Erik and Simone continued their intense fight, with the sound of metal clashing against metal echoing throughout the alleyway. Erik's flyssa and Simone's daggers met in a flurry of strikes and parries.
Simone moved with deadly grace; his movements were almost dance-like as he twisted and turned, his daggers glinting in the dim light.
On the other hand, Erik was more straightforward but imposing in his approach, using his enemy's strength to capitalize on his movements.
The two fighters exchanged blows back and forth, Simone had the upper hand, but Erik managed to defend himself well from the thug's attacks.
The man frequently hit the young man, who was now tired and had low mana, but the kid apparently had two more brain crystal powers, and no matter how much he tried to stab him, he couldn't penetrate his skin. It was frustrating.
"I swear, I will get you and use you as a lab rat!" Simone shouted.
Erik tried to close the distance between them, swinging his flyssa with all his might and hoping to gain an advantage, but Simone's speed and agility allowed him to dart away, avoiding the deadly blade.
The thug struck back with a series of quick slashes, but Erik was able to deflect them with his flyssa.
"I will get that secret out of you. You will beg me to kill you and stop your torment!" the thug added, and then he dashed at Erik while, at the same time, slashing with his daggers with unprecedented speed.
"Shit."
Fighting in that situation wasn't simple for Erik. He had been fighting and fighting against much stronger opponents alone for what felt like hours, and his body was starting to slow down also due to the wounds.
On the other hand, Simone seemed to be gaining strength, with his attacks becoming more frequent and precise.
The awakener knew he was going to lose if things continued that way; a miracle had to happen before he ran out of stamina and mana completely.
Erik tried to make that miracle happen, not wanting to wait for something from heaven to come, and lunged forward, aiming a powerful strike at Simone's chest. The thug dodged to the side, but Erik followed up with a swift kick that caught Simone off-guard.
The man stumbled backward, his balance disrupted, and Erik seized the opportunity to strike. He swung his flyssa with all his might, aiming for Simone's head. However, the thug was too fast not to avoid the attack, and with an inhuman feat, he bent backward and avoided the slash.
The force he put behind the blow caused Erik to lose his balance, and Simone saw his chance. He lunged forward, his dagger poised to strike.
Erik managed to block the first few strikes, but then one of the daggers grazed his arm, causing him to wince in pain.
"AH! Finally, that weird power of yours is coming to an end. I will savor the moment you scream," he said, licking off the blood from the dagger.
***
As the fight raged on, Gwen and Benedict found themselves facing off against a thug with a strong brain crystal power: super acceleration.
The thug didn't have an insane speed; the problem was the acceleration itself, as he could go from 0 to his maximum in less than a second, and he kept darting around the two students with ease and delivering rapid-fire blows.
Gwen had her armor and was relatively safe. Still, Benedict could only parry the attacks, which wasn't easy for many reasons, and despite their best efforts, Gwen and Benedict were constantly on the defensive, struggling to keep up with the thug's incredible speed.
So, every time they thought they had a chance to land a hit, the man simply dodged out of the way, leaving them vulnerable to counterattacks.
With his slow and heavy style, Benedict charged forward recklessly, throwing heavy hits and swings at the thug with his mana halberd.
However, his lack of speed proved to be a hindrance during this fight, as the thug easily evaded, and if it weren't for Gwen, he would already be dead.
On the other hand, Gwen tried to rely on her speed and agility to keep up with the man. She darted around him, using her quick reflexes to dodge his attacks and strike back with highly technical blows.
Gwen and Benedict charged at the thug; the young man swung his halberd with power at the opponent, who again backed away and avoided the move. Gwen kept following him and tried to punch him several times in the head with her armor's gauntlets, but the result was the same.
The thug seemed to be toying with them, his movements so fast that the two students couldn't keep up.
His attacks were a blur of motion, striking from every angle and leaving Gwen and Benedict struggling to defend themselves.
The two had already accumulated many wounds. With every passing moment, it became clear that their opponent was simply too fast for them to handle.
At some point, he kicked Gwen really hard on the head. The woman fell to the ground like a potato sack; the impact should have been strong enough to kill anyone, but thanks to her armor, she was still alive but unconscious.
