1192: Radiant Knights

Radiant Knights

Watching the timer reach zero along with the announcement, Shiro suddenly felt an influx of mana explode out from the land.

Feeling the density of the area multiply in an instant, it felt like she was hit in the head with a sledgehammer due to her sensitivity. However, that feeling disappeared instantly as all of the mana flowed towards the egg, causing its heartbeat to increase in volume.

As though the land itself had a beating heart, each beat would cause the ground around them to fracture and break.  Just as Shiro was about to jump up and fly, she noticed the mana in the surroundings being disrupted to the point where flight was unstable.

Quickly adjusting her cast so that it focuses on her rather than her surroundings, Shiro grabbed Nan Tian and flew upwards to avoid the earthquake.

"Well, this is quite the reaction from the world isn't it? If anything I'd say it's worse than the first transformation a while back." Nan Tian said with a frown as Shiro had the same thought. She could only wonder what would happen to the Queens that had set their city on the group.

However, she had no time to think about that right now as she had more pressing matters to deal with. She could sense several clusters of mana appeared nearby. While most of them were towards the surface where everyone else is at, there were quite a few that were appearing below ground.

Plus, to make matters worse, there was a strange strand of energy that was flowing towards the clusters, changing their composition completely into something foreign.

Narrowing her eyes, Shiro was about to open her mouth when Nan Tian spoke first.

"You sense them as well didn't you? After receiving a blessing from Hemera, I noticed an increased sensitivity towards anything that's light and by extension, creation I suppose. Though only barely. Even then, I can sense the strands of creation within the pools of mana gathering near us. Care to explain or should I just imagine this is the world giving you a giant middle finger again?" Nan Tian asked as Shiro chuckled.

"Let's just say they're here to take out this anomaly." Shiro shrugged.

Controlling his mana so that he could fly, Nan Tian floated on his own as summoning circles could be seen gathering around the base of the egg.

Usually, Shiro would try to dispel the magic but she had use for them so she allowed them to be summoned. After all, it wasn't often that she could come across a being that was from the side of creation. She needed to take this time to study them in detail.

'That's rather unexpected. I figured they would claw through like savages rather than summon.' Nimue muttered as she was helping Shiro regulate the mana flow around her body so that it wasn't sucked away by the egg.

'True, but its more concerning that its being summoned rather than naturally spawning. It means some f*cker is sending them to us. Though I'm guessing its sent by someone who probably sent the watchman. To take care of abnormalities.' Shiro replied while sending some ice out to create a small platform for herself.

Anchoring herself against one of the walls, she sent her senses out to see what was happening above ground with Madison and the others.

Seeing that it wasn't looking any better except hordes of monsters were spawning in rapid succession, Shiro sighed and scratched her head.

"If you're worried about the surface then don't worry, I took the time to design something a little special for them. Well, those that were lower level." Nan Tian laughed as Shiro raised an eyebrow.

Sending her senses out once more, she noticed that some of them reached into their inventory to pull out a small nanotech capsule that they threw down. Dismantling itself, it rearranged it's form into a mounted mini gun with rocket turrets on the sides.

Jumping in, they immediately sent waves upon waves of bullets towards the enemies while the melee people watched. They were prepared to tank for the gunners should the monsters get too close.

Of course, Madison was an exception. Stomping her foot down, a giant tier 8 magic circle spread out across the ground and immediately restrained all the monsters that step foot on the trap.

Raising her hand, demonic energy gathered around her palm and shot out towards all of the monsters that were trapped.

Once the energy entered their body, they immediately started to writhe in anguish as bones and spikes erupted out from their body, transforming them into something akin to a bone demon.

"All of you! Heed my word!" Madison shouted out as the demons raised their heads.

"Kill them all and leave none alive!" She commanded as they immediately turned towards the other monsters and rushed forth with suicidal vigour.

"Seems like Madison has her side covered. So let's take of these guys quickly, though I will say that they require a small trick to kill. Or so I assume with the information I have." Shiro smiled as Nan Tian nodded his head.

Glancing down, he could see that the summoning circle had completed itself. Letting out a radiant pillar of light, they could see armoured figures within the centre of each circle.

Each figure towered over the average man as their physique was slim and elongated to an abnormal degree. They each wore pristine white armour that had golden highlights around the edges of each plate. A faint neon blue glow could be seen under the armour as spectral wings unfurled from their backs.

Suddenly, their armour started to shift as it covered the wings and gun barrels started to form on their shoulders.

Widening her eyes in shock, Shiro immediately recognised the foundation of the armour to be nanobots!

Feeling danger overwhelm her senses, she immediately grabbed Nan Tian by the collar and dragged him back while trying to form a barrier with her left hand.

*BOOM!!!!!!

