Kalen took advantage of the fact that Zayne was not only wounded, but looked like he was about to lose his mind, with all his veins swollen and a look of rage on his face.
As with the knives, Kalen applied some elemental wind energy to the surface of his sword and cleanly sliced Zayne's right arm with a single strike.
The attack was not enough to kill him, but it was enough to incapacitate him. After all, Kalen could kill no one but Rodhlann Danneir.
A cry of pain echoed in the ears of all who, though busy defending themselves from the creatures of the abyss, had a few seconds to see what was going on at the bottom of the cave.
Kalen landed on the other side of Zayne and ran back to him, intending to take his other arm, but when he saw something coming dangerously close to him, he was forced to abandon his plan.
The tip of a tentacle slammed into his sword, breaking it almost completely.
The blow sent Kalen flying a few meters until he hit the cave wall and fell to the ground in pain.
'Ughh... Shit'
With the elemental down, the monster had a chance to focus on Kalen... apparently to defend Zayne.
But suddenly, everyone in the cave felt a strange pressure that forced them to stop. Even the creatures of the abyss stopped, growling dangerously.
Kalen had felt this dangerous energy before, it was the same as when they first met the older elemental. It was their pressure, pressure he had kept under control so as not to make them uncomfortable.
But now that his life was coming to an end at the hands of the monster, he could no longer bear to keep it under control.
Gradually, the air became heavy, and one by one, they all fell to their knees.
Kalen, who was already on the ground, looked up and watched as the color of the Elemental seemed to change from brown to pure white.
Each type of elemental energy, whether it was water, wind, or earth energy, felt different.
The water and wind energy were somehow refreshing, while the earth energy was rougher.
But instead of the earth energy coming from the elementals, Kalen felt a purer energy. As if it was elemental energy... free of any element.
The light emanating from the Elemental began to increase exponentially, and a feeling of uncertainty appeared in Kalen's heart.
"…No way"
The elemental reminded him of a star, a white dwarf to be exact. And from the condensation of energy, it looked like this one was about to explode.
'Shit!'
Kalen looked at the group still staring nervously at the elemental and couldn't help but yell.
"Take cover, damn it!"
Hearing Kalen's distant scream, everyone began to panic. Their legs felt heavy, but they somehow forced themselves to stand up and take cover under the pillars scattered throughout the cave.
Kalen, however, did not have the same chance. There was no cover around him, and he would not be able to escape in time.
"Fuck!"
Kalen stayed on the ground but began to gather all the remaining energy in his elemental core.
A large turquoise barrier began to form in front of him. The shield was almost 10 centimeters thick and reached out to cover him almost perfectly.
Feeling his entire body begin to fail internally from the sudden overuse of his elemental core, Kalen spat blood, but did not stop sending energy into the large barrier in front of him.
And not many seconds after he created the shield... the elemental exploded.
A white light mowed down all who watched. The nearby tunnels lit up like never before, and everything in its path was instantly incinerated.
The creatures of the abyss were annihilated by the explosion, while those who were shielded felt their clothes begin to burn.
The temperature rose considerably, and everyone began to sweat.
Among them, the one who was probably having the worst time was Kalen, who was protected by the shield... but it was not enough.
How could a shield that he created with weak elemental energy that he barely knew how to use withstand the exploitation of an older elemental?
The pure elemental energy that caused the elemental's death was tens, if not hundreds, of times more powerful than the elemental energy Kalen used to create the barrier.
As a result, cracks began to appear on the surface of the shield, threatening to erase Kalen from existence.
'Please... Just hold on'
Even with the barrier in front of him protecting him, some of the pure elemental energy managed to break through the cracks and crash into Kalen.
Kalen felt parts of his body begin to burn, even cauterizing some of his wounds by accident.
Suddenly, the cracks in the barrier began to grow, and Kalen began to prepare for the worst. But seconds later, to his luck, the exploitation began to stop.
Gradually, the energy emitted began to diminish until the bright light illuminating the cavern began to fade, revealing its surroundings.
Kalen sighed slightly as he saw that the explosion had stopped, but immediately regretted it as a stream of blood spurted from his mouth.
"Ugh..."
The barrier shattered into particles of light as it reached its limit, and officially its elemental core was now empty.
The energy would regenerate naturally, but it would take time, especially considering his injuries.
Kalen looked around and first spotted Jaume Che, who had managed to hide behind a pillar in the cave.
Some of his clothes were completely burned, but overall, he was fine... the same could not be said for Zayne who, like Kalen, had no time to hide.
Like him, he had used all of his demonic energy to shield himself from the blast.
To Kalen's surprise, the dark barrier still stood in front of Zayne, proving that not only the amount, but the power of Zayne's was greater than his.
There were many events that helped him, but if his battle had dragged on, he would surely have lost eventually.
Slowly, he began to realize that how powerful he was thanks to his training was insignificant in the face of true power.
With great effort, Kalen stood up and began to approach Zayne, who was lying on the ground with a pool of blood beneath him.
The bleeding from the stab wound in his back and the severed arm were enough to push him to the edge of life and death. Where his strength was not enough to save his life.
Not even a miracle could save him.
But Kalen feared that Zayne's death would count as an indirect kill, causing him to fail his test.
He reached Zayne, who looked at him with a new indifference. His eyes were unfocused, and he seemed to have no strength to form words.
Kalen held his bone sword at the point of breakage and placed it against his neck. He had no intention of doing anything to him, he wasn't going to finish it...that wasn't his test.
But suddenly Kalen felt something push him and he fell to the ground, unable to keep his balance.
He was so weak, and his senses so dulled, that he failed to notice that someone had suddenly approached him.
He looked at whoever had pushed him and saw Jaume Che staring at Zayne with a look of hatred on his face.
He hadn't even cared about Kalen, he was just focused on the dying man at his feet.
"You... you fucked up my whole life!"
Jaume Che's emotions reached their limit and he exploded.
"Forever I had to stand in your shadow and bow my head when you walked by!"
Jaume kicked Zayne's torso, who groaned in pain.
"You and your father are bastards!"
This time Jaume smashed Zayne's stomach with even more fury.
"You think because you are strong you have the right to trample on others!"
Jaume raised his bone sword.
"You and your father can go to hell!"
With that, Jaume brought the sword down and sliced through Zayne's chest, right through his heart.
Zayne opened his eyes slightly but didn't even have the strength to moan. Gradually, his eyes began to lose any remaining signs of life.
Jaume let go of the sword and backed up a few steps. He was also gasping for breath now, but his hands were no longer shaking.
He continued to back up until he hit the cave wall and slid over it until he fell to the ground.
"Ha..ha..hahaha" he started to laugh softly until a few tears started to fall down his cheeks.
Kalen looked at him quite surprised, he never expected this outcome, but thanks to Jaume he could be sure that he wouldn't fail his test.
He stood up again but ignored Jaume after giving him a last look. It was none of his business what problems existed in his heart.
Somehow, though, the young man seemed to have rid himself of a heavier burden.