Chapter 130: Cupid Trait: Authority
The battlefield erupted once more.
The brief moment of silence created by the awakening of Resonance vanished as one particularly hot-blooded orc warrior slammed the butt of his greataxe against the ground.
BOOM!
"THE KING STILL STANDS!"
A thousand voices answered him.
"THEN WE CHALLENGE!"
"GLORY!"
"GLORY!"
"GLORY!"
Silas’s eye twitched.
"Do they ever get tired?"
"They’re orcs," Alpha replied while burying a dagger into an ogre’s shoulder before kicking him away. "Apparently not."
"Great."
The valley trembled once again, as hundreds became thousands. The entire army surged again. This time, however, they weren’t the only ones who had changed.
Silas clenched his fist, and the crimson runes covering his left arm glowed once more. He instinctively knew what to do.
"Resonance."
His voice was barely above a whisper. The runes answered, causing an overwhelming aura to erupt from him. Unlike mana, this felt alive and ancient.
It resonated with the very souls of those connected to him. Immediately, his muscles expanded. His breathing deepened, and his center of gravity shifted. His entire body suddenly felt heavy.
"This..." He slowly looked at his hand. "This is Gromda’s strength."
His fingers tightened, and the surrounding air exploded.
He disappeared. An eighteen-foot troll barely had time to widen its eyes when Silas’s fist connected with its face. The troll didn’t just fly away. It folded. The impact alone buried half its body into solid rock.
"Okay... Gromda is ridiculous," Silas commented in shock.
Far away, even while unconscious, Gromda smiled. Meanwhile, Chloe’s Resonance reached its peak. She raised one hand. She didn’t need Silas to explain Thread Perception to her. She could feel it all right.
Thousands to millions of glowing threads stretched across the battlefield. Every movement, every intention, every attack... everything became visible.
"So... this is what you always see." She smiled softly. "It’s beautiful."
An orc lunged, but she didn’t even look. Her body moved naturally, almost exactly as Silas would. She sidestepped by mere centimeters, and the axe missed. Ice then exploded where she’d stood, and the warrior froze.
Another attack came, and the result was the same. Many more attacked her and ended up as ice statues, to the extent that it appeared almost unfair.
Alpha frowned and complained, "Where’s mine?"
"..."
"Get a girlfriend!" Silas exclaimed as he kicked four goblins away at the same time.
"I’m offended."
Silas laughed despite himself.
"You aren’t one of my girlfriends."
"I’D RATHER DIE!"
"You almost did."
"Shut up!"
The Crimson Reaper Queen screeched, its emerald wings beating rapidly as it descended into the battlefield. Unlike before, it no longer merely transported Silas. It fought beside him. Its crystalline scythes sliced through enormous trolls. Its tail impaled charging ogres as it moved with terrifying elegance.
"Let’s finish this." Silas smiled.
The echo shrieked proudly, and the battlefield became a blur. Silas and the Crimson Reaper moved like one organism.
Whenever the mantis struck, Silas followed. Whenever Silas attacked, the echo covered his blind spots. Their synchronization became almost perfect, causing Alpha to stop and stare.
"...That’s cheating."
Then it happened.
Silas felt something within him move. It consisted of four distinct emotions, four instincts, and four overwhelming concepts. They had existed since his awakening, sleeping, waiting, and now, one had awakened.
His eyes suddenly turned a brilliant pink while the tattoo over his chest blazed brighter than before. The runes spread toward his neck.
His heartbeat echoed across the valley, and this made the system suddenly become extremely serious.
[Warning.]
[...]
[No...]
[Congratulations.]
[Cupid Trait Awakening...]
Silas froze. "...Another one?"
The battlefield stopped instinctively. Every warrior, troll, beast, and shaman all looked toward him. The air itself seemed to wait.
The system continued.
[Cupid Trait Unlocked: Authority]
Silas frowned.
"Authority?"
<Authority>
[A ruler does not ask. A ruler commands. Those who acknowledge your existence, those beneath your influence, and those whose hearts have accepted your supremacy, may be compelled to obey.]
Silas slowly looked up.
"...That sounds broken."
[It is.]
"What’s the downside?"
[The stronger the target’s will, the more difficult the command.]
Silas slowly looked across the valley. There were tens of thousands of eyes staring back at him, waiting. The elder shamans slowly lowered themselves onto one knee. The warriors followed. Then, the trolls, the goblins, and even the beast tribes.
"They’re already halfway there."
The system answered.
[Their race recognizes you. Your Titles, your Resonance, the Jotun Queen, and everything else have accumulated. You now possess sufficient Authority.]
Silas took a slow breath. His voice wasn’t loud, and it didn’t need to be. Authority carried it. It echoed directly into every soul present.
"Enough." Nothing happened. Silas frowned.
"Really?"
[Not enough intent.]
"I have to mean it?"
[Command. Do not request.]
Silas slowly closed his eyes. When he opened them, they no longer contained hesitation, only certainty. The tattoo erupted once again, and his aura swallowed the valley. Even the sky seemed to darken.
He took one step forward and spoke.
"STOP."
The word exploded like divine thunder. A pink shockwave swept across the valley, causing the mountains to shake. The enormous stone tablet behind them trembled. Every glowing rune carved into the Jotun Inheritance Grounds lit up.
Absolute silence enveloped the area. Axes froze mid-swing, hammers stopped inches from impact, spears halted, and even the wind seemed unwilling to move.
Everyone slowly lowered their weapons, one after another, like wheat bending beneath the wind, and kneeled. The valley transformed into an ocean of kneeling warriors. Not even one remained standing.
The elder shamans pressed their foreheads against the earth.
"The King’s word... is law."
The other tribes followed their lead. No one spoke. No one dared. Silas himself stood there in stunned silence.
"...I... didn’t think it’d actually work."
Alpha slowly sheathed his daggers.
"You’re telling me... we nearly died... because you unlocked the solution at the end?"
Silas scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"Looks like it."
Alpha stared at him for several long seconds. Then he sighed deeply.
"I hate protagonists."
Chloe giggled softly, while the icy aura surrounding her gradually faded.
"I don’t."
Far behind them, the unconscious Runic Jotun queen stirred once more. A gentle smile appeared on Gromda’s sleeping face as the crimson runes covering her giant body dimmed, as if satisfied.
The battle had ended with a single word from the one whom Gorgath had unknowingly accepted as its King.