Fortunately, some among them possessed other divine clones and had already transmitted the news that this island was under attack by one of the Seven Lords back to the main headquarters stationed on Lianyan Island.
At most, within ten days, a battalion commander would arrive here with reinforcements.
Unfortunately, they likely wouldn't last that long.
"Judging by your expressions, I suppose there's no need for introductions."
Standing before the thousand-man magical battle formation, Harald raised his hand. Instantly, a massive halberd nearly three meters long appeared in his grasp.
The blade of this halberd emitted a blood-red glow. Even without being swung, the space around its edge was already split by a thin black line.
That… was a spatial rift!
This weapon, by its own power alone, could tear open the space of the Netherworld.
Clearly, it was an extremely powerful divine artifact.
While it could not compare to a Sovereign artifact, if it fell into the hands of a Demigod, it could still be used in a surprise attack to slay a God.
"If you don't want to die, you can surrender to me."
"I can guarantee that if you submit under my command, I won't break your formation apart. I'll even allow you to expand your ranks."
"My only requirement… is that you hand over your method of training."
"Well?"
"Heh…"
Hearing Harald's words, the soldiers of the Sovereign army all let out disdainful sneers.
Who did Harald think he was?
To dare speak of taking them under his command.
If they revealed their true identities right now, what kind of expression would Harald show when he realized he had attacked the Sovereign army?
That would certainly be quite amusing.
But as soldiers of Locke's Sovereign army, trained in the magical battle formations left behind by Lord Locke, the fact that they had failed to complete their mission after tens of millions of years filled many of them with shame. None of them wished to reveal their identities, fearing it would disgrace the army and bring shame upon Sovereign Locke.
"Mad Lord Harald, I admire your courage."
Though he knew death was all but certain, the company captain of Locke's Sovereign army showed no trace of despair.
Having served in the Sovereign army for so many years, fighting pirates and protecting the lives of the island's inhabitants, the gratitude of countless lives seemed to have been etched into the very souls of these soldiers.
"All these years, you are the first among the Seven Lords to personally launch an attack on an island under our protection."
"Though we are no match for you, we have already sent word of your assault."
"In the days to come, Mad Lord Harald, I hope you live long enough to experience the despair and fear of being hunted by our battalion commanders."
Hearing this, Harald's expression darkened.
Although he had been one of the Seven Lords for over a million years, he had never once encountered a battalion commander from Locke's Sovereign army.
That was because among the five battalion commanders of Locke's army, four had each pinned down one of the Four Kings within their respective territories.
If any of the Four Kings showed signs of leaving their domain, they would immediately be attacked by a battalion commander leading troops.
It was precisely because the Four Kings were confined in this way that the Seven Lords had been able to rise.
Though Harald had great confidence in himself, he was not so arrogant as to believe he could stand against a battalion commander of this mysterious force.
At the same time, unlike the Four Kings, he had taken the initiative to attack an island under this force's protection—he would undoubtedly face retaliation.
But where there was danger, there was also opportunity.
As long as he could survive an encounter with one of their battalion commanders, he would become the new Fifth King.
With that thought, Harald snorted coldly.
"If I can encounter one of your battalion commanders, I would actually look forward to it."
"After all, if I want to become the fifth king of the Nether Sea pirates, I must inevitably face them."
"It's just a pity—you won't live to see that day."
"Otherwise, you'd witness that it won't be me being hunted down… but me stepping over your battalion commander's corpse to become the Mad King of the pirates!"
As he spoke, a powerful fluctuation of the Destruction Laws erupted from Harald's body. Black-red divine power surged outward.
In a flash, Harald shot forward, trailing a long tail of divine energy as he charged toward the magical formation of the thousand-man unit.
"Defend!"
With a shout from the company captain, he immediately mobilized the divine power of the formation's soldiers, sending a torrent of energy crashing toward Harald.
"Hmph. Trivial tricks!"
