The Almighty Ring

Things on the battlefield were, from the perspective of Jiang Fei’s side, terribly bad. Even as Bison’s force charged closer and closer, more soldiers continued to teleport in from the main teleportation hub. The number of enemy soldiers surrounding Jiang Fei’s palace was beyond quantifiable. To put it in perspective, Jiang Fei’s palace was like a small island in a sea of enemies. Their numbers were too many to even consider counting.

“We surrender! We are being held captive by Jiang Fei! Please don’t hurt us!”

“Me too!”

“We are all prisoners of Jiang Fei! Spare us!”

A small group of soldiers from Jiang Fei’s forces threw down their weapons and fled toward the incoming army. Even though they could not deny the fact that Jiang Fei had only been the best leader they had ever served, the pressure of facing an uncountable number of soldiers caused them to give everything up.

“Useless bastards!” Kaa’lna snapped. She was the person who had taken them in and managed to get them to join Jiang Fei’s banner. The look on her face when they gave up on fighting for Jiang Fei was… unladylike.

“Stop,” Jiang Fei barked when Kaa’lna was about to leap down from the watchtower to execute the deserters.

“Don’t waste your time and put yourself at risk to punish those who flee in the face of fear. I have no need for them in my army. You don’t have to sully your hands either,” Jiang Fei explained calmly.

“But, sir! The deserters must be executed for their crimes,” Kaa’lna barked.

“As I’ve told you, don’t waste your time. If you must, do it later, after the war,” Jiang Fei said. He then turned to the front to face his soldiers.

“Heed what I say! Unless you are my ally, I will never surrender the flesh of the Ultralisk! If you are true to your words, stand your ground as I promise nothing but victory. With that being said, if you do not believe in me, I will not force either one of you to stay! Leave now and do not regret it!” exclaimed Jiang Fei. His words sent both waves of excitement and shock to all his soldiers. Any normal army would have gotten ready to fight, and if there were soldiers who wanted to leave the battlefield, they would be executed for treason. Jiang Fei’s actions and words were contradictory to any contemporary warfare strategy!

“Brother, this is our chance! Let us leave now!”

“No! I have lived my entire life fleeing in the face of danger! Now that I’ve finally found myself a master who has been nothing but fair, I will fight for him until my very last breath!”

“Stop being such a hot-headed brute! Fine, I’ll leave on my own! No good lord is worth dying for!”

“Go! It matters not to me! If the rumors about Judgement Day are true, you are not going to live either! I am willing to lay my life for Sir Jiang Fei’s sake! At least, I get to die on my own terms!”

As the chattering continued, a few men left the army, and there were now less than a hundred of them.

“Brother, why do you insist on dying for Jiang Fei?!”

“That’s Sir Jiang Fei! Look at him! See how confident he is? Do you think a man could smile so confidently before danger if he had no plans for dealing with it? I trust Sir Jiang Fei with my life, and I believe he has a plan to fight them! So what if our enemies are the armies of four planets? They will be defeated nonetheless!”

There were many keen-eyed soldiers amongst the masses, and they noticed the confidence Jiang Fei had been exuding since the start. It gave them a sense of security that was worth betting on!

While only a few who truly believed in Jiang Fei remained, a larger portion of Jiang Fei’s soldiers were merely riding the bandwagon. Since most remained, they stuck behind too.

No matter the reason, only an insignificant number of soldiers had chosen to leave. It did not matter to Jiang Fei, but for those deserters, they came to regret their decision minutes after Jiang Fei made an announcement.

“Good! I am proud of this army! You have shown integrity like no other! I will join the battle as well! I will prove my worth as your leader!” Jiang Fei bellowed happily. For once, Jiang Fei was truly proud because he never expected to see so many of his soldiers choose to stick by his side.

At that moment, the Bison’s voice came howling from afar, “Jiang Fei! Come down and let us talk it out!”

