The Magic Battle Array

"Next, please welcome our ten brave challengers to the stage!"

As the referee's voice fell, ten streaks of light flew onto the arena and took on human form.

"The usual rules?"

Aier folded his arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Of course."

Everyone present, whether challenger or spectator, knew what Aier meant by "the usual rules."

Space Rings!

And they had to contain items of considerable value.

The wealth in the Space Rings determined how long and in what manner Lord Aier would fight.

Thus, as soon as Aier said this, the ten Six-Star Fiends on the arena immediately offered up their Space Rings.

"Good. Very good."

After inspecting the contents of the ten Space Rings, a smile appeared on Aier's face.

From these ten Space Rings, Aier had gained more than thirty High-God Sparks, including six Earth Element High-God Sparks.

Together with what Aier already had, even if Hector Boy failed to arrive, Aier could find the points of compatibility needed to fuse the six Mysteries of the Laws of Earth within twenty years.

Once Hector Boy arrived, the Godheads gained in exchange for most of the Boy Family's assets would make reaching Grand Perfection something Aier could achieve with a wave of his hand.

Seeing the expression on Aier's face, the ten challengers felt relieved.

As long as Aier was satisfied, they could give the fight their all and use the steadily increasing pressure from Lord Aier to push themselves another step forward.

Of course, they knew that once they were certain Lord Aier wouldn't kill them, they wouldn't feel as tense. Their gains would surely be far less than in a true life-or-death battle.

Still, this was an opportunity many people could only dream of.

Even in some major families, only a handful of younger members with exceptional talent, strength, character, and backgrounds received guidance from their elders.

"Let's begin!"

As expected, news about Aier once again dominated Liang'an Prefecture that day.

"How strong do you think Lord Aier really is?"

At a tavern, a group of familiar faces drank and chatted curiously.

"I can't tell!"

Someone shook his head. "The gap between our strength and Lord Aier's is just too great."

"I'd say I'm fairly strong, but against the people who fought Lord Aier today, I reckon I'd win three out of ten."

"But Lord Aier..."

"All I can say is that Lord Aier is strong!"

"But just how strong? I can only say he's beyond my ability to judge."

"Oh? You could win three out of ten against those who challenged Lord Aier today? Impressive."

"May I ask your name?"

"I'm Ileyas. You flatter me."

"By the way, Ileyas, I'm planning to visit the Bauhinia Continent in a while. Could I ask you to look after me when I get there?"

"Uh..."

"Brother, you've misunderstood. By 'win three out of ten,' I meant they could knock me into seven pieces in three moves!"

"..."

The next day, even more people crowded around the arena to watch. From a distance, it looked as though a huge black sphere had appeared beside the arena—a colossal mass formed by countless gods gathered together.

Today was the crucial battle in which Aier would advance from eighty consecutive victories to ninety.

Of course, what drew even more attention were the armors worn by the ten men fighting Aier that day.

They were standard-issue artifacts of the Liang'an Prefecture Army.

The ten men wore white armor and carried silver-white spears. They maintained their battle formation at all times, clearly an elite force trained for many years.

Without a doubt, this was the work of the Prefect of Liang'an Prefecture.

For countless years, everyone had understood the difference between "armies" and unaffiliated fighters.

The City Guard, the Prefecture Army, and the Sovereign Legion were all forces of violence that carried out the Sovereigns' will and maintained order in the Divine Planes and Supreme Planes.

They were so famous, and so feared by powerful individuals and families, because they had "Magic Battle Arrays."

These battle formations could only be created by people highly skilled in magic arrays. Treating the soldiers as nodes in a magic array, they formed a mobile array that let the soldiers draw power from the Laws of Heaven and Earth, greatly increasing their strength in battle.

The Magic Battle Arrays of ordinary City Guard units could increase their strength two or three times.

Those of the Prefecture Army could raise their strength about seven or eight times.

The Magic Battle Arrays of the Sovereign Legions could even increase the strength their soldiers could bring to bear tenfold.

"Not bad."

Aier looked at the ten men in formation before him and said, "If I'm not mistaken, you watched my fights yesterday."

"You know my rules, of course."

"So, what do you say?"

"Will you hand over your Space Rings according to my rules, or bet that the Magic Battle Array formed by the ten of you can survive a fight against me?"

With the Prefecture Army's Magic Battle Array boosting them, ten Six-Star Fiends were almost on par with a Seven-Star Fiend.

Even against a Seven-Star Fiend, ten Six-Star Fiends in a Magic Battle Array could put up a fight.

With good coordination, they might even kill one.

At Aier's words, the ten Prefecture Army soldiers could only smile bitterly.

They represented the Prefect!

If Aier were going to fight the Prefect immediately after their battle, they wouldn't hesitate to give up their possessions just to save their own lives.

But if they dared to hand over their Space Rings now, would the Prefect think they had already gone over to Aier's side?

Then even if they survived their fight against Lord Aier, they would still be punished by the Prefect.

After all, even if Aier became a hundred-win champion, the Prefect would still have ten thousand years to decide whether to accept Lord Aier's challenge.

Of the two evils, they chose the lesser. After a day of discussion, the ten soldiers decided to risk their lives to protect their families or descendants.

"Please forgive us, Lord Aier."

"We represent the Prefect's will. You are not the Prefect, so naturally we cannot follow your rules."

The man at the head of the group cupped his fists toward Aier. Then he activated the Magic Battle Array, and the aura of all ten men surged.

"Kill!"

The ten Prefecture Army soldiers shouted as they swung their spears. Boosted by the Magic Battle Array, their attack carved a space rift hundreds of meters long that spread toward Aier.

Its power was already on par with that of a Seven-Star Fiend.

"I understand."

"But that doesn't mean I agree with your choice."

Aier shook his head and slapped at the incoming attack—

"Boom!"

Aier slapped the attack flying into the sky. The space rift its power had carved bent into the shape of a "7" in front of him and stretched up toward the heavens.