On the earthen platform, Atticus's cold voice sounded, "If you want him to lead you, here's your chance." Atticus truly had no patience for nonsense.
He was straining himself trying to get everyone to safety, and there they were, arguing about something extremely useless. What was even more annoying was the noise they were all making while they were trying to escape with their lives!
Every single one of the trainees became eerily quiet. It was as if something horrible would happen if they made a sound. None of them wanted to get off this platform. They knew they wouldn't last a second alone. They all kept quiet, completely forgetting about William and the duo.
Jack let out a small chuckle. 'I hope you die,' he thought while gazing back at William, who was already becoming a tiny dot, a cold glint in his eyes.
The earthen platform kept moving.
Atticus was currently moving toward the place he had his last hunt with his Ex squad, the Arachnix caves.
None of the trainees were aware of the exact location of the camp. Although they had each ran to the camp when they first came, the ship had dropped them in the forest, and they had no idea where the forest was.
The worst part was that they couldn't access their storage rings to bring out their communication artifacts and call their parents. They were all stranded.
He felt like the best course of action was to take refuge deep within the Arachnix caves, at least until any help arrived. He could easily take care of any magical beast in the caves despite his poor state, and it would be easy to defend in the cave with his earth element.
Atticus thoughts suddenly shifted to the force that had enveloped the camp back then. It was obvious that it was that force that deactivated every rune in the camp, including their devices.
He was astounded that there was such a thing. If there was an artifact that could essentially cripple a runesmith, why hadn't he heard of it?? 'Damn that old man,' he couldn't help but curse Grimestone under his breath.
He took in a deep breath and cleared his mind of unnecessary thoughts once again, focusing on moving the earthen platform as fast as possible.
Suddenly, he noticed a bright purple light at the corner of his vision. He swiftly turned and saw one of the men he had seen earlier with Hugo in the air, the one with a cloak covering his face.
The dark, gloomy aura surrounding him had intensified. He was currently holding a staff with a skull attached to its top, a swirling purple orb that seemed to be getting bigger floating on top of it.
The man suddenly uttered, his voice hoarse, "Death orb."
The orb was swiftly shot at supersonic speed toward the trainees.
Atticus's heart skipped a beat, he quickly activated his perception to slow down time, enabling him to react. He immediately received an unimaginable pain in his head. Despite the piercing pain, he knew they couldn't outrun the attack.
He acted immediately, placing both his hands on the ground, quickly erecting as many earth pillars as possible, covering every single trainee with the earth. Then he added one last layer of defense just in case the earth didn't hold.
He muttered, "Arcane barrier." A huge transparent blue shield immediately materialized, encompassing every one of the trainees in the ground.
Then the orb hit.
BOOM!
The impact was devastating, destroying the earth around them. Atticus's eyes widened as the arcane barrier started showing signs of withering. He focused every single ounce of mana in his body, feeling his energy being squeezed dry, trying as hard as possible to repair the shield.
But it just kept withering. Just as the barrier was about to wither, an icy hue started forming around the barrier, adding another layer of protection to it.
Atticus turned to see Ember beside him. She gave him a nod and turned back towards the front, focusing on channeling her bloodline.
As if they were waiting for Ember, the other trainees with bloodlines or defensive abilities stepped up immediately, activating their abilities. Different colors illuminated the forest.
After a few intense seconds, the attack fizzled out, leaving the trainees completely and utterly drained.
As the dust settled, the trainees found themselves in the middle of a crater. They turned their gaze upwards and saw a row of white teeth through the cloak that covered the man's face, a creepy smile that made them shiver.
As Atticus was about to touch the ground and submerge the group, a woman at supersonic speed suddenly appeared in front of him, landing a brutal punch straight at his stomach.
The punch was devastating, immediately knocking the air out of Atticus's lungs and making blood gush from his mouth. The force of the punch sent him upwards through the air, and she suddenly appeared above him in the air and delivered another brutal punch, which sent him crashing down onto the ground with a huge impact, unmoving.
"Atticus!" Aurora yelled, immediately turning her body ablaze. As she was about to dash towards the woman, Ember had already acted.
With her stoic expression filled with anger, she muttered, "Zen leap," immediately appearing in front of the lady, her spear thrust towards her throat.
The woman simply smirked, moving her head at a speed Ember couldn't follow, easily dodging the thrust. She grabbed hold of the spear and gave Ember a brutal kick in the stomach, sending her flying away through the air.
Aurora, Hella, Nate, and Orion all dashed towards the woman, each activating their strongest moves. Aurora's fist tore through the air like a comet as her body blazed.
Hella and Orion, each utilizing the air to increase their speed to an unimaginable level, closed the distance swiftly, their swords aimed at the woman's neck. Nate jumped into the air, his broadsword pointed skyward as he shouted, "Tiger's descent!"
Seeing all this, the woman's lips curled up even more as she grinned. Immediately, a palpable force radiated from her, sending shockwaves that propelled everyone away, sending them flying through the air hitting the trees.
The woman stood there with a huge grin as an orange aura surrounded her whole body. As she was about to attack them, a man suddenly appeared beside her, the last man who was with Hugo. He immediately said coldly, "Stop playing around. Don't forget we have a target."
She released a small sigh, her expression as if she had her toy taken away from her, and replied, "Yeah, yeah, I was just getting to that."
She changed direction and started walking towards Atticus, the three of them completely missing the Katana letting out a red glow below Atticus.
