"[Lightning Conjuration]
The pillar which nearly closed in on the in a second was redirected towards the other man some distance away from them. Even so, they felt the heat singe their skins and wrinkled their faces. The stench given off by the ozone formed by the ionization of air was unbearable.
"What!" came the previously ecstatic voice.
Taking this as the cue, they started.
"[Water conjuration]
One of the tidal waves turned brown and gobbled up the other waves and turned monstrously huge, and came crashing on the trio. A part of it was deflected by the wind barrier but a lot managed to come in. It was natural, the caster couldn't focus due to the injuries which refused to heal easily.
"Shit! Those ants!
A torrent of air passed through, leaving a wide hole in the wave. Only for a moment though. But that moment was enough since Gruffold was already close enough that he got splattered with mud.
"Arrrghh!"
But things were not good for the smug girl who was extremely exhausted by using such a strong spell. The wave crashed on her and sent her inside the sea with a really loud sound.
"Sacrificing yourself for the sake of your comrades? Formidable indeed. Allow me drown your hopes. He started speaking out the name of his interference move.
"Like hell I'll let youuu!" Reinard was interrupting his casting. However he was already at his limit. His enemy was too damn talented! "[Plant Conjuration] A stalk carrying bulbs sprouted out from a conjuration circle which formed behind Josh aka Mr Cool. The bulbs were launched at him. [Shit... at this rate I will end up getting all sorts of debuffings. Mirroring Status will not work since that guy is interfering with my spell casting...] Not giving him any time to think, they exploded in front of him. Toxic needles penetrated his body, and the pain was crucifying. He lost focus and could not longer use [Air Walk] to conjure footing in the air. [To think they would have such an upper hand just because they ambushed us. Seems like we go too ahead of ourselves.] However he received a telepathic message in his head at that moment. It made him flash a nasty smile as he was consumed by the agitated waters. This gesture was not ignored by the caster of the plant spell. He immediately contacted Yaleena. ["Something's not right. The Burly wind mage is being kept busy by you right? Leave him to me and focus on activating the escape spell.] He took a look in Kelvin's direction. He was magnificently holding his own, absorbing all the lightning efficiently and cancelling out the explosive property of astra infused lightning. Even though he couldn't tell anything, since the air was thick with a steamy mist, he relied on mana sensing to understand the situation. ["Yes, I'll start with the spell. But put up your guard. I don't think those will go down that easily."] Right now she was facing off against Gruffold. Each one of them was throwing blades of wind and water at each other. Even though injured, Gruffold wasn't showing a single opening. [Seems like I need to use it. But I'll only have enough for activating the already prepared She shook her head. It was not the time to be hesitating. "[Water Conjuration] A huge pillar of water shot up from the sea and headed towards Gruffold. He once again prepared to shoot a hole and pass through it. But it was not so easy this time. The water pillar got divided into multiple branches and started launching blows at him. Fluid, continuous, hard to predict. So instead of dodging, he was forced to intercept them with his composite sword Nahem. "That damned woman! Why don't you just surrender to your already doomed... mguh?!" Just when he was going to finish his sentence, a small finger like projection from ["Everyone gather! I've finished readying the scroll. I'll activate the rift within 10 seconds!"] The wind prison had dispersed after Gruffold got hit. The dispersal generated strong gusts which pushed everyone far away. So the most urgent thing was to gather! ["Wait! JUST A LITTLE BIT! I'M NEARLY DONE !!"] Kelvin's voice could be heard. It appeared that he was struggling to cancel out the explosive property. ["Reinard help him!"] ["On it.... ah!!!"] A pained scream could be heard. The storm was intensified and it was hard to perceive the surroundings based only on vision. Sensing Reinard's mana, she headed over to his direction only to see that he was struggling to stand. His foothold was flickering, about to dissolve any moment. He was at his limits. Nothing less, nothing more. ["LEADER STOP THEM!!! THEY WERE JUST HIDING ALL THIS TIME!"] And then it happened. As if using Marcun's roar as the