He rushed to Benedict and started attacking him relentlessly now that Gwen was KO.
"I need help!" the young man shouted, but there was no one free enough to help him.
"GUYS!"
"No one can help you, kid."
However, at that moment, two flying knives started floating around the thug, attacking him and forcing him to leave Benedict alone. The weapons seemed to follow him everywhere he went, floating around but moving as if they had a conscious of their own.
Seeing two daggers floating around someone and trying to stab him was weird, but that was what was happening. Benedict knew who those daggers belonged to: Patricia.
***
Patricia was doing what she could to help the others. She only had ten knives at her disposal; aside from that, she couldn't bring anything more to life.
The girl was already shielding Brittney, who couldn't still walk, and now helping Benedict since Gwen was KO.
Despite her being able to help Benedict, the fight against his opponent had been brutal until now, and Patricia and Brittney had taken some severe hits.
But they had fought bravely, their powers working together in ways none of the others could have predicted.
Brittney was still on the ground, unable to move, but she was at least able to use her power to prevent the thug from landing fatal blows on Patricia. She, with her daggers, was putting him in serious trouble, as the thug had to defend against multiple fronts as he had to battle Patricia, her daggers, and Britney's sonic screams.
The air was tense as the young woman and Brittney faced off against the thug. The eight knives Patricia had animated were circling around her, waiting for the moment to strike, while Brittney took a deep breath, preparing to unleash a powerful sonic scream.
The thug, meanwhile, stood calmly, his eyes darting between the two young women as he prepared himself to attack.
However, the first move came from Patricia, who sent the knives flying toward the thug with deadly accuracy. But he was quick, dodging and weaving through the blades with ease.
He retaliated with a swift stab, aiming for Patricia's stomach, but she managed to deflect the blow with one of the animated weapons.
Seeing an opportunity, Brittney let out a piercing scream that reverberated through the alley. The move hit the man squarely, leaving him momentarily stunned and allowing Patricia to send her knives flying once again.
But the thug, despite his status, quickly recovered and used his brain crystal power to send a bolt of energy from his weapon as a catalyst that blocked the flying animated weapons and closed in on Patricia. At the same time, the daggers, after having started flying again, autonomously changed their trajectory and pointed at the man from his back.
Brittney tried to help her friend by letting out another Sonic Scream, but she was getting frustrated since she couldn't rush to help her friend fight.
Meanwhile, Patricia struggled to keep up with the thug's fast movements. The man was now in close quarters and kept attacking the woman, who had to pay attention to point-blank attacks. Luckily he didn't use them yet, but she made a ton of other ones, and The Red Palace student was struggling. Then, one of his slashes landed squarely on her side, sending her reeling.
The thug seized the opportunity to press on, slashing at Patricia several times. The young woman was now in serious trouble, as the wound prevented her from moving freely. The animated knives were on the defensive, but the thug was too close, and she was having trouble getting rid of him.
Brittney tried to intervene, letting out another Sonic scream. That gave her Patricia a moment of respite since the thug had to avoid the attack and jumped far from Patricia, but the thug was too quick for Brittney to be caught by her sonic scream. In fact, he dodged the blast, and the move destroyed a nearby wall.
Patricia focused her power on the knives once again. She sent them hurtling toward the thug with even more force and speed than before. But as if he expected that
The thug used another blast of energy against the blades, and as he did that, he charged forward.
Brittney tried to hit the man with the Sonic Scream, but as he was running, the man arrived in front of Patricia, who managed to avoid a fatal blow just at the last moment.
The two friends were battered and bruised, but their combination was giving the man a hard time, despite Brittney being unable to move much. However, as the fight raged on, it became clear that the thug was too powerful for them to handle alone.
They needed help, and they needed it fast, but unfortunately, no one could give them some, as the others were in the same situation. Benedict was still struggling against his opponent, despite Patricia's help; Gwen was unconscious, Erik was full of wounds while fighting against the bald man, and the others were in worse states.
R𝑒ad latest chapt𝒆rs at f(r)eew𝒆bnovel.com Only