The Almighty Ring

Dodge was eliminated from the trial but the King was not done. Loud thunderclaps echoed and Jiang Fei, even from afar, couldn’t help but feel the tingling sensation on his skin.

The King and its “subjects” were attacking continuously without slowing down. Although the smaller florps were not as powerful as the King, no one could not afford to take any more hits. A single mishap would lead to a catastrophe. Instead of escaping, the entire group was now focusing on surviving.

“How are their attacks so violent?!” Caylan grunted. He had been there once and could tell the difference. He had used the marble to absorb a few stray lightning bolts but the power of the marble would not last. Sooner or later, the marble would reach its maximum capacity and explode.

Even though he could desert everyone then and leave the field safely on his own, he could not complete the mission all by himself! He needed the others to fight the final guardian!

“Caylan, stop the pretense and use whatever tool you have brought!” Bacca barked. Compared to Caylan, he was more stressed than ever. Luna, the true weakest member of the team, was not doing too well. Bacca was now panicking as he had already lost one member and another was about to join the elimination party.

“Fine! I’ll do it! But you have to help me get that Primordial Weapon!”

Caylan had already used the electric-absorbing marble. Seeing as how precious those things were, he did not want all his efforts to be in vain. Moreover, the marble was only a one-time-use item. If he gave up now, there was no taking back the marble.

Caylan took out another object. It was a disc-shaped saucer that expanded into a larger pan when thrown into the air. Once it landed, the pan expanded further and released a field of yellow hue. Once the light was released, everyone around the vicinity of the pan could feel its effect immediately. The pan created a powerful gravitational field that pulled all the florps into the yellow light. Once trapped, the florps were restrained with an electrical net.

The King reacted violently when it noticed its smaller kindred had been captured. In retaliation, it made a loud growling noise and became larger, releasing multiple lightning bolts as it did.

“Help!” Luna shrieked. She was at her limit. If she was struck even once more by the smaller flops, she would be gravely injured.

Bacca leaped toward her, offering whatever was left of his own energy into shielding Luna. A few seconds after the pan was activated, the gravitational field expanded as it absorbed the lightning bolts the captured florps had been releasing in an attempt to escape. As such, the King of the florps had to exert itself in order to break free, rendering it unable to focus its energy on attacking.

“We need to leave! That pan isn’t going to last any longer!” Caylan barked as he dragged his own teammates away from the reef.

“Move! Move! Move!” Bacca bellowed, running as he helped Luna.

The King and the rest of the Magneto Florps were now restrained by the pan and could not attack. That being said, the fluctuating magnetic field of the reef was still a hindrance for the others. Occasionally, they would either fall to the ground or fly up to the sky.

“Interesting…” Jiang Fei murmured to himself as he observed from afar. Not long after the group had escaped, he entered the field and felt the effects of the fluctuating magnetic field. The best way to describe the feeling was like walking up a staircase that would sometimes have missing steps.

“This would be a great place to train!” said Jiang Fei to himself. Only by exposing oneself to constant hardship would one improve! He wouldn’t mind training in such a field if he were not in the middle of a trial then!

Since all the threats were being restrained, Jiang Fei moved across the field without being attacked. Unlike the others, although he tripped once or twice, he did not fall or float too high.

…

“Tell me the truth. Did you know about the contents of the trial? How do you have tools to precisely counter these creatures?” Bacca came to Caylan and whispered to him.

“It’s best for you to not know about it,” said Caylan with a straight face. By not answering the question, he had given Bacca the answer. He had pulled some strings with Alston and gained inside information about the trial. As such, he had brought in tools to prepare himself for the challenges.

However, Caylan was not being open with his involvement and did not want anyone to know that he had pulled strings with the higher-ups. That was why he had lost two members in the initial run.

“Heh. Looks like pulling strings and asking favors is a universal thing,” Jiang Fei said to himself.

“Huh?!” Bacca gasped when Jiang Fei appeared next to him, safe and sound. They had assumed he would be left behind for someone as “weak” as he was would never be able to cross the gravity field.

“I came over when I saw those creatures were trapped in that device.” He gave an answer with an earnest smile. He was only trying to give off an impression that he would neither be of help nor be any trouble to the group.

“That is fortunate,” said Caylan.

“Be mindful of your surroundings, Jiang Fei,” he added. Because of his special circumstances, neither Caylan or Bacca would probe further about him and since he was only “120,000” combat level, he posed no threat in stealing the Primordial Weapon.

This was the limit to Caylan’s previous incursion. He could not longer provide any information about what’s to come or what they could face. Henceforth, everyone was vigilant at all times.

“We need to find a place to rest. None of us are in our best shape and if we encounter stronger foes, we might be looking at elimination…” said Bacca when he noticed how overwhelmed by fatigue Luna and the Alderaanian brothers were. Jiang Fei was perhaps the only one that was still unharmed and unscathed. Relying on him, a “weakling”, would not be wise. Bacca himself was not doing too good himself.

“I concur,” Caylan said. They had the luxury of time since there was no one else on the island with them. The best course of action for them now was to rest and recuperate.

However, things do not always go as planned. 20 minutes into resting, Mingsk suddenly made a jerking movement and when it’s over, he turned to the group and said, “I feel a new presence on the island.”