As soon as Atticus saw the crimson hue of the ship's weapon, he reacted immediately.
The world seemed to slow as his heightened perception operated at full power. He swiftly stimulated his air bloodline with mana, his body became almost weightless. He manipulated the air around his body and moved.
His body cut through the air at supersonic speed as he moved towards the cliff, immediately jumping downward.
He immediately spotted Aurora, clinging on the mountain, her gaze fixed on the devastating scene, her expression frozen in a state of shock.
Turning in her direction, he swiftly stopped stimulating his air bloodline with mana and immediately switched to fire. The process akin to lightning in its swiftness.
With his hands behind him, legs bent, and his body facing Aurora like a spring, he released a colossal burst from his feet and palms, propelling himself towards Aurora breathtaking swiftness.
He reached Aurora, stopping his momentum with a perfectly timed burst at his front. He grabbed her, then turned his gaze to the rest of the trainees. A conflicted expression appeared on his face that only lasted a millisecond.
He had already decided.
He swiftly switched to the earth element while still suspended in the air. With Aurora in his hands, he touched the mountain, focusing on the earth.
Immediately, he and every trainee became shrouded in earth as they were all drawn down towards the same point at the bottom.
With his hand still on the mountain, he controlled the ground to open up as they approached, and they were each swallowed into the ground, with the earth closing behind them.
Despite being in the ground, Atticus didn't relax. He continued to control the earth, taking the group deeper and deeper as fast as he could.
And then, the beam hit the mountain.
BOOM!!!
Immediately, each of them heard a cataclysmic sound that threatened to burst their eardrums. The earth shook as the earth stabilizing the space the trainees were in threatened to cave in, but Atticus focused all his energy on stabilizing the earth.
After a few intense seconds, the force threatening them stopped.
All of this happened in 7 seconds, not enough time for the trainees to regain their bearings. They were all disoriented, unable to react to anything.
Atticus immediately controlled the earth and carried them back to the surface. As the earth shrouding them was removed, they all turned their gazes up to see the massive form of the mountain hurtling downwards.
Every single one of the trainees froze, including Atticus. No matter how much he thought, no matter how hard he tried to figure out a way out of this, his mind turned out blank.
There was nothing he could do, and that realization made his heart tighten, his fists clenched in frustration.
Before the imposing form of the mountain could flatten the entire area, a single figure suddenly appeared in the air, directly below the descending mountain.
With his hand drawn back for a punch, Rowan's fist radiated a blinding white light that bathed the entire camp in an otherworldly glow.
Without missing a beat, he unleashed the punch at the mountain.
His fist sliced through the air with such power that the very atmosphere seemed to shy away from it. The brilliant light around his hand grew and expanded, dwarfing even the mountain itself.
The punch collided with the mountain in an explosive impact, obliterating it utterly. The sheer force of the blow sent shockwaves through the air, parting the clouds for several kilometers in every direction.
Before the trainees could rejoice, immediately, a figure appeared behind Rowan. Rowan's eyes immediately shifted, and he spotted a man adorned in a Chinese robe that billowed in the air: Alvis.
But Alvis wasn't wearing his usual cold and detached expression. He was currently wearing a maniacal grin, his usual unsettling aura growing to unimaginable heights.
His body shrouded in a dark aura, he transformed. Arms and legs growing in mass as his clothes tore. His muscles hardened like steel, and fearsome fangs protruded from his altered countenance.
As his colossal muscles swelled, his arm tensed like coiled steel, and with a thunderous roar, he unleashed a devastating punch that cracked the very air itself.
Rowan remained unmoved, his expression unchanged. Immediately, a blinding white light enveloped his form, as he extended his arm outwards, a shield made of light appeared between him and the punch that was threatening to blast him into oblivion.
BOOM!
The attack hit the shield with a devastating impact, sending shockwaves throughout the entire camp. Trees were uprooted, buildings shook, and some of the trainees were sent flying due to the force.
Atticus had to control the earth to hold each of the first year trainees' legs so that they weren't blasted away.
As the dust settled, the shield held. Not a single crack.
Without missing a beat, another figure appeared behind him, his green eyes blazing with an intense fire- Ronad.
He wore another maniacal grin on his face, with his sword pointed skyward. He immediately brought it down in a devastating arc that seemed to cleave through the very fabric of reality itself.
Rowan immediately tried to bring out his weapon from his space ring, but his eyes narrowed as he realized he couldn't access it.
Acting with lightning-fast reflexes, he immediately manipulated light and molded it into a sword. He parried Ronad's attack with pinpoint accuracy, redirecting the force of the strike.
The sheer force of this clash sent shockwaves radiating outwards, leveling several buildings in the camp as if they were fragile constructs in a hurricane.
Before Ronad could follow up, Rowan backed up, turning his gaze down at the camp, as if looking at each trainee and staff.
They all knew what he was thinking: everyone would die if these monsters should decide to fight here.
He redirected his attention back to Alvis and Ronad, and before they could react, a blinding light emanated from Rowan, covering them up and in an instant, they vanished.
The camp fell into silence.
Suddenly, the cargo door of the ship in the air opened from below, and an army of individuals, each bearing the aura of at least Advanced rank, descended on the camp.
***
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