So Jake didn’t take his teacher’s words about the increased difficulty and stronger competitors in the global tournament seriously at all.

  He was ready to make a name for himself on the global stage, hoping to claim another championship.

  However, when he arrived at the competition venue and saw the 1.5-million-square-kilometer divine domains of William and Cedric, he immediately knew that winning the championship was out of the question.

  Instead, he planned to participate in a few battles, showcase his skills, and impress the university recruiters in the audience with his potential. After that, he would retreat with his subordinates into his divine domain and surrender safely.

  It was a great plan, but plans never keep up with changes.

  As Jake commanded his centaur army, leveraging their excellent mobility to charge across the vast plains in search of an easy target, his reconnaissance squads, which had been exploring the surrounding area, spotted something that left him completely stunned.

  The iconic sea of skeletons belonging to the undead stretched endlessly into the horizon, numbering at least several billion. Above them, the sky was filled with countless skeletal bats, all steadily advancing along the outer perimeter of the battlefield.

  At that moment, Jake wanted nothing more than to step out of his divine domain, grab his teacher by the collar, and make him take a look at this nightmare.

  “So this is what you meant by ‘the difficulty has increased slightly’? This isn’t an upgrade from easy mode to hard mode—this is straight-up hell mode!”

  As a frequent topic in academic studies, Jake didn’t need to guess what an undead demigod would do upon entering the battlefield with an absolute numerical and strength advantage.

  If the opponent could block the escape routes back to the divine domains and then systematically encircle and annihilate all other contestants’ forces, they could not only grow stronger but also secure the championship in the process.

  Regaining his composure, Jake immediately dispatched more scouts to expand their search for a safe escape route.

  But one by one, the scouts ran into squads of skeletal knights and bats, getting annihilated in the process.

  By analyzing the locations where his scouts were being wiped out, Jake quickly realized that trying to retreat his army back to the divine domain now would only lead them straight into the undead army’s encirclement. Once trapped, there would be no escape.

  Making a swift decision, Jake commanded his centaur forces to move as far away from the undead’s operational area as possible before searching for a better opportunity to return home.

  Unfortunately, they had already been spotted by the skeletal bats.

  With their movements exposed, they were soon pursued by an overwhelming force of several tens of millions of skeletal knights.

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  Luckily, the pursuing army consisted only of skeletal knights, not the flying skeletal bat legions. Only a handful of bats served as scouts, constantly tracking their position.

  Just when Jake was beginning to lose hope, something unexpected happened—the skeletal bats were suddenly torn apart midair by another group of fierce-looking creatures.

  Without the bats constantly reporting their movements, Jake’s centaur forces were finally able to rely on their four-legged mobility and carefully planned maneuvers to shake off their pursuers.

  After days of grueling running and tactical repositioning, they narrowly managed to break free from the undead army’s encirclement.

  Once out of the trap, the skeletal knights who had been chasing them for days ceased their pursuit.

  Finally reaching the central plains, Jake allowed himself to relax for the first time in days.

  His centaur troops, having reached their physical limits, stopped to rest and recover.

  Emerging as a divine projection, Jake scanned the battlefield. Though exhausted, he was also deeply lost in thought.

  “What was supposed to be a chaotic battle royale has turned into a goddamn survival game for me…”

  Any hopes of showcasing his combat skills were long gone.

  His only priority now was figuring out how to keep his hard-earned centaur army alive.

  Just then, Jake froze. He had just synchronized his vision with one of his scattered centaur scouts.

  The scout had ventured closer to the center of the battlefield, where a massive gathering of different race factions formed a dark, densely packed horde.

  Seeing this scene, Jake was still processing his thoughts when—

  About 200 meters away from the centaur scout, a humanoid figure in camouflage clothing, wielding a light throwing spear, suddenly leaped up from the ground.

  Startled, the centaur scout instinctively drew his bow to full draw, the sharp arrow aimed directly at the mysterious figure.

  Before he could release the arrow, a massive divine projection rapidly materialized above the humanoid figure.

  The moment the projection appeared, a voice rang out telepathically.

  “Fellow contestant, I mean you no harm. I am a member of the Absolute Alliance and would like to invite you to join us.”

  Hearing this, Jake hesitated. Seeing that the humanoid figure had not pointed his weapon at the centaur scout, he signaled for his forces to lower their weapons.

  Appearing as his own divine projection in the sky, Jake responded cautiously.

  “You’re inviting me to join an alliance? What are the conditions?”

  “There are no conditions. This battlefield has turned into an absolute death trap. All of us here are contestants who escaped to this region to survive.”

  “We formed this alliance simply to stick together and increase our chances of survival.”

  Hearing this explanation, Jake was momentarily stunned, his expression skeptical.

  “You’re telling me you guys also broke out of the undead’s encirclement and ran all the way here?”

  The demigod shook his head with a bitter smile.

  “It seems you don’t fully understand the situation in this divine realm yet.”

  “There’s not just one monstrous opponent in this tournament.”

  “On the opposite side of the battlefield, another freak of equal caliber is also exterminating the competition.”

  He then pointed toward the far side of the battlefield, in the exact opposite direction from where Jake had come.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me… Another one? One of these monsters is enough to dominate the entire battlefield, and now you’re telling me there are two of them?”

  Jake couldn’t remain calm any longer. The revelation completely shattered any illusions he had left.

  Seeing Jake’s stunned reaction, the demigod gave a helpless nod to confirm the truth before continuing.

  “The other freak is also using a numbers-based strategy. His subordinates are some kind of unknown beast species. Based on gathered intel, he has at least 1 billion of them.”

  “So right now, the battlefield is a complete death zone. We’ve got undead ahead, beasts behind, and our return portals are located deep inside their encirclement. We’re utterly trapped.”

  “1 billion?! How the hell is anyone supposed to survive this?! What’s the point of this competition anymore? We’re just here to get slaughtered!”

  Jake’s mind buzzed, his thoughts in complete disarray. Any remaining hopes for the tournament had officially crumbled.