Despite what Valerie was feeling regarding the things that Zavier had hidden from them, she was genuinely worried about him. She knew how much pain and anger he was suffering from at the moment to protect them all. Just by imagining it, her heart had begun to hurt.
Therefore, all that she could do was to diligently try to get back on her feet and recover from her drained state so as to take over from him again.
Despite what it looked like, the one who was shocked the most about the recent development in the fight was none other than Dahila who was until that point an innocent bystander that was unable to participate in a fight of that calibre.
She was confounded by the hidden strength that Zavier had revealed only then. She was sure that she would not be able to take a single blow from Zavier in his current state.
Strength was not something that was apparent to everyone. Only the strong had the ability to tell the truly strong from those putting up pretence. Dahila had known that some people liked to hide but she felt that at their age that kind of wisdom had yet to come. The kids their age liked to boast and show off based on their abilities.
Out of all the contemporaries that she had come across, only Zavier had had that farsightedness. She had seen him being bullied before but had never extended a helping hand just because he was weak in her eyes. She had never expected that the kid who was being bullied all the time was actually so strong that she wasn't capable of even reaching his shoes. At the same time she wondered who he had been hiding from. If someone had the wisdom to hide his abilities at such a young age, there was bound to be a reason for that. She vowed to dig deep and find out that reason once they made it back; if they made it back safely.
Alissa, on the other hand, was not surprised at all. She had long since put all her belief in Zavier and had decidedly brought him up to the highest pedestal of strength in her heart. She was not shocked at all once Zavier revealed his cards. Instead she kept praying for him to be safe and for him to not feel any pain or suffer from any injuries. All she wanted was for him to come back safely.
Girls in love really were different. She had even forgotten about her own safety and was concentrating on praying for Zavier with her eyes closed. At the same time she wished that she could have helped him somehow.
While she had her eyes closed, the battle was unfolding in the most unexpected direction. Kyouko was being thrown about in all directions but she was unable to land a scratch on Zavier or his clone. Their defences were airtight.
Several trees would burn to the ground whenever Kyouko was thrown off by Zavier as a result of a clash. She had smashed through many trees and had burned the grasslands to cinders. She was like a burning pyre that burnt everything around her wherever she passed.
Zavier had managed to break through her defences many times since his clones had created some excellent opportunities for him to exploit.
Her blood had dyed her scanty robes red and her clothing looked as if it was about to fall off but her eyes were still showing her strength and her anger. She was unwilling to give up.
The situation looked very promising to Calista and Valerie who were able to observe each and every detail of the fight. The path that the battle was following would eventually lead to the defeat of Kyouko at the very least provided that Zavier was able to hold on until then.
Kyouko looked tired. The proof of it was the fact that Zavier was able to penetrate her iron defence.
Just when everyone finally felt a semblance of hope for getting out of the deadly trap that had been set up for them, something unexpected happened that put them in a precarious situation once again.
The battles on the outskirts of their battlefield were wrapped up all of a sudden. But no one knew who the final winner was. All eyes were in that direction except those of Zavier and his clone who began to attack with a renewed vigor and force so as to end the fight as soon as possible. They knew that if the winner of those battles turned out to be their enemies, they would be done for. The time for their madness to end had been approaching fast as well. Before the sands fell to the bottom, Zavier had to finish off the battle or they would be powerless to do anything else.
Kyouko understood the same thing and decided to avoid Zavier and the masked man. She was trying to prolong the battle as far as she could because she knew that the attacks were only temporary and the boost to the strength would only last a small duration.
Calista too didn't ponder for very long about the end victor and focused on Kyouko as well.
Only Valerie was able to put her mind into finding out the result of the battle. She found that the mana signature of the two towards the west had already faded meaning that they had somehow ended up dying together or the winner had succumbed to his wounds after the battle and had died as well.
On the eastern battlefield, the result was obvious as well. There was a clear signal indicating that only one had survived the battle. Whether he was an enemy or an ally was something that was yet to be known.
Kyouko too was very tense at the moment. She had been waiting for the result of the two battles. She wanted to know if it was one of her people so that she could throw some of the burden onto him and focus on getting rid of the pests who had managed to bring her down to their level.
She detested asking for help but her situation wasn't exactly glamorous and she had to rely on something.
