The Ascension Age

Chapter 57: Ring of Fire

Everyone's attention was immediately piqued. "What kind of idea do you have in mind?"

Sera then began to run in the direction of the closest top-ranked team's territory as she told them, "Follow me." 

Aire and the others nodded in response and quickly went after her. Not too long after that, they left the territory they had defended for a long time. Sometime after that, the sound of battles began to resound once again.

All the teams, including the big ones, were fighting against each other. Sure enough, many of them preferred to avoid combat until the very end before robbing other teams of their Stellar Energy. In any case, the area had become embroiled in battle once again. 

Somewhere in this chaos, Aire's group made their way through the teams without Stellar Energy Bubbles. Naturally, they still had a lot more Stellar Bubbles than the groups outside, so some of those enemy groups decided to target them instead.

However, they were underestimating Aire's group. At the moment, Sera and Kymei were being piggybacked by Aire and Altina. At the same time, Sera guided them through the field, avoiding most of the battles. Not to mention that Kymei and Sera kept shooting back, delaying them in the process. One must remember that Aire was already far faster in this place than anyone below the Stellar Paths Stage. As for Altina, she was a Riser at the Stellar Energy Manipulation Level. Because of that, the other group couldn't really catch up to them unless their leaders gave up on their teams and focused on pursuing them. Obviously, that wouldn't happen since all of them thought of the possibility of it actually being a trap.

With that, Aire and Altina kept running, entering different battlefields and leaving them a few moments later. Everywhere they went, they caught a bit of attention, forcing some of the enemy groups to pursue them. Before the ones chasing them could even give up, they had already run a lot further away from their initial positions.

Back on the monitoring airship, Vaxo seemed to understand what was happening as he muttered, "Now, would you look at that. I almost didn't notice what they were trying to do."

Oivy paid a little more attention and nodded, responding, "I see...that's indeed very audacious. I wonder if any of the teams down there have noticed what they're trying to do."

On the map in front of them, they saw how the teams that would pursue Aire's group would eventually give up. However, the places where they gave up the pursuit were exactly where Sera wanted it to be. After that, without even noticing, they would change their targets once more, going after the Riser with the most Stellar Energy close to them.

And just like that, those top-ranked teams were gradually being forced out of their territories where they held the advantage. After all, the enemies were coming from almost all directions, leaving only a small lifeline for them.

Sera looked at the communicator and smiled as she said, "Good! Altina, Aire, how are you holding up?"

Altina and Aire didn't seem too bothered, surprisingly. "We're fine. We're using some of the Stellar Energy in our bracelets to recover and keep running. We just hope your plan works."

Sera shrugged her shoulders as she responded, "It's not like we have much to lose since we can keep our distance from the actual enemies. However, if it works out as I imagine, we'll be in for a feast."

Time soon passed, and 25 minutes had gone by since Aire's team last defeated an enemy. That meant that they had to find someone to dispatch in five minutes, or they would lose 50% of all the Stellar Energy they had accumulated so far. However, Sera didn't seem that worried. Instead, she kept looking at the map every now and then while helping Kymei fire back at anyone pursuing them.

Eventually, the moment she waited for arrived. "That's it! We brought together most of the top teams into the same area. Now the other groups who are after their Stellar Energy are all flocking there. If any of the big teams try to leave that area, they'll become everyone's target."

As soon as Sera said those words, Altina and Aire stopped and let the two come down their backs. Right behind them, there was a team that Sera purposely arranged to follow them closely. 

"They're out of energy! Attack!" Sure enough, they didn't waste time and attacked Aire's team. 

Unfortunately for them, Aire and the others were anything but tired. Altina and Aire immediately pounced at the incoming enemies while Kymei and Sera provided support. This team wasn't anything hard to deal with. After all, their leader, who had the highest Riser Level, was only at the Stellar Paths Stage of the Stellar Body Transformation Level. Not to mention that they didn't even have any Stellar Suits. 

As for Aire's team, they had greater combat power, not to mention their Stellar Suit Arms. Not even a couple of minutes after the battle started, they had already dispatched two of the enemy's group members, leaving only their leader and another guy alive. 

Sure enough, those two guys didn't waste time and ran away without even thinking. It was obvious that they had been fooled, so there was no point in staying anymore. Aire's group didn't pursue them either since they could see how much Stellar Energy Bubbles they had. From the very start, they had almost none, which meant going after them would be a waste of energy. It was good enough for them that they could restart their 30 minute counter with the two defeated ones.

Sera immediately looked at the map on her communicator and took a deep breath as she muttered in disbelief, "Holy shit! There are so many points moving in that area that I can't even read their names." 

Aire and the others were also surprised to see the outcome of Sera's plan. It didn't matter how strong the teams inside there were. With so many people flocking around them and the danger of the other top-ranked teams confined in that place, they also began to fall one after another. 

Eventually, Sera saw the opportunity she had been waiting for. "There it is! Their leaders are trying to escape while using their team members as scapegoats. This is our chance!"

Altina, Aire, and Kymei couldn't help but be amazed that Sera's plan had worked out this well. If they had missed the right timing or Aire and Altina failed to keep up the pace, they would have been the ones surrounded and defeated by the starving crowd.

However, they also noticed a problem. "Hey, look! One of the teams that were outside the ring of fire is also going after the fleeing leaders."

Sera's expression became dark as she cursed, "Fuck you! Do you know how much effort I put in to make this happen?! Everyone, let's go! We can't let them take all the Stellar Energy away from us."

With that, Aire's team headed to the area where the running leaders were moving towards.