Usually, rank 9s would only go after red flags and golden flags, while rank 8s would also go after a purple flag.
As for blue flags, yellow flags, and green flags, the rewards are too small for anyone ranked 7 and higher to bother.
Usually, when a flag appears, anyone seeing it is allowed to rush to it. Because of how the battle arena works, it's not possible to fake a flag and use it to deceive the enemy army.
For these sudden rewards, one cannot bring large armies, as bringing an army would take time; in the end, in addition to the person who obtains the flag, the specific camp would also be rewarded, so the leaders of specific camps are incentivized not to restrain their members from rushing to obtain flags.
...
Following the purple flag, Ryan reached the area in less than a day, but upon seeing it, he cursed. There was another rank 8 there, which was beyond his expectations.
When the war arena just opens, the specific camps are far away from each other. The 103rd specific camp is on the north side of the 102nd, and it is a rank 7 day away; with the 103rd being in the north, Ryan didn't expect another rank 8 in the south, where he was and where the flag appeared.
Rank 7 day is the distance a rank 7 can go in a day.
Not wanting to prolong the battle, Ryan directly used one of his trump cards.
His opponent is another rank 8; without using his trump card, it would take a long time to kill him. Now, the longer he waits, the higher the chances of more high-ranking mortals appearing becomes.
Taking out a spell crystal, Ryan shouted, "Break!"
The spell crystal broke and released a terrifying rank 9 spell.
As long as it is below rank 10, everything is allowed in the war arena.
The other side, the rank 8 mortal who had long hair and a beautiful face, reacted in time.
"Reflection shield!" he shouted.
Ryan judged the other side to be a he only because of the clothes he was wearing; for all he knew, it could be a woman in men's clothes. For now, however, it doesn't matter; he would kill the other side, so who cares?
Some mortals have thoughts such as 'men won't hit women,' but those are naive thoughts of some newborn mortals. Anyone older who has seen the world knows women can be as dangerous as men; they can practice mage arts as well and are as powerful as men; at low levels, some beautiful women may be able to receive better treatment by leveraging their looks, but at high mortal ranks, and immortal ranks, gender and looks wouldn't have any effect.
Looks can be a massive privilege at low mortal levels, but at high mortal and immortal levels, looks aren't worth anything anymore.
Ryan's rank 9 spell was called Sweet Sweat; it was one of the spells sold by the Sea Monster immortal demon.
Sea Monster Immortal Demon is one of the rare ones who managed to attain rank 10 power using evolution and yet kept most of his sanity.
The Sweet Sweat spell is one of the spells he gained; it is a rank 10 spell, but the one Ryan brought is a weakened, rank 9 version. The spell is very terrifying; it reduces everything it targets to sweet water.
Sweet water itself is a treasure containing precious minerals; its effect depends on its target. A rank 8 target would produce very precious sweet sweat.
It's said that Sea Monster Immortal Demon only drinks this sweet sweat and rewards those who bring it for him. Ryan, of course, wouldn't drink it himself; he would collect it and give it to the Sea Monster Immortal Demon.
As a rank 9 spell, the rank 8 reflection shield was broken upon contact. The beautiful rank 8 mortal on the other side was hit with the spell!
In an instant, his body was entirely reduced to water, which splashed around.
He died!
Coming forward, Ryan sighed with relief; if the other side was able to defend the sweet sweat, the battle would have taken much longer. But the other side obviously wasn't prepared, so he died in one shot.
Sweet Sweat is a mysterious spell that is hard to defend against even for other rank 9s; with it, Ryan would be unimpeded in rank 8. Unfortunately, he only had two more of it.
Ryan didn't even look for the dead rank 8's space ring; rank 8s won't carry it, and their spatial storages are kept very secret; he cannot loot it without spending a lot of time trying to find it.
After collecting the sweet sweat, he ran to the purple flag; nobody else was around, so Ryan stopped hurrying.
It's said that sometimes, there are wild guardians around flags, so he had to be careful. Now, the purple flag would at most have a rank 6 guardian, but still, he preferred caution.
Looking at the flag, nothing was around it. Nodding, he went forward and took the flag.
The moment he touched it, the massive flag suspended in the sky disappeared. At the same time, Ryan heard a voice in his mind:
"You obtained Demon Emperor contribution points +0.3, a rank 6 spell crystal containing an unknown spell, and a rank 6 sword Life Taker."
Ryan nodded; the spell and weapon were nothing, but that 0.3 contribution was good.
His biggest harvest here is not from the flag but that sweet sweat; that thing is worth a lot in the eyes of the sea monster. Still, Ryan was not satisfied; his loss was far bigger than his gain; he lost a rank 9 spell crystal.
