My eyes narrowed when I heard the man I'd left behind scream.
"I'll kill you!"
I watched him rush at me, his cloak flaring behind him like he was some kind of villain in a cheap play. My mind spun with thoughts. I needed to figure out how to stick to our plan without letting them take North. That was the line I wouldn't let them cross.
I guessed their original goal had been to capture me, Steve, and North—then regroup with the fourth one hiding somewhere nearby.
Once they had all three of us, they'd disappear. The grandmaster fighting Arkas would probably retreat the moment we were secured.
But that wasn't happening.
Not if I could help it. Since they couldn't get North, the plan was already falling apart for them and that left us at a standstill.
They wouldn't retreat without all three of us. So, the only option I had left…
Was to force them to retreat.
I almost groaned at the thought. I was actually going to have to force my own kidnapping.
With a sigh, I bent my legs and burst forward, heading toward the area where I'd sensed the fourth man hiding.
If I could widen the gap between North and these bastards, I might just give her enough space. Steve knew the plan, and I trusted he'd follow along without needing to be told.
Sure enough, both of them started chasing me the moment I ran. That made me grin.
I stopped somewhere between the hidden man and the place where the other cloaked guy was still fending off the rest of our group.
I spun on my heel and turned to face my two pursuers, one guy I'd nailed in the balls with [Havoc Sfera], and the other who'd taken a faceful of fire beam.
I rested my staff across my shoulders and gave them a lazy smile.
"For master-ranked individuals, you two are seriously pathetic. Can I ask what your levels are? Just curious."
The guy I'd burned barked out a cough while the other one, the ball-less wonder, stepped forward, rage painting his face.
"Don't get cocky. We had strict orders not to hurt you. But since you struck first..." He grinned, lips curling like he thought he was about to win. "No one's gonna save you now."
Save me?
That line stuck in my head. My mind flashed to June. Where was she? The Vice Commander hadn't shown up once in this entire mess. I scanned the field quickly, but I couldn't spot her anywhere.
Before I could think more on it, the ball-less one let out a scream and pulled a massive hammer from his storage ring, jet black with veins of glowing red running through it.
It hit the snow with a thud heavy enough to make the ground tremble. His partner, the earth user, raised both hands as dark spikes of blackened stone erupted around him like a crown of death.
My grip tightened on the staff. Essence rushed through my limbs as I sped up the circulation, strengthening my muscles, reinforcing my bones. Fire gathered at my feet, coiling and writhing like it was alive, itching to be set free.
I moved first.
I slid forward with fire bursting from my legs and swung my staff in a wide arc.
Flames followed the motion, sweeping across the snow as the hammer-wielding man stepped into the strike. He raised his weapon to block, but the heat got there first, fire lashed across his forearm, forcing him to flinch.
Boom.
The staff slammed into his hammer. I felt the jarring force of the impact, but I leaned in, pushing harder.
He snarled and shoved back, trying to overpower me.
I let his strength carry me, shifted my weight, twisted my body, and ducked low beneath his guard. My left palm slammed against his ribs, glowing with violet Essence.
"[Seismic Burst]!"
A shockwave exploded from the point of contact. The man grunted and slid back but not far. He dug his boots into the snow, bracing with raw power.
Before I could press, the second one moved. A pillar of black earth erupted beneath my feet. I jumped, barely avoiding getting impaled but another spike tore through the air beside me, grazing my arm.
'Damn, he is fast.'
I took a deep breath and focused on the Essence flowing through my channels. At my command, it shifted into fire, turning hot, wild, and hungry.
Flames burst out from my arms, wrapping around them like living serpents. They danced and coiled, leaving trails of orange and violet heat in the air as the fire burned with my will.
My eyes locked onto the earth-controlling man, and I lunged at him. Fire rolled along my staff as I spun it once, the flames licking the air before I thrust it straight toward his chest.
He raised a wall of blackened stone in an instant—dark, jagged, and pulsing faintly with energy.
My staff slammed into it, flames bursting on impact with a shower of sparks. The heat scorched the surface, leaving glowing red cracks along the stone where the fire clung like molten veins.
I narrowed my eyes and stepped back, pulling the staff with me.
The fire roared brighter along the shaft as I poured more Essence into it. Then I lunged forward, driving the staff straight at the center of the wall with both hands.
Boom.
The tip struck with a thunderous crack, and this time the force tore through the weakened stone. A shockwave pulsed out as chunks of burning rock exploded outward.
The man stepped back, his palm pressed to the ground, summoning another spike.
But I was already moving.
I sidestepped the rising spike and slammed the base of my staff into it, using the momentum to launch myself upward. As I soared, I flipped the staff behind me and brought it down like a falling star, flames roaring with the force.
Boom.
He blocked with both arms crossed and I saw his skin changing colour to black. The blow landed hard enough to send a ripple through the snowy ground. The fire splashed across his forearms, sizzling on contact.
He grunted and stepped back, but I stayed close.
My hands shifted again, this time a horizontal strike aimed at his ribs. The fire roared with it, making the strike look like a burning blade cutting through the cold air.
He twisted away, but not fast enough.
The edge of my staff clipped his side, the flames searing through the folds of his cloak. He hissed, the burn clearly felt, and tried to retaliate with a wave of stone erupting from beneath me.
I leapt back, staff spinning defensively, flames swirling in a spiral as I landed and immediately advanced again.
Left strike. Right jab. Overhead smash.
Each motion burned hotter, the fire following my will. Sparks danced across the snow with every impact, steam rising in angry bursts as the cold melted under the heat of my weapon.
He blocked most of them.
But I didn't give him time to think.
Before I could press my attack even more, the hammer guy returned, swinging that cursed weapon at my side. I side stepped, but the sheer force of the wind from it sent me skidding. My staff slammed into the ground to stop me, fire flaring out in a circle.
"You're fast for a kid," the hammer man growled, eyes narrowing.
"And you're slow for someone with no balls," I shot back, grinning through the burn building in my legs.
Both men came at me together this time. The earth user raised platforms beneath the hammer-wielder's feet, launching him forward with bursts of rising stone.
He leapt from one to the next, closing the distance fast while the other man stayed behind, shaping the terrain to guide the attack.
The hammer-wielder roared as he soared in, swinging wide and heavy.
I let go of the idea of defending.
Instead, I moved.
Essence surged inside me. My body felt light and strengthen at once.