Inch from the Horizon

"I have only one request: I want to reach a hundred consecutive victories as soon as possible!"

"Also, please notify the Prefect of Liang'an Prefecture and tell him to prepare in advance."

"I don't want to have to wait ten thousand years after I get my hundredth consecutive victory!"

Hell was one of the four Supreme Planes, and it was so vast that even an Overgod would need half a day to cross it.

For divine experts, traveling across Hell took hundreds or even thousands of years.

Becoming a Prefect meant staying in the Prefecture City, but that didn't mean a Prefect couldn't leave briefly to visit other planes.

When challenged, a Prefect had ten thousand years to respond.

That was how long Prefects away from their cities had to return after receiving news of a challenge.

If a Prefect failed to respond within ten thousand years, he would lose his position, and the challenger would become the new Prefect.

"What? You're challenging the Prefect?"

Aier's words had to be said to have shocked not only the referee, but also the spectators around them.

Once someone achieved a hundred consecutive victories, he gained the right to challenge the Prefect.

However, a hundred-win expert might appear in Liang'an Prefecture only once every few hundred thousand or even a million years.

But challengers to a Prefect might not appear for several hundred million, or even several billion years.

A hundred-win expert was an exceptionally powerful figure, even among Seven-Star Fiends.

But before experts of the Asura Prefect's level, even a Seven-Star Fiend was nothing more than a slightly larger ant.

Aier had openly declared that he would achieve a hundred consecutive victories and challenge the Prefect. That meant he had at least the strength of a Seven-Star Fiend.

For someone of that caliber, saying he would fight ten opponents at once before reaching eighty consecutive victories was perfectly normal.

It was just that almost no one was brazen enough to say it outright.

After all, there were plenty of hidden experts in this world.

Besides, to keep hundred-win experts from wasting a Prefect's time by challenging him, the Prefect's subordinates would step in to stop anyone whose win streak reached a certain point.

Now Aier had made his intentions clear. Just how confident was he in his strength?

Was he a Paragon?

But in the end, everyone shook their heads.

Paragons were legendary beings.

In all of Hell, there was only one: Dunnington, who lived in the Sea of Chaos.

In all these years, no one had ever heard of a new Paragon being born.

No—not only had there been no Paragons, there hadn't even been anyone who could be called a "suspected Paragon."

So what gave Aier such confidence?

Sovereign's Might?

Or a Sovereign Artifact?

Whatever it was, it meant that this man called "Aier" was powerful!

After asking the challengers waiting behind him for their opinions, Liang'an Prefecture's first-ever battle of its kind began!

"I admire your courage!"

Aier stood with his arms folded, looking at the nine High Gods before him.

They knew he intended to challenge the Prefect, yet they still had the courage to stand before him. They were brave men.

"Still, I assume you know that once you step into the arena, your lives will be in my hands."

"Now, show me your sincerity. Remove the bindings on your Space Rings and hand them over."

"If the valuables inside satisfy me, then congratulations—you'll lose, but you won't die!"

"But if the contents of your Space Rings are like that fellow's earlier, and make me feel insulted, believe me, you'll regret stepping into this arena!"

The nine challengers exchanged glances, then each removed the binding on his Space Ring and tossed it to Shier.

They had all known the difference in strength between themselves and Aier when they dared to step into the arena to fight him.

But everyone who signed up for an Arena Battle wanted to push past their limits in a fight against a powerful opponent and become stronger.

Even if they hadn't watched Aier's fight the day before, they had heard plenty about it.

Many people would have jumped at the chance to fight someone stronger, experience the pressure of a greater opponent, and do so in exchange for nothing more than some valuables.

"Good."

Aier bound the Space Rings one by one and checked their contents. A smile appeared on his face.

"I'm very satisfied with the valuables you've offered."

"So I'll make you a promise."

Aier held up two index fingers. "For twenty minutes, I won't attack you."

"After twenty minutes, I'll gradually increase the strength of my attacks and force you to reach your limits!"

"Then we thank you, Lord Aier!"

The men were overjoyed to hear this.

Aier's arrangement was practically the same as giving each of the nine of them individual guidance.

"Begin!"

"Whoosh—"

At the referee's words, the nine men instantly spread out and launched their ranged attacks at Aier.

Before today, the nine of them had been strangers.

They had almost no experience fighting together.

In that situation, they would first use ranged attacks to test their opponent, then coordinate according to their individual fighting styles to make the most of their combined strength.

"Inch from the Horizon—"

Facing their attacks, Aier planted his feet. Yellow light radiated outward from him.

As the attacks launched by the nine High Gods entered the area covered by the yellow light around Aier, they seemed to slow down dozens of times over. Before reaching him, they had already dissipated.

"What?"

The High Gods who had launched the attacks turned pale one after another.

As divine experts, they could naturally sense the attacks they had unleashed.

From what they sensed, their attacks hadn't actually slowed down. It was as if the distance between them and Aier had grown longer. Once their attacks exceeded their effective range, they lost their power and dissipated.

"The Laws of the Earth can be used like this?"

For a moment, the nine men were left marveling at Aier's ability.

"Inch from the Horizon" was the opposite of Aier's "Shrinking Earth."

Shrinking Earth could also be called "Shrinking Inches into Feet."

Shrinking Inches into Feet made the distance between him and his enemy infinitely smaller.

Inch from the Horizon, on the other hand, made the distance between him and his enemy infinitely greater.

In Aier's view, combat in any world was an art of distance.

If my attack can reach you at once, then I have the advantage of striking first.

If your attack can't reach me, then I can remain undefeated.

Thus, drawing on the nature of the Laws of the Earth, Aier had created the two techniques "Shrinking Earth" and "Inch from the Horizon."