Dashing out from his hiding spot, he beelined straight for the hooded man at a blinding pace. As he approached he leaped up with his left leg, his right leg ready to unleash a deadly kick, aimed straight for the man's solar plexus. As expected, his kick connected, and the man lurched back before flying backwards into the burning house. His body crashed through the burning walls before coming to a halt. Through the door, a pillar of concentrated fire burning red and orange blasted out. With his heightened senses, Liam shifted out of the blast radius.
What he wasn't expecting though, was that the man was hiding inside the pillar of fire. In the moment that Liam stepped sideways, a leg swept out and knocked him off his feet.
"Wha-?"
Immediately, a hand grabbed his face, about to slam his head into the concrete driveway.
"Like hell I'd let that happen!" He thought.
Feeling an overwhelming tingling fill his body, he sent a shock strong enough to knock the man out through his body. However, that was not the case. The man was virtually unaffected by the attack, and was still gripping onto his face tightly.
"If my head hits the concrete, I'm done for. I only have one choice now…"
Liam grabbed the fingers grasped tightly on his face and pulled them back with a sickening crack. His body still suspended in midair horizontally, Liam planted both feet on the ground firmly and twisted his body, sending a left punch straight into the man's jaw. The recoil from his head snapping back blew his hood off. Finally, Liam had a good look at the man's face.
It was an awkward moment. Liam was still twisted sideways on the ground, his body bent backwards as if he was playing limbo. The man he had just punched was standing firmly in place, unmasked. The moment the two looked at each other, everything changed.
"Asher?!" Liam blurted in shock.
"Liam."
Quickly getting up, Liam looked at the gray-haired boy standing in front of him. It was Asher, the boy currently ranked number two in their school. He was another fire User, similar to Mei.
"Asher, what the hell are you doing?" Liam asked.
There seemed to be an unspoken agreement that the fight was temporarily stopped.
"I could ask you the same thing." Asher replied.
He turned to walk away, but Liam thrust his arm out and stopped him.
"I'll ask you again, what are you doing?"
"Get out of my way." Asher said, ice-cold.
"I'll report this to the authorities."
"Like hell they care."
"Then I'll report this to Renault."
Asher's eyes widened. He understood the severity of Liam's words. There was no saying what Renault would do to him if he found out what Asher had been up to.
"I've changed my mind. I'm killing you right now." Asher cocked his head and looked into
Liam's eyes. His stare was sharp and deadly, just like how he was. Liam exhaled. The situation had just escalated.
"He's going to kill me? I doubt I can beat him, but if I ran-"
He was cut off by sharp pain in his stomach. He had just been punched by Asher and was sent flying out the yard. While still midair, he thought using his enhanced state.
"He caught me off guard while I was thinking. It was a mistake that shouldn't have happened. I have to stop myself in midair before I obliterate the house across the street."
Using all his strength he turned himself midair and used a blast of electricity to send himself flying to the ground. Upon landing nimbly on his feet, Liam had less than a moment to react before a ball of fire shot at him. He dodged left and right, avoiding the barrage of fire.
None of Asher's attacks were connecting, Liam was just too fast.
"Tch, too easy."
As Asher launched his next attack, Liam noticed its trajectory was different from his previous attacks, instead of aiming for his body the ball of fire was sent straight to his feet. Not only that, it soared through the air at a blinding speed, much faster than Asher's previous attacks.
It was then that Liam realized he fell into Asher's trap. By attacking much slower, he effectively got Liam to lower his guard, rendering him defenseless against a full-speed attack.
"Let's see how you like my Fire Lotus."
As the fireball hit the ground beneath Liam's feet, it blossomed into a prison of fire, the petals enveloping him in a sphere.
Quickly, Liam scanned his options. He was effectively trapped within the suspended Fire Lotus. His options were zero, he was open to any attack Asher would make. His only option was to hope for a miracle or force his way out of the Fire Lotus, though it would cause severe damage to himself. Briefly, he considered breaking through the concrete road and escaping from underneath, but quickly brushed away that escape as unviable.
Because he was still in his enhanced state, his thoughts flowed much quicker than that of a normal human. In the time he was thinking, only a few seconds passed.
Momentarily, the entire Fire Lotus flickered out, revealing the outside world. Liam quickly scanned the area in front of him, Asher was nowhere to be seen. He debated whether it could be a trap, but he knew he had to take this opportunity. With that, he overloaded his body and blitzed out of the trap.
Only a split-second after he blitzed out, the Fire Lotus reformed perfectly where it once was. However, Asher was still nowhere to be seen.
"Liam! He's getting away!"
Turning his head towards the direction of the voice, he saw Mei standing on the road. There was no time to ask questions, he knew he had to chase down Asher, who was using his fire and soaring down the road. Liam breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that Mei was there to save her.
"Let's go." Liam said to Mei. "And try to keep up."
He felt the tingling energy fill his entire body before taking off. His legs pumped at a blinding pace, his arms working in unison. He didn't spare a look behind him, but he knew Mei was keeping up as best as she could.
Asher was a block ahead, but the gap between him and Liam was quickly closing. Using the force of the fire shooting from his palms and feet, he was flying as if he had a jetpack on. Still, he was no match for Liam's speed, after all, the element of electricity was all about energy and speed.
Flicking his head back, he quickly glanced at the space between the three fighters.
"Battlefield: Hallway of Infernos,"
Two parallel walls of fire tall enough to touch the sky instantaneously expanded from Asher, trapping the three fighters into one long road. From the walls, pillars of flame shot out, attempting to hit Mei and Liam.
Still blitzing down the road, Liam leaped and dodged over the pillars shooting out with ease. Behind him, Mei did the same. Neither of them deployed a Battlefield of their own. Liam fully believed that the two of them could neutralize Asher without one.
A kick went flying towards Liam, sending him flying into one of the walls of fire. Its speed was equal to that of Liam's, leaving the boy with no time to react as he soared through the air.
However, suddenly he switched directions. Instead of flying into the wall of fire, he was sent forward instead. As his body careened through the air, he caught a glimpse of Mei, who was close behind him. It was then that he realized he had been saved by her again. By kicking him forward, she had saved Liam from being incinerated by one of the pillars of fire.
Still midair, Liam quickly hit the ground tumbling with a rough landing. Mei landed beside him. Ahead of the two, Asher was no longer running, instead he stood facing them with a girl by his side.
Brushing his clothes and ignoring the scrapes he got from his crash-landing, Liam slowly got up.
"Come on, you're okay." Mei hurried the boy.
"Thanks for the save. Again."
"What's wrong with you today? You're off your game." Mei said.
Liam didn't answer, for he didn't know why either.
"Enough of that, look who just arrived." Liam said, shifting the topic.
"Of course she's here. Wherever Asher is, you'll always find her somewhere nearby." Mei replied. "Isn't that right, Euna?"
"I'm not in the mood for talking right now, but it's good to see you too Mei."
Even with an innocent voice, Euna still sounded extremely dangerous.
"You siblings just can't stay apart." Mei grumbled under her breath.
Asher whispered something incomprehensible to Euna, and her expression quickly shifted to one of understanding. The two siblings were preparing to initiate the fight again.