Chapter 240: The Battle Of Excelsis

As I surveyed the forces taking part in the assault on Excelsis, I couldn't help but smile.

Not a gentle smile...but the smile of a maniac before he kills a large number of people.

"You're kind of creeping me out, Mizik. You've truly gone mad, haven't you? Off the deep end?" Difar said.

"When a man is pushed to the brink, it's only natural for something to come apart. But just imagining the destruction that Excelsis is about to endure excites me," I said.

"You've lost your damn mind. Huh. I guess I should be grateful that my enemy isn't some justice-spouting goody-two-shoes wielding friendship like a cleaver. It should make things so much more interesting when we finally do fight again..." Difar said.

"I half expected you to invite me to join you. Are you going to pass up the opportunity?" I said.

"Of course I am. I hate you, Mizik. I would rather see you die screaming than 'hang out' like a couple of chums. I was willing before, because I had no idea if that would stop the time loop. But now...I want to savor the moment you breathe your last."

"That makes two of us. I'll mount your head on the wall of every place I live in after you're dead. You're a sick bastard, Difar," I said.

"Hm...you're by far the most intriguing version of Mizik that I've ever met. I can now almost consider you a worthy opponent..."

"And you will."

I looked on at our forces and nodded.

First, we had the advance force. The vanguard of this operation would be Iris, her Enforcers, Johann, Vakra, as well as Cassandra and I.

Our first goal was to get within range of the device Cassandra placed on the barrier generator.

I assumed it would hack the generator and disable it.

Once our first objective was completed, the main army would arrive.

Valtheim would deploy Malzekad to run amok and burn everything to the ground alongside Johann.

And of course...

The Corruption would be released in full force onto Excelsis.

Valtheim would also take part once all of our forces had arrived.

Speaking of which, the plan was for Valtheim to pull us out of the Abyss. Once that had been accomplished, we would arrive around Excelsis where Iris and Johann could take everyone into the divine transit.

We would arrive at the transit station and shut it down, immediately.

That way, no one would be able to enter or leave Excelsis until we were done.

I walked away from Difar and approached the group of people I had become closest to.

I already made peace with my family days prior.

I told them the truth...that as much as I loved them all, they weren't the ones I had come to know and cherish in the previous timeline. They understood.

My mother and father were exempt, of course. I made sure they knew I would be back for them some day.

"Everyone, today is the day. We are fully prepared to destroy Excelsis," I said.

"I'm still not sure that I fully agree with this, but I want to avenge my world. You have my full support, Mizik," Iris said.

"And mine, too. We'll give it everything we have," Johann said.

"Are you gonna say a few words? You know, get us hyped for the battle?" Michael said.

I just looked at him.

"I don't feel like it. Just do your best and kill everything that moves. Understood?" I said.

"Sounds like a plan. Simple. I like it," Michael said.

Once preparations had finished, Cassandra latched onto my arm.

"Darling!" She said happily.

"Hey, Cassandra. Did you need something?" I asked.

"Darling...when this is over, I want to have another honeymoon with you. I'll tend to your every need and shower you with my love! Cassandra will make the pain go away!" She said.

"Looking forward to it," I said.

This felt reminiscent of the times before, where Isabella and I got ready for a big battle.

I felt ready to take on the Oracle, now.

"Valtheim, begin the operation," I said.

"I...obey..."

* * *

Once we arrived at the transit station in Excelsis, I looked up and smiled.

"This is going to be a bloodbath," I said.

Almost immediately after I spoke, we were surrounded by Excelsis soldiers.

"HALT!!! SURRENDER OR DIE! CHOSEN HERO MIZIK IRATUS IS WANTED DEAD BY ORDER OF-"

Instead of waiting for the guard to finish his sentence, I shot him in the head.

"Ether flare," I said casually.

I pulled in as much energy as I could and unleashed an explosion around our group.

The remaining soldiers were slain and the transit station was utterly obliterated.

Actually, the explosion was similar to that of an atomic weapon. I had no intention of sparing anyone today.

"Chaos hurricane," I said.

Immediately afterward, I fired a beam of crimson magic into the air. The sky darkened and a barrage of explosive black lightning began raining down everywhere.

I made this spell special...

