Those Divine Guards of the Fifth Corps had seemed too relaxed to the observers. It gave everyone the false impression that the team from Han Shuo's Fifth Corps would be the easiest to defeat. Batúk smiled happily as he watched the Divine Guards of the Seventh Corps begin their assault on Bolland's company, privately praising his subordinate for being 'wise'.
Not only Batúk, but even Rugersey thought that Bollands' Company wouldn't be able to withstand a single blow. Rugersey looked at Batúk as if Batúk had grabbed the only candy on the table before he could.
It seemed that not only Batúk, but even Rugersey's team were planning to loot divine essences from Han Shuo's team. Unfortunately for Rugersey, Wallace had explicitly stated that no third company could intervene while two companies were engaged. As a result, Rugersey's Divine Guards had been denied the opportunity to obtain some free Divine Essences, or so he thought.
Before the Divine Guards of the Fourth and Second Corps had met, Batúk and Han Shuo's Seventh and Fifth Corps had begun to engage.
The attention of the observers was immediately focused on the battle. Wallace and Andre were particularly focused. They were eager to learn the true strength of the Fifth Corps. They were able to do just that with the help of the sand table, which gave them a bird's eye view.
Unlike Batúk and Rugersey, the Sainte Brothers no longer considered Han Shuo to be a regular Divine Guard chief ever since they learned that Han Shuo had defeated City Lord Hofs of Hushveil City. When Bollands and his party entered the arena, the two brothers could sense a hint of arrogance beneath their cheerful and relaxed demeanour. They were sceptical that the Divine Guards of the Fifth Corps would be easily defeated.
"You're lucky, Batúk!" said Camilla. She felt angry as she saw the company led by Kiffan closing in on her troops. She was even more annoyed when she saw that Batúk's subordinates had let Kiffan's company pass them unchallenged and were about to get some free hits from the Fifth Corps.
"Hehe, I am lucky to have wise subordinates!" replied Batúk, smug and cheerful.
After finishing these words, Batúk turned to Han Shuo apologetically and said with a smile, "Lord Bryan, although I cannot ask them to spare your team, I did instruct them before the competition to be as careful as possible when they strike. You can be sure that they will not hurt your men!"
These words meant that Batúk had probably given his men an order to target Han Shuo's Fifth Corps before the competition. It seemed that he expected the Fifth Corps to be the weakest competing team from the start. However, since the House of Buller still wanted to purchase the medicines that Han Shuo had refined, it was not in Batúk's interest to offend Han Shuo too much, so he instructed his subordinates not to hit Han Shuo's divine guards too hard.
Han Shuo was torn between laughter and tears. He nodded his head and said gratefully, "Then I must thank Lord Batúk in advance!"
Batúk was about to say a few humble and comforting words to make sure there were no hard feelings between them when his eyes happened to catch something on the sand table. His face instantly jerked and he cried out in surprise.
Through the sand table, which displayed a live feed of the arena, the observer saw the miniaturised version of Bolland's company move into a conical formation, targeting the Divine Guards of the Seventh Corps. They were like a sharp and magnificent sword drawn!
The three black points at the front of the formation were Bollands, Gilbert and Sanguis. They were the sharp points of the blade that pierced the belly of the Seventh Corps. They charged into the brightly lit area with unstoppable momentum. Instead of defending against the Seventh Corps, they went on the offensive, trying to capture the divine essence of the Seventh Corps!
Behind the vanguard of Bollands, Gilbert and Sanguis, an immense murderous aura suddenly erupted from the divine guards of the Fifth Corps. Having been tempered within the Eight Desolation and Torment Formation, the divine guards were well coordinated. The conical formation charged forward with overwhelming momentum.
At this moment, Gilbert was wearing an angry face as he used his dark divine energy to smash the divine guards of the Seventh Corps in his path. He grumbled foul-mouthed, "You sons of bitches tried to pick on us because we look easy, didn't you? We weren't even planning on raiding you. But since you fuckers threw the first punch, I'm going to wipe your asses out!"
Originally, Gilbert and the Company had only planned to raid the Second Corps team. They were still quietly searching for more Divine Essences when, without warning, Captain Tino, with a most vicious smile, tried to encircle them with his men from the Seventh Corps.
As far as the Dark Dragon was concerned, these men of the Seventh Corps should be grateful that his company had not attempted to attack them. But not only did these people not know how to appreciate his kindness, they even dared to attack his company!
"Gilbert, they are not to be killed. You better be careful when you strike!" reminded Bollands in a loud voice.
Before the competition, Han Shuo had instructed Bollands that, except for the Second Corps, he had to decide the toughness of his countermeasure based on the strength and attitude of the opposing team.
