As soon as Atticus and the rest of the trainees heard that voice, their hearts clenched in fear.
Couldn't they just catch a break? They were almost at the caves!
Atticus gritted his teeth and fought the aura that was locking down his body, but the best he could do was simply move his head upwards to gaze at the enemy. What he saw made his heart tighten in horror.
Before him stood a one-handed behemoth of alarming proportions, an imposing giant standing at a towering height of 15 meters.
Atticus immediately recognized Alvis, the one who was supposed to be fighting Rowan. Despite Alvis being weakened, Atticus could feel the overwhelming aura he exuded.
It was so powerful that even with his earlier boost in power during his fight with Astrion, Atticus knew he couldn't win if they fought.
It was then that Atticus's mind registered the implications of Alvis's presence here. 'Did Rowan lose?' he thought in horror.
If Rowan had lost, the camp was gone. Without another grandmaster-ranked individual to defend them, who else could survive even one strike from this monstrosity.
Alvis gazed at the trainees lying in the group with a cold look. He spoke again, his voice booming, and the ominous aura surrounding him intensified.
This time, he increased the intensity of the aura, causing the earth beneath the trainees to cave in slightly as they struggled not to get crushed.
Alvis was absolutely shocked at the number of trainees who had managed to escape. It meant the rest of his companions had done a terrible job! How had they allowed so many of them to survive?
Seeing the trainees, he had immediately wanted to kill them, but he restrained himself for one reason: he needed to know what had killed Astrion.
What was even more baffling to him was that there were only trainees present here. He had been expecting at least a master rank when he started the chase.
Did that mean that it was one of the trainees who had killed Astrion?
'No, impossible,' he thought, killing the idea in his head. His disciple wasn't that useless.
Meanwhile, none of the trainees knew what Alvis was talking about. Was his brain working properly? He had arrived out of nowhere and asked, "Who killed him?" without providing any other information.
Wasn't he aware of the situation? A lot of people died this morning, how were they supposed to know who he was talking about?
Alvis seemed to realize his mistake. He quickly removed Astrion's severed head, which he had picked up earlier, from his storage ring.
Then he controlled his aura, shrouding each of the trainees, lifting them from the ground. He made the head float in front of the trainees and asked again, "Who killed him?"
The trainees, now looking at Astrion's severed head, immediately recognized him. How could they not? They had all nearly lost their lives to him. Their expressions shifted, and they instinctively turned to look at Atticus at the front.
It wasn't that they were trying to give him up to Alvis. They each instinctively turned to Atticus with a look that conveyed one thing: hope.
They had all accepted Atticus as their leader and were ready to follow his lead. During the fight with Astrion, Atticus had displayed a sudden increase in power that had astonished them and made them question their sanity. They were all hoping he could perform that miracle again.
However, the hope they were each waiting for was a foolish dream. Atticus was feeling completely drained. Despite his exhaustion and aching body after the battle with Astrion, Atticus hadn't rested for a second.
He had kept running and trying to gather mana immediately after the fight. Currently, he doubted if he could even defeat someone at his own rank, let alone a grandmaster-ranked individual, someone three entire stages above him.
Plus, he even doubted if he could handle that power again, even if given the opportunity.
Atticus had no way out of this, and that realization made his heart clench. After everything they had been through, all the hard training, was this how it was going to end?
Alvis noticed that each of the trainees had turned their attention to a boy at the front. His eyes immediately focused on Atticus, causing the aura shrouding him to intensify.
Alvis also noticed the katana strapped to Atticus's waist, which made his eyes narrow. "You killed him?" His voice grew colder.
A 10-year-old had killed an expert rank with a powerful bloodline? It was something absolutely unbelievable, something that anyone sane would find hard to believe.
But he received no answer, just Atticus's cold eyes fixed on him.
Alvis frowned, and just as he was about to resort to torture to get more answers, booming laughter sounded from the forest. "Hahaha! A 10-year-old killed your disciple, Alvis!" Ronad's voice sounded as he approached the group.
The trainees all flinched as they saw another grandmaster rank approaching.
Aurora's eyes widened, 'No!'
She had just realized the implication of both of them being here. Didn't that mean her father had lost? Then what happened to him? She thought in dread.
Alvis closed his eyes in annoyance, taking a deep breath to control his anger. He opened them and completely ignored Ronad's existence, fixing his gaze on Atticus once more. He immediately increased his aura, slamming Atticus down on the ground.
"Atticus!" Ember and Aurora yelled, trying to move, but the aura holding them in place didn't budge.
Atticus felt the pain he was experiencing intensify a hundredfold. It felt as if the weight of the entire world rested on his body. He fought the aura, struggling to avoid being crushed.
He mustered everything he had, the little mana he had gathered after the fight with Astrion amplified his strength, but it did next to nothing against the overwhelming force.
He tried to soften the earth but Alvis's aura shrouded him entirely, making any attempt at controlling the elements futile.
Just as Atticus's bones were about to break, Ronad suddenly spoke, interrupting Alvis.
"Stop wasting time, Alvis. There's an easier way to get your answers," Ronad said, his gaze directly fixed on one of the trainees.
Atticus fought through the pain wracking his body and followed Ronad's gaze.
Realizing who Ronad was looking at, Atticus's expression turned frightening.