This time, Renee chose to move more carefully. Charles was serious, and she could not carelessly approach that man. Therefore, Renee advanced slowly in a circular manner. It was also to rest his aching body after hitting the wooden boxes.
"Arrrgggghhh!!!" Charles hit his frozen leg, then shook it. The leg could move normally as if nothing had happened to it.
Renee gulped, hoping it was just a bluff. The woman continued to approach her opponent, who was now just standing where he was. The closer she got to that man, Renee felt her heart beating wildly. Charles' next move would be unpredictable as the man just stood still.
Suddenly, Charles gave an attack using his supposedly frozen left foot. Renee dodged, taken aback by the attack that shouldn't have happened. Then, Charles caught Renee's staff swinging at him.
Renee activated fire magic, causing the staff to become coated in heat. However, Charles was completely unaffected. He laughed as Renee's hands began to smoke and make a hissing sound. Even more shocked by that, Renee widened her eyes, unaware of the incoming attack.
Renee's stomach was hit by Charles' knee strike. The woman immediately felt like the contents of her stomach were being pushed into her throat. A second had passed, and Charles had hit Renee in the face, making her stagger. However, the woman was still able to maintain her balance.
Did she have to use ice magic to freeze her enemy's hand? No, there was a possibility that the magic was really ineffective. So, doing that would be pointless.
While still thinking, Renee saw the kick that came to her stomach. She was forced to let go of her staff and jumped back. Charles, who seemed to have guessed that movement, hugged the woman's body and lifted her up.
A loud thud echoed as Charles slammed the woman's body onto the floor, creating large cracks. Renee couldn't move. The back of her body felt like it was crushed.
And that was coupled with Charles stepping on the woman's chest. Renee could only squirm, trying to free herself. Charles pressed his foot against Renee's chest even more, making it difficult for her to breathe.
"I have always envied the strong body of the Emilian family. They are more resistant to attack. A slam like this won't really injure you, Renee." Charles said in a cold tone. "I'm giving you time to consider this. Surrender, or I'll beat you in the face beyond recognition."
Renee knew that Charles wasn't just bluffing. From the tone of his voice, the man was really going to torture Renee. However, Renee didn't consider giving up at all. She was thinking about how to break free.
"Where are you looking, huh?" Charles asked when he noticed that Renee was glancing in different directions. "You are waiting for your friend to help you? I'll kill them right away if they come to me. I have no connection to them, unlike you and your family."
"Shut up! Don't talk about connections! You are a disgrace to the Emilian martial school!" Renee snapped with tears in her eyes. "My dad definitely wouldn't want you to be a bad person like this!"
The fire is getting bigger. The heat made Renee's skin covered in a lot of sweat.
"The reason I want to train with the Emilian family is so that I can take my revenge on the thugs in this city." Charles' voice sounded like a mixture of happy and sad tones. "They killed my father, but I have no power to take revenge. And that's when I was taken to your father's place to work at your house…."
"And now you've become the person you used to hate. You also finished off those who fought you, right!?" Renee cut off her opponent's words. "Even though my father gave you a chance! He gave you a better future."
"Yes, I'm terrible. I don't deny that. I'm no longer Charles the gardener you sometimes play with, Renee… No, that wasn't me in the first place. I'm hiding the real me."
Suddenly Renee picked up a piece of burning wood that had just fallen nearby. Holding the unbearable heat in her hands, Renee used her wind magic to magnify the flames in that piece of wood.
The fire devoured Charles' hand, which was raised to protect his face. The leader of the thugs immediately backed away, then rolled hard on the floor. Renee, who was finally free from Charles' feet, tried to get up even if it was so hard for her. Grimacing in pain, she looked at her scalding and smoking right hand.
The fire on Charles' body had been extinguished, leaving a burn on his right hand that spread to his shoulders and back. The man was also getting up but seemed more troubled than Renee. His left leg could not be used to support his body properly.
It was then that Renee realized her ice attack on the man's leg had succeeded. So far, Charles had just forced himself to move as usual.
Renee didn't waste her chance. She kicked the man's head. However, Charles was still able to block it with his other hand.
Even with injuries like that, Charles didn't just dodge or parry. The exchange of attacks between the two was unavoidable. Renee can indeed give Charles kicks and punches. However, the leader of the thugs could also counter those attacks. He repeatedly hit Renee's stomach, chest, face, and thighs, using his uninjured limbs. However, the impact of his attack was reduced considerably, allowing Renee to still hold on.
Charles used his last strength to throw a thrust kick at Renee. The woman stumbled back a few feet while Charles fell to his knees with an uncontrollable gasp.
Renee still hasn't given up. She still tried to get up again, even though the pain in her body was more immeasurable.
"You are so stubborn, Miss Emilian…." Charles choked when he heard a loud crackling from above. When he looked up, he found a section of the ceiling collapsing.