Zachary was having a ton of problems. Not only had he wasted a lot of time trying to kidnap Erik, but now he even had to face the teachers. These guys didn't joke around; they were as powerful as they were, at least in terms of neural links, but the problem was that they were highly trained. They knew a lot of fighting techniques, including how to use different kinds of weapons, how to fight against other types of weapons efficiently, and many more, but Zachary did not.
He was a thief. He had a lot of neural links, but technique-wise, he wasn't that skilled, as his main job wasn't to fight but to steal. He knew some tricks, sure, but fewer than the more experienced fighters.
On the other hand, there was no denying that these men were war machines. Their bodies looked like they could take any kind of punishment, whether from bullets, blades, or anything else. He was now fighting two teachers, Zahra Flynn, and Kaiden Rodgers.
The first was a woman in her forties with long, black raven hair tied up in a ponytail while she wore the Red Palace's uniform. She was wielding an ax in both hands, which made her look very intimidating indeed. The second teacher was a male, older than the previous one by at least ten years, balding, and wearing glasses that glinted in the low light. He had a sword and wore the same uniform as a woman, but it was made for men.
Clearly, Zachary didn't know them, and aside from the woman who summoned both her axes, he didn't know what the man's brain crystal power was since he had yet to use it.
Zachary deflected a sword strike aimed at his neck and attempted to strike the man with his panabas. His opponent easily blocked the blow, so he changed his strategy and moved forward until he reached the woman's side. He then used his weight and strength to slam into her right shoulder, taking advantage of the fact that she was smaller and weaker. Zachary hoped that the sheer force of his attack would knock her off balance and give him the edge. It worked perfectly well since she lost balance, fell on the ground, and twisted her ankle slightly in the process.
Zachary was going to plunge his blade into the woman's stomach when Kaiden attacked Zachary again, forcing the man to step back from the woman. Then Kaiden swung down with all his might, aiming at Zachary's chest this time, but he missed because the man managed to dodge the attack just in time.
However, before the thief could do anything else, the woman kicked him hard between the legs, causing the man to fall flat on the floor. As soon as he did, Kaiden rushed toward the fallen thief, greatly scaring him and making him realize the gravity of his situation.
Zachary used his power shadow bind to pin Kaiden to the ground, and as he did, he took the chance to stand back up again. However, he had to deal with Zahra again pretty quickly. This time, she approached him, swinging her axes wildly, aiming to hit him in his openings. Unfortunately for her, he evaded every single attack by jumping backward several times and shadow-binding her to the ground.
Since the effect of his power on Kaiden was almost ending, Zachary decided to attack the male teacher. He attacked him several times, but the man's ability with the sword was superb, and he couldn't land a single hit on him.
***
At the same time, Slice was facing. Ismail Flores and Syed Cotton. The first was a lean guy who mostly used his brain and had great intelligence. He was blonde with blue eyes and used a spear to fight. The other one was taller than the other teacher, probably close to 1.8 meters, with short brown hair and hazel eyes; like most people, he wielded a sword in his hand.
Slice avoided a slash coming from the blond, then countered with a stab at the latter's torso, which caused the man to block it with his weapon. After that, the two teachers circled the assassin, waiting for the next move. Meanwhile, Slice focused on controlling his breathing, making sure not to panic or rush things out. Slice knew that if he could manage to maintain a calm state of mind, he had a chance at beating his opponents. He kept his gaze fixed on the enemies, looking for signs of openings. To avoid getting cut, he moved slowly backward, keeping his distance from the men and creating space between them to avoid getting hit.
Slice had a sword conjuring brain crystal power and was skilled in wielding it; he was an assassin, so he knew a lot about killing. The man usually brought his daggers, but to face people head-on or to kill thaids, having a sword was always a safe thing to do. He was also a master at timing and spatial awareness, knowing how to maneuver and move swiftly, always keeping one eye on the opponent's actions, and ensuring that he could properly evade and counter-attack them if the opportunity arose.
Slice had fewer troubles than Zachary for all these reasons, but to be honest, he was still having trouble against two strong opponents, such as the two teachers, despite having high skills and a lot of training. The battle continued, and although Slice could keep the two away from him, they circled around him constantly, trying to get past his defenses. Both teachers' abilities were similar to his, but fighting against two opponents really tilted the scales in favor of the Red Palace's workers.
***
While the others fought, Laser kept two other teachers, Christine Carr, and Melissa Harding, occupied. He almost killed one of them by using his power to cause pain at the right time, but the other teacher came to help her and stopped him from hurting her.
Laser immediately realized he was in a good situation because the two appeared vulnerable to his power. So, he attacked them with everything he had, using his power at the right time to make openings they couldn't close and to do as much damage as possible.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAAH" The assassin maniacally laughed every time his daggers clashed with the two teachers' weapons. "I WILL KILL YOU! BUT FIRST, I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU SUFFER!" Laser added.
But despite his efforts, he couldn't finish either of them yet, nor even cause any significant damage to their bodies. Despite his heated threats, he could not make either of them suffer or inflict significant damage, which greatly frustrated him. They blocked his attacks and answered them with their own so that he couldn't get a significant advantage. Laser was growing significantly frustrated at that fact, but as the fight progressed and as the woman bled, his excitement grew along with his frustration.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA BLEED! BLEED FOR ME!" Laser said.
"This guy is giving me the creep!" Christine said to her colleague. The woman felt a chill run down her spine as Laser spoke the words.
Melissa looked like she wanted to say something but refrained from speaking. However, as the fight continued, the two teachers began to amass wound after wound. This wasn't surprising in light of Laser's formidable abilities and the destructive nature of his power.
At that moment, though, a scream broke the silence; it belonged to Greg. One of the teachers, Brian Fowler, managed to injure the man, who wasn't that skilled at fighting and was the weakest of the bunch of Crystal Cross Gang members present there. The thief ended up with a sword firmly implanted on his right shoulder, deep inside his body. Greg could barely stand in one place, and the pain was evident in his eyes.
"GREG!" Zachary shouted.
Greg screamed again as blood poured out from where the blade was lodged in his flesh. As if this wasn't enough, the sword went deeper, causing more bleeding.
"Kill him, Brian!" yelled Master Petersen. At that moment, Master Brian pulled the sword out, and with a quick movement, he decapitated Greg.
"SHIT!" Zachary shouted. Death saw the scene and immediately understood that the mission was a failure. The only way for them to kidnap the young awakener was if they managed to kill the teachers. Since one of them had now died, they were in a disadvantaged situation, and with two more teachers free to help the others, the situation was going to turn worse quickly. Greg's death had sealed their fate; he had just made it so that their mission was doomed to fail.
Death tried to think of a solution but couldn't find any. He was still stuck with Master Rook and Master Callahavan, and he could not help the others.
"YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON YOUR FIGHT!" Master Rook spoke to Death, leaving a small wound on his arm.
<Fuck...> Death thought. <I'm out of here...> With that, he hopped into the shadows and disappeared. Zachary saw Death running away and understood that there was no way he could safely kidnap Erik.
"RETREAT!" The man shouted.
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