Ezekiel took a deep breath before pulling his arm. Erwin was holding him back to the best of his ability, but he ended up getting pulled along. He actually crashed into Aileen, stopping her attack.

Clovis turned solemn. This meant he had to stop Ezekiel by himself.

He activated the Abyss State to the fullest. With the strength of a Tier 7 and the boost of everything he had, he struck Ezekiel.

Bang!

His sword hit Ezekiel, but the shield stood firm. There wasn’t the slightest shake, showing that Ezekiel had more than enough strength to actually withstand his full strength.

He started activating his essence, using the power of the beast to overwhelm him. His strength and speed increased by another notch.

Ezekiel kept up with him. Thanks to his body and position, Ezekiel maintained the exchange with only one shield.

Christina activated her unique ability one more time, trying to restrain Ezekiel’s movement. In addition, Reolf and Freud were approaching from the side.

Aileen and Erwin had recovered. Lastly, Christina and Ragna were coming from the other side.

They managed to encircle him.

"You’re underestimating a Tier 9 human." Ezekiel seemed to have noticed the encirclement and immediately raised his shield up. He smashed the ground with his shield, causing it to shatter.

A small crater formed, which caused everyone to fall slightly. Their balance was off for a split second, and Ezekiel immediately swung his shield around. The shield released a massive shock wave that blasted Erwin and Aileen back.

Fortunately, Jay abruptly appeared and cut the shock wave for Reolf and Freud.

In addition, Clovis managed to withstand the blast with both swords, but he got pushed back by a meter.

Christina and Ragna had a hard time stopping this attack, but fortunately, Luci came from behind, giving an additional push to withstand this attack.

Clovis immediately jumped back. Melody had adjusted the plan slightly.

Bullets and arrows flew toward him.

Ezekiel raised his shield and planted it on the ground.

Bam!

The impact of their attack echoed across the area, but Ezekiel actually managed to stop their combined force.

"!!!" Even Angelia couldn’t help but widen her eyes. "Is the gap between a Tier 8 and a Tier 9 this big?"

She was a Tier 8 human with a pseudo unique ability. Yet, for some reason, she couldn’t even push him back.

Melody’s order soon came in. "Initiate Plan B."

Angelia took a deep breath to regain her composure. She then flew away. Since she could mask her arrow, she planned to launch a sneak attack on Ezekiel.

Meanwhile, Clovis came forward again, trying to stop Ezekiel from attacking everyone.

Reolf and Freud came in with Jay right behind them.

Ezekiel scoffed. Clovis pushed in so that Ezekiel couldn’t stop them. Ragna and Christina also came from the side to get the other shield.

It was at this time that Ezekiel smirked. Suddenly, Clovis felt like his blade was being pulled in.

"What?" Clovis was trying to regain his balance, but Ezekiel spun Clovis’ body with his shield before banging him hard.

Clovis managed to block it with both hands, but he didn’t have the momentum to stop this attack from blowing him away.

Once he was gone, Ezekiel smashed his shield to the side, smashing Reolf and Freud.

Surprisingly, Reolf took it head-on, and Freud dropped his sword and grabbed the shield.

Jay leaped into the air, charging all his strength and momentum to create a single swing.

Ezekiel looked like he wanted to shake Reolf and Freud off, but Erwin wrapped his arm with his thread while Aileen sneaked past his defense and hit the back of his neck.

Ezekiel had covered his torso, legs, and arms, but there was nothing above his neck. It should have been an effective attack, but it turned out to be a trap.

"Got you!" Ezekiel smiled. He slightly tilted his body so that the armor would be the one to get hit.

"!!!" Aileen didn’t expect Ezekiel would still be able to move in that position.

Ezekiel sprang back and hit her with the back of his head, knocking her down.

Then Ezekiel kicked her like a horse.

"Gah!" Aileen coughed, unable to react in that position.

Erwin got slightly distracted, allowing Ezekiel to move his arm.

Noticing the disruption in their position, Melody immediately asked the sniper team to attack.

A bullet and an arrow flew toward him.

Ezekiel thought about using Reolf and Freud as a meat shield, but his plan was stopped by Rea, who abruptly descended.

"!!!" Ezekiel had almost forgotten about this bird. Rea hadn’t launched a single attack from the beginning, so her existence slipped his mind.

Rea used her weight to knock him down, but Ezekiel smiled. This was it. "I have to praise all of you!"

Ezekiel’s eyes turned bloodshot as he stomped the ground with his right foot. Then he forcefully spun his body.

"Where is he getting all this strength?" Jay was shocked, but he still launched his slash nonetheless. This was their chance after all.

Yet, Ezekiel managed to spin his body at the last moment and created a barrier from a shock wave, neutralizing even his sword strike.

"!!!" The Libation Fiesta was strong enough that they could probably fight 7 to 8 Tier 8 humans on their own. Yet, it was actually not enough to stop Ezekiel.

Still, there was one thing Ezekiel miscalculated.

"Huuu..."

Suddenly, Ezekiel felt an intense killing intent to the point where he could smell blood. He would believe it if there were a puddle of blood beneath his feet. More importantly, his barrier was split open.

"!!!" Even Ezekiel didn’t expect someone could actually cut his barrier. For a brief moment, he felt like he was hallucinating.

Clovis was the culprit. He had to wield his long sword with both hands, but he managed to do it.

"Impressive." Ezekiel smirked. "That’s what it takes to be my grandson-in-law. Come!"

Clovis leaped forward and drew the short sword, but Clovis was ultimately a distraction. Once the barrier disappeared, an arrow flew toward Ezekiel unnoticed.

Zap!