After a moment's observation, Bollands could tell that Tino and his company were only after their Divine Essences. Although these Seventh Corps Divine Guards deserved a good beating for their reckless behaviour, it was clear that they had no intention of killing. As a result, Bollands had signalled to his company to do as little damage as possible when plundering the divine essences.
Gilbert complied with Bollands' order. After hearing the warning, he cursed a few angry sentences and continued to lead the way alongside Sanguis and Bollands, ramming into Tino's comrades.
At that moment, Tino, the captain of the Seventh Corps company, could not be more sorry for having started the attack. After seeing Bollands, Sanguis and Gilbert ploughing through his divine guards like mowing machines, Tino realised that he was in for real trouble.
Coming to his senses, Tino gathered the most powerful experts he had to stop Sanguis, Bollands and Gilbert, while ordering a few squads to attack their flanks. As Tino saw it, although the trio at the front were powerful, the rest of the Divine Guards of the Fifth Corps must be weak and could be easily defeated. After all, based on the rumours, most of the Fifth Corps Divine Guards were newly recruited. However, he soon discovered that he was wrong. When the squad leaders came back to him dejected, reporting that their flanks were impenetrable, Tino finally realised that he was in deep trouble!
The company of the Seventh Corps was unable to offer any effective resistance to the indomitable blade that was the company of the Fifth Corps. The trio of Sanguis, Bollands, and Gilbert was leading the divine guards behind them straight for the divine essences.
Batúk's face gradually turned dark as he watched the battle unfold on the sand table. The major patriarchs and the Divine Guard Chiefs who were discussing the situation in low voices all turned completely mute simultaneously.
The party surrounding the sand table had their eyes glued to their center. Their faces were grave and solemn as they watched the Company from the Fifth Corps charged forward like a hot knife through butter.
They are not even on the same level! The observing party shared the same thought.
Han Shuo's Fifth Corps divine guards were as though an indomitable sword piercing into the soft underbelly of Seventh Corps divine guards without meeting any meaningful resistance. Using the space divine device, the observers could clearly see the valiantness and power of the Company. Against such overwhelming force, there was nothing that Tino and his Seventh Corps divine guards could do other than to run! The gap in strength was just too enormous!
In astonishment, Wallace took a glance at Han Shuo. He saw that Han Shuo was wearing an indifferent faint smile on his face. He did not seem happy or disappointed, as though nothing displayed on the sand table could affect him. Wallace grew even more amazed for he knew that he himself could never achieve that state of total calmness and composure as though everything in the world was in his control.
What a mind-blowing youngster he is! thought Wallace. His mind automatically recalled Andre's previous proposal and his gaze turned to Andre.
The two were standing close together and Andre immediately sensed the gaze from Wallace. He put on a strange smile and remarked, "I knew it, the Fifth Corps wouldn't be as easy as it seemed!"
Then, suddenly, Batúk cried, "Lord Bryan, you are cheating!" When he had everyone's attention, he pointed at the trio at the vanguard of the conical formation and said, "Their strengths are too powerful. All of the defenders in my company have Late-stage Midgod strengths and yet they couldn't stop these three from barging in. Obviously, these three are not Midgods!"
The crowd began to exchange opinions after hearing Batúk's accusation.
Ralph, the head of the Second Corps, had a face as dark as Batúk's. After seeing the astonishing strength of the Fifth Corps, he was even angrier than Batúk. He wouldn't care if Batúk's men were defeated. But the strength of the Fifth Corps threatened the position of his Second Corps in the City of Shadows.
More importantly, Ralph had ordered Kiffan to slaughter the divine guards of the Fifth Corps before they could enter the arena. But from the way things had gone so far, there was no telling which team would be slaughtered!
"That's right, those three divine guards are just too strong! I don't think three Midgods can break through the defences of a dozen or more Late-stage Midgods in such a short time!" said Ralph loudly. He glared at Han Shuo coldly and asked, "Lord Bryan, have you arranged for a Highgod to enter the arena?
Not only Batúk and Ralph, but all the other Divine Guard Chiefs were suspicious. After Ralph's accusation, the eyes of the group gathered around Han Shuo. Only Andre's eyebrows were furrowed.
Han Shuo chuckled and shook his head. He explained, "Individuals of similar strength can unleash a power greater than the sum of their individual strengths - if they know how to work together. This is nothing to marvel at. If people can't unleash greater power when fighting as a team, then what's the point of this team combat competition?"
"Fighting as a team can indeed unleash greater power, but the firepower of these three is beyond reasonable limits!" replied Batúk, his eyebrows furrowed.
Han Shuo laughed and said confidently, "It is not beyond reasonable limits - it is just that you have never seen it before!"