"Damn! My luck is bad!" he sighed. He didn't expect another rank 8 to be there; when he saw an enemy rank 8, he had no choice but to use his trump card. Running is not an option; the speed at which someone acts and their decisiveness are everything in battles. Who knows how many trump cards the other side had? If Ryan didn't act, the other side might have used a rank 9 spell, which Ryan wouldn't have been able to react to.
Sighing, Ryan didn't hesitate anymore. He sent a message back to the main camp and informed them of all the details he gained so far, including the map, the obstacles on the way, etc. Even though high-ranking mortals no longer care about such things, low-ranking mortals still need to pay attention to these.
Returning to the camp, he heard the news.
The first war arena has been set up for him. Looking at the details, Ryan nodded as he read.
Duration: 7 days. Participants: 1 Trillion. Max rank: 6. Reward: Purple special blood.
The winner's camp would also receive points, which would come in handy later. This battle was between the 102nd camp and 103rd camp; it is only one of many planned. They let Ryan do this one; Ryan is responsible for it.
He summoned his purple officers and started strategizing.
...
Grace is a rank 1 mage; a month ago, she was suddenly teleported to this unknown area.
Ever since then, she has had a bad feeling, as if a disaster is hanging above her head. Today, her feelings have gotten much worse.
As a dark elf, she has certain talents; dark elves have strong instincts about danger. She has always trusted this instinct, and she has lived until today, in large part, because of her instincts.
This time, however, she could not do anything to escape; she was forced to board a big airship and move to a wide area.
"Use fireball battle formation when you see the red light! Understood? Also, use defensive formation when you see the blue light…" A purple commander was talking, reminding everyone.
Grace knew of the battle formations; she learned it when they taught her over the past month.
"I'm not that smart, but I feel they are just using us as cannon fodder!"
She was worried about being used as cannon fodder; Now, her feeling looks to be true.
Just as she was thinking, the red light came.
Without hesitation, the training over the last month kicked in, and she, along with over 100 other rank 1s, tens of thousands of rank 0s, and millions of complete mortals, started the battle formation.
The battle formation was easy; one needed to repeat a line while maintaining a posture while looking at the sky. Just after a few seconds, the battle formation started working and produced a massive fireball.
It was so big, at least having the power of rank 4!
The purple officer nearby waved his hand, took the fireball, and threw it far away.
Then, the blue light came.
"Defensive formation!" Grace thought. Along with her, everyone else also changed their posture and repeated a different line.
A massive blue shield appeared atop everyone in the sky; it was majestic, at least powerful enough to resist a rank 4 spell.
Grace's pupils condensed; she saw a massive fireball in the sky; it was not the one they created, but one sent by the enemy.
Before she could do anything, not that she had the ability, the fireball hit the shield.
"ARGH!" she nearly screamed; blood came from her nose, mouth, and ears. When the fireball hit, she, along with everyone else, felt as if they had been hit in the face! Many mortals directly died from the impact, their bodies shattered.
Fortunately for mortals, the impact wasn't spread equally; Rank 1 mages took on far more than low grades, so most mortals still survived.
The purple officer changed color to red again.
"Damn!" not having the time to wipe blood from her face, Grace changed her formation posture again and repeated the fireball spell's line.
Another rank 4 fireball appeared and was sent away by the purple officer.
Then, a blue light came!
"Am I going to die here?" Grace thought with despair.
After changing posture, the blue shield appeared again and protected them against the upcoming fireball.
This time, though, over 50% of complete mortals died!
Then, the red light came again! ...
After ten rounds, all mortals and most rank 0s died; even some rank 1s died!
Blue light shone!
At this moment, Grace was covered in blood; blood was oozing out even from her skin. Originally, she was a beautiful dark elf woman, but now, one cannot even detect her species and gender; if one looks at her, one thinks of her as a step from death.
"I don't want to die here!" she thought, barely moving and changing her posture.
This time, though, the remaining mages were no longer enough to promote the blue magic wall to rank 4; therefore, only a rank 3 version was condensed.
The upcoming fireball was still rank 4.
A rank 3 shield up against a rank 4 fireball?
The fireball hit, broke the wall, and hit the land below.
Except for the purple officer, everyone else died!
...
"My red officer, the test run is over!" said a purple officer standing in front of Ryan while bowing.
They have been making their final preparations, testing the battle formations one last time. The tests caused the death of a few million, but Ryan thought it was worth it.
Not knowing the precise power of the formation could have disastrous consequences in the real battle; killing only a few million now could prevent the death of billions later.
"Great! Now, transfer them to the arena for the first battle!" he ordered.