learning? Now that there is no one else, shouldn't I take the mantle? If I hesitate any further, I won't even be able to look in my Godking's eyes! I would be disgracing everything Eloise stood for! I promised that they could depend on me, and I'll keep my word! Yes, it has to be me!'
The madness that had drowned her before due to Eloise's fate threatened to rise up again, but this conviction swept it aside. Shaking her head and seeing that the time to act was now or never, she gritted her teeth and stepped forward to leave the giant that was made up of all the goddesses.
When she emerged into the air as herself, she changed her clothes to the first thing that appeared in her mind.
A suit of white armor in the shape of a dress appeared around her. Unlike her king, her power did not let her create anything she wished, so it was only an illusion with no defensive properties… but her intention was not to protect herself.
Two dragons appeared on the armor, swimming around her shoulders, her chest, and her legs in a manner that was unmistakable.
As the people laid their eyes on her, they were instantly reminded of where they had seen this exact pattern before.
"Didn't I…see those dragons before on the robes of the Godking? It's his queen!"
"Everyone, snap out of it! We still have a Queen to lead us! We can mourn Queen Eloise later!"
"Yes! The Godking gave us this power to save our home…let's do it!"
A small smile came to her lips as she saw that her plan had worked. The bandit queen had led the recovery, and she nodded in her direction to indicate that she should continue. She needed the same to happen on a large scale, but she couldn't fly around quickly enough to rally everyone before the headquarters of the Church came crashing down on them.
Thankfully, the sovereigns came to her aid. Using her idea, they shot into the air and conjured similar robes before beginning to cover all of Angaria.
In merely a couple of seconds, the people snapped out of the awe that had filled their minds due to the power given to them. She didn't even waste those few moments. She had been studying exactly how the Godking had empowered the people, and as they all looked at her, she understood what she was supposed to do.
"People of Angaria. The Godking has filled you all with power… and the way to use it is simple. Stay where you are, and raise your hands. Focus all of your power in your palms, thinking about what you want to do. The Bishop seeks to destroy our home because she cannot conquer it… will we let her have her way? Will we let down our Godking, who has placed so much trust in us?"
"NO!"
The thunderous response made her heart beat faster. In the silence that followed, a group of beings flew into the sky to stand near her, and looking at them, Eloise thought, 'The godbeasts! Of course! They are born with power, so they know how to use it instinctually… isn't that the same case as these people, who obtained power so abruptly?'
Her mind worked quickly. Looking around, she tried to find the leader of the Godbeasts. At first, she thought it was the Shapeshifter whose power Daneel had awakened, but then, she saw that a little cockroach was standing at their head. All of her legs were twitching as if she was forcefully stopping them from breaking out into a dance, and this was enough to let her understand whom she had to send the message to.
"Skrr! Show the people how to use their power. All right?"
"Yes! Skrr will do it! The others will help, too!"
It only took a few moments for them to understand what she needed from them, and when she saw that they were ready, she turned to the people again.
"If you do not understand, study these beings who possess the ancient bloodlines of our land. Each and every one of them will be showing you how you can go about concentrating your power. I need you to be thinking of just one thing: the destruction of that enemy above, and the end of the war by your hands."
All around her, the Angarians turned to the rest of the Godbeasts who removed all the barriers around their bodies and began to repeatedly show the method of concentrating power. There were all sorts of fantastical beings who would have terrorized the people rather than instructing them if this was the age before the Empire, but now, they stood in the air as teachers, guiding the Angarians to the goal they wanted to achieve.
Happy with them, Xuan turned to the sovereigns who were done their job.
"The people need some time. We should give it to them. Sovereigns, you're up. Will you handle it?"
"With pleasure!"
The answer came from Elanev. In barely a moment, he could be seen flying into the air with the members of the Domination corps assigned to him even before the last word left her lips. He transformed into a 20-foot Fighter in an instant, and as he pulled back one arm, it became as large as the rest of his body. When he flung it forward, the shockwave made her take a step forward to stop herself from losing her footing, and in front of him, a fist-shaped attack made from fire flew toward the headquarters of the Church and struck it with a loud sound.
Hastily, Eloise raised her hand and enveloped the entire continent in a barrier that stopped sound. The Godnet had been deactivated, but when she supplied the power, it still helped her to achieve what she wished, so she was able to stop the attack from distracting the people.
Next was Faxul. The gigantic Black Raven he transformed into flew in the air, roaring in defiance before stretching back its wings and snapping them forward all of a sudden. Two black holes bigger than those that had targeted the Bishop before shot through the air, and coupled with another flaming fist from Elanev, they succeeded in slowing down the speed of the headquarters.
The commanders had finished grouping together while these two show their prowess. They had been practicing to work as a team as they all had experience working with each other, and when their attacks turned out to be more effective than those of the Godking's two brothers, Xuan saw that their efforts had not gone to waste.
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