"Grraaaaggghhhh!!!"
As its aura continued to billow throughout its surroundings, the quadrant leader focused its attention towards the human that stood before it, keeping an eye on the blade that it wielded.
Whoosh!
Imbuing its fists in crimson mana, it swiftly sent out a barrage of punches towards its opponent, each punch containing the intent to kill.
"[Blade of Six Paths]…" Watching as more and more of these punches filled his field of vision, Hal took in a deep breath as he tightly gripped on his sword's hilt.
Then, without hesitation, he infused both the energy of his Intent and mana into his blade as he swung the blade perpendicular to the incoming barrage.
"[Golden Mortal Reflection]."
Fwoosh!
Leaving a streak of golden light behind in mid-air, this golden light swiftly expanded to form a golden wall in front of Hal, blocking all of the punches the quadrant leader had sent at him.
Crack… crack…
However, with the sheer difference in stats between the two of them, even with Hal's stats being empowered to the limits of their arsenal, the golden wall slowly began to succumb to the quadrant leader's momentum.
Crash!
Eventually, the golden wall shattered into motes of golden light as the remaining punches the quadrant leader had sent now had no more obstacles blocking their path.
"[Intermediate Mystic Combat Style]…"
"[Eternal Mystic Barrier]!"
Though, as if already having expected this outcome, a series of multi-colored barriers blocked the remaining punches that continued to head towards Hal, prompting the scholar to look at one of the young women behind him with an apologetic smile.
"My apologies, Vera" said Hal.
In response, Loreina replied, "If you really feel sorry for her, focus on dealing more damage to the quadrant leader. My summons are barely hanging on."
Though it had only been a bit over fifteen minutes since the three of them had taken over Valyr's place in fighting the quadrant leader, the three were already close to exhausting their entire reserves.
At first, the three of them approached the quadrant leader in a way where Hal would act as the vanguard of the group, while Vera and Loreina would help him out from behind, whether it be in offense or defense.
However, at the very instant they incurred the quadrant leader's wrath, the three were swiftly brought to the reality that they would have to work together if they wanted to remain standing in front of the quadrant leader.
Even more so if their goal was to stall for more time.
With that, though the formation between the three was more or less the same, the purpose of each person now vastly differed from before.
Initially expecting to defend against some of the attacks that slipped past Hal's radar, Loreina now acted as another vanguard alongside Hal, helping him keep the quadrant leader in place through the summons she conjured.
As for Vera, she had now become the de facto healer and buffer of the group, utilizing the esoteric skills she could unleash to keep the playing field somewhat even.
Nevertheless, with how high the stats of the quadrant leader were, even though they were still barely hanging on at the moment, they were certain that it wouldn't be long till their bodies automatically gave up.
'Where are you, Valyr?' Gearing up to land another attack on the quadrant leader, a thought briefly crossed Hal's mind as he summoned both his Intent and mana towards his blade.
"Graaagggh!!!" Seeing the human it had pushed back earlier begin to charge towards it once again, the quadrant leader decided to take a different approach in its attacks, conjuring a series of spikes made out of crimson red mana.
However, before the two could even clash…
"[Intent Seed of Shadow Energy]."
"[Limit Break]."
"…"
"…"
"[Arcane Shadow Serpent Combat Style]…"
"[Arcane Tide of the Dark Night]!"
Whoosh!
Out of nowhere, a wave of dark energy had appeared from up in the sky, forcing Hal and the two to swiftly retreat as the sight of the wave caused terrified yet jubilant expressions to appear on their faces.
On the other hand, the quadrant leader looked up at the wave and fired its spikes of crimson red mana at it as it let out a scoff.
After all, at the level of strength it could wield, even the three humans that stood before it were barely hanging on. How would a single wave make a diff—
Bang!
'-18,738!'
Remaining unaffected even after being hit with mana spikes, the wave of dark energy landed true on the quadrant leader, causing its imminent surroundings to be briefly shrouded in a cloud of darkness.
As the cloud of darkness gradually disappeared, the three could see that the quadrant leader was currently stuck frozen in place. It was as if there existed an otherworldly being that made it stand where it was.
Though, judging from the look in its eyes, Hal and the other two were certain that it wouldn't take long for the quadrant leader to be free from its current state and wreak havoc once more.
But before it could do so…
'[Strike of the Lightless Arcane]!"
Bang!
'-36,625!!!'
Like a shooting star in the sky, a blood red spear swiftly came down from skies and made direct contact with the quadrant leader's head.
Due to the force and momentum the spear had carried along its descent, the quadrant leader was sent flying for a few meters as the three looked at the two in front of them with wide smiles.
"Hurk…" Though the sight of Hal and the others definitely delighted Faulus, the sensation he had been subjected to earlier still took precedence, prompting him to tap on Valyr to let go as he emptied out his stomach at a place nearby.
"Well, at least he isn't puking out blood." Dispelling the pair of wings on his back, Valyr looked at Faulus for a bit before returning his gaze towards the three before him.
Looking at how haggard their current states were, a wry smile appeared on his face as he apologized. "Sorry."
In response, Hal shook his head as he looked at the young man with a faint smile. "Why feel sorry for something even you had no clue would happen?"
"If anything, that just means all of us were ill-prepared for this moment," he continued, to which Vera and Loreina nodded in agreement.
At those words, Valyr looked at the three with a thankful smile before looking at the quadrant leader from afar.
Seeing the quadrant leader gradually get up as it now seemed hellbent on getting back to where it previously would, the young man looked back at the others once more as a thought popped up in his mind.
"I'll be needing your help later," said Valyr. "But for the meantime, get some rest and replenish your reserves. Faulus and I will be taking it from here."
Faintly having an idea of what Valyr wanted to achieve, Hal nodded in response. "Do you have an idea of what you want to do?"
"Not even one bit," replied Valyr with a shake of his head, causing the others to be somewhat confused.
Fortunately, not long after, a determined expression appeared on his face as he retrieved his magic scepter.
Charging towards the quadrant leader as he began to imbue his scepter with mana, he spoke once more.
"Then again, if there's one thing I'm sure of at the moment…"
"It's the fact that my second wind has arrived."
