The Earth Striders had lost their patience, their mind was filled with hatred towards the humans who had baited them here as weaker life forms.
The first Earth Striders lost its patience, followed by the second and third as they broke through the solid ground with their slimy bodies, opening their wide mouths which revealed their sharp teeth.
"Fire the energy pistols now!"
At Arith's command, all the disciples pulled on the trigger of the modified energy pistols improved by Arith which were a caliber higher than the previous model.
*Swoosh*
Energy beams gathered around the barrel of the pistols as the disciples released them at the same timing, aiming straight for the open mouths of those Earth Striders. It was the weakest part of their body.
The energy beams were swallowed by the Earth Striders which had overestimated their ability to devour energy, the next moment, a large chain of explosions kicked off as the Earth Striders burst apart one after the other.
"Gowww!"
The other Earth Striders were enraged, their bodies were quivering in anger beneath the ground. Energy coated the bodies of the Earth Striders as all of them burrowed out of the ground.
Arith waited patiently, his eyes full of confidence. "Fall back and fire towards the ground where you are standing right now!"
The disciples reacted immediately while the leaders gathered around Arith who was about to be in the line of sight of all the energy pistols. He was going to attempt a plan that not only endangers himself, but the other leaders who had trusted him.
After they win this battle against the Earth Striders, the first thing they would do is request for the Valor Kingdom to help Lancelot recover from his state of unconsciousness.
The energy beams pierced through the air, colliding and gathering together as the energy beams merged together into one spiralling laser beam.
With a flick of his wrist, Arith threw out what seems to be a ring artefact towards the spiralling laser beam.
*Whirr*
The ring was vibrating violently, trying its best to not fall apart as it devoured the spiralling laser beam.
The other leaders knew that the first step of their plan had succeeded, what they needed to do now was assist Arith with the second step of his plan.
One by one, they infused a portion of their spirit energy into the ring artefact. For each person that infuses their spirit energy, one of the eight gems on the exterior surface will glow brightly.
The eight gems represented different elements, it was unique and pertained to the element of the spirit energy that it had just absorbed.
Garen was the last person to infuse his spirit energy after joining them at the last moment. As for his element, it was the inferno element, one tier above the standard fire element.
The gap between the inferno element and fire element might not seem like much, but the difference was vast.
If a cultivator of the fire element can burn a tree easily, then a cultivator of the inferno element can burn a forest down in mere seconds.
"Elder Arith, are you sure that your plan will work out?" Garen asked with uncertainty in his eyes, he was staring at the Earth Striders which were just above them right now.
"Get away from me now!" Arith shouted hurriedly as he collected the energy in the ring artefact together, sending it above his head as it rotated quickly, the energy gathered around the eight gems on the ring artefact, gathering into a large vortex in the center area of the ring artefact.
"Octa Judgement!"
The Earth Striders were near, only a metre away from Arith now.
Right when the Earth Striders were about to get him, he closed his eyes as a rainbow vortex protected him from the collision.
The Earth Striders were knocked back and wiggling around in a daze. The members of the sect were standing at the side anxious but helpless against the situation.
At this moment, their heart felt heavy. Was the elder they had always ignored going to sacrifice himself just to save their senior and protect their lives?
Was it disappointment in themselves they were feeling? They were glad to have such a caring elder, but they were regretful of not thanking him earlier on.
Everyone only had the same thought right now, they wanted Arith to live through this ordeal.
A iridescent rainbow wall barricaded the Earth Striders within it, the four corners of the barrier were curved inwards and the barrier was actually shrinking in size.
Arith was standing in the middle of the encirclement and his own trap, surrounding him was an iridescent vortex and on his face, what they saw wasn't confidence, but regret with a bitter smile.
The irisdencet trap was closing in on the Earth Striders that were struggling to get out, when they tried to burrow underground, they were reflected away and sent flying upwards before colliding against the iridescent wall.
Whenever their bodies touched the iridescent wall, their body would be destroyed immediately without a single trace of their life being left behind.
One by one, the Earth Striders perished to the merciless judgement that was being casted on them as their bodies wiggled in fear before gathering together to attack Arith.
With a sigh, Arith vomited a mouthful of essence blood onto the iridescent barrier that was protecting him, he was the threatening one now, he was even more dangerous than the iridescent wall that had cornered the Earth Striders.
Taking the initiative to attack the Earth Striders, he eliminated them one at a time with a touch of his finger, in just a matter of mere seconds, the Earth Striders were eliminated. But, this came at a hefty price no one had ever expected.
Arith was laying on the ground, his face facing the sky with a resolved smile, his face was pale and he was finding it difficult to breathe. His eyelids felt heavy as he struggled to keep them opened.
"Arith!" The first to react was Clarissa as she rushed up and tried to support him up, yet this only aggravated Arith's injuries.
Vomiting another mouthful of blood, Arith explained weakly, "Don't bother, my body is ruined."
Arith was being truthful, not only was his internal organs ruptured, his bones were shattered and his muscles were torn. Right now, he couldn't even move an inch, he was crippled and death was awaiting him.
"Elder Arith!" Ray rushed up and knelt down beside him, unaware of what to do. Tears were welling up in his eyes.
"Elder Arith!" One by one, the disciples rushed up, sorrow was on their faces and yet there was nothing they could do.
"Cidd, is there anything you can do?" Clarissa asked with tears streaming down her ashen white face, her body was still quivering in fear and she was trying her best not to break down.
"If our sect master was here, then he might be able to do something, but he went missing ever since that day due to unforeseen circumstances." Cidd explained calmly, but no one here blamed him for acting this calm.
After spending so much time in the sect, they knew one thing. The more serious the serious, the calmer Cidd behaves in order to assess the situation even if he's panicking internally.
"Arith, promise me that you won't give up just yet. There has to be a way...there has to be a way…" Clarissa was shaking in fear, her face moist from her own tears.
"I'm sorry Clarissa, but the promise I've made to you, I might be unable to fulfill them."
"No! You made the promise and I expect you to fulfill it! I'll wait for you, even if it takes tens of years, hundreds of years for you to recover!" Clarissa retorted back with tears, mucus was leaking from her nose and her breathing was rushed.
No one in the sect knows, but deep down, Clarissa and Arith had made an eternal vow to each other.
To outsiders, it was unexpected, but that was because no one knew about their story.