The Ruby Alliance

Back at the English train station, one of Ulric's clones spotted a distant object with his golden fiery eyes. 

Coming from the west, was a large ship. An American dreadnaught, fully operational with a full crew. Most people would've assumed that it was the army coming to give aid - but Ulric knew better. 

The army could never have been spared. If ordinary, unarmed civilians who'd never killed before started killing one another when told to, then the effect could only be worse when applied to soldiers, armed and trained to follow orders.

They sailed around, towards a nearby river and the dock, where several people came ashore. Most were men, armed soldiers or politicians, but, leading them were three women. 

Of the three women, one stood out among them. Her cascading locks of golden hair dancing in the wind, her beautiful face shinning in the sunlight, and a body that no man could turn away. 

Behind her, her supporter was even more astounding. A flawless woman, start naked - but no one would mind. Words could hardly do her beauty justice. Take the most attractive person you've ever met, now imagine her slightly hotter older sister, multiply her by ten, and then, maybe - just maybe - you might have someone attractive enough to stand in the same room as this woman. There was only one name worthy of those looks - Aphrodite. 

She walked gracefully, her supporter gazing seductively from behind her, towards the clone. 

As they got closer, they both got even more attractive. Even only hearing a description from Ulric, I felt like I was in love. I forgot who I was, I forgot what I was thinking about, I even forgot that I wasn't there. 

"Hi, I'm Sarah", she spoke in a soft, cute voice as she shook the clone's hand. Touching her, even the clone was trembling. "I'm the head of the Ruby Alliance, if I am correct, you are a clone of the person in-charge here, right?"

"E-er", Ulric stumbled, trying to speak through the clone. "How do you know about that?"

"Oh, sorry", Sarah laughed nicely. "I should explain, shouldn't I? This is Linda", she pointed at one of the women beside her. "Her supporter, Gefjon, has a few clairvoyant skills. A few of the men in the alliance have precognition as well."

Ulric wanted to ask how she managed to gather such an alliance, but the answer was obvious. If she asked a man to do something, he'd do it. No questions asked. Maybe there are a few men who aren't interested in women, but even they'd have a hard time saying no to her.

"Let me get to the point", Ulric didn't think it was possible, but, as she started to get serious, she started to get even cuter. ""We know what you and the other two are capable of, and would like to form an alliance."

"Actually, we're - ", Sarah cut him off. Normally, Ulric would be furious at such disrespectful behavior, but he could never be mad at her.

"On a voyage, a journey to the east. We know. That's where the deal comes in. We'll stay here and share your base, guarding it, if you join us when you come back." It seemed like an incredibly one-sided deal, but, actually was quite fair.

The Ruby Alliance must've contained at least a hundred people, many of whom had survival and combat training, or at least powerful supporters. Besides, Ulric really wanted to spend time around this woman. 

As he agreed, Sarah shouted, "yay!" in celebration. Her excitement brought visible smiles on all the men around, the military men, who'd been trained for years to show as little emotion as possible.

Talking to Sarah, no one would've known the truth. 

Before the descent, Sarah hadn't been the most attractive person around - in fact, she was ugly. Completely ugly, by everyone's standards. 

She was covered in dry, flaky, spotty skin, was incredibly obese, with a nasal voice that no one could listen to and had a complete inability to do makeup. Then again, the only makeup that could've helped her was a mask. 

She hated it.

As a result, when that fateful day came, she was happier than ever. She didn't know why Aphrodite picked her, but she loved it. She saw herself as the luckiest woman around. 

Everything she couldn't do, flirt with boys, kiss, date, she could do it all. Of course, she still realized the severity of the situation. She wasn't going to just sit around and live out her dreams, if she didn't use her new powers properly, she'd die, as would many others. 

Quickly, she used her new skills to seduce and entice as many people as she could, and get them to work for her. She also gathered her old friends to help her run it.

As the alliance grew and became more powerful, there was no reason for her to recruit people herself, as more people came after hearing about a powerful group lead by a beautiful woman. 

Then, after using their powers, she discovered the presence of a small group of incredibly powerful people in England, and decided to join them. 

And that's how she got there.

The ruby alliance settled down, merging their group with the clones and helping pillage the city. Normally, a group of that size would struggle for rations, but, thanks to the number of survivalist soldiers and all the resources from the dreadnaught, they could last for years. 

Still, Sarah wasn't without concerns. 

Until then, she still hadn't received a proper combat skill. 

If placed in a situation where her allies had to fight alone, she'd be useless. 

She didn't have a weapon, but wouldn't be able to use one if she did. 

All she could do was hope that she'd never be in a situation like that. 

... 

Meanwhile, Cain, Ulric and I were nearing France. 

Our original route passed through the Mediterranean, but that way was far from safe. This would become apparent, as we were attacked again. 

This time, the signs were clearer. Rather than suspicious whirlpools, we were greeted by several large tentacles latching onto the ship. We were being dragged down by a kraken. 

Under the ship, Ulric spotted a man, the one who was summoning all the tentacles. His supporter, as expected, being the kraken. 

The skill summoning the tentacles was clearly powerful, and of a high level, as they could even withstand shots from Cain's shotgun. 

I tried to burn the tentacles using hellfire, but they were so wet that it hardly had any effect. As a result, we were forced to resort to brute force. 

Ulric's fifty level 3 clones all jumped on the tentacles, thrashing and kicking with all their power. Still, they barely managed to leave a dent. 

We all knew what we had to do, but didn't want to.

Cain was the first to jump in the water. With his oxygen independence skill, he was the only one of us suited to fighting underwater. 

Realizing his role as the only member of our group capable of fighting underwater, we decided that he'd need a different weapon, as shotguns aren't exactly waterproof. 

He dove and swam towards the kraken's vessel. He could've used spirit physique, but he didn't want to waste a valuable second of the duration. 

As he got close, the man summoned a tentacle to stop Cain, forcing him to activate his skill. 

Cain rushed against the clock. If he couldn't kill the kraken in the next minute, he'd have to spend another five minutes playing dead, which he didn't exactly want to do.

Getting to the main body, he threw a punch, full force. Clearly more vulnerable than the tentacles, he was easily knocked back. Still, Cain was far weaker than the two of us, that was the downside to having a supporter who isn't a real God. 

To ensure the fight was over quickly and that at least some of the boat survived, Ulric and I also joined the fray. 

Ulric was even stronger than I thought, moving quickly through water and tentacles, showing no signs of struggle.

By the time we reached Cain, he had already ran out of time and given up, playing dead. Luckily, our opponent wasn't in a great condition either. As Ulric and I began punching him, I found the opportunity to test my new skill. 

The moment I activated it, everything froze. From the massive tentacles thrashing around to the smallest water movement, it all ceased. Except for me, everything was perfectly still and perfectly silent. 

In those thirty seconds, I had to have hit him over a thousand times, before leaving him for Cain to deliver the finishing blow. With the kraken dead, we were free to return to the ship and the arduous task of trying to drive it, while being attacked every five seconds.