Those who sat on the top ten privileged class leaderboard were certainly not easy opponents at all.
This person named Taylor Haze was probably the fastest privileged acolyte Emery met so far, comparable to Zach in speed without the latter's using his bloodline transformation.
Tier 6 buff-type spells, coupled with mastery over the dagger to the point of possessing the Dagger Aura; the man was certainly a genius.
However, facing such an extraordinary opponent did not discourage Emery. In fact, it actually made him even more excited and looking forward to the fight.
His reason for retreating earlier was because he knew he wouldn't win with his current setup. Therefore, now that he knew some of Taylor's cards, Emery cast two spells in his repertoire that could help him.