Chapter 154 - Battle Royale: Holy Swarm

Jeff signalled for the volunteers of the Heavenly Christian Army to advance onto the battlefield.    The best of those trained by Nallit had been drafted to face the Demon Choker.    The payment rendered in exchange for their service was a literal army of attuned warriors for the church:    all those who weren't good enough to be one of the hundred sent to face the devil's chosen one.    Their count of a hundred included seven full paragons, nineteen ignited aeronauts, twenty-two ignited brutes, with the remaining fifty-two being ignited kinetics.    On paper, they should be more than a match for a single full paragon.    But if Nallit couldn't defeat this man, then they might not be as overpowered of a force as it seemed.

They had practiced their opening maneuver hundreds of times against Nallit.    They called it the Holy Swarm.    Englobe the opponent, have the lessers -- kinetics and brutes and aeronauts -- sting with their coronas, creating a chaotic mess.    When Jeff, as their commander, gave the command, the lessers would stop their assault to allow the attacks of the seven full paragons to land.    The opening maneuver was a dust cloud hiding artillery launches.    The Demon Choker would be ripped to pieces in under a second.    The full paragons had drilled their part relentlessly, coordinating their coronal assaults to create the greatest shearing forces possible with machine-like precision.    Any one of them should be approximately equal in strength to their target.    Nallit estimated that Jeff was actually stronger, though the difference would be miniscule compared to the immense gap between a full paragon and anyone else.

The man flew in low and landed in the center of the battlefield.    He tucked his chin and faced them looking up from beneath his heavy caveman brow, massive shoulders creating a gorilla-like silhouette Jeff would have crossed the street to avoid before his rebirth as a holy warrior.    The Heavenly Christian Army flowed forward in the pattern trained into them through long hours.    About half of their host went left, about half went right, and a few went overhead.    They would stop at pre-arranged spots to complete their englobement.    If the man tried to fly upwards, they were ready to follow to form a true englobement.    If the man were to attempt to back away, they would pursue until he left the bounds of the invisible cage and Nallit would kill a hostage before restarting the battle.

The Demon Choker watched them come forward with no reaction.    The front ranks split and began to sweep around his sides.    And crashed to the ground.

At least a dozen of their number hit the dirt hard enough to leave impact craters.    Jeff did not expect them to rise again.    They had drilled for this kind of eventuality, though.    "Alternate attack!"    His command was echoed by those around him, spreading until everyone had repeated the change of tactic.    Englobing with their weaker members wasn't possible, so they would instead form a wall and drive at him.    Hopefully he would take wounds and die quickly, but if not, the loss of a hostage should unsettle him enough for them to . . . .

Another swath of Jeff's army were swatted from the sky.    Someone behind him asked the question on everyone's mind.    "How strong is this Demon Choker?"

"Attack!    All out!    Kill him!"    Jeff's command relinquished his role as the tactical leader, turning his army into berserkers whose only order was to unceasingly attack with no concern for their own lives.    God would welcome them into heaven as martyrs if they fell here today.

Jeff obeyed his own command by lashing out with his weighty corona, striking forward to . . . have his talent fail him completely.

Back in the eleventh grade, Jeff had tried to bully a kid who had just moved into town.    It had started off as verbal put-downs of someone who didn't have the right accent.    Then the kid had run his mouth back.    Jeff recalled the entire incident as if it was yesterday.    The fast-talking city boy had said something about Jeff's mother being a whore and Jeff had wound up his fist on reflex.    He threw the hardest punch he could right at the kid's chin.    Unfortunately for Jeff, the kid's chin hadn't stayed in place.    It moved just a few inches.    Jeff's punch missed by those few inches.    The kid's counterpunch didn't miss.    It put Jeff on the ground hard, his bell rung hard enough that he couldn't get his balance for several minutes.    He had avoided the kid after that.

The Demon Choker had done something that sparked that memory, somehow evading and countering Jeff's corona with a finesse that had nothing to do with pure strength.    Around them, more of the lessers fell.    Only one or two of them died at a time, but the army still bled lives while its opponent stood impervious.    Every attack Jeff launched slipped out of phase.    He found one of the other full paragons and moved to stand beside him.    "Let's hit him one after the other!"

The man attacked, Jeff felt his corona fade out, then launched his own attack.    The Demon Choker collapsed to all fours as the massive swipe smashed into him from above.

Every man in the Heavenly Christian Army drove in, sensing blood in the water.    At least fifty of their host remained and each of them lashed out with kinetic attacks.