They moved as if nothing were wrong while Krune kept his Divine Sense activated. Behind them, Krune could see those three teams following close; they thought that due to the distance, Krune's group didn't notice their presence. Krune was waiting for a chance, those three teams are close to each other, sooner or later, there would be a clash between them because of his group's black tokens. That would be the moment for them to join the fun.
Sure enough, one of the enemy teams ran out of patience and decided to get rid of the other pursuing side. As long as they were fast, they could catch up with Krune and the others in no time. Krune saw that and showed a smile. He turned around and said.
"Now!"
Ao and Arlan immediately used their best movement techniques and dashed back. But they aren't aiming at those two teams engaged in battle. They are after the last group that stayed outside of that mess. Their enemies had obviously noticed that. After all, they had kept their Divine Sense locked on Krune and the other two until that moment.
"Shit, they are coming for us!"
"What happened to the other two teams? I thought they would attack those three first."
"Let me see."
Their leader, who was focusing on Krune's group, used his Divine Sense to check the other two teams they knew to be after their prey.
"Fuc*! Those two are fighting each other!"
Noticing that they wouldn't be able to take advantage of the other anymore, they immediately prepared to receive Krune and his team. They had thought about fleeing for a moment. Their leader quickly gave up the idea once he noticed the speed Krune, Ao, and Arlan were coming at them. There was no way they could be faster than that! Split and running were also out of the question. Once a black token got too close to another, the leader could use it to track the enemy's black.
Krune arrived before their enemies and immediately released his shields. Ao and Arlan dashed one to each side and started a pincer attack. Their enemies had five contestants, but they knew that if they didn't gather up to defend together, they would be cut down, one by one. They think they were stronger than the last two teams Krune had defeated, but not to the point where they could win that fight with just two cultivators and one demon beast in human form.
The better quality of that enemy team was quickly noticeable. Even with Krune's protection, Ao and Arlan with his Shields still didn't break through their defenses in one strike. But that wasn't a problem. Like the previous ones, they failed to grasp the key point of that battle, which was obviously Krune's support.
As soon as they deflected Ao and Arlan's attacks, several Ice-Water-Thunder Dragons attacked them from all sides. This attack was a lot stronger than his Blazing Wind Blades, although not as fast. As with Shinja back then, every time a dragon was destroyed, it released a lightning attack that the enemies also had to defend against. Of course, that is considering they could destroy them at all. The Ice Armor covering the outer part of the water dragons wasn't something easy to break.
The same way, their formation defense crumbled while Ao and Arlan used that chance to take the enemies down. The group leader understood that it was over, so he immediately tossed his black token over to the enemy.
"Here's the black token, let us go with that!"
Krune grabbed the token and scanned with his Divine Sense. After that, he gave the nod to Ao and Arlan, which made them put their swords away.
"Thank you for your patronage."
After that, Krune, Arlan, and Ao immediately departed. They still had another two preys to catch!
The leader of the last group saw them leaving and just sighed. One of his companions sat on the ground to recover couldn't help but ask:
"Did those shields that demon beast was controlling have all the five major elements on them, right?"
The leader nodded his head.
"Yes. And that wasn't all. The Soul power and Divine Sense necessary to control so many simultaneously with such precision was something that a Foundation Establishment couldn't do. I've never seen someone like that! Not to mention those two swords cultivators, they are the real deal too."
They could only blame their luck and greed for what had happened there. Fortunately, their leader understood that it would be a lost battle and immediately gave up their black token. Otherwise, they would suffer grievous injuries and might have to use their blue token.
Krune's group was moving at full speed to the place where the other two teams were battling each other. They didn't notice that Krune had already turned back and defeated the third team because they had been focusing on their enemies. Of course, it didn't mean they weren't paying attention to their surroundings. They soon noticed Krune and the others' arrival when they entered their Divine Senses.
However, they were surprised to find out that it was the same team they had been trying to catch. Too bad, though! Krune, Ao, and Arlan didn't give them any chance to think things over. They immediately entered the fray and started to cut down enemies. The two other teams' leaders noticed that battling each other would bring no good for either side and immediately formed an alliance on the spot.
