Chapter 153: One vs Three Hundred

“Your subjects chose violence,” Ethan replied with patient explanation. “Your defenses targeted me first. I’m simply responding to established hostility with proportional force.”

Truth. Simple mathematics.

Ten Gold-rank captains spread into tactical formation around their lord, their individual auras combining into coordinated threat display that would have intimidated most territorial opponents. Professional military experience guided their positioning.

Lord Vance’s face darkened.

“Kill him,” Vance commanded with absolute authority.

Poor choice.

Ten Gold-rank captains attacked simultaneously.

Their coordinated assault represented the pinnacle of organizational military capability—diverse talents working in perfect harmony through accumulated combat experience. Fire magic, ice manipulation, earth control, and many more talents created a killing field that would have challenged small armies.

Ethan’s response demonstrated why Platinum-rank transcendence rendered conventional tactics obsolete.

Enhanced Speed activated. Reality fractured into microsecond intervals as his perception accelerated beyond what their coordination could calculate or counter.

The captains’ attacks appeared frozen in crystallized time—fire bolts hanging motionless, ice spears suspended mid-flight, earth spikes emerging from stone with geological slowness.

Volcanic Mastery erupted with devastating precision.

Molten rock consumed ice attacks while superheated air turned fire magic into mere candle flames. Earth manipulation met geological fury as internal temperatures reached stellar levels.

BOOM! CRASH! SIZZLE!

Three soldiers at the silver rank simply vaporised under direct thermal assault. Their enhanced defences meant nothing against temperatures that could melt mountains, bodies becoming steam clouds within microseconds.

Crystal Manipulation answered his will with unprecedented scope. Mineral spears erupted through multiple platforms simultaneously, their razor-sharp points seeking vital locations with mathematical precision.

CRACK! PIERCE! THUD!

Four captains discovered that coordination meant nothing when facing area-of-effect techniques that covered their entire formation. Enhanced armour cracked like eggshells under the penetration of the crystals Ethan sent towards them.

Wind blades carved through the remaining formation with surgical accuracy, invisible cutting edges that moved faster than Gold-rank reflexes could track or counter.

WHISH! SLICE! SPLAT!

The three captains fell within heartbeats of each other, their diverse talents rendered meaningless by power that operated outside established parameters entirely.

Lord Vance stared at the systematic destruction of his elite forces with expressions beyond shock.

His tactical mind struggled to process witnessed impossibility—a single combatant eliminating coordinated Gold-rank opposition through casual gesture.

…

“Impossible… Are you… Platinum rank?” Vance said with growing horror.

The words tasted like ashes in his mouth. Everything suddenly made sense—the casual confidence, the systematic destruction of his elite forces, the complete disregard for numerical superiority. Only a Platinum rank could explain such overwhelming individual capability.

But I’ve spent months building this army. Years developing these defenses.

Vance’s mind raced through calculations that grew bleaker with each consideration. He had reached peak gold rank through decades of systematic advancement and territorial conquest. His C+ grade Swordsmanship talent made him a regional power that lesser Lords feared to challenge.

Yet, all of that means nothing against true transcendence.

His ego refused to accept defeat. This territory represented everything he’d worked toward— hundreds of loyal subjects, sophisticated defensive systems, regional dominance that spanned hundreds of kilometres. Abandoning it meant abandoning his life’s work.

I can’t let go. I won’t let go.

A desperate plan appeared in his tactical mind. The intruder might possess Platinum rank, but individual power had limits. Even transcendent capability could be overwhelmed through sufficient sacrifice and strategic application of numerical superiority.

Kill him through attrition. His treasures will compensate me for my losses. I might reach platinum rank with them.

Platinum-rank individuals carried advancement materials worth decades of normal development. Cores, herbs, magical equipment—resources that could push him toward platinum rank if properly utilised.

Subjects can be replaced. The summoning gate exists for exactly this purpose.

“All units!” Vance’s voice carried across the stronghold with desperate authority. “Coordinated assault! Every subject, every formation! Overwhelm the target through total commitment!”

Three hundred combatants. Bronze to Gold rank capabilities.

His subjects responded immediately despite witnessing the systematic elimination of elite forces. Loyalty burned in their eyes—not through magical compulsion, but genuine devotion earned through successful leadership and shared victories.

Their sacrifice will purchase victory.

Warriors poured from every conceivable position within the city. Bronze-rank soldiers formed the first wave while Silver-rank specialists provided tactical coordination. The remaining Gold-rank captains positioned themselves for maximum impact.

Professional military organization. Coordinated sacrifice with strategic purpose.

Ethan studied the approaching tide of humanity with interest. Three hundred subjects represented substantial commitment to violent resistance—loyalty that transcended rational self-preservation.

Admirable. Futile, but admirable.

“Your loyalty is impressive,” he called out to the advancing formation. “But loyalty doesn’t overcome reality. Stand down, or you will die.”

The warriors did not back down, despite his showcasing of power; they somehow still wanted to continue.

The first wave reached him within seconds—fifty Bronze-rank warriors whose coordinated assault demonstrated professional training despite their individual limitations. Enhanced weapons gleamed with basic magic while battle cries echoed through jungle air.

