The Almighty Ring

What had been done, could not be undone. The soldiers made a decision to leave the army, and Jiang Fei was not going to accept them any longer. What else could they do besides seek shelter elsewhere? As the last of the disowned soldiers left the compound, the time limit for Jiang Fei to reply to the four leader’s transmission expired.

Twenty-four hours had passed, and the four leaders of the four planets were agitated. Even if Jiang Fei chose to reject them, he could at least give them a worded reply. Jiang Fei was recognized as a strong individual but in the face of four leaders from four planets, the Terran boy was still too conceited on his front. The absence of his reply, be it intended or unintended, was an act akin to a slap on the face.

A few minutes after they confirm the absence of his reply, the four leaders went to work immediately. Armies were mobilized, and the main teleportation hub on Dhiras was turned on.

“It is up to us to teach that Jiang Fei a lesson he won’t forget,” said a Valsalrian with pulsating muscle veins visible all over his face. As one of the great planet leaders in the Ausvia System, he had never suffered such humiliation. The anger he felt was more similar to the anger those in power felt when they were treated “unfairly”; it was unjustified and self-centered.

“I concur,” said another leader, an Alderaanian. Like the twins Jiang Fei met before, this leader had the same similar features except for the shivering cold aura around him. His white, pupil-less eyes only enhanced that feature of his.

“Gentlemen, should we discuss how we are going to divide the haul after Jiang Fei’s defeat?” said the strongest of the four leaders, a Decronian who was larger than average.

“Equally,” said the last of the four leaders, a Valsalrian who was not as menacing-looking as the one before. Even so, there was a glint in his narrow eyes, the kind that schemers and swindlers generally had.

“State your reason? I have the largest and strongest army. I see no need for the lot of you to have an equal share,” the Decronian snorted. Huffs of flames spew out of his nostrils as he breathed.

“Lord Bison, having the largest and strongest army doesn’t lend credence to your claim to deny us an equal share. Although no one can deny the strength of your army, I don’t see a way for you to crush that boy alone. If you can and you do, no one here will lay claim to the haul. You may have them all as long as you can defeat him alone. However, we have all agreed to participate in this endeavor, so the haul must be shared equally,” the Alderaanian retorted.

“Abel, perhaps you wish to surrender to me now or shall I destroy you and take your army for mine?” Bison glared at the Alderaanian, standing his ground.

“Calm down, Lord Bison. Abel has only stated his opinion, a valid opinion I might say. If you are truly as strong as you claim, perhaps you should fight Jiang Fei and claim his prize for yourself?” said the smaller, more timid Valsalrian.

“T’syai, I know what you are plotting. You want me to fight Jiang Fei alone, and when I am at my most vulnerable, you will strike me down and claim both of us,” Bison snarled. Brute might be his ultimate language of war but he was not without brains. Had he not been the leader of a planet in Ausvia, he would have fallen into his cunning trap.

“Lord Bison, you are wise but your intelligence is wasted on thinking that I have such a plot in play,” T’syai said, shrugging innocently without a shred of shame even when his plot had been clearly exposed.

“Say something, would you, Rufus?” Abel turned to the menacing-looking Valsalrian.

The brutish Valsalrian kept his words to himself, crossing his arms as he stood there, stoic. It was not until Abel came over to nudge a response from him that he spoke.

“Lord Bison is stronger than all of us combined. He doesn’t need our help to defeat Jiang Fei. Compared with us, he holds the authority to claim the entire haul to himself,” Rufus declared with a straight face. Contrary to how he looked, the man excelled not with his brute strength but with his sharp mind. His statement was clearly meant to fan the flames on Bison.

Bison was not having it. Despite appearing together on Dhiras with their armies to fight Jiang Fei together, the other three leaders were clearly plotting against one another. Even if he had not proposed the venture against Jiang Fei, the other three leaders would surely have their own plans to defeat him after he was done with Jiang Fei.

That was how it was in the system known as Ausvia, a habitable planetary system where trust was only as worth as the dirt on the ground. Bison had only managed to hold it together for so long because it had not been three years. The rest of the leaders were not as strong. They knew that, hence all three of them secretly conspired together to f*ck Bison over.

At that point, there was no turning back unless saving face meant nothing to Bison. The other three leaders could not have been more obvious in hiding their true motives. Even so, Bison was too prideful to back away. If he left now, he would forfeit from laying claim to the precious Ultralisk meat once Jiang Fei was defeated. However, if he did accept the challenge and fight Jiang Fei alone, he would have to fight the other three forces that would be waiting for him to be incapacitated.

“You think I am weaker than Jiang Fei?!” Bison caved. He believed in his strength and truly believed that Jiang Fei was no more than a conceited brat. On the other hand… he could not give up on the Ultralisk meat.

The Ultralisk uprising was coming, and if he could feed himself with the meat of the Ultralisk, he could at least survive Judgement Day.

“Godspeed then,” Abel said.

“I shall pray for your victory,” Rufus hummed.

“I wish nothing but victory for the great Lord Bison,” T’syai praised.

“Do not think this is over. After I am done with that Terran boy, I will come for the rest of you,” Bison snarled, huffing and puffing angrily.

Bison left the rear camp and joined his army to make the first charge while the rest remained behind to spectate the clash of two titans. To be honest, they had their reasons to pressure Bison into fighting Jiang Fei alone. Bison was strong; stronger than all of their armies combined. If Bison’s forces were not chaffed, assuming all four leaders worked together to defeat Jiang Fei, Bison might not surrender the haul and even attack the other three leaders out of spite. Secondly, it had to do with Jiang Fei himself.

Jiang Fei had been shrouded in a thick cloud of mystery ever since he rose to fame. No one had solid intelligence on Jiang Fei other than circulating rumors.

…

By the time Bison and his army were seen approaching the horizon, Jiang Fei as well as his men were already ready and waiting outside the walls of his palace.

“What’s going on here? Do they actually have a plan, or was that lonesome army forced to act on its own?” Jiang Fei commented when he observed the battlefield’s status from a watchtower inside the palace. It was odd that there were still armies left behind to act as reserves while only one army, being led by a single leader, came charging toward him.

“There are so many…”

“F*ck me… I don’t wanna die yet…”

“Well boys, it has been an honor fighting alongside you.”

“One against four armies… How is that fair?!”

Looking at how many soldiers were charging with fervor toward them, they could not help but feel the pressure of war and succumb to fear despite their growth in strength. They had decided to fight with Jiang Fei earlier before but being surrounded by four armies produced the kind of stress that would shake one’s faith.

“Brother, we should just leave right away. There’s no way we can survive fighting them!”

“Get it together, brother!”

“No! I don’t want to die so young!”

“Shush! Leaving now is the same as betraying Sir Jiang Fei!”

“But if we don’t, we will still die!”

Some of the soldiers with weak wills started to show signs of regret for pledging their fealty to Jiang Fei.