There's strength in unity.
This unified strength couldn't be overcome by a solo ranker unless the latter's individuality exceeded that of a group.
Furthermore, the individuality of a ranker took into account everything from a ranker's elemental affinities, the number of spells he could use, the Abilities he had access to, their ranking technique, elemental attainments, weapon comprehensions, to the kind of gear he used for offense or defense. So when a ranker's individuality was referred to, it referred to his entire existence.
Eren had come to realize this truth in his last timeline. Unlike Eliza who had focused on individual strength from the beginning despite being part of a prominent clan, the butcher knew the importance of acting as a team.
After all, the people at the top would always look for lone wolves who stood out so that they could suppress them. So acting in the group provided Eren with the cover he needed to stay lowkey.
Eren believed that individual strength could always be harnessed in silence while acting as a part of the group. He would never challenge an entire system on his own. At least not until he was forced or ready to do so of his own accord.
***
Eren also explained to Kirin that battle formations didn't really need an array disk. It only acted as a mediator among multiple rankers belonging to different elemental affinities and attainments. Moreover, some high-ranking entities had better chemistry with each other or were simply talented enough to cast battle formations without using array disks. Battle formations cast by such rankers were on another level.
Eren also observed a peculiar thing while explaining things to Kirin. It was that Oliver wasn't using an array disk when he was about to activate the battle formation for the very first time. This was when all of his team members were alive.
The array disk allowed Oliver to use Biru's body as support for the formation as well as act as a mediator between the six rankers. It told Eren that the battle formation he had created was a makeshift one. Something he hadn't practiced enough with his team.
The silent standoff lasted for about a minute or two until Oliver decided to break the silence.
"You lot… Do you think you will get away with this? You will have to pay a steep price for targeting me and my team."
Oliver smiled wickedly at Eren and the rest before activating the battle formation. All of a sudden, the winds started blowing and the mana in the surroundings started to churn. Since Oliver was the commander of the battle formation, the effective mana grade of the formation was C-Rank.
The surrounding mana started to condense right over the airspace Oliver's group was standing under. Before long, a dense amount of wind-element mana started to take the shape of a sword blade. This was about a 50-meter-long blade that was giving threatening vibes all around it.
The hilt of the blade was next to form. Earth-element mana transformed into a solid form in the next moment before turning into a prominent-looking hilt. The large sword and the hilt were then inscribed with elemental runes by some unknown force. These elemental runes gave the giant sword an added edge. The blade was coated in scorching flames and lightning as a result of these elemental runes.
When the sword was completely formed, it was surrounded by various elemental attainments. It created small mana storms in the surroundings and threatened to affect the fabric of space.
At this point, a large sword could be seen hanging over Oliver and his team's heads. When Oliver swung the sword under his command, it cut through the air and sent out mini storms all around it. The gales generated by the sword were enough to send a lower-ranked mana beast 100s of feet away in the air. And this was when the sword wasn't even aimed at the subject.
After the Expert rank and beyond, spells and powers of the same grade started to affect the environment directly. If the battleground was near any prominent city, the city administrators would have sent their forces to check out what was going on.
Layla, Ivor, and even Kirin had grim expressions on their faces when they witnessed the power of the battle formation. If any of them tried to fight that sword monstrosity all alone, they knew they would be forced to pack their bags and leave OR be ready to face severe consequences.
Ivor knew he would have been in for a long session of suffering and pain if he had to tackle the sword. He didn't even know how to fight such a giant weapon in the first place. And he doubted his pride armor would be able to protect him for a very long time if he kept on clashing with the blade.
Layla clenched her fists when she saw Oliver showing the might of his battle formation. She could tell that the formation had not yet been fully activated. It meant that the formation was capable of harnessing even more power but the rankers involved in the formation weren't capable enough to unleash it. Or that the formation needed more rankers.
This was the first time Kirin saw a battle formation for real. She could say that the strength of the formation was impressive. She could sense that the manifested sword had some flaws that had been introduced due to errors in synchronization among the members of Oliver's team. Nevertheless, the weapon appeared threatening enough to intimidate the half-elf.
Oliver looked at Eren and his side with a tinge of false pity in his eyes before speaking up. One of the rankers that were part of the battle formation also took pleasure in seeing his opponents' faces. He laughed as he spoke.
"Tch. Tch. Tch. It was sad that we had to kill Master Biru for activating this battle formation. But his death as well as the deaths of all our team members will be avenged with this sword.
Hahaha. By the time we are done with these fuckers, they won't even have intact bodies that they can call their own."
