Spectacular

"How are we supposed to attack him?"

After sensing the effect of the yellow light surrounding Aier, the nine High Gods were dumbfounded.

A technique that could stretch the distance through space was enough to render all their physical attacks useless.

Still, they were all experienced fighters.

"Use soul attacks!"

At one High God's suggestion, they all rallied their soul power and launched soul attacks at Aier.

But just as before, their attacks couldn't reach him.

It was a matter of spatial distance.

Even High Gods, let alone Overgods or those who had achieved perfection, had limits to their attack range.

If one day Aier could stretch the distance through space with Inch from the Horizon beyond an Overgod's attack range, he might well be able to protect himself in an Overgod's presence.

"This..."

Seeing that neither soul attacks nor physical attacks posed any threat to Aier, the nine High Gods began to despair.

Every one of them had fought their way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Over the course of hundreds of thousands—or even millions, or tens of millions—of years, they had encountered far more enemies than the number of years they had lived.

And yet, this was the first time they had come across an ability so utterly "unanswerable."

In their eyes, Aier's ability was practically the same as being invincible.

"It seems these people won't be able to surprise me after all."

Looking at their expressions, Aier gave a slight shake of his head.

These nine were only around Four-Star Fiend in strength. They were still weaker than the Wind Element High God Aier had encountered yesterday.

"I was mistaken..."

That wasn't to say there were no powerful fighters in the Arena Battle.

But over the years, fighters at Five-Star Fiend rank or above had each reached their own limits.

Ordinary High Gods, for example, usually topped out at two or three consecutive wins. With good luck, seven or eight wins weren't out of the question, but they couldn't cross the threshold of ten.

Those around Four-Star Fiend strength generally managed between ten and twenty consecutive wins.

A Five-Star Fiend could almost reach fifty consecutive wins.

Six-Star Fiends tended to fall in the fifty-to-eighty-win range.

Anyone with more than eighty consecutive wins was sure to be a Seven-Star Fiend.

After ninety consecutive wins, they would face the Prefecture City's powerful fighters. Anyone who became a hundred-battle champion was at least a formidable Seven-Star Fiend.

At present, Aier had only ten consecutive wins.

Even counting today's match, he would have only twenty.

With that in mind, Aier dispersed the light surrounding him, put his left hand behind his back, and beckoned to them with his right.

"Come on!"

The nine High Gods exchanged glances. Then, with perfect coordination, they split into three teams and launched another attack at Aier from three directions.

Boom—

In an instant, lightning blazed across the arena, flames soared, winds swept up the snow, and meteors rained down. The spectacle made everyone worry for Aier, standing at the very center of the arena.

But—

Aier grabbed hold of the lightning, revealing its true form.

It was a blue spear. Aier swung it with his right hand, using it to whip both the spear and the High God holding it in a great arc. They crashed into the Light Element High God and interrupted his attack.

Then Aier let go, sending the two of them flying. He raised his palm and struck toward the sky, instantly shattering the flames and meteors.

The powerful shockwave also sent the person behind the meteors flying.

Aier spread his fingers. A sandstorm appeared in his palm and swept toward the tornado and blizzard, completely annihilating them both.

The shadow beneath Aier's feet writhed, and a figure shot out of it, thrusting a slender sword toward Aier's heart.

Whoosh—

Aier willed it, and immense gravity crushed the Dark Element High God to the ground. Aier then kicked him away.

Then Aier tilted his head. A streak of white light flew past his cheek. He flicked a finger, and the force of the wind from his fingertip pierced the Light Element High God's body.

"Spectacular!"

"Absolutely spectacular!"

"Beautiful!"

The exchange of attacks and defenses had the spectators cheering in delight.

After that exchange, the nine High Gods were certain Aier had been holding back. Neither his attacks nor his defenses had put their lives in danger.

So the nine of them let loose and engaged Aier in close combat.

Compared to fighting at range, close combat was more dangerous and better at bringing out a person's potential.

Aier was hundreds of times stronger than they were. Even with his left hand behind his back, he could keep all nine of them on the back foot with one hand.

Still, facing all nine together gave Aier more insight into combat.

A hundred thousand years ago, Aier had been no more than a peak Saint Realm expert. Even after using the Equipment Slot's ability to raise his physical strength to a level comparable to a Low-God Artifact, he hadn't dared to throw his weight around.

After all, in Hell, anyone who hadn't become a god was still an ant.

Only after becoming a god, and fortunately obtaining the Crimson Flame Beast King's innate Blood-Red Source Crystal, had he gained the chance to snowball his strength.

Aier's current power had all been built up through his laws.

As far as combat experience went, he had precious little.

If they had been alone, these High Gods, none stronger than Four-Star Fiend, would have been no more than a single slap each to Aier.

But with all nine attacking at once, even Aier had to be careful.

It wasn't that Aier might lose.

With a thousandfold difference in strength, and a body comparable to a Godhead, their attacks couldn't hurt him even if he didn't defend himself.

But Aier figured he was already showing off by fighting one-handed. If they forced him to use both hands, wouldn't that be humiliating?

As the battle continued, all nine High Gods felt they had improved considerably.

Shier's side had gained plenty of combat experience as well.

"Twenty minutes are up!"

Once he felt the time was right, Aier gradually increased the force of his attacks.

At first, he had only sent them flying. Then he pierced their bodies, and after that, he shattered their limbs. The pressure on the nine kept growing, and their injuries grew more severe.

Of course, as long as the souls in their Godheads remained intact, divine-level experts could spend divine power to heal their bodies.

So even when Aier had badly injured them, they continued fighting him with their battered bodies.

They could absorb the elements and recover their divine power if given enough time.

But they wouldn't always get a chance to fight someone powerful.

In fact, fighting Aier was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them.

If they didn't use this chance to grow stronger, how could they justify all the wealth in their Space Rings?