I Reincarnated As A Stick

Chapter 170: Wreaking Havoc

“Let’s go ahead and start,” Aurus said to Horell after cringing over Horell’s response a while ago. He then went ahead and started controlling the six division leaders at once, only to feel a huge burden on his soul an instant later. This huge spike in difficulty made Aurus feel pain, even though he was an Inanimate being. After the pain had subsided, he tried to move all of the division leaders at once one more time, bringing a huge burden to Aurus’ mind once more. These movements, from what he could see through the perspectives of the division leaders, could not help but make the division members look at their leader with a confused aura emanating from them.

In the end, Aurus realized that he did not have a soul strong enough to control the six division leaders at once, muttering to himself that he should have grinded Genesis Points to boost the power of his soul even further now that he had a skill that would suppress the aura of his soul. Nevertheless, since he did not grind Genesis Points, he had to make do with what he had, deciding to control the division leaders one by one instead of all at once.

The result? The division leaders, from the members’ perspectives, move like how they used to before, dispelling the confused auras emanating from them. This did not stop others from having auras of suspicion though, since there was a set amount of time when the division leader would move normally, then go idle for quite some time. Although Aurus noticed this as well and tried to make the division leaders look as natural as possible, there’s a limit to what one Inanimate, who was not even well versed in manipulating multiple beings at once, can do.

Thanks to this, Horell had obtained quite a lot of messages from the members of the six divisions with them sending threads of their energy, telling him that their division leaders started acting weirdly all of a sudden, as if they were being possessed by some other being. Receiving these types of messages, Horell could not help but tell Aurus through their connection, “Hey, Aurus. Could you do a better job of controlling the division leaders? Although I could make the members feel at ease for a while, I can’t do this for long.”

“Since you still have the energy to say that, how about you go ahead and control six division leaders at once?” After Aurus received Horell’s message, he could not help but complain as he continued, “I’m already trying my best. There’s a limit to how much I can do.”

“Then, how do I appease the members of the six divisions?” Horell could not help but ask Aurus, to which Aurus replied, “Why ask me? You know more about Chonk’s army than I do. Can’t you think up of a way yourself?”

After that, the connection between the two was temporarily cut as Aurus tried to move two division leaders at once, with limited success. A few seconds later, the connection between the two of them was reestablished, with Aurus telling Horell, “Expect a few more messages coming your way in about…”

“Now.”

Whoosh!

And just like that, more strands of energy made its way towards Horell, their messages filled with suspicion towards their division leaders, wondering what the true leader of the army is doing. Some even wondered if the opposing army had bribed their leaders to act this way. In response to this, Horell decided to take Aurus’ words, thinking up of a way to appease the members himself.Moving his mind to the maximum, he thought about the identities of the members in Chonk’s army, deciding to put the blame on a certain member of the army instead. Eventually, he found a perfect member to act as their scapegoat since no member in the army knew much about him anyway.With this idea in mind, he then sent a message to Aurus, saying, “I think I found a pretty good way to reduce the members’ suspicions.”

“Hoh?” Aurus could not help but utter in response. He then added, “What do you have in mind?””According to Herellia, you did some recon on the army before we moved closer to the Tempest Branch Alliance,” Horell started talking after hearing Aurus’ response. He then continued, “I’m pretty sure you know about the three strongest beings in the army very well.”

“Yeah,” Aurus replied as his control over the division leaders got better and better, allowing the division leaders to move more like how they did before. While doing so, he replied, “You’re the weakest of the three, being a Pseudo-Animate. Then, there are two Animates, with Chonk at Rank 1 and another Animate that’s yet to reach Rank 1. I think the name of the other Animate was Chungus? Anyways, why are you asking me—oh.”

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Horell said in a slightly excited tone, to which Aurus replied, “Are you going to place the blame on this Chungus guy?”

“Exactly,” Horell replied to Aurus’ question before explaining, “Even though he’s part of Chonk’s army, in actuality, only became part of the army as of late. In the two previous skirmishes we had with the two alliances, he was not even part of the army. That’s why many of the members of the army are suspicious of him, even though they try maintain a respectful tone when in front of him, since he’s an Animate. He hasn’t made a move that has won the favor of the members yet, so don’t you think he’s a good scapegoat?”

“I’m not the judge of that,” Aurus replied after Horell’s explanation, adding, “But from what you’re telling me, he would help you out in explaining what is currently happening. Does Chonk get messages from the members as well?”

“No, not at all,” Horell answered Aurus’ question. “All of the messages go through me, before I go and tell Chonk a summary of what those messages are.”

“Even better,” Aurus said as he let out a slightly malevolent chuckle not long after. He then said, “I hope you make a pretty believable explanation for what’s happening. Once I control three division leaders fluently, I think I’ll start Phase 2 of Operation Reversal.”

“What’s Phase 2?” Horell could not help but ask.

“Wreaking havoc,” Aurus replied with an elated tone before cutting off the connection between the two of them, leaving Horell alone to himself. Seeing as how Aurus trusted him so much, Horell reciprocated this trust, thinking up of a good explanation that would surely appease the members of the six divisions. After obtaining about twenty more messages from the members of the six divisions, their tones quite angry, Horell decided that the explanation he had created was sufficient, sending a strand of energy back to the members who sent him a message.

