The Almighty Ring

The tables had turned immediately when 0543 took control over the entire base. The signal beacon that was activated to allow ease of teleportation was turned off. As a consequence, the Unknowns were unable to teleport in more reinforcements. The machines that were used to project light prisons were also disabled. Isabella and the other girls, as well as the grand masters were now able to move freely. The fight was now a massacre and the Mutants was forced to retreat.

“Retreat!”

“Fire the retreat signal!”

“Move back!”

…

Once Jiang Fei had the grand upperhand, the Mutants started to call off their attacks. Fewer and fewer Unknowns remained in the battlefield now. Even though Isabella, the girls, and the other grand masters were killing as they go, they weren’t able to hold all the enemies due to their sheer number.

In no time, the survivors; Mutants and Unknowns alike; were able to break out of the thunderdome and move toward one of the secret teleportation chambers to be teleported away.

Even though some of the Mutants and Unknowns escaped, the damage inflicted on them was severe. That Mutant Brotherhood had lost four of their Level 5 members and hundreds of Level 4s.

The Unknowns had suffered a great loss as well. In order to bait Jiang Fei into attacking this very base, they had allocated a large amount of Energy Crystals to draw his attention. Their original intention was to trap and kill Jiang Fei in this very base. Once Jiang Fei, their leader, was removed, the followers would be running around like headless chickens. The base would be safe. That was supposed to be their ironclad winning factor. With that thought in mind, they did not find the need to teleport the Energy Crystals as well as the other equipment in the base. Now that their plan had crumbled down in the most spectacular manner, everything there was now Jiang Fei’s.

The one factor that was the cause of their failure was Jiang Fei’s Enfeeblement domain ability. Before his entrance, everything was going according to plan. The Level 5 fighters were constantly being disabled via the light prisons and they even sent in reinforcements. As soon as Jiang Fei had participated in the fight directly, everything changed. Not only did they lose to him, they had also lost an entire base filled with precious resources to him!

Jiang Fei may have won, but his victory came with a great cost. Even though he came out completely unscathed save for the extreme fatigue due to the effect of Bloodrage, his trump card, the Enfeeblement ability was no longer a secret. Jiang Fei was not able to kill everyone in sight and surely the survivor would spread the word.

“Brother Jiang Fei sure has a lot hiding under his sleeves,” said Bai Shien as he returned to Jiang Fei once the battle had reached its conclusion. The rest of the grand masters joined in to help Jiang Fei. At this point, everyone had a change of perspective and even in the manner with which they addressed Jiang Fei. Everyone was now treating Jiang Fei as one of them, a fellow Level 5 fighter. To be honest, some of them were even threatened by him!

Before this war started, everyone was friendly with Jiang Fei because of the benefits. All of them, like Bai Shien and Xiahou Shangyuan, wanted to have their Godblades reforged into proper weapon. They wanted to have Jiang Fei owe them a favor and speak them up in the face of Zhuge Shanzhen. Why else would a group of Level 5 grand masters be nice to a lowly Level 4 martial artist?

Their perception toward Jiang Fei had now changed, or rather, elevated when they saw what Jiang Fei did to the Level 5 Mutants. To be able to force a Level 5 Metahuman down back to Level 4 was unheard of. What more being able to kill them off with a powerful Godblade!

Killing four Level 5 Mutants with only that technique was a feat no one, not even Bai Shien or the rest of the grand masters then, could do. Jiang Fei had done it and he did it with such elegance. His prowess in the battlefield had made the other grand masters treat him like one of their own, even though he was still a Level 4 martial artist.

“No wonder the boy is the grand disciple of Master Zhuge Shanzhen,” said Zhang Shan as he and Lee Shi discussed the reason why Isabella and the other Level 5 girls were obeying him.

“Just how mystical is Master Zhuge Shanzhen? How did he manage to cultivate such a powerful disciple?” Lee Shi said, to support Zhang Shan’s notion. They already feared Sylphy, for she was able to sneak around a room filled with Level 5 grand masters without being detected. Not to mention Isabella for having an almost inexhaustible amount of energy even when she had activated her domain ability for the entire time. However, compared to those two, Jiang Fei’s achievement of killing four Level 5 Mutants in such a short period of time had placed him on the top of the list. If Jiang Fei was the master, those two girls were only the students.

One thought that all Level 5 Metahumans had was self-preservation. Nothing was more important than their own livelihood. They were fine if someone else was stronger than they were; they were not self-gratifying to the point where they would walk around the Earth feeling invincible. The problem they had with Jiang Fei was his ability to “dethrone” them from their power level. If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, they would never have believed it. While they did see it, they were still confounded by it.

Jiang Fei got to his feet, clasped his fist together, and bowed respectfully.

“Thank you all for the help today! This one would never have succeeded without your help!”

“Please, brother Jiang Fei. We are all but our own. Please do not stand on ceremony with us. It’s… a slap to the face, if you know what I mean,” said Bai Shien as he quickly stepped in to release Jiang Fei from his humble form. Everyone else felt the same way. If they had not seen Jiang Fei in action, they would still feel inclined to accept Jiang Fei’s humbleness. Now, things had changed as they were all accepting Jiang Fei as one of their own, perhaps someone who was even stronger than they were! How could they remain as they were when Jiang Fei was bowing his head.

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your help today. I hope to return the favor next time!” said Jiang Fei as he accepted the demeanor and respect he was offered. Just then, a thought came to him. How would Bai Wanli or Ganyang Zhenren react when they see him? Would those sect elders address him as “master”? Fortunately, those sect leaders had been mingling with Jiang Fei, both as a friend and brother-in-arms. They would still be able to face Jiang Fei without feeling too left out.

After distributing the dart tips to the Level 5 grand masters, Jiang Fei then heard whispers of interests in having their Godblades reforged. Instead of waiting, Jiang Fei himself dropped hints to them, telling them to come to him if they wanted to have a personalized Godblade made. With that said, all the Level 5 grand masters only respected Jiang Fei even more. Coupled with the fact that they had shed blood and sweat together in the battlefield, everyone was walking away with a strong comradery.

When everyone left, Jiang Fei stayed back to examine the base. At this point, he was all by himself. Even so, he was not afraid should the Unknowns suddenly decide to have a second round. The base was now under his control and he could easily defend himself with the weaponry in the base. Even if they were to fight through all that defenses, Jiang Fei would have long gone by the time they reached the inside of the base.

As for the Mutants, they were all but last week’s problems. Jiang Fei had killed four Level 5 Mutants in a single battle. If they weren’t terrified yet, they would be when news about their deaths and the method Jiang Fei used to kill them reached their ears. Until they find a way to counter this ability, no one would be knocking on Jiang Fei’s door lest they would have another go with Jiang Fei, only to find themselves beheaded.