Theodore's strategy had been to primarily rely on his Array Formation mastery to counteract his foes' plans. From the very beginning, Qinglong City had been bait, a trap for them to step into. He had thoroughly reinforced it, and had not truly hidden the Compound Array which he had created. This was all to fabricate an illusion of safety in the hearts of those who would wish to do his territory harm. Once they had a clear 'obstacle'–or in this case, an Array–which they could perceive, they would subconsciously ignore some threats that were invisible to them.
Naturally, that little play could only fool ordinary opponents. Every properly trained Heaven's Chosen wouldn't fall for such a simple trick. This measure alone would have easily been overwhelmed by the billions of troops which the alliance had sent out in the first wave. Its Energy consumption, after all, was the Compound Array's main weakness.
But that was exactly where some of his early preparations came into play. Those Surveillance Arrays that he had laid out all throughout the surrounding province-sized area had not merely provided him with a way to secretly spy on all enemy movements, but they had also served to connect the Energy Veins running beneath the surface. So even billions of individuals taking up his Compound Array's available Energy were not remotely enough to overburden it. Therefore, this part of the alliance's plan never had a chance to succeed.
Yet, those troops that they had stationed far away and would have utilized after drawing him out of his carefully fortified 'turtle shell' could have been an issue... if those Surveillance Arrays hadn't already become a part of the overarching Compound Array. All he needed to do was to get them ready in advance, then he could extend the influence of his Illusion Array throughout the entire province!
Obviously, the kind he was making use of wasn't the standardized version that a regular Array Formation master might come across–rather, it was a highly advanced modified variety, one that the Winter Family had been researching for countless eons. The most dangerous illusions were not ones who changed the perception of those caught within to a meaningful extent, but rather the ones who imperceptibly and slightly influenced their targets. Silent and subtle, they would minutely alter what their victims saw–until it was too late. Even Renault wouldn't have been aware that a trap had been sprung on him if he hadn't stationed some of his beasts outside in advance.
Initially, after his group of five had arrived on the city walls, they had first waited for the troops to move. During that time, Theodore told them what he needed them to do later. Then, as soon as the first wave of attacks began, he had allowed his foes to experience more of a false sense of security by manually excluding less than one percent of their soldiers from the Array's effects. As soon as the next group entered, though, he sprung the trap and began his ruthless slaughter.
Every enemy was instantly controlled, the strongest of them meeting his blade first. While he was busy cleaning the field, Cheong Suhyeon, Navya and Vigdis set out to surround Renault, whose location Theodore had pointed out to them. At their current cultivation stages, someone this close to them couldn't escape from them at all. Even without him teleporting them, they made it to their target's side very quickly. Their movements had been hidden further by the Illusion Array exerting influence upon the province, so Renault was far later to react than he otherwise would have been.
Slaying all of the Heaven's Chosen, plus the Soul Sculpting Stage beings–as well as most of the Initial Ascension Stage troops who had stayed outside of the visible range of his Compound Array–at his fastest speed still took Theodore around five minutes. Only then did he have the time to meet the little troublemaker who had been kept in indirect confinement. Considering that the Insect Lord had behaved significantly more wisely than this fool, he almost regretted the fact that he had antagonized him from the beginning.
Yet, on the other hand, he also couldn't help but pat himself on the shoulder. Bringing all of these parasitized Imperial Han Family members and various experts to his doorstep did save him a lot of time, and it additionally allowed him to get rid of many who he would have classified as 'innocents' under normal circumstances. Now that the Parasitic Flies had taken over, though, they brought him extra prey!
Well, there was also another reason as to why he had never considered the Insect Lord to be a potential subordinate–he really disliked insects. The mere sight of them disgusted him, therefore unless it was necessary, he wouldn't incorporate any of them into his forces, whether directly or indirectly.
Prior to his conversation with Renault, he had already eliminated all those who could possibly resist his Compound Array's influence while nobody was manually overseeing it, so straight after it had ended, he got right on with clearing the field.
Never before had he slain that many people in a short period of time. If it hadn't been for all of those illusory lives which he had been through, then the murderous aura shrouding him after such excessive slaughter could have warped his mind, to an extent. Fortunately, he had experienced scenes far more bloody, brutal and gruesome than this one, therefore he didn't even blink at his non-stop killing.
At some point, Xie Mei, Han Junqiao, Conrad, Corinna and Kiran had joined Cheong Suhyeon, Navya and Vigdis with searching through the corpses that he had left behind for anything useful. Li Shuying had also wanted to participate, but considering that all of her effort would not amount to much in the face of such numbers, everyone pleaded with her to prepare a delectable feast for them to return to instead.
