Six.
And they were all locked in on Killian.
It should be an easy wipeout if they attacked again with no plan or formation. But they likely wouldn't.
They weren't animals who couldn't evolve mid-fight, and Killian was very aware of that.
These outcasts had their notorious reputation for their rebellious spirit and adaptability.
To stand a chance against them, being the newbie he was, he needed to think outside the box and use all his cards.
He took his hand off his pocket, holding a dagger.
'If push cos to shove. I'll use it.'
He told himself so he wouldn't hesitate. He watched the leader give a signal but nothing happened.
The ones above weren't closing in, and the tendrils spread under his legs hadn't vanished. It didn't confirm that the Crafter couldn't affect it, so that remained a worry at the back of Killian's head.
Suddenly, the earth began to tremble.
His tendrils were steady for the first second, before they wriggled aggressively as if burned by acid. The fire on them started to fade.
"No…" Killian forced more mana into them for stability, but no matter what he did, the wriggling got worse.
Two high towers burst out from the earth, reaching for the skies then curving downwards quickly.
"What…?"
He dodged them almost effortlessly, but his ears rang with the loud sounds another rider invoked.
He never saw the riders initiate any skill, nor did they touch the ground to manipulate it.
'How are they manipulating the earth then…?'
He bit his lower lip, and tasted the blood. The pain made his head feel less discombobulated.
He dodged another attack by the curving earth towers. A fireball shot at them as they swerved towards him again. His fireball did nothing.
"It wouldn't work."
Killian clicked his tongue, rushing farther away from the point the towers had burst out from. He grabbed his tendrils, forcing them to stabilize.
"Right!" he scoffed, just before he had to dodge another attack. "This isn't real!"
He snapped his head to his left, and punched the air. A ball of fire charged at the rider who had been staying oddly still.
Before the impact, another rider took the hit, but the force threw him against the rider it was intended for.
The illusion faded and the tendrils beca normal. Even the curving towers vanished.
Killian stopped moving, his breathing had beco ragged. He glared at the leader, who didn't look one bit surprised or annoyed.
"Am I so kind of experint to you? This isn't how an elimination protocol is carried out, is it?"
He could tell by now. While killing him wouldn't be against their current goal, her actions haven't been exactly working towards it.
Surely a band of Elent Users could do more damage than illusions and making his skills fade.
"You don't need to know the specifics. Your best course of action is surrendering and you might not get killed. At least, not yet. But if you want to still fight, I'll grant you that honor."
Killian said nothing, he lightly tapped his feet to keep feeling the tendrils on the ground.
'If she's thinking I'll run out of mana soon, she will be very wrong.'
'Surrendering wasn't an option after coming this far. At most, I stall until Lu brings soone here.'
The woman snapped her fingers again. Another unspoken command. But in the sa second, Killian saw the mana spread towards the riders.
Their bodies advanced forward almost as one and flas burst from their hands, as they descended from all sides.
The sky above him turned orange as their flas closed in on him. He smiled softly. "So that's how it is."
He couldn't confirm which one was an illusion and which wasn't before he got hit. And he wouldn't want to bet that they all were.
He forced more mana into his Void Shield, thickening the black barrier around him as heat crashed against it from every direction.
He shut his eyes and stretched out his senses through the tendrils spread across the ground.
'Closer.' The command echoed through his mind.
The tendrils withdrew at once. Their range shrank quickly while their bodies thickened and rose higher.
Mana flowed through them like blood through veins and by the ti Killian opened his eyes again, the riders were already upon him.
But they were too late.
The tendrils narrowed beside him. Then shot forward.
STABB!
Four black spikes crossed the battlefield and pierced through four riders before they could react.
Blood sprayed into the air and shocked cries rang out as the speed of their descent carried them further onto the thorns.
Two of the riders flickered before vanishing. Illusions.
The four impaled n twitched violently while the tendrils remained lodged into their flesh and bone.
With a glance from Killian, the black tendrils began to pulse. The screams grew louder and more blood stread out their lungs.
Killian lifted his gaze, his red eyes found the woman.
"Back to you."
For the first ti, she did not look entirely calm. Yet her confident posture didn't assure him that he was close to winning. She hadn't shown her move after all.
His tendrils writhed around the bodies and their flesh shrank where the darkness touched. The riders' screams beca weaker with every passing second.
Killian no longer cared, but his hands reached for his phone to increase the volu once again. The screams faded beneath the jazz.
Then the Crafter moved.
Killian's fingers twitched.
The man descended from the air and hovered at the height his stabbed n were. He said nothing. No explosion followed or manipulation of his elent.
Yet Killian stared at him harder than before with one hand tightened around his dagger.
The tendrils nearest the Crafter slowed, and retracted towards Killian.
The man stretched a hand forward.
A rider still hanging from a thorn was suddenly dragged free. The rider's flesh tore and blood splashed across the ground as his body rushed towards the Crafter.
The injured rider shook so hard his teeth rattled, as he lowered his head for the Crafter to place a hand on.
"Kill him," the Crafter spoke with a breathy tone, like a person who had almost lost their voice.
The injured rider stopped trembling, and his eyes grew empty. The Crafter's glowing red eyes finally looked at the injured rider.
"And don't die until you do."
Silence followed.
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