"That looks bad..." Emily’s voice imdiately rang out, her hands already reaching Luna’s arm before she could even answer.
Luna winced slightly as she was pulled upright, the burned skin on her hand throbbing in pain under the sudden movent.
"I’m fine," she said quickly.
Emily didn’t look convinced. "But, your hand—"
"It’s nothing," Luna cut her off, shaking her head as she forced her fingers to move again. "We don’t have ti."
The two of them turned their attention to the rest of the cavern imdiately. A violent clash echoed from one side, as wind and earth clashed against each other. Iris darted between the rocks, her rifle snapping up between movents as she fired in quick succession.
On the other side, Marcus was still holding the line, shield taking another direct hit as so kind of frost attack slamd into it.
...They’re both still fighting.
Emily followed her gaze, jaw tightening. "...We should help. Let’s split up and—"
"No," Luna said imdiately.
Emily blinked. "What?"
Luna’s mind moved quickly, replaying everything she had seen so far, both the Defilers levels compared to their own.
"If we split up, we’re just dividing our strength," she said. "We won’t make a difference."
"Let’s focus on one."
Emily hesitated. "...Marcus?"
"Iris."
The senior frowned. "But—Marcus is fighting the stronger—"
"He’ll last longer," Luna said, "And without Iris’ attacking power, we probably won’t even be able to leave a scratch."
"If we take down the weaker one first," she continued. "we turn it into a four-on-one against the strongest guy.
Emily stared at her for a mont before nodding. "Got it."
Please, Marcus...hold out until we co.
With that, Luna grabbed Emily’s hand as they both sprinted toward the right side of the cave, toward Iris’ fight.
By the ti they reached the scene, the battlefield was already in ruins. The ground had been torn apart, chunks of stone scattered across the cavern floor while deep gouges marked where elents had collided again and again.
Iris stood at the center of it all, her chest heaving as she inhaled and exhaled sharply. Her movents were noticeably slower than before.
A shallow cut ran across her cheek, another along her arm—both untreated as she raised her rifle again.
BANG!
Compressed air tore through the space, forcing the Defiler to twist his body mid-step as he avoided the shots.
"...Tch," he clicked his tongue. "You’re persistent."
He didn’t look untouched either. There were at least 4 holes on the side of his cloak as well as a bad-looking injury on the side of his arm.
Even so...he was still smiling through it all, like he didn’t give a damn about the injuries in the first place.
But that’s when she saw it, a thin arc of lightning sparked into existence around his arms, dancing wildly around it before he let it loose.
Iris barely managed to roll out the way, as the lightning struck exposed stones behind her, blasting it to smithereens.
Emily’s eyes widened. "But, how is that possible?! He has both the Lightning and Earth Elents?"
"Shouldn’t that break the fundantal law of evolution?!"
"Yeah," Luna nodded. "That’s probably how he turned demonic in the first place."
"...You’ve got to be kidding ," Iris muttered under her breath, lowering her stance slightly as wind gathered around her once more.
The Defiler rolled his shoulder as if nothing had changed, lightning still crackling faintly along his arm. He prepared another attack, this ti channeling both his Lightning and Earth elents...ready to take Iris down.
But that was when Luna and Emily erged, ambushing him before he could channel the Art.
"Hailstorm!"
The temperature dropped instantly as spears of ice erged in the air, multiplying rapidly before raining down.
At the sa ti—
"Storm Cloud!"
Three miniature storm clouds ford overhead, lightning crackling violently within them before bolts began striking down in rapid succession.
The cavern exploded into chaos as both of their attacks rained down on the man. His eyes widened before he canceled his channel, forced to dodge the coming barrage.
"...Tch!"
He raised both arms, conjuring a barrier of earth to block the attacks. At first, it seed to work—the barrier held on as lightning and ice rained down upon it.
A small smirk appeared on the man’s face, "Is that all you can do?!"
But that was when the shadows behind him moved, and coming out of it—Iris, with her gun aid at the Defiler.
"Got you."
BANG!
A compressed bullet tore through the air, slipping through the chaos of ice and lightning before striking him square in the chest. Blood flowed freely from his lips as the wall of earth in front dissipated into nothingness.
The man collapsed to one knee before falling over, the light extinguished from his eyes.
Silence remained in the cavern before Iris lowered her rifle slowly. She glanced at the man once more before looking at the ice spears plunged into the ground.
"...Phew, thanks for the help."
"You good?" Emily asked, stepping closer.
"Been better," Iris replied, wiping at the cut on her cheek. "But I’ll live."
Her gaze shifted to Luna, lingering for a brief mont. "...Thanks."
"You’re welco. But there’s no ti," Luna’s gaze snapped toward the other side of the cave. "We need to move."
"...Yeah," Iris muttered, already turning.
But by the ti they reached the other side of the cavern...
It was already too late.
Marcus was slumped against the wall, one knee barely holding him upright. Blood dripped from his side while the remnants of his shield were scattered all over the floor.
"No..." Iris covered her mouth as she bit down on her fingers.
The Defiler stood, looking down on Marcus. His posture was relaxed as if the entire fight had barely cost him anything at all.
"...I’ll admit," he said slowly, rolling his shoulder as frost gathered along his arm. "You lasted longer than I expected."
"Go to hell," Marcus coughed.
The man raised his hand. Ice condensed instantly, forming into a long spear that glinted under the dim light of the cavern.
"Ahhh, it’s actually you that’s going there. Goodbye."
"Marcus—!" Iris yelled, running towards him.
Emily and Luna were right behind her...but the distance was too far for any of the three to reach.
Ti seed to slow. The spear launched forward, making its way towards Marcus’ chest. But that was when...
BOOM!
A heavy tallic force crashed down from above, sending dust all across the field. It struck the ground with overwhelming force right in front of Marcus, the impact sending a shockwave through the cavern as it embedded itself deep into the stone.
In the next second, the tal unfolded outward, plates shifting as it blocked the entire ice spear entirely.
The Defiler coughed as he wiped the dust away. "What the hell...a lance?"
Then...two figures dropped from above, landing between Marcus and the Defiler. One of them reached out casually, gripping the base of the lance as if it weighed nothing.
"...Took you long enough to get here..." Marcus coughed as blood ran freely down his mouth. Yet, a small smirk appeared on his face.
Luna’s eyes widened as she instantly recognized who they were.
"Aren, Daniel!"
But both of them weren’t listening anymore—their faces were twisted in anger as they looked at the man.
"You’re going to pay for what you did."
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