Blood was dripping and flowed down the ice spikes from the pierced head and body of David.
His hand grew faint for lack of life and it involuntarily let go of the sword it held onto, his body still stuck in the ice in a bent over position.
The sword fell off his hand, hit the spiky ice and landed on the ground with a clanking that sounded not too loud but very obvious in the arena which had, by this time become dead silent.
Every one was staring, wide-eyed at what just happened.
The figure then retracted the ice and along with his partner jumped backwards, away from the spot.
They acted strangely, as if they were shocked, probably from making a mistake, doing something they weren't ordered to do.
Mr Arasaki leapt forward and landed where David's body was lying down dead, having fallen off the retracted ice to the ground.
He took hold of the corpse which was lying down on its belly and turned him around revealing the face of his dead son.
The boy's eyes wide open in a manner indicating shock, a sore expression left on his face and hot blood flowing from his head and stomach which covered his face and body, forced a tear out of Mr. Arasaki's two eyes which flowed down his cheeks.
He hugged the dead boy and continued weeping for a some seconds. He then said In a low voice:
"Your courage would be remembered my boy"
He then let the body down, closed the open eyes with his right hand and stood up.
The two figures suddenly, started running off westwards.
Emelda who had been standing, shocked up until this point at the death of her cousin, her eyes filled with tears, impulsively pulled three arrows from her quiver and nocked them hard on her bowstring targeting the fleeing enemy and letting the arrows off with a loud cry.
The arrows went straight towards the fleeing enemy and they dodged them slightly, but as the arrows landed on the ground they exploded, the explosion jerking the enemy forward, tossing them to the ground.
Emelda had infused the arrows with explosive energy generated by her chi, one thing she had been practicing and had just perfected a some days ago.
The figures stood up after a few seconds, and the smoke began to clear until it eventually revealed Emelda standing right in front of them in her upgraded state.
Long elf-ears, longer arms and legs with limbs.
Suddenly, Emelda at a crazy high speed jerked forward to strike the enemy with a blow but they were fast enough to evade it.
'Slasshhh....'
Two swords, one for each, cut through the back of both enemy simultaneously.
Mr. Arasaki had taken advantage of the opening Emelda created by her jerking forward.
Mr. Arasaki was seen behind the attack.
He had moved at a speed faster than the blinking of an eyelid, appearing behind them and striking them with both his sword and David's, one on each hand.
The two figures fell down to the ground and lay there looking immobile.
Mr. Arasaki and Emelda stood there for some seconds staring at the enemy on the ground.
Mr. Arasaki turned and started walking away.
Emelda followed him.
Suddenly the enemy spontaneously jumped forward, the two attempting to strike Emelda and Mr. Arasaki but a spear vigorously struck the ground in between the two parties.
It was Maryann's spear.
Mr. Arasaki and Emelda jerked away from the spot and almost immediately, the three Verdugo attacked them the enemy.
They engaged in hand-to-hand combat for a good while.
The Verdugo were especially skilled in hand to hand combat.
Also their thick armour made it very difficult to strike them with a blow that would make a credible impact.
This enemy however was quite different.
They seemed ordinary, but the strength of their attacks were matching the Verdugo, as if their body was also made of armour.
Maryann and Mabel had figured this out and were maintaining distance, trying to figure out the right move to make.
"What if we use a massive water attack. We're close to the stream and all we have to do is gather enough to fill this place which will put the enemy