cue, an oversized bubble came out of the water, inside it two familiar figures. Malay and Josh. She must have cast that spell to hide and breathe underwater. It might have been noticeable in clear water, but impossible in this stormy weather, and even more so after Yaleena's "Hahahahah you thought I was seriously down just because I cast that spell! AHAHAHAHAHAHA suits you right you dirty pigheads! Josh, NOW!" [Wait no!] Yaleena called out in her mind, but to no avail. Her enemy wasn't going to spare the god gifted opportunity. "[Dark Conjuration] It was no big deal to understand who was the target. Yaleena looked at the direction of Kelvin. Even though the mist hadn't subsided, her senses told her that the Mana and Astra inside was going berserk and was about to explode. She had never felt such despair ever before. She had failed as a leader... a worthless leader not even deserving to live... [….Why?] She asked herself this question. [Why did it happen?] She was fully aware that such a thing was bound to happen, but when it finally did, her mind didn't wish to accept it. Her heart was beating so loudly that it hurt. But they didn't have any time to waste. ["""Snap Out of it Leader! Open the rift"""] Reinard, Marcun and even Mira screamed together. She must have regained consciousness. ["Eh? What?"] She couldn't comprehend the meaning of the words, but only for a second. ["You guys are telling me to LEAVE HIM ALO..."] Her raging voice abruptly stopped. She noticed their faces. All of them were crying. Her chest tightened when she finally came to grasps with reality. ["[Dark Conjuration] Mira spoke out a spell and instantly the space around them turned black. Basically it was a barrier which prevented light from coming in. Of course, the other party on the other side won't be able to see them. At the same time another was cast. [" Reinard to the rescue. It would surely prevent the technician of the enemy party from figuring out where they were heading too. Or maybe it should, considering the person in question has taken quite a beating. With tears streaming down her face uncontrollably, Yaleena activated the scroll. ["Spatial Rift Scroll... Activate"] A rift appeared before them. The "Shit, They they are! They are using a Spatial Rift! Josh where are they heading to!" "Sorry, but I can't figure it out. They must be using an "Shit! Shit!" "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! See you fools! Your lightning master, GOT KILLED BY LIGHTNING! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!"] Malay's hysterical laughter grew even crazier. The truth dawned on the other group. That crazy bitch was trying to finish them off in a humiliating manner. But she failed. Their friend had protected them. As the four of them crossed the rift, they could hear an ear splitting explosion accompanied by a bright flash of golden light. It was obvious what happened. "Don't worry leader... we will definitely avenge him." "Yes. We most definitely will." A voice resounded, more determined than ever. Back to present. Barnie was crying. She wiped off her eyes with her sleeve and hugged Yaleena. "Leader, don't worry. We can do it now. You have us." Yaleena felt stronger. Yes, now they were a lot stronger than before. And this time, the whole These tears of sorrow and despair, she won't allow these tears to be shed for a second time. Next time they will surely be shed tears of joy. "Hm..." She did not speak any words, but her response was enough for Barnie to flash out a grin. "Thank god sis Mira recognized me and told us to meet each other. C'mon leader. Now let's head out to our hideout. Leader Jeryl will be happy to see you." "Yeah, let's go. It's been five years since I met that smartass." Chuckling heartily, she got up from the seat and started running after Barnie, who had already gone quite far. But Barnie stopped. She had an apprehensive look on her face. "What's wrong Barnie?" "Leader Jeryl told me not to go there using telepathy. They fear that the hideout's location has been compromised. They have already left that place." "...." Yaleena made a complicated expression. [If they really knew about their location, then why aren't they attacking? Oh yeah, their crazy bitch of a leader thinks this whole thing is a game... I could open a rift to a different place and hopefully mask its detection with [Stop Me. Stop Comparing everything with the 'last time'.] Yaleena chided herself "Fine. Where do we go?" "Mira's other house which she rarely uses. In northern Aomuri." They set off towards the designated place, slowly and cautiously while masking their presence.