With just two Storage Rings at hand, they didn't exactly have excessive amounts of space to play with, yet that much was more than enough. Most Fly Slaves didn't carry a lot–if anything–of value on them, and only the monstrous beasts' bodies were full of treasures. Now that everyone was considerably strong, transporting a couple of corpses around didn't require any effort at all.
No matter how powerful and fast Theodore was, and how ridiculously his Intraworld Teleportation Talent allowed him to cut down on travel time, billions was still a staggering number. When the sun eventually set, everyone but Satoru returned to Qinglong City to have a meal, then they worked onwards throughout the night. Seeing properly in the dark wasn't difficult to do for most who were capable of manipulating Energy, as a form of night vision achieved by strengthening their eyesight via Energy was common knowledge.
In this methodical, gruesome manner, another week passed by. They had all spent nearly every waking moment getting rid of the foes on their doorstep and cleaning up the bodies, only occasionally stopping to eat and drink. But finally, they were done!
Theodore, Vigdis, Cheong Suhyeon and Navya were the sole ones who didn't appear to have been burdened by this experience, whilst everyone else chose to get some rest immediately after this hellish period of time came to an end. Although their bodies could easily support them in undergoing such endeavours for many more months without a break, that didn't mean that their minds could keep up.
Other than them, there was one more person–someone who had been in indescribable pain all this while–Satoru. Theodore had made use of his Illusion Array to manipulate some Initial Ascension Stage Fly Slaves into becoming the poor guy's personal torture machines, battering and beating him just perfectly enough for him to narrowly survive. On the bright side, this had caused his power to skyrocket–but it hurt like hell!
"What do you say? Should I keep them around until they outlive their usefulness?"
Happily standing close to the place in which his meat shield general-to-be was experiencing the 'time of his life', Theodore's question cut the youngster's heart like a blade. With tears of blood streaming down his cheeks–all a result of his injuries–he shot a beseeching gaze in his Master's direction.
"Sure! But please... let me rest! I just... just want to sleep!"
Not having the heart to shoot down such a desperate plea, Theodore agreed to his request, keeping the Initial Ascension Stage Fly Slaves on standby nearby for now. Right as their blows stopped deforming his body, Satoru crumpled to the ground and fainted, the heavy mental toll catching up with him.
Previously, he had endured the Hans' torture for a long time, but because they had never been close to actually snuffing out his life, he hadn't felt any particularly strong threat at the time. These Fly Slaves, however, were powerful enough to legitimately put him on the very brink of death in a split second! All this while, he had been hovering on the edge, walking a tightrope between life and passing on. Pain, he could deal with–but this psychological torment was completely different!
"... he's still too weak. Vigi, you'll use these 'new hires' to help him toughen up in the days to come. As long as they can still harm him, that is. It'll be good for him to get prepared for tough times in advance."
With no pity in his eyes, he decided Satoru's imminent future right then and there. He wouldn't necessarily put others through suffering like this, but Satoru's Talents practically forced him into such a fate. So, if that was the case–and his underling growing more powerful would exclusively benefit him–then why should Theodore stand in the way destiny?
"Understood. By the way, Theo, what do you plan to do about those observers?"
Acknowledging his orders with a nod, Vigdis shot a glance into a certain direction. There, at the outermost edges of his Surveillance Arrays, a group of ten had hidden away and spied on their actions during the past week.
"Thanks for the reminder. I suppose it's time to have a talk with them, isn't it? By this point, if they expect us to not have noticed them, then that'd be a real shocker. Staying around until now at least signifies that they might intend to have a conversation."
Mulling over his actions for but a moment, a polite and professional smile soon spread across Theodore's lips. Since before the confrontation between him and the Anti-Winter Alliance had begun, those people had been there, watching the events unfold. While he had always kept an eye on them, his foes had not even managed to detect them–but to be fair, without his Surveillance Arrays, only Vigdis would have been capable of doing so.
If he wasn't wrong, then they should be the members of the 'Neutral Party', a group of Heaven's Chosen which had banded together during the month before his biggest slaughter spree to date. He knew about them because they had reached out to Vigdis via a communication artefact in the past, expressing their stance of intending to stay out of this whole mess. Now that everything had come to a close, however, it was high time that they made their choice.
Admittedly, Theodore was currently in a considerably good mood. Not only had everything gone off without a hitch–which was to be expected–but even a cursory glance at his gains, that he had yet to properly search through, was enough to bring him joy. If those folks knew what was good for them, then he wouldn't mind adding more numbers to his ranks without a fuss, allowing them to bolster his forces somewhat.
'But if they still harbour any thoughts of resistance, or of maintaining their complete freedom... then I can only wish them better luck in their next lives.'
While his eyes exhibited a deathly chill, his smile turned a notch more radiant.