On the strand of energy he sent was a message. It read, “You might be wondering as to why your division leader is acting quite weirdly. The reason behind that is because Chungus, the Animate the leader had invited, has finally started to make his move. His move has something to do with possessing the division leaders and then infusing them with the power of his Animate skills, allowing them to deal more damage at the alliance once the time for the massive skirmish comes. I hope all of you understand that Chungus does not know these division leaders, hence he has to adjust to the movements of the division leaders in order for the alliance to not notice that something is off with the division leaders.”

He then added another strand of energy after it. On it said, “I hope all of you cooperate with Chungus, making the division leaders look like they’re moving normally while Chungus adjusts.”And with that, the suspicion these division members had were dispelled at once, replacing it with auras of enthusiasm and slight fear, with the idea that they were helping the army out. Aurus also noticed the change in attitude from these division members while controlling the division leaders, wondering as to what the hell Horell did for their attitudes to take a 180 degree turn.

Nevertheless, with the members not being suspicious of the division leader’s movements anymore, Aurus was able to improve his control over the division leaders. After about five minutes or so, he was able to control two division leaders fluently, though he had to remove two of the soul balls he had as reconnaissance in exchange. After another five minutes, he was able to control three division leaders fluently, removing two more soul balls in exchange. Fortunately, the view of a single soul ball was wide enough wherein four soul balls on a certain area’s corners would be enough to cover everything.

Alongside Aurus’ improvements in terms of control, Horell was also obtaining messages from the division members, regarding how their division leader was moving normally while noticing that another division leader was moving normally as well. These messages could not help but make Horell look at Aurus with awe, sending a message through his connection, “Aurus, how the heck are you doing all of this?”

“Uh…” Aurus hemmed and hawed for a bit before replying with, “To be honest, I don’t know. I guess I have an innate affinity for these types of things?”

Ding!

“Eh?” While continuing to improve his mastery over controlling multiple division leaders at once, Aurus heard a notification sound resound through his mind, prompting him to open up the notification screen. At the very moment he had opened the notification screen, the burden on his mind while controlling three division leaders at once had significantly lessened, making him realize that the notification was related to the decrease in burden he felt.

‘Due to your hard work, the passive skill [Dualtasking] has been created.’

After reading the notification he had obtained, he closed the notification screen and emanated an aura of elation from his original body, making the alliance members, who were looking at him with curiosity, wonder as to what he was doing. He then decided to push himself even further, removing all of the soul balls in midair.

“These six division leaders will be my eyes and ears for now,” Aurus muttered to himself as he continued, “If they die, then I’ll just deploy the soul balls again. It kind of sucks that I couldn’t use the attack I made for the soul balls though.”

And so, with firm determination, he was able to fluently control all of the division leaders at once after a few more minutes. This astounded the division members, as well as Horell, who had received a lot of messages regarding this. He sent out a message to Aurus through their connection, saying, “I don’t know how, but you actually did it, Aurus!”

“Surprisingly, I did,” Aurus replied to Horell’s words with a chuckle. He then said, “I think it’s time for us to move to Phase 2 of Operation Reversal. Anyways, I’ve decided to change Phase 2 a bit.”

“Oh?” Horell could not help but become curious as to what Aurus had changed. “What changes are you making?”

“To increase the advantage the alliance has against the army,” Aurus replied to Horell’s question before adding, “Don’t you think…”

“Making the division leaders kill their members is a good move?”

“…” Horell was silent for quite a while, appalled at the change Aurus had made. Nevertheless, this would undoubtedly give the alliance a huge advantage. After accepting this fact, he then replied, “Make sure you maintain the connection between us so I know when to make a move, okay?”

“Got it,” Aurus responded with a tone of excitement before manipulating the six division leaders at once, making them speak simultaneously with the same words. The words they said were…

“Everyone, I have something to tell you.”

Hearing these words from their division leaders, the division members eagerly came closer to their division leaders, asking questions regarding the plan made by Horell. Although Aurus was confused at first, he could not help but think to himself that Horell did a great job masking what he was doing. Amidst all of the excitement of the division members, the division leaders spoke one more time. This time, they only said one word.

“Silence.”

Unsurprisingly, all of the division members shut up, though this did not stop them from radiating auras of excitement, wondering as to what their division was going to do next. Fortunately for them, Aurus was about to tell them what their division was going to do next. Unfortunately, it was not something they would have expected to happen.

“I’m pretty sure all of you know the plan thanks to Horell,” Aurus said through the six division leaders, intensifying the auras of excitement the division members radiated.

“For that, I thank all of you for your cooperation,” he continued, the auras of excitement reaching a peak. He then made the division leaders go silent for a bit, increasing the eagerness of the division members, which made them move closer to their respective division leaders.

“And with that, let us start Operation…” After the silence, he made the division leaders talk once more, extending the word at the end for a few seconds. Once they heard the words uttered by their division leaders, all of them became dumbfounded, frozen in place. What did these division leaders say? Well…

“…Division Extermination.”

At the very instant the division leaders were finished saying these two words, Aurus hastily activated the ultimate skills they had, which affected a wide area.

“[Heaven’s Extermination Ray]!”

“[Necro Ruination]!”

“[World of Frost]!”

“[Asura’s Wrath]!”

“[Shadowbinding Arts: Hidden Death]!”

“[Wave Arts: Unending Reverberation]!”

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In that instant, six ultimate skills had been used in the territory of Chonk’s army, wiping out most of the members of Chonk’s army in one move. All of those that had survived were at a loss for words as to what had happened. It would take some time until Chonk and the Tempest Branch Alliance found this out.

It would eventually be remembered, not by its original name of Operation Reversal, but a name that befitted what had happened.

Operation Massacre.