"How are we supposed to fight that being if those two are having trouble?"
Elena, the only female among the group, muttered in a daze as her eyes followed their movements. The being was faster than the two boys yet they didn't show any signs of stepping back and the entity seemed to be playing along.
As if to answer her question, the entity looked towards the others. Its red eyes were sinister and chill-inducing. Its gaze held a silent promise of pain and suffering before turning back to Alex and Ross.
Of course, Alex and Ross did not miss this and it wasn't much of their concern as Alex's mind spun rapidly to come up with a plan that could defeat the entity.
After a while of studying the attacking patterns of the two, Zen gritted his teeth and dashed towards the fight. He couldn't just stand there and watch as the being wore out their hardest hitter.
'What if it gets exhausted and only a well-placed and timed attack with a lot of power was the only way to defeat it?'
Zen gave Alex and Ross some room to breathe as they had been going on for some time with no results.
The fight became a three on one and even then, the entity had no problem keeping up with them.
Suddenly, the being performed a manoeuvre that was missed by the three fighters as it abruptly disappeared from them and appeared behind one of the spectating students who was too frozen in fear to move.
"!!!"
Alex, Ross and Zen realized they had lost their opponent and when they noticed where the entity appeared it was already too late.
"NOOO!"
Alex bellowed as he exploded with greater speed than before to stop the entity's action. However, the entity did not even put Alex in its eyes as it plunged its long sword through the student's back.
It pierced the armour with ease and cut through the tissues of the student as the student moaned in pain with blood leaking from the corner of his lips before slowly falling to his knees.
Alex came to a stop as the lethal strike was already dealt. Everyone remained frozen with wide eyes as their heart rate increased and sweat broke from their brows.
They were given a reminder that their lives were on the line and any mishap could cost them dearly.
The light of life in the eyes of the student died out as he slowly slumped forward, his consciousness being embraced by the darkness beyond.
[…. Your last trial: …. Face Me….]
The entity repeated the words it spoke at the beginning. Ross and the others now understood what it meant.
They were all supposed to go at the entity and not just a few while the others rested and just watched as they took shelter behind the columns.
"This is bad…"
Zen muttered and Ross couldn't help but nod in agreement. His gaze followed the entity as it stood there with the same relaxed demeanour it had since the beginning.
'What exactly does it want from us? It's clear as day it could defeat and kill us whenever it pleased, so why bother?'
He struggled to make sense of the entity's actions. They were here to claim the Celestial Sigil and to do that, they had to fight their final guardian.
Yes, they knew the entity had lowered its strength to give them a chance, but even Aelx was having trouble keeping up with the entity.
"We can only attack it together. But to do that, we'd have to alternate between who goes in and who comes out to make room for someone else to deliver their attacks."
Elena suggested with a heavy expression. She wanted nothing more than to leave this forsaken place and find some rest. And while she was confident in her abilities, she was now wondering if she should have called it quits.
"Agreed."
Philip added after having a mini heart attack when the entity attacked the person close to him. It could have been him if the entity had set its sights on him.
With their suggestion ready, they stormed at the entity whose eyes glowed the moment the students closed in on it, and within moments, they began clashing with the entity as one student after the next went in for the attack.
But it felt as though, they were children an adult was just playing with. They went all out in the physical department as every blow and every swing of their weapons produced loud booms as weapons clashed.
In all this, Ross stood behind and watched a bit before his attention turned to Alex who had his face down since the death of the student.
Ross knew Alex enough to know that he wasn't down before he felt guilty for failing to save the student, but because he failed to stop the entity before it killed the student. Yes, it was the same thing, but Alex saw something else.
Everything Alex stood for came from his family and if he failed to stop an entity that had one of his family members in a similar situation, would he lose them for good?
It was what plagued his mind right now, turning his mildly serious expression into something dark. The commotion ongoing from the students clashing with the entity died down and everything else became surreal.
'What would you do?'
Ross wondered and because he had momentarily forgotten about the entity, he failed to notice it as it turned in his direction and suddenly appeared before him, its sword swung from above as it aimed right for Ross's head.
"ROSS!"
Zen exclaimed in horror as he and the others watched on.
Turning to look up slightly, Ross met the red and piercing eyes of the entity as its sword fell from above.
He tried to raise his sword in an attempt to block the attack and even if he managed to bring the weapon in the swing's trajectory in the nick of time, it still wouldn't be enough to stop the momentum of the long sword.
'Fuck…'
Ross saw his life flash before his eyes as the swing slowly grew in his field of view. Yet, the impact that was meant to come never did.
*BOOOM!*