Valerie soon found that the mana signature was on the move and was headed in their direction. She judged the speed of the approaching person and knew that he was in a relatively good condition. She desperately hoped that it was an ally and not someone associated with Kyouko.
But all her hopes crashed when she saw the relief that washed over Kyouko once she laid eyes on the man.
At that moment, Valerie knew that they were doomed. There was no way that they were able to hold off two S rank mages at the same time. She wanted to move but she had yet to recover from her fatigue. The only other option that was open to them was for Calista to stop the new enemy and for Zavier to keep pounding Kyouko as earlier.
Even Valerie knew how impossible the task was for Zavier but they had no other choice.
The approaching man was covered in blood, his clothes were tattered and were equivalent to rags but the toned muscles and the relaxed expression that was slowly twisting into a devilish grin revealed how powerful he was.
As soon as he saw Kyouko's crisis, he launched forward like a guided missile and headed straight towards Zavier and the masked man only to be intercepted by Calista midway; three of her arrows landed right at his feet and forced him to halt.
With Calista's pestering out of the way, there were fewer opportunities for Zavier and his clone to exploit and the pressure that they had gradually built up over Kyouko started to get relieved as if the muscular man had opened the pressure relief valve to make it all okay.
It was as easy as snatching candy from a kid to hold back Calista at her best from intercepting Kyouko again. Though he was tired from his earlier battle, Calista was only an A rank mage who specialized in group battles instead of one vs. one offensive battles. Therefore, he was able to match her up to a draw very easily.
He even had the time to taunt Kyouko while fighting Calista at the same time.
"You really don't deserve that weapon. It should have been in more capable hands. Unable to even beat two barely A rank mages; truly pathetic. One of them is even a kid who has barely outgrown his baby teeth. Humph…you disgrace that sacred weapon. I am sure that it would love to change owners considering the inability of its master."
Kyouko did not have time to engage in a meaningless banter that would have served no other purpose other than distracting them from the battle in front of them. She wasn't as brainless as her helper to do that. She had to take the overall picture into account before getting down to settling the grudges later.
Zavier and his clone were having a hard time in the absence of Calista. Kyouko was able to tell the direction from which they attacked somehow. Maybe it was because she now had the time to think and plan before returning fire. Only now did Zavier understand how much of the credit for the earlier battle belonged to Calista.
They were being pushed back further and further with each of her blows. The blood shield itself remained undamaged but their consumption started to increase with every blow that they managed to block.
The addition of the new man had upset the balance of the fight in the favour of Kyouko. Without the help of Calista, it took all he had just to keep up with her.
Time was running out for him along with the decreasing amount of blood in his body. Same was the condition of his clone who had been consuming his blood at the same pace.
The end of his berserk state would result in a period of weakness which was akin to certain death when he was in front of Kyouko. Following the same reasoning Kyouko had also started to draw the fight out even though she had the upper hand in the battle following the absence of Calista.
Valerie was completely aware of the whole situation and was also busy evaluating the various alternatives available to her. No matter what she considered, she knew that there was no way that Zavier could lead them to victory. All the paths led to his demise which disheartened her to a large extent.
Still, Valerie had to look after the rest of her students as well. She couldn't just shower all her attention on one individual. She understood that the moment Zavier had learnt and used a skill like Blood Blade, he had been doomed to die an early death. There was no way out. Therefore she wanted to make sure that Dahila and Alissa didn't get caught up in the storm that he was creating.
She looked towards the girls with a serious expression on her face. Alissa, who had already been feeling terrified because Zavier had been pushing himself too hard, felt a horrible sense of anxiety jolt her back to reality.
She could sense what the expression on the face of Valerie meant but she chose to ignore it. It was easier to do so than to keep the hope kindled. That would have been more exhausting than letting all of it go but Alissa was determined to carry that burden. She wasn't going to leave Zavier mid way.
Valerie was concerned about the two girls so she chose a lower but firm tone so that there was no room for disobedience.
"You two! Move further back. I don't want you to get caught up in what comes next."
Dahila was both sensible and practical. She knew that the level of the fight was way too high for her to take part in it. Therefore, she wanted to keep her distance in the first place, Valerie telling her so only affirmed her intentions.
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