Soon after explaining the rules of the competition, the Plane Arena quickly changed.
Bound by a unique power, all the billions of talents began to weaken, turning into mere mortals.
Feeling his strength and thoughts stagnate, Maximus felt uncomfortable.
Although he knew that with the protection of the Plane Arena, he couldn't die, he felt as if even the wind could take his life.
The Plane Arena had a 'Plane' in its name for a reason.
Bound to the rules of the Aeon Plane, once the Plane Arena was set, even an Overlord couldn't break them.
In the state of mortality, the Overlords overlooking the ground could not harm them in any way.
Merely bystanders and spectators, they could only watch the competition.
Soon after, their power was suppressed to that of a mortal, a pulling force acted on their bodies, throwing them to different parts of the changing arena.
"You know what to do…" Maximus gave his family one last look as all the contestants were randomly scattered around.
In a forest with gigantic ancient trees, Maximus looked around, scouting for enemies and all possible dangers.
Not feeling anything dangerous, he began to examine himself.
From his power, reaction ability, comprehension, consciousness, path of law, physique, ultimate treasure, and his system… all were suppressed.
"Indeed, a powerless mortal," Maximus sighed.
Except for his core origin memory, even his vast armament of knowledge was fully sealed.
[999,991,291/1,000,000,000]
"Hmm? Almost 10,000 were already eliminated?"
Seeing an inconspicuous counter on the left side of his retina, Maximus quickly concluded the following rules of the game.
Aside from knowing they were in a battle royale and suppressed to a mortal state, Ascelon didn't explain any rules.
Looking at the counter, he could only conclude that the remaining million would be the winners.
"A battle of survival…"
Without any goal, the only criterion of the battle royale was survival.
The last one to survive—whether by killing others or hiding until there was only a million contestants left—it was up to them.
Just when he was lost in thought, a snake swooped into his peripheral vision.
Grabbing the snake by its head, it hissed, trying to fight back.
"It seems I'm not completely powerless."
Smashing the snake into the tree, Maximus couldn't help but smile.
While suppressed to the extreme, some of his innate power and abilities were still present.
Testing his abilities one after another, Maximus's smile widened.
"Huh~ this competition is in the bag."
Besides retaining some of his ultimate fighting mastery, he also retained the power of his physique and path of knowledge.
His ultimate fighting mastery gave him a near-instinctive fighting ability.
Meanwhile, his special physique gave him an unbelievable recovery ability.
Testing his stamina, it seemed to have no end.
Running for a few hours without stopping, he only needed to rest for a few minutes to fully recover.
As for his path of law, it gave him a photographic memory.
Everything his eyes landed on was perfectly imprinted in his mind—
from every blade of grass to every leaf on a tree.
Having enough power to topple his fellow mortal-level enemies, Maximus felt confident.
Soon, the days began to pass.
Not wanting to fight barehanded, Maximus built a makeshift bow from the body of an animal and ground natural stone into arrows.
As Maximus returned from his hunt for food, he suddenly noticed something amiss with the road.
"A shift in mud, grass, and plants… based on the damage, it should be an ambush?"
Analyzing the changes in the environment, Maximus quickly concluded that he was being ambushed by an enemy.
"Did someone target me so quickly?"
Based on his estimate, their competition ground had an area of a few trillion square kilometers.
With their numbers and strength, they were like sprinkles of sand in the sea.
Meeting a fellow competitor in just a few days was a miracle.
Feeling the danger creeping up his back, Maximus backed out, gripping his bow and aiming at the sky.
"What are you aiming for?"
Seeing Maximus aim at the sky, the enemy couldn't help but pause in puzzlement.
"It's an experiment…" Maximus smiled, firing one arrow after another, not giving the enemy any time.
"Hmph! Party tricks!"
Not recognizing Maximus, the enemy sneered, dodging his arrows as he charged forward.
Seeing that Maximus couldn't even aim properly, the enemy felt confident, slashing his knife toward his neck.
Suddenly, before his knife landed, a wild arrow struck squarely on his back, piercing his heart.
Dodging the knife's inertia, Maximus watched the enemy fall to the ground.
"What a nice show! Worthy of a Shadowcrest family!" Mars admired.
Although he didn't recognize Maximus, Mars quickly deduced his identity from the emblem on his clothes.
"How did you find the others?" Maximus muttered in interest.
Besides Mars, a group of individuals began to surround him.
If he met one by chance, it was luck.
However, meeting a group in just a few days was a skill.
"It's my ability, the Path of Navigation. Although it's suppressed, it can roughly let me know the position of others within a certain radius."
"I see…" Hearing his explanation, it seemed that physique and the path of law were not completely sealed.
Instead of being sealed, it was more like their abilities were downgraded to that of a mortal, keeping the essence of their power.
From a photographic memory of his path to the unlimited stamina from his physique, everything now made sense.
Looking at the enemies surrounding him, Maximus just smiled.
"So, what do you do now?"
"I want to recruit you to my team!"
Although given Maximus' status, he wouldn't think highly of them, here, everyone is equal.
"Is that so? Unfortunately, I don't want any companions." Maximus shook his head.
In this dangerous competition, where even the slightest poison could be deadly, he didn't dare to trust anyone.
"What a pity~ It seems we can only eliminate you…"