Just as he wondered what happened, the unbelievable occurred.
*Slash*
"Ah!"
Alvarach shrieked as a diagonal gash appeared across his chest and blood poured out.
His left arm was sliced off in its entirety, but like Ezra, congealed blood held it together.
While still shocked…
*Slash!*
Four distinct slash marks appeared on Ezra's shoulder and it separated into four parts with Ezra puking out blood as well.
The Emperor quickly caught him.
"What are you doing, you'll be poisoned" Ezra said.
"I'm already poisoned" the Emperor replied, allowing Ezra to note the shade of purple spreading through his skin.
The attack took much of Ezra's energy with it, leaving him gasping for air as it had taken a tremendous toll on his internals, with his eyes now bloodshot.
Moreover, Alavarach was already recovering.
The attack was far from enough to kill Alvarach, but it bought them some time.
Gritting his teeth, lightning crackled across Ezra's body. "Let's get going"
With a nod from the Emperor, the duo shot into the horizon.
Looking back at Alvarach, Ezra's eyes glimmered.
'I was right'
If Alvarach was as infallible as he said, why was he intently dodging their attacks? It would be much easier to take the hit and kill the attacker right after.
The more he watched, the more he realized Alvarach wasn't as infallible as he propagated.
'Still…' Ezra looked at left arm cut in four pieces.
Even mustering that much energy and using the element of surprise, Alvarach was fast enough to land an attack of his own.
Of course, in about a minute, Alvarach would catch up, so they had to hasten their escape.
'Zydrax, where's the space mage?'
[There] Zydrax gave the direction and Ezra immediately turned in that direction with Fredrick following behind, they dropped right into the anointed city.
'Where?'
They moved with haste with Zydrax as their guide.
One swipe of Skyfall erased any who came near.
Breaking through walls, Ezra arrived at the destination, only to find a familiar face.
"Mrs. Elisa?!" Ezra was shocked.
'The space mage was a she?'
The woman in question rose was also spooked, blinking meters away before stopping as she recognized the boy.
"Ezra, what are you-
"Mrs. Elisa" Ezra cut her short. "Open a portal, Now"
Straightening her glasses, Elisa got to work. "Give me a minute"
"We don't have a minute"
On cue, a large ball of fire homed on their location.
"We just have to keep him at bay for a minute"
Nodding, the three took flight, with Ezra and the Emperor heading directly for the fireball.
Brandishing their respective weapons with lightning, they split apart the fireball.
Only, Alavarch was nowhere to be seen.
Alarmed, both men surveyed the sky for his figure. 'Where is he?!'
Alvarach had polluted the near areas with demonic essence, using it as a smokescreen to cover his actual body.
Ezra senses tinged as he looks behind him.
"Fredrick!"
The trusted subordinate had taken his position a distance away from Ezra and the Emperor to utilize his abilities for long-range.
But…
A lone figure was the easiest prey.
Alvarach appeared before him seconds after Ezra's shout and slashed away before Fredrick could think to back away.
Four slashes appeared on Fredrick's arms, destroying his gauntlets.
Fredrick was able to put up his guard in the nick of time.
But Alvarach was just beginning, after the first slash, he brought a rounded kick to the side of Fredrick's forehead in the same motion.
Fredrick was late to put up a defence and let the kick land clearly.
*Bom*
The impact drove Fredrick right into the soil like a nail.
Disoriented, Fredrick groaned to get up when Alvarach appeared in front of him once again, bringing down his nails.
At this moment…
*Bam!*
Skyfall smacked Alvarach aside, Ezra and the Emperor attacked, taking the initiative to give Fredrick breathing space.
A large fireball was shot towards them.
This time, they positioned themselves in front of Fredrick, throwing out long range attacks to negate the fireball rather than going close range.
Getting fooled a second time was not an option.
But fixing themselves to a spot made them live targets, and Alvarach treated them like such.
Shooting fireball after fireball, Ezra and the Emperor were unable to get a breather.
Moreover, they didn't dare lag because the fireballs couldn't be deflected with just one of them.
The difference in power was stammering, shooting this many fireballs had them wondering just much mana he held.
In any case, Elisa was steadily opening the portal, the time for their escape was almost here.
But it was becoming doubtful if they'd be able to make it under Alvarach's barrage of fireballs.
Moreover, Fredrick might need even more time to recover.
While such thoughts spontaneously spawned, a large piece of metal pierced an incoming fireball, causing it to implode.
