"Do you really think even if you join them you can defeat me?", the Darkness Elementalist asked.
Alice shrugged but didn't give a reply, she wouldn't bother answering him. She was just as confident in her strength, as he was. Even if she couldn't defeat him alone, there was no way he could kill her.
"They have something I want", the Darkness Elementalist said again.
Alice looked at both youths by her side, they then recounted what happened.
According to them, they found a fire elemental weapon, and just after obtaining it, the Darkness Elementalist came in and asked for it. Even though they knew he was strong, there was no way they were going to give it to him.
They had to go through a tough battle just to acquire the weapon in the first place, and they felt they were strong enough to fight him together. But the reality was far from what they thought. The Darkness Elementalist not only completely overpowered them, but it also seemed he had the ability to kill them. Luckily, Alice came.
"You can't have it", Alice said lightly.
She had never backed down from a fight, and she probably never will in a situation like this. The only time she'll ever back down is when the power difference between both parties has gotten to the stage where numbers have no meaning, or if she was outnumbered.
"Hmph!", the Darkness Elementalist snorted coldly and attacked.
If not for the fact that he felt Alice in addition to the other two youths was going to take too much of his time, he wouldn't have spoken to them and would've attacked immediately. But now, since they were not coming to an agreement, it was best he dealt with them instead of wasting his time talking.
The path wasn't that wide, it had a width of fifteen meters max.
Seeing the Darkness Elementalist attack, Alice's expression turned serious, and she also immediately attacked with her lightning element.
Boom!
With both attacks clashing against each other, both parties retreated a couple of steps backward from the impact with Alice retreating five steps more.
'Hmm, she's stronger than even the youth in the Third stage. This is going to be harder than I thought', the Darkness Elementalist reevaluated Alice.
Just from this first exchange, he was able to estimate Alice's strength. Although he had only used one of his elements, which was his trademark darkness element, the difference in strength wasn't that much. Had Alice been in the same stage as he was, then the difference would be almost negligible.
'He's strong', Alice squinted her eyes.
Had she been alone, she would have definitely not been his match.
"Attack together", she said to the others.
"Hmm", both youths nodded.
Bang!
All four people got into a heated battle in the path. Due to the width of the path, it limited some of their attacks, especially for the trio because they couldn't use any large area of effect attacks, but the Darkness Elementalist had no such limitations and was attacking without restraints.
Five minutes later…
"Huff! Huff!"
All four fighters were panting heavily, with sweat dripping from their faces.
'She's a Dual Elementalist, if I want to acquire the weapon, then I'll have to eliminate her first. If not, then I'll have to leave and focus on reaching the end of the paths. I can't waste my time here', the Darkness Elementalist thought while once again reevaluating Alice.
Alice was like a thorn on his path, she was stronger than most people in the Third stage of the Origin Plane. He felt there was even a chance that she might be able to defeat Dual Elementalists in the Third stage even though she was still in the Second stage.
The injured youth was protected mostly by Alice and the other youth, although he could be said to be a distraction sometimes, he had still made some notable contributions to the battle. There was a time the Darkness Elementalist was about to attack the other youth after pushing Alice back, but his attack was what stopped him.
Other than the youth injured previously, none of the others had sustained any strong injuries.
They once again engaged in a battle.
The Darkness Elementalist was a great fighter and could easily switch between attack and defense. He knew the right time to attack, and also when to fall back. He was like a well-seasoned fighter.
This was the first time Alice was fighting someone this experienced. Although, she felt the teamwork between her and the other youths was the cause of the Darkness Elementalist still being fine.
'*Sigh* Had it been me and the boys, then this guy would have been dead by now if he didn't escape, well, I don't think he could have been able to escape though. Those guys are like a pack of hyenas', Alice smiled gently at the thought of her friends.
Given how well they knew each other, their teamwork was almost flawless. There's no way they would team up against someone and the person will survive.
Another two minutes went by with no one gaining the upper hand.
The Darkness Elementalist was on the defensive during these past two minutes, but other than pushing him back a few times, they hadn't been able to do anything to him.
'Now', squinting his eyes, he charged straight at the injured youth.
After bidding his time, an opportunity finally presented itself.
Seeing the Darkness Elementalist charging towards him, the youth prepared himself to welcome the attack. Although he wasn't as strong as him, it didn't mean he'll be overwhelmed by fright.
"Oh no!", Alice exclaimed and dashed towards the injured youth to help just like she had been doing during the battle.
She knew if the Darkness Elementalist got to him, the chances of him surviving was not much.
Since both of them had the lightning element, they were pretty fast.
Bang!
A figure was sent flying, before hitting the wall.
When the other youth looked closer, he was stunned on seeing Alice on the floor. Due to the speed of Alice and the Darkness Elementalist, he didn't see their movements properly.
"How?", he blurted out unconsciously.
He remembered seeing the Darkness Elementalist charging at the injured youth, so how come Alice was the one he attacked instead?
The Darkness Elementalist didn't bother with the other two and slowly walked towards Alice who was trying to stand up.
Her shoulder was already bleeding heavily from the attack, with a pale face, she struggled to stand on her feet but couldn't. It was a fatal strike. If not for her reacting quickly, then the attack would have taken her life.
Looking at the young man walking her way, she realized he tricked her. His initial target was her, but he only dashed towards the injured youth as a feint to draw her closer to him.
"Once you're out of the picture, these fries wouldn't be a problem", the Darkness Elementalist chuckled lightly.
The youth in the Third stage rushed towards the Darkness Elementalist trying to protect Alice.
"Go! I'll hold him back", He roared and attacked the Darkness Elementalist.
Compared to other Academies, the Lunar Academy ensured the relationship between each student was good. Even though they might not be close friends, but as long as they saw a fellow student in danger, they have never hesitated to rush in, even if it cost them their lives. This was also the reason Alice stepped into the battle.
Even the injured youth didn't refrain from attacking, as long as they could protect Alice successfully, they were satisfied, even if it meant death. He also felt guilt because if not for him being weak, then Alice wouldn't have been in this situation.
This was the first time they were having any exchanges with Alice, even at the Academy, they never spoke. And now, she was about to die because she helped them, they couldn't accept it.
Alice looked at the two youths rushing to what looked like their deaths with a sad look, the Darkness Elementalist was not only strong, but he was also scheming as well, these were the toughest people to deal with, smart and strong people.
Boom! Bang!
Within one minute, the Darkness Elementalist was able to easily defeat both youths.
"Since you want to save her so much, I'll keep you alive, so you can watch me kill her", he said towards both injured youths.
The two youths looked at each other with despair, even after sacrificing themselves, due to how severe Alice's injury was, she couldn't escape.
"Don't worry, your death will be swift. I don't have any more time to waste", the Darkness Elementalist laughed lightly and raised his hand.
Boom!
An attack rang out.
Both youths closed their eyes because they couldn't stand and watch Alice die. Hearing the sound, they just waited quietly for their deaths. After some seconds, they heard an arrogant voice.
"To think you would dare to attack her"