“Hmm, says the brute,” Jiang Fei snorted. He turned to his soldiers again and said, “As payment for your loyalty, I want everyone to stay behind and only protect the palace. Do not charge forward. That is my battleground! I alone shall take on the army!”

Jiang Fei then hopped down from the watchtower and marched forward, ahead of his soldiers.

“What’s going on?”

“Did he say he was going to fight all by himself?”

“That’s more than… I think… 300,000 soldiers?”

“No! Sir Jiang Fei! Let us fight!”

“What a benevolent leader! He would take on the fight himself and let us live to see the light of day!”

However, only a handful of soldiers were touched by Jiang Fei’s move. Almost everyone else thought Jiang Fei had lost his mind.

Jiang Fei kicked his feet off the ground, moving faster than the speed of sound and arriving at Bison’s position. No matter how much his soldiers doubted him, Jiang Fei was not going back. He was about to show them his strength.

“I am Jiang Fei. Who am I speaking to?” Jiang Fei greeted. Back in the meeting room, Jiang Fei had seen every other leader in the Ausvia System. He had just forgotten their names.

“I am Bison. I’m going to be blunt. Jiang Fei, you are still a young boy and have much to live for. Surrender half of your Ultralisk meat supply and I will call off my soldiers,” Bison said. He was not dumb enough to charge straight into a fight. If there was a chance to call off the fight, he would do it in a heartbeat. Nevertheless, he would not leave empty-handed. If he could stop the fight and get away with half of Jiang Fei’s supply, it would be a safer gamble than working with the other leaders and/or fighting with Jiang Fei.

“Ah, a negotiation. I appreciate your candor but I’m afraid that I’m not going to agree to any negotiation. All the Ultralisk meat is with me. If you want it, come and get it yourself!” Jiang Fei taunted. He had examined Bison’s situation with the scope and gauged his combat level, which was over 9,500,000. He was strong, but to Jiang Fei, he was only a brute to be defeated. If he wanted to end the fight there and then, he could simply drag him into the 10th Dimension and end his life in a snap.

However, Jiang Fei was not going to resort to using that cheat code! As a matter of fact, Jiang Fei was not going to use any of the psychic manipulation skills he had learned from Theon. Today, he would only use his own skills to fight Bison fair and square. From a certain perspective, Bison had the advantage since he was clearly stronger, but Jiang Fei had Chinese Martial Arts prowess with him! Even when he faced a stronger opponent, he could still fight through at least a few rounds. That being said, logically speaking, Jiang Fei would have a hard time winning, but that was the battle he sought. Only by fighting a stronger opponent could he truly bring out his true potential. With the limiter in effect, Jiang Fei would have to face Bison with his own powers instead of relying on psychic manipulation and the ultimate 10th Dimension. He needed to test himself, to know whether he was truly being held back by his own genes, to find out whether he should give up or continue his journey throughout the infinite cosmos.

“Huh? Are you so deranged that you dare to joke in the face of death?” Bison snapped. Jiang Fei had done it. There was no way Bison was going to back off.

“Are you daft?” Jiang Fei retorted before he had a good laugh.

“This is not the first time I’ve faced death and this will surely not be my last. If I had been so afraid of you, I would have accepted the return order and lived my life comfortably while the lot of you continued to rot here!” Jiang Fei taunted.

Bison could not respond. The boy was right. If he had feared death, he would have gone when the return order came for him.

“Come, let us have our brawl. Show me what it takes to be one of the strong ones! Show me what you’ve got!” Jiang Fei roared, releasing Omnisurge to the maximum.

Energy crackled around Jiang Fei as his combat level soared through the roof and reached a peak number of 7,500,000. His own original power was over 3,000,000, a strength that he had gained over the days he spent on Dhiras. With support from his Omnisuge, his combat level rose to over 4,500,000, and coupled with the energy that poured in from the Blackhole Core, Jiang Fei hovered steadily at 7,500,000.

He was strong but clearly weaker than his opponent, Bison by 2,000,000 levels!