But how could a worn-out alliance, which had just been made, pose any threat to Krune's defenses? It wasn't even a fight anymore, but a one-sided slaughter! The leader of both teams could only give up their black tokens in the end. Krune looked at that and showed a bright smile.
"Thank you very much for your cooperation. We hope we can strike such a good deal with your teams again in the future."
The two team members' faces couldn't be any uglier. Who the hell would want to reencounter those three freaks?
Ao and Arlan laughed at that and immediately left with Krune.
Back in the previous city, Elders Loni and Kirian were watching the competitions through a few monitors. They had noticed quite a few teams that had stood out, but it was too early to think that any of them would be the victor.
"Should we start the next part?"
Loni heard Kirian making that question and pondered a bit.
"That should be enough already. Let's pass down the orders for the bandit and demon beast leaders."
Soon after, several demon beasts and bandits inside the testing zone received a message in their communicators. It was time they made a move.
Krune wasn't the only team with good harvests. The moment the two hours of peace were over, several other battles happened all over the place. Of course, such a thing would only occur on the first day. After all, teams moved far enough from the starting line. The chances of meeting one another would decrease drastically. Not to mention that lots of teams were forced to use their blue tokens and leave the contest.
Krune, Ao, and Arlan started to make a name for themselves during the first week. Even though the other teams' frequency decreased, with Krune's ridiculous Divine Sense length, they had already encountered over twenty teams and quite a few alliances. If there were too many people, they would avoid them. If it were one or two teams, they would attack straight away. And no one could say they are preying on the weak. That's because every team they attacked had more members than theirs, not to mention they engaged in head-on battles every time. So their opponents couldn't even say that they got sneak attacked.
If someone complains they were defeated in a ten against three fights, they will turn into a laughingstock. One must remember that every single cultivator or demon beast in this first phase is a famous figure in the place they came from. So their pride simply couldn't allow them to talk about being unfair. In the end, Krune's group was being called the 'Shield and Sword Freaks.'
Somewhere midway to the Ravil City, there was a fragrant smell on the air. The reason for that was obviously Krune. There is no way he would leave on a journey without bringing his cooking tools and ingredients. If one paid attention, they would see a few bodies grunting in pain around the place. Several demon beasts felt the smell of the food and came out to check. As the blood contract states, all the beasts and bandits in the Garmon Planet have to attack the contestant without mercy. Unfortunately for these ones, they just had to bump on Krune and his team.
Ao had taken a table out and prepared the utensils for lunch. By now, Arlan had already got used to this scene. It was as if eating was even more important than the black tokens for Krune. He would never pass the Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner. Of course, he wasn't sad about that. After all, Krune's food was fuc*ing delicious!
Ao, Krune, and Arlan were eating the food on the table while chatting when, suddenly, Krune's expression changed. Noticing Krune's behavior, Ao and Arlan immediately stopped and spread their Divine Senses. Unfortunately, they couldn't see anything, but they didn't let their guard down. In fact, they became even more severe after that. They knew that Krune's Divine Sense was a lot stronger than theirs. If Krune noticed something that they didn't, it meant that their opponent wasn't someone they couldn't take lightly, especially because Arlan and Ao's Divine Sense was also very strong, but they still couldn't see what it was.
Krune then stood up and put everything back into his spatial ring while sending Ao and Arlan a Divine Sense message.
"It's Core Formation Beast, and it's approaching very fast. Its speed is the same as our own when we are moving with our group at full speed. We can choose to flee now or fight it."
Ao and Arlan frowned. If Krune gave the option of fighting, it meant that they did have a good chance at winning. But he also considered the fleeing option, so their opponent wasn't any weakling.
While they were thinking if they should flee or fight, Krune's black tokens started to react.
"Hum?"
Krune took one of the tokens out, and, after checking it, he confirmed it was reacting to another black token in that Core Formation beast direction.
"Somehow, that beast got a black token. Or maybe it was the Divine Path Sect plans to start with."
Krune was right; it wasn't only the other teams that had black tokens. There was also a lot of bandits and demon beasts with them.
"Then, we fight! I refuse to believe our cooperation can't deal with a Core Formation Realm demon beast."
Krune nodded, and they got prepared.