A beam of pure creation energy shot up and disintegrated her barrier in an instant, taking her arm along with it as she hissed in pain.

"Gah!!! Bloody hell!" Shiro cursed out as her arm instantly regenerated itself with Nimue's help but the recovery was slower than usual.

The usual situation would be Shiro not even getting injured. However, the beam of light took out her arm while also trying to corrupt her entire body in an attempt to render her to a blank state of being.

'You shouldn't take any more hits like that. Had you not retracted what was left of your arm quickly you might be on the ground having a spasm due to the creation energy.' Nimue warmed while the entire mana continent started to erupt with water in an attempt to heal Shiro's body.

'I KNOW!' Shiro shouted back as she immediately entered her Soul Maiden form.

Choosing ice as the base element, she breathed out a mouthful of cold air to create a barrier between them for now.

Meanwhile, Nan Tian after being tossed away to safety by Shiro, activated his blessing he received from Hemera. Golden energy pulsed around his body as though he had been set on fire and 9 orbs of light rotated behind him.

Grabbing one, it transformed intro a sword while the others shot towards the Radiant Knights that broke past Shiro's ice barrier without any troubles.

Switching spots with one of the orbs that appeared in front of the knights, Nan Tian grabbed their head and pierced it through with his sword.

*CRACK!!!

Twisting the blade so that it ripped the head off their body, Nan Tian was shocked to see that they were beings of pure energy.

Quickly sewing itself together, the knight grabbed Nan Tian by the throat and slammed him into the wall of the cave and prepared to stab him in the chest.

*BANG!!!

Before the knight could, Shiro appeared behind him and kicked him in the face, causing it to get torn off from the force.

"They can't be destroyed using destruction and they counter everything that comes from our side of the universe. If you can, try not to fight them directly, use your passive to guard me, I'll figure something out" Shiro shouted as she immediately teleported Nan Tian up while two knights cleaved through the wall.

Grabbing their arms, Shiro snapped them in half before summoning Iriel.

The moment she did, all of the knights seem to enter a frenzy as their blue glows transitioned to a dark red.

"I'll be honest, they give me a creepy feeling and I don't think I can do much about them." Iriel replied truthfully as Shiro slashed through one of the knights only for her mana to be sucked away.

Quickly jumping back, Shiro clicked her tongue and unsummoned Iriel.

'Loki did mention that they're from the creation side of the things. It's no wonder that my attack won't work. Hmm….' Thinking to herself, Shiro decided to activate Error in her arm.

Feeling the sting followed by numbness, Shiro focused on the knight in front of her and pierced his chest, ripping out several strands of bluish code that was unlike anything she had seen in this world.

"The hell…" Shiro muttered as she was reading it.

However, before she could finish, she sensed danger behind her and immediately jumped into the rift. But before she could close the entrance, one of the knights grabbed her leg and dragged her out before slamming her against the wall.

Coughing out a mouthful of blood, Shiro glared at the knights before activating one of the skills.

[Goddess of War and Protection!]

Immediately designating Nan Tian and Madison as her Champions, her aura flared as a golden light radiated from her eyes.

Golden markets appeared on her body while Nan Tian could feel a wave of energy bursting through his body.

With this now activated, Shiro could control her divinity to its current limit.

But because it was sealed, there was no effect but that was fine as she was looking for the other skill boosts.

All allies cannot die, she takes their damage instead.2

Dead allies or those that she wishes to help will be revived.

They get the Blessing of Shiro buff along with the Blessing of War buff.

And her Champions will gain unique bonuses depending on their class.

This skill has no cost and it lasts for 30 minutes.

By her estimations, 30 minutes should be more than enough.

As for the buffs, each one was crazy in its own right.

Both increase your stats equal to 20% of Shiro's stats. The Blessing of Shiro makes it so that you don't take damage, cannot die, spirits will enhance your attacks and nanobots will protect you. Meanwhile, the Blessing of War doubles your stats on top of the bonus and allows you to launch and attack equal to 30% of Shiro's int stat. Half of their damage is converted to True Damage and 70% Elemental Resistance.

Since Creation is technically classed as an element, it should allow Nan Tian to withstand their attacks.

As for the True Damage, Shiro wasn't sure as Iriel didn't work so she assumed that it would deal Destruction Type True Damage which these Radiant Knights seemed to be immune against as their attacks have barely caused them any harm.

Just as she tried to pry herself out of the Knights grip, she noticed that her body had been completely restrained as more Knights latched onto her limbs.

However, before anything dangerous happened to her, a pillar of energy descended around her, obliterating everything that wasn't her.

Glancing up, she could see Nan Tian casting a tier 6 magic circle that was slowly fluctuating. There was a faint sign that it was reaching Tier 7 but it was just short.