It was designed to create a storm surrounding the caster in a massive radius. From now on, lightning would strike at complete random. It would create explosions and fire.

Of course, my allies would be protected even if they left the eye of the storm. The lightning wouldn't attack anyone if I didn't want it to.

This realm was going to burn.

Then, several gods stood up and readied themselves after regenerating.

"The transit station is down!"

"What the hell is going on here!?"

"I-I can't access the divine transit! We're stranded!!!"

"Vakra, deploy the Abyss Engine," I said.

"Already way ahead of you," he said.

"Vakra had a device in his hand and flipped a switch.

There was a burst of energy and suddenly all of the surrounding gods fell to their knees.

"Good. It works as intended," Vakra said.

Then I heard a siren go off.

"Looks like we're about to have company," Michael said.

"Let them come. I want to kill as many as possible. We waited so long to get revenge on her...and now we'll have it. I'll kill them all and burn Excelsis to the ground."

I looked at the mapping device that Vakra had given all of us and began making my way towards the barrier generator.

Moments after I started walking, a large number of Excelsis soldiers landed nearby and charged at me.

But I wasn't worried.

A group of Cassandra clones appeared and slashed several of them to pieces.

The chaos hurricane took care of the rest. The massive storm moved with me.

"Ehehe...none may touch his Majesty without permission!" She said.

Several more troops were taken back by this and gazed at her in horror.

I have no idea what they saw, but they were impaled by shadowy daggers from all angles.

"Good job, Cassandra. You're really amazing, you know that?" I said.

"Ah...d-darling... If you say that you me, it gets me excited...ehehe..."

Okay. Not trying to be sexual, but whatever.

I rolled my eyes and heard Iris speak.

"Enforcers! TODAY, WE AVENGE IGNITUS!!! RAZE THIS ABOMINABLE REALM TO THE GROUND!!!" She roared.

"With pleasure..." Dante said menacingly.

"We'll make them pay..." Leiso said.

The Enforcers began launching an all-out assault on the surrounding divine beings.

Several flying squadrons of Excelsis guardians appeared, but Johann incinerated them with his flames.

Then he changed into his dragon form.

"Oooh! It's been a while since I saw that form! So cool!" Iris said excitedly.

Johann seemed to recoil from this, slightly, but puffed out his chest, regardless.

"Burn everything down, Johann. Iris, support him in any way you can. Vakra, stay with the Enforcers," I said.

"CONSIDER IT DONE!" Johann said.

"Keep my Enforcers safe, Vakra!" Iris said.

Iris got on his back as she released her supreme form and the two of them flew off into the storm.

The goal was to have Vakra near the Enforcers with the Abyss Engine in order to ensure their survival.

Johann was more than capable of slaying gods outside of its range and with Iris supporting him, he would be unstoppable.

In fact, her presence would be motivation for him to do his best.

As more soldiers began approaching, Dante assumed his reaper form.

The Excelsis soldiers weren't as heavily affected by the Abyss Engine, but they were still greatly weakened by it.

It was perfect.

Suddenly, Vakra began teleporting all over the place and rapidly punching every enemy in sight.

While they were dealing with him, Cassandra multiplied her daggers.

They flew into the air and she began magnifying her spells.

The area was covered with explosive black lightning and streams of pure magic.

We had also tested something...

"Cassandra, let me borrow Intelligence's power," I said.

"Of course, darling! I'm all yours!" She said.

She held out Intelligence and I touched the blade with Vengeance.

Then I started channeling magic through it using The Archmage..

I fired thousands of streams of explosive chaotic magic everywhere.

I started making fire...and lots of it.

I blasted everything in the surrounding area with fire to burn as many structures as I could to the ground.

The realm was already burning nicely...as if it were a simple brush fire becoming a roaring inferno.

Once we had cleared out the troops and divine beings, we advanced forward.

The closer we got to the generator, the more resistance we encountered.

And I loved every moment of it.

Eventually, the image of the Oracle appeared before us.

Cassandra prepared to strike, and I held up my arm.

"Chosen...no...Mizik Iratus. You have committed a grave offense by attacking Excelsis. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF!?" The Oracle shouted.

"Hmm. What's your least favorite form of torture?" I asked.

