403 Underhanded Tactics (2/2)

After turning to look back at her, the group quickly noticed that there was a hand wrapped around the girl's ankle, which right after she pulled her leg away, moved randomly in every direction. This odd event prompted the young students to look around, only to find themselves shocked by what they were seeing.

More than twenty people were currently stuck inside the ground, almost as if they had fallen through a liquid version of it right before it solidified back. Their free limbs moved frantically as they tried to free themselves from this trap. However, that was not all. Littered on the ground, were unconscious people with broken knees and elbows, as well as people halfway stuck into the walls of the remaining buildings and walls.

The now alerted students looked at each other with confusion, while also being aware of their surroundings, but it was only after the dust settled that they understood.

In the area that had just exploded, the sixty cultivators were slowly getting back on their feet, while also ingest their pills, or healing themselves. However, the eyes of the students did not land on them, but on the backs of the five individuals who were currently facing sixteen between noblemen and high beasts.

Blood covered each of the bodies of these five individuals, and no piece of clothing had been left intact. On the surface of their injured skin came a constant white gleam, which made them look like a group of humanoid stars.

Past them, were the seemingly injured golden figures of the noblemen, and the tired silhouettes of beasts of all kinds, from massive reptiles, feathery beasts, large gorillas, and even the infant state of legendary beasts, like dragons, quillins, and minotaurs. All of them forming a common front against the outnumbered five.

Despite the difference in numbers, however, these two groups exuded a different feeling.

While the group of sixteen beasts and noblemen were wary of the five, the latter were quiet, and focused.

The students immediately understood what was happening. This event was not only set to see which one was the most capable between the participants, and to allow for people to form alliances to get rid of dangerous individuals. There was also a reason why this pause between fights had been placed in between the rounds of the elimination type event.

The government wanted the participants to witness which one of them was the most dangerous, and use whatever means necessary to get rid of them in order not to prevent them from becoming an impossible obstacle to them the very next day.

The reason why the beasts and noblemen were not willing to join the effort in protecting themselves against the charmed ones, was because their objective was different. They wanted Nilo and the others. They had wanted them ever since they had seen them fight in the morning, and even before, when the chosen ones they followed, had oddly predicted that the disciples of the Outcast would participate to the event.

This thought formed in a few moments, just long enough to witness how one of the beasts broke the line, and come charging at the members of Nilo's team.

Before the ten meters tall minotaur could take five steps, Fyro alone stepped forward, gaining speed at every step, bit by bit, until the Minotaur was only a few meters of distance. Just before clashing, however, Fyro swept the ground with his hand, causing for a twenty meters long rocky hand to emerge from within the floor.

The massive hand was double the size of the minotaur, but the moment the two came in contact, almost as if made out of paper, the hand exploded into small pebbles. Unable to slow the minotaur's motion in the least, he kept charging, unaware of the building sized rocky stalactite, which came down on him fast enough, to strike him right in the back of his mighty back, and force him to the ground.

Fyro immediately reacted to his successful attack by raising both of his arms, but right as the ground underneath the minotaur started to turn into metal, two flying beasts appeared from within the still floating rocks, ready to peak his arm and leg right off.

Capable enough to see the attack, Fyro decided not to avoid, and instead focused on his target.

Just as the two flying beasts were about to strike him, Zack's figure appeared out of nowhere, lying horizontally in the air, while holding a sword with each hand. One which parried the attack aimed at Fyro's leg, and one which parried the attack aimed at his arm.

Thanks to this action Fyro was able to take full control over the ground underneath the minotaur, but right as he was about to make numerous metallic spikes emerge from underneath it, a few golden coins reached him at an absurd speed. However, instead of hitting him, they entered his pocket, causing him to lose control over the ground underneath the minotaur, who had already started to get up.

After parrying the attack of the two flying beasts, a large dark shadow approached from behind the dust, becoming bigger and bigger, until it was revealed to be the fist of the ten meters tall gorilla.

Zack was unable to avoid the punch, so he crossed his arms in front of his chest in order to parry.

The punch was strong enough to make his bones tremble, and sent his body flying past the standing Fyro, and towards their side of the line-up. Before he could go far, Cynna pointed her shield towards Nilo, who without thinking twice about it, stepped on it with enough power to be sent flying towards Zack's flying body.

As the two met mid-air, Nilo grabbed Zack's belt, and with every bit of power of which he was capable of, used his motion to cast his companion back from where he came from.

Zack tightened the grip around his the hilts of his swords, and after putting them above his head, he focused the emission of his immortal essence in the right side of his body, starting a spinning motion which soon enough allowed him to become difficult to see, and for his body to be surrounded by a quickly forming tornado.

The gorilla watched with horror as Zack approached him with an attack so fast and powerful, that he was certain he would not survive.

Unfortunately, right as the tip of Zack's swords could meet with the Gorilla's strong body, an enormous leathery wing wrapped him, right before turning itself into impenetrable metal.

As Zack's attack clashed against the dragon's wing, the shock wave sent the two of them, as well as Fyro, the minotaur, and the gorilla flying back, signaling the end of the umpteenth of the many exchanges these tired cultivators had had in the past couple of hours.