"We won't be able to land a hit as long as he can create barriers to defend himself. We have to try to make him run out of energy first," Chase thought.
"But we don't even know how much energy it consumes to create a single barrier. What if the amount is negligible? It would take forever before he ran out of energy."
"He should have the same amount of energy as a step five integration stage esper, so we should be able to outlast him. Either way, it's our best bet. Do you have any better ideas?"
Isaac shook his head.
"How many energy spheres can you create?"
"I should be able to make at least twenty more."
"And what about your energy beam?"
"That consumes the same amount of energy as fifteen energy spheres."
"You can't use your energy spheres while we fight Delta, or it would hit us too. Just make sure to get ready to use the energy beam when I give you the signal," Chase told Isaac, then looked at Stella. "Stella! Retreat!"
After barely dodging one last punch from Delta, Stella teleported next to Chase and Isaac.
"So what's the plan, Chase?" she asked.
"We will attack Delta while Isaac stays behind. When I give you the signal, teleport us as far as you can," Chase told her. Stella nodded.
Chase stood up and dashed toward Delta, limping slightly due to his damaged leg. Stella followed quickly after. To their surprise, unlike last time, Delta didn't just wait for them; he closed the distance in the blink of an eye.
Chase quickly activated his ability and divided himself into two projections, each jumping out of the way in a different direction. He planned to bait Delta to attack one of them and then eliminate it before he could make contact. However, not only did Delta not attack any of them, but he also created two barriers next to each one.
BANG!
Chase didn't have time to dodge, and the barriers eliminated one of the projections and crashed him into the ground.
Shing! CLANG!
Stella appeared beside Delta and swiftly swung her sword. However, she was blocked by one of Delta's barriers. Meanwhile, Delta turned around and got ready to unleash a powerful punch. As Stella watched Delta's fist close in, she quickly reached for her pocket, took out a marked knife, and threw it to one side.
Shing!
She switched places with the knife, dodging the punch and appearing behind him while readying her sword to attack.
'Good thing I refilled my knives after my spar,' she thought while Delta turned to face her.
At the same time, Chase got behind him, flipping his dagger in his hand and raising it over his head.
'If I put as much strength as possible into my attacks, even if he defends with a barrier, it shouldn't be able to stop me long enough to give him enough time to react,' Chase thought as he channeled the energy all over his upper body.
Without even turning around, Delta just made a small gesture with his hand, and suddenly a barrier hit Chase from the side. At the same time, Delta channeled energy to specific muscles of his body as Stella was about to unleash her attack.
Stella swung her sword, Delta swiftly dodged the attack, and in a fluid motion, he delivered a powerful punch to Stella's abdomen followed by another punch to the face that almost knocked her out as she fell to the ground, fighting to maintain consciousness.
Delta quickly tried to connect a final strike and knock Stella out for good, but at that moment, Isaac appeared in front of him ready to block the attack. Delta just infused more strength into his attack.
BANG!
The clash resonated through the surroundings as Isaac's body trembled.
'Just what kind of strength is this?! I felt the impact all over my body,' Isaac thought as his body kept shaking.
'We won't be able to last until he runs out of energy, we need to bet everything in one attack,' Chase thought as he stood up.
Wasting no time and taking advantage of Isaac's stunned body, Delta quickly struck Isaac with a knee to the chest.
Blergh!
Isaac spat out a mouthful of blood as Delta retracted his arm and covered it with a thick layer of energy to hit him again. However, before he could hit him again, two of Chase's projections appeared from behind him. Delta stopped his attack, took a step back, and created two barriers to defend himself.
"Get ready!" Chase urged Isaac.
One of Chase's projections materialized a leg and kicked the first barrier, destroying it, while the second one materialized an arm and struck the second one, also destroying it. Once both barriers were destroyed, a knife came hurtling in Delta's direction from behind Chase.
Shing! Pack!
Stella switched places with the knife and quickly punched Delta. However, her movements were slower than before, and Delta easily caught her hand. At the same time, both of Chase's projections appeared from the other side. Delta tried to hit both of them with a barrier; however, one of the projections quickly turned around, materialized the arm that had a dagger and destroyed the barrier. The second projection materialized a leg and attacked Delta.
Bang!
Delta easily blocked the attack. However, to his surprise, the projection was eliminated as Chase appeared next to it and grabbed Delta's arm, holding it in place while simultaneously Stella grabbed his other arm.
"Do it now!" Chase yelled to Isaac as he created another projection and sent it toward Stella.
Delta tried to free himself as he saw the high-energy beam closing in on him. Yet, due to Chase and Stella's stronger bodies, he couldn't move.
Just as the beam was about to hit them, Chase's projection touched Stella, he eliminated the projection holding Delta's arm in place, and Stella teleported both of them away from the energy beam, leaving Delta with no option to dodge.
BOOOOOOOOOM!!!