169 Team Battle Part 2 (1/2)
Actually, Braiden was not too injured from the earlier attack. He was just caught off-guard and forced outside the stage boundaries. After his uncle helped heal him a little, he woke up right away. Wiping the blood away from his face, he looked towards the stage with a grave expression. Slamming his fist into the ground, Braiden's normally smiling face turned ugly. As far as princes go, he was not the type to really pay attention to keeping face and acting above the rest, but getting eliminated first was truly too humiliating. He could not help but feel guilty towards his teammates still fighting. All he managed to do was injure Keaton.
”Don't think too much. You should believe that they will still be able to follow through. Who knows if that injury will become a major point later? You have to know that they do not have a healer, so he will have to keep participating with an open wound.” The Duke's cold voice sounded by Braiden's ear.
”I understand.” Braiden clenched his fist, but knew there was nothing he could change now. All he could do was watch as the battled unfolded.
The people on the stage could not spare thoughts to Braiden and only focused on their wounds and their opponents. Keaton grit his teeth and he held his leg gingerly. Tatyana wanted to ignore him, but she knew that they were teammates now and would sink or swim together. She walked over and ripped part of Keaton's shirt sleeve. Using the strips, she tied the wound tightly to try to prevent the blood flow. It was only a stopgap measure, but it would have to suffice at the moment. Trevion also treated his own wounds, but it was obvious the both of them should avoid to vigorous movements or they will end up bleeding out.
Although they did not want to give their opponents any time, Greyson, Eris, and Aphina could only watch as they came up with a new plan.
”Greyson, you are the only one here who could handle facing two opponents, so we can only leave it to you to endure until I can defeat one. Aphina, you would have to defend against an opponent until I'm done. I will straight away attack Efren, because, if it's just one-on-one, I'm fairly certain I can defeat him. Greyson, you try your best to block Trevion and Tatyana from giving support. Aphina, you will have to block Keaton. This time you will be prepared, so I believe you have enough skill to keep him busy while he is injured.” Eris spoke up to take the lead in the strategy.
”As long as you don't expect me to beat him, I'm confident I can keep his attention.” Aphina nodded with confidence.
”I will try my best to keep them both busy. Thankfully, Trevion does not move too fast, so it's just a matter of containing Tatyana.” Greyson also voiced his assent.
Eris started walking in front while asking, ”okay, are you both ready?”
”This is a support spell that increases your strength and stamina. Although, it won't do anything in terms of assisting with your mana.”
She also released two more spells, but just for herself that would boost her agility and body's defense. Still not finished, she placed her hand on her chest and a spell engraving appeared on her robe. Her thin robe also worked as an extremely tough defense magic tool.
”Alright! Now, I'm ready.”
”Then, let's get this show started.” Eris remarked before jumping straight towards the other four across the stage. Greyson and Aphina followed right after her. Stabbing straight with her spear, Eris activated a lightning spell that appeared at the tip of the blade. With the extra strength, her legs pushed her directly in front of Efren with only a single jump. Caught a little off guard by the sudden approach, Efren was only able to block while the rest dodged to the side. He parried Eris's spear into the ground which proceeded to explode and break apart the stage. Wincing, Efren could feel some residual damage on the bottom of his feet.
Tatyana was the first from the other side to recover her wits and wanted to support. However, a fiery arrow blocked her path and caused another explosion in front of her. The impact sent her flying back. Trevion managed to react in time and caught her to slow down her body's momentum. Feeling his feet sliding back, Trevion acted quickly to dig his feet down and connect with the earth. Both of them soon stopped themselves. Tatyana jumped down from Trevion's arms and thanked him while glaring over at the origin of the arrow. Greyson only smiled back while nocking another arrow on his bow. Just the same as the last one, he enhanced it with the wind element and fire element to make it fast and explosive. He could only concentrate so much firepower in one arrow at a time. Accompanied by a hair-raising whistling noise, the arrow shot out from the bow towards the two targets. This time, Trevion was prepared and chanted a quick spell. A multiple solid rock walls infused with some metal appeared in front of them. The arrow broke through the first one and exploded while the second and third walls protected the two from the impact.