"You are a truly diabolical individual. The council has already decided to execute you without a trial."

"Why do you think I give a shit about anything the council says? At this point, their decisions are irrelevant to me. I'll just kill them, too. And didn't you execute me without a trial last time, anyway?" I said coldly.

"How dare-"

"Look, are you just wasting our time? Delaying the inevitable? If you're going to send out Rose against us, you should go ahead and do it. I've been itching to spend some time with her again... I still can't decide if I want to kill her or dominate her mind. What if I made her my slave?" I said.

"One does not typically use their trump card before the battle has truly begun, you filthy monster. Besides, as long as my barrier remains active, you are without backup. Our elite forces are stronger than most gods in this realm and they will be arriving shortly. I look forward to executing you, Mizik Iratus," the Oracle said.

"We'll see about that, won't we?" I said.

The Oracle disappeared after that.

I wondered to myself if these elite forces would be dangerous enough to cause a real problem.

But then...I started laughing.

"Hahahahahaha! Bring it on, Oracle! Give me everything you've got! I WANT TO SEE A GOOD EFFORT! I'LL SAVOR EVERY MOMENT!!!" I roared.

"Once we get to the activation range of the device, the generator will be destroyed and we can move forward with phase two. Difar and his forces will overrun everything. Once that happens, you and Cassandra will make your way to the temple of the Oracle and meet up with him," Vakra said.

"Tch...we'll see if I can't just torture her to death before he shows up. Lazy bastard loves to take his sweet time..." I said angrily.

Now I was pissed. Especially after talking to the Oracle. Just seeing her face was enough to make me see red.

"Don't worry, darling~! Cassandra can make the bad feelings go away! I'll happily kill everyone that causes you any issues!" Cassandra said happily.

"I know. Now then, let's-"

There was an impact followed by an explosion near us.

I shielded us with a magic barrier and saw a figure stand up in the crater left behind from the blast.

"YOU...HAVE GONE FAR ENOUGH, MIZIK IRATUS!!!" A man shouted.

Perfect. Let the games begin.

* * *

As Iris sat on Johann's back, she quickly discovered that there was little for her to do.

He seemed to fly somewhat carefully as he incinerated everything on the ground and sky around them.

"Johann, you're a lot more comfortable to ride on than I thought. This is actually quite nice," Iris said.

"..."

"I thought I would need to attack more, but you seem to be handling things well enough. It's nice to see this cursed relm burn after they allowed my home to be destroyed."

"..."

A squadron of flying troops flew towards them and were immediately reduced to ashes.

"Oooh! That was cool!" She said.

"...!!!"

"This is nice. Johann is always so pleasant to be around."

Iris looked down and saw parts of the city that were still being reconstructed from the last time Johann had come to Excelsis.

"Wow, you really did a lot to this place before. Thank you for avenging my people, Johann," Iris said.

"..."

"You're not very talkative right now, are you? Is something wrong?"

"N-nothing is wrong..." Johann said.

"Really? Why are you so quiet, then?"

"Just...focusing..."

"Hmmm... Why don't you act more like a dragon? You're such a gentleman, it's weird! Although, I guess it's fine that you aren't a berserk monster...but still!" Iris said.

"Haha...yeah..."

Johann let loose with another blast of fire and incinerated several buildings.

Suddenly, two figures with angelic wings and silvery armor flew straight at them.

"HOLD ON, IRIS!" Johann roared.

He dodged them both as Iris held on tightly. The two figures stopped after they missed and prepared themselves.

The armored knights looked forward.

From what Iris could tell, one was male and the other was female. The man held a massive sword in his hand, while the female had a greatshield and a lance.

"Oh...I forgot about these guys..." Iris said.

"What do you mean? Who are they?" Johann asked.

"They're the most elite fighting force in Excelsis. They're Abbadon's personal soldiers and the royal guards of the Oracle. The Oracle's Faithful," Iris said.

"I am the fourth Faithful of the Oracle. My name is Mazok The Storm. Prepare to meet your end by my lightning blade!" The man said.

"And I am the third Faithful of the Oracle. My name is Lillith The Inferno. My lance will burn your very souls to ashes!" The woman said.

"This might get interesting... Are you ready, Johann?" Iris said.

"I am always ready."