"Five days?"
Hearing this timeframe, Ryan's heart sank.
A company led by a Six-Star Fiend facing a pirate force commanded by a Seven-Star Fiend—forget five days, they likely wouldn't even last an hour.
Unless the leader of the attacking pirate crew—"Mad Lord" Harald—was a complete fool who simply let his subordinates assault Feldman's Sovereign army unit without taking action himself.
In that case, no matter how numerous the Mad Lord pirates were, defeating Feldman's company would be nearly impossible.
But would Harald really refrain from acting?
That possibility was almost nonexistent.
And once Harald made his move, how could Feldman and the others possibly hold out for five days?
"Damn it!"
Ryan cursed under his breath.
At that moment, he made a firm decision.
Once he wiped out this so-called Mad Lord pirate crew, he would definitely create a technique to increase his speed.
That way, if he ever encountered another urgent rescue mission like this, he could arrive at the battlefield as quickly as possible, extending a helping hand and minimizing casualties.
For now, Ryan could only unleash his divine power at full force, disregarding the cost, and rush toward Azure Peak Island following the soldier's directions.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
On Azure Peak Island, thunderous explosions rang out one after another. The immense power tore open massive spatial rifts in the sky, creating a terrifying scene.
Mad Lord Harald swung his halberd wildly, the power of the Destruction Laws erupting as he relentlessly battered the magical formation.
Meanwhile, Feldman remained calm and focused, channeling the divine power of his soldiers through the formation. With the augmentation of the Laws of heaven and earth, he engaged Harald in fierce battle.
After breaking through in his mastery of magical formations, Feldman had finally reached the level of a Seven-Star Fiend under the formation's enhancement.
However, like all such formations, while their attack and defense were on par with Harald, their mobility was far inferior to that of a true Seven-Star Fiend.
This was a nearly universal weakness of magical formations.
At present, the only one in Locke's Sovereign army who had overcome this flaw was the fifth battalion commander, Celes.
But Celes had solved this problem by creating a specialized formation that enhanced movement speed.
With his perfect control over formations, Celes could alter the formation nodes in an instant, switching between different configurations—activating speed when needed, then shifting to offensive formations during combat.
Feldman, though talented in formations, had taken a different path from both Figroa and Celes.
He couldn't command as many soldiers as Figroa, nor could he manipulate formation nodes with Celes' precision.
However, Feldman stood somewhere between the two.
Given enough time, with his ability to command more soldiers than Celes and greater precision than Figroa, he might eventually reach their level.
But for now…
"Boom!"
Wielding his longsword, Feldman gathered the divine power of a thousand soldiers. Under the amplification of the Laws, he unleashed a sword aura thousands of meters long, clashing head-on with Harald.
"Damn it!"
Brilliant sword light collided with black-red Destruction energy, producing a deafening explosion.
Both Feldman's formation and Harald were forced backward by the immense force.
Where their energies collided, the fabric of space tore open in vast, jagged fissures.
Where those fissures spread, seawater surged upward and mountains disintegrated.
Harald's expression darkened. He hadn't expected this army to be hiding such strength.
Before he had acted, their attacks and defenses had only been at the peak of Six-Star Fiend level. He had assumed he could crush them in just a few moves.
But once he engaged them, he realized that their combined power was no weaker than his own.
Their defense was equally formidable.
If not for the fact that their formation limited their mobility, he might have already withdrawn rather than continue chewing on such a tough opponent.
However, before this battle, Harald had already spread word of his ambition to seize a king's seat.
Right now, spies from countless pirate factions were likely watching this battle from outside Azure Peak Island.
If he retreated now, the prestige of the Mad Lord pirate crew would suffer a devastating blow.
For a pirate crew, prestige was everything—it determined their ability to attract followers.
A crew with great prestige could rally countless wandering pirates with a single call.
A crew without prestige, even if it begged others on its knees, would be ignored.
"Hmph!"
"Though I don't like using this move, if I want to crush you quickly, it seems I have no choice but to reveal my true strength."
Glancing beyond the island, Harald raised his halberd high toward the sky and let out a wild roar.
"ROAR!"
With a thunderous shout, a hundred-meter-tall phantom of a red-furred giant ape appeared behind him.
"A divine beast… the Bloodthirsty Demonic Ape!"
"Innate divine ability?"
Feldman's expression changed drastically.
All divine beasts possessed innate divine abilities.
Some were merely supportive, but others could completely alter the course of battle.
No one had expected that Harald, one of the Seven Lords of the pirates, was actually a divine beast.
And not just any—he was the infamous Bloodthirsty Demonic Ape.
Its innate divine ability was called Berserk.
Once activated, it traded rationality for power.
The more reason one sacrificed, the greater the increase in strength.
It was said that if one sacrificed all reason, their power could increase more than tenfold.
No wonder Harald bore the title "Mad Lord."
His previously baffling behavior suddenly made sense.
Although the Bloodthirsty Demonic Ape's ability granted tremendous power, it came with severe side effects.
After the ability ended, rationality would gradually return—but each use permanently eroded a portion of it.
Judging by Harald's current mental state, he had clearly used this ability many times before.
Still, this was understandable.
In the Divine and Higher Planes, every strong individual rose through slaughter.
Even Locke had fought Sovereign clones.
And in such a rise, encountering powerful enemies and using trump cards was inevitable.
"ROAR!"
The phantom ape behind Harald let out a furious howl before merging into his body, causing red flames to ignite around him.
With another roar, the crimson flames spread onto his halberd, merging with his Destruction divine power.
"Be honored. To defeat you quickly, I've used my innate divine ability."
"My strength is now twice what it was before!"
"Die!"
"Boom!"
With a slight tremor, countless tiny spatial fissures appeared around Harald, making it seem as though he were surrounded by a black halo.
Then, in a flash, Harald surged forward with overwhelming force, launching another attack at Feldman and his men.
"Boom!"
"Pfft—"
After just one clash, several soldiers within Feldman's formation were unable to withstand the force and spat out blood, suffering heavy injuries.
For divine-level experts, such injuries could be healed with divine power.
But repairing the body consumed enormous amounts of it.
The divine power that could sustain battle for centuries would only suffice for a few full-body recoveries.
Once their divine power was depleted, they could no longer maintain their positions within the formation.
And once the formation collapsed, none of them would escape.
Were they really going to die here?
Just as despair began to creep into their hearts, one soldier suddenly shouted:
"Don't give up! A deputy commander has received news of our situation and is rushing here!"
"According to the message, he'll arrive at Azure Peak Island in at most five days!"
"What? Reinforcements—and a deputy commander?!"
At this news, the morale of the soldiers surged.
Even Feldman's breakthrough, which had elevated their formation to Seven-Star Fiend strength, hadn't lifted their spirits this much.
Because they all knew—no matter how strong the formation was, it still couldn't match a true Seven-Star Fiend.
Its slow movement alone made it a sitting target.
Previously, they had only hoped Harald would retreat, unwilling to pay the cost to defeat them.
But the moment Harald used his innate divine ability, they understood—
This battle would end only with one side destroyed.
And most likely… it would be them.
⭐ Enjoying the story?
You can read ahead and support the translations by joining my Patreon! Your support helps me update faster and take on more projects. Thank you for reading!
Read up to 50 chapters ahead!
patreon.com/AminaSims
Next Bonus Chapter at 1550 Powerstones