The small window had Ezra will a healing potion out of his space ring and break it on Fredrick's body, speeding up the healing process.
In the same vein, the Emperor took to the skies.
Looking up, Ezra sees a figure in black flapping his metal wings.
Deneris had arrived on the scene with his clothes torn.
On cue, Alvarach appeared beside him, swinging his nails horizontally with the aim of clean decapitation.
Three of them were already annoying, he wasn't about to have another intervene.
Reaching Deneris' neck, the Emperor caught hold of Deneris' leg and flung him backwards, avoiding death by a hair's breadth.
*Kang*Kang*Kang*Kang*
The Emperor faced off against Alvarach.
This time with more confidence. After all, if Ezra was able to cut him-why shouldn't he?
Like a crazed beast, the Emperor fought.
With poison running through him, accessing his peak power was impossible, so he focused on surviving.
He deflected many of the attacks with shredder, but as the speed they were moving, many attacks still went through.
Deneris came alive, using metal pieces as projectiles, he shot them at Alvarach.
Alvarach huffed, It'd been a long time since he was annoyed this much.
Unlike his gestures, his abrupt rush through the portal and then his display of strength in splitting it open had done a lot of damage that went unseen.
As a being above the strongest class of beings inhabiting the planet, the planet was against his presence.
He forced his way through, but the planet wasn't one to leave an invading entity alone.
It branded him with a curse, one that made him, specifically, his soul far more susceptible to damage.
Which was why he'd been dodging, somehow, the boy was able to find out.
Alvarach still didn't fret, but the appearance of a fourth enemy forced his hand.
With his assassination attempt unsuccessful, Alvarach raised his power output up a notch, and his nails lit up with fire gaining burning effects.
The change was minimal, but its effects were significant.
He tore the metal pieces Deneris sent his way like knife cutting onions.
Moreover, each successful strike burned his opponent, forcing the Emperor back.
Andrew changed tactics, creating distance as close combat became far more disadvantageous.
The Emperor's ability drastically decreased.
These changes were happening by the second as but a single minute had passed.
Alvarach side stepped a huge boulder tossed at him, cutting it while fighting the Emperor would be a mistake.
Fredrick was back on his feet. And he took to the air.
With another back in the fray, their ability to hold him down had increased drastically.
Alvarach changed his objectives.
He could kill each one, but he needed time.
As such, the priority was now that they couldn't escape.
While facing the three, his eyes spotted the portal nearing completion.
Spraying a mass of large fireballs, he detonated them.
"Ah!" Blasting everyone in sight, he bought himself a moment of respite.
Immediately, with his quick pace, Alvarach reached the space mage, swiping his nails.
But…
*Crackle*
A bolt of lightning thwarted his attack.
"You!" Alvarach bellowed. Sparks flew as his burning nails pushed against a glimmering scythe.
Ezra hadn't joined the skirmish in the sky for exactly this reason, and thankfully so.
Should Elisa die, their chances of escaping would plunge into the ground.
"Gah!"
Holding down Alvarach wasn't easy. Although his injuries had healed, exhaustion was hitting him on every level.
Thankfully he didn't have to hold it for too long.
A piece of metal shot towards Alvarach, Deneris' handiwork.
Right after, the others attacked, keeping him at bay.
Ezra stood his ground, and the worst-case scenario was averted.
The portal was on the cusp of stabilizing.
It'd only taken this long because of how volatile the atmospheric mana had become thanks to the endless attacks being poured out.
Success was on the horizon.
As for the other grandmasters, Ezra had nothing to say to them.
The situation couldn't be judged with morals.
Not only did he not know where they were, he couldn't afford to wait for them, nor did he have the luxury to do so in front of Alvarach.
As the portal settled, Ezra smiled, breathing heavy.
Alvarach's attacks intensified, and he raised his power by a notch once again, this time, his body caught on fire.
"You will not be leaving!" he proclaimed, dishing out daring attacks.
But the combined effort of four grandmasters thwarted his efforts stopping all attacks on Elisa while collectively pushing him back.
*SIIUM!*
Ezra heard a tear in the air, alarming him as he split his attention to discover that something was heading towards them.
Having concentrated on containing Alvarach, the rest noticed far too late.
A shadow appeared right above Elisa.
From a palm, a magic circle unfolded and a small ball of fire was shot directly onto Elisa's stationary figure.
*BOOM!*