"Your champion huh? A little disappointed that it wasn't anything more but I had almost forgotten how beefy your stats are considering the boost I just got." Nan Tian forced a smile as having that much mana pulse through his body in one attack almost sent his entire system of mana links into shock.

"Care to tell me what kind of unique bonus you got while I check this out?" Shiro asked with a smile as she ripped out the code of another Knight.

Even though she ripped it out, it was quick to disintegrate before repairing itself in the Knights body.

"My attacks are highly effective on enemies that are in close proximity to you. The more dangerous they are, the more powerful my attacks. While it can't completely deal with these knights, it should give you some room to breathe. Oh also you don't get harmed so I can fire your way without worries." Nan Tian reassured as two knights appeared behind him but he quickly dodged out of the way and landed next to Shiro.

"Well isn't that helpful. Though I must sa- hm?" Shiro was about to finish her sentence when she noticed something stirring in her mana continent.

Seeing the tree that represented Error move and stretch towards the Knights, Shiro raised her eyebrow and heard a faint mutter.

"Eat… Code…"

Hearing this, Shiro understood that Error must be hungry for the codes of these Knights. Even though they repair themselves quickly, Error was an anomaly from the system and not restricted to the destruction side of the universe.

Taking a deep breath, circuits erupted out from her arms as Shiro glared at the Knights.

"Care to cover my back while I let Error eat his breakfast?" Shiro asked as Nan Tian chuckled.

"Of course, but don't play around too much. Who knows if they will spawn on the surface? We should finish this fast." Nan Tian smiled.

"Noted. Though I'm sure Madison has it covered." Shiro nodded before dashing towards the Knights.

###

Looking at the hordes of monsters that continued to spawn, Madison frowned as each corpse would transform into crystals matching the ones near the egg. Even the demons she create using them would slowly be transformed into crystals while still moving. A harrowing sight but she had grown used to seeing things like this.

Glancing behind her, she could see the Ancient Lords waiting on her command.

'There's no reason to send them out just yet, everyone else can handle the mobs with the guns that Nan Tian gave them for now. The mechs are doing well too but they're starting to struggle. Shiina and the specialised pilots are watching by the side but they should be making a move soon.' Madison thought to herself before scratching her head.

"Jeez, they're spawning endlessly." She muttered as Helion walked up beside her.

"Well you can say this is a good time for them to get EXP no?" Helion joked as Madison shrugged while leaning against him.

"True. But I can't help but feel as though something else is at work. I can feel Shiro fighting below us but if she told us to focus here, it means she should have whatever is happening below covered." Madison replied as a wave of monsters were thrown into the air.

Destroying the ground in the distance, Madison spotted a colossal monster clawing itself out of the ground with crests carved into its skin, causing blood to spill onto the ice.

Meanwhile, on its head, a woman could be seen holding a trident as divine energy radiated from her body. On her head, was a bloody carving of the same crest on the monster's skin.

"Hou~ Seems like one of the Queens possessed by a god has come knocking on the door. I wonder who it is." Madison grinned. Just as she took a step forward, she felt a well of energy erupt within her, bolstering her stats while also applying two buffs.

Glancing over at her interface, Madison grinned menacingly as she gestured to the Ancient Lords.

"Go cause some havoc. I'll have a small chat with that god."

Immediately flaring their demon aura, the Ancient Lords charged into the battle as portals opened up with more monsters pouring out in waves.

"I can't help you yet but I will soon. Go kick his ass and I'll keep everyone safe back here." Helion smiled as Madison nodded her head.

Giving him a kiss on the cheeks, she stomped her foot down and dashed towards the avatar.

Meanwhile, the people around them glanced at Helion who coughed and shouted at them to get back to killing the monsters.

Flying through the air, Madison landed near the avatar, crushing two monsters beneath her boots while walking towards the god fearlessly.

"Yo~ What has brought you to our humble base. If it's for a holiday then I must ask you to look for another area as this place isn't the best for a scenic walk." Madison asked as she tore the monsters apart with her bare hands. Anything that approached her was killed in a matter of seconds as blood coated her body.

"Divine Energy. Wait no…. you're not of any pantheons I know. You're one of the people with that annoying girl." The woman narrowed her eyes as Madison shrugged.

"Well there is a sudden spike in destructive energy so I have come to check it out. If you know what's at stake, it would be wise for you to let our forces through and investigate the situation." The woman said as Madison laughed.

"If you put it like that, I would want to keep you out no matter what." Madison grinned as she knew that Shiro was who they wanted even though they don't know. After all, she was the First Born of Destruction that they wanted to kill.

"Are you trying to earn the wrath of the god?" The woman growled as Madison smirked.

"Does this face look like I give a f*ck?" 

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