With a cold snort, Harald swung his halberd, releasing a black-red arc of light that tore through dozens of meters of space as it slashed toward the incoming energy.
"Boom!"
The collision between the magical formation's energy torrent and Harald's attack exploded with a thunderous roar.
At the center of the clash, a circular spatial void burst open.
A terrifying suction force surged from the void, swallowing most of the energy released by the collision before finally stabilizing and sealing the rupture.
After this exchange, Harald did not slow down in the slightest. He continued charging toward the formation.
Meanwhile, the Sovereign army's formation had been slightly outmatched in the clash, causing the soldiers within to suffer a significant shock.
After all, the company captain himself was only at the level of a Five-Star Fiend.
Though his mastery of magical formations was impressive—allowing him to command a thousand-man formation with power approaching that of a Seven-Star Fiend—the formation itself was far more cumbersome than a true Seven-Star Fiend.
It was precisely for this reason that he had failed in his earlier challenge to become a battalion commander.
Now, after many years, he and his soldiers were once again facing a true Seven-Star Fiend.
But this time was different.
The last time had been an internal evaluation—win or lose, their lives had not been at stake.
This time, if they lost… it would truly be the end.
To bring out the full power of a magical formation required unity of heart—perfect coordination, the ability to entrust one's life completely to others.
It could be said that the bond between the soldiers within a formation was no less than that of blood brothers.
They were comrades who could entrust each other with their lives.
Unless absolutely necessary, the captain would never wish to lose even one of them.
But under these circumstances, survival was no longer a matter of choice.
With that, the captain raised his arm.
"Brothers, this may be the final battle of our lives."
"I've made the decision for all of you—to refuse surrender and fight to the death with me. Do any of you regret it?"
"Hahaha, Captain Feldman, what are you saying?"
"We may have failed to complete the Sovereign's mission and feel ashamed to reveal our identities—but our pride has never wavered!"
"That's right, Captain Feldman!"
"He's just a pirate leader, a frog at the bottom of the well in the Nether Sea, ignorant of how vast the world truly is. And yet he dares demand our surrender—he truly doesn't know life from death!"
"Fight, Captain Feldman!"
"To be honest, these tens of millions of years fighting pirates and protecting the island's inhabitants… have been the most meaningful years of my life."
"I'm a hero in Karas's eyes. If I surrendered, his faith would collapse. How could I be so selfish?"
For a moment, voices echoed throughout the magical formation.
No matter what each soldier said, not a single one expressed regret or a desire to surrender.
"Then, brothers—entrust your lives to me. Let us fight one final battle!"
"Yes, Captain Feldman!"
In that instant, perhaps due to the unity of their hearts, Feldman's understanding of the magical formation deepened further.
With a single thought, the positions of the soldiers shifted ever so slightly.
Immediately, everyone within the formation could clearly feel that the power granted by the formation had increased once more.
The aura gathered under Feldman's control surged explosively, breaking through the barrier between Six-Star and Seven-Star Fiends, reaching a level barely comparable to Harald.
This development filled the soldiers with joy.
Captain Feldman had made another breakthrough in his mastery of the formation—bringing their thousand-man unit to the level of a Seven-Star Fiend.
Perhaps… they might be able to hold out until reinforcements arrived.
With that thought, a powerful will to survive surged within all one thousand soldiers. They calmed their minds, focused completely, and followed Feldman's guidance with even greater precision, making the formation more seamless than ever.
"Oh?"
Harald's expression darkened.
What he hated most was seeing his enemies break through in the midst of battle.
It felt as though he himself had become nothing more than a stepping stone for their advancement.
The last person who had broken through before him had already risen to a level he could only look up to.
And now… it was happening again.
In an instant, killing intent surged within Harald.
That intent had already surpassed his earlier desire to subdue this unit.
"Die!"
Without another word, Harald surged forward with overwhelming force, halberd in hand, striking directly at the magical formation.
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