Brave men charging toward their inevitable death.

What surprised Ethan was that the weaker soldiers were the ones who were fighting at the front lines. It was clear to him that those at the bottom had more loyalty than those at the top.

It made sense, after all…power breeds greed.

Enhanced Speed activated to minimal levels. Reality shifted into manageable slow motion as Bronze-rank coordination became readable patterns rather than assault.

Volcanic Mastery responded with controlled precision. Instead of maximum thermal output, he applied graduated force that eliminated targets without wasting energy on excessive destruction.

SIZZLE! CRACK! THUD!

Ten Bronze-rank warriors simply evaporated under directed thermal assault. Their low-tier magical equipment meant nothing against temperatures that turned metal into liquid within seconds.

Crystal Manipulation erupted through the platform surfaces, mineral spears seeking vital points. Bronze-rank defenses crumpled like parchment under crystalline penetration.

PIERCE! CRACK! SPLAT!

Fifteen more warriors fell to systematic impalement, their formations disrupted by attacks that came from unexpected angles through solid architecture.

Wind blades carved through the remaining Bronze-rank assault with surgical precision, invisible cutting edges that eliminated resistance while demonstrating the futility of conventional tactics.

WHISH! SLICE! THUD!

The Bronze-rank wave died within thirty seconds of engagement, their sacrifice purchasing nothing except educational demonstration of power disparity.

Fifty down. Two hundred and fifty remaining.

Silver-rank specialists formed the second assault wave.

Their coordinated approach demonstrated tactical sophistication that Bronze-rank formations couldn’t match. Diverse talents working in harmony while positioning allowed mutual support without interference.

Professional military capability. Worthy of respect.

Water Manipulation answered their advance with pressurized streams that struck with hydraulic force capable of crushing boulders.

CRASH! SPLAT! CRUNCH!

Their numbers and power provided survival time measured in seconds rather than minutes.

Volcanic Mastery created environmental hazards that challenged their positioning. Molten rock erupted through platform surfaces while superheated air made breathing dangerous even for their powerful physiology.

The survivors adapted quickly, their experience guiding them toward tactics that might succeed against normal opponents. Coordinated retreats, overlapping fields of fire, mutual support—textbook responses to a superior enemy.

Whilst their adaptation was admirable, their execution wasn’t enough.

Crystal spears emerged from every surface simultaneously, their razor-sharp points covering escape routes while forcing Silver-rank specialists into killzones where other techniques could eliminate them efficiently.

PIERCE! CRACK! THUD!

Fifty Silver-rank veterans joined their Bronze-rank colleagues in death, their sacrifice demonstrating that their coordination and tactics meant nothing against Ethan.

One hundred and ten were eliminated. One hundred and ninety remaining.

The remaining high and peak silver rank soldiers led the final assault wave—elite combatants whose individual capabilities represented threats.

Seven Gold-rank captains joined the silver-ranked soldiers and attacked in perfect coordination, their combined assault representing the pinnacle of the territory’s combat power. Fire, ice, earth, metal, manipulation, working in harmony through accumulated combat experience.

Ethan’s speed talent remained active; reality was still moving slowly around him, and the Gold-rank coordination appeared sluggish in his eyes, despite their incredible agility.

Still too slow.

Volcanic Mastery met their diverse talents with overwhelming thermal superiority. Ice manipulation became steam clouds while earth control met geological fury that reshaped the battlefield itself.

BOOM! SIZZLE! CRACK!

Three captains discovered that Gold-rank enhancement couldn’t survive direct exposure to stellar temperatures. Their advanced techniques meant nothing when the fundamental physics of their attacks were being overwhelmed.

The remaining four adapted their tactics, recognizing that direct assault meant death. They scattered across multiple platforms while maintaining coordinated pressure through ranged attacks and battlefield control.

They are using good strategies. Although it still won’t matter.

Crystal Manipulation answered their positioning with area-denial techniques that covered multiple platforms simultaneously. Crystal constructs emerged from every surface while razor-sharp edges eliminated safe movement routes.

CRACK! PIERCE! THUD!

Two more captains fell to positioning control, their evasion patterns anticipated and countered through battlefield reshaping that exceeded their mobility options.

Five captains down. Two remaining plus supporting forces.

Wind blades carved through the survivor’s defensive formations with surgical precision, invisible cutting edges that moved faster than Gold-rank reflexes could track or counter effectively.

WHISH! SLICE! SPLAT!

The final two captains joined their colleagues in death, their elite capabilities rendered meaningless by power that operated beyond what they could comprehend.

Seven Gold-rank captains were eliminated. Supporting forces remaining.

One hundred and thirty Bronze and Silver-rank subjects continued their assault despite witnessing the destruction of superior forces.

Tragic, but admirable.

The systematic elimination continued without fail as Platinum-rank capability demonstrated why organisational strength became obsolete when facing sufficient individual transcendence.

Revolution through superior evolution.

By the time silence returned to the stronghold, one hundred subjects had joined the corpses littering multiple platforms. Their sacrifice had accomplished nothing except validating the futility of conventional resistance against true individual supremacy.

Lord Vance stared at the systematic destruction of his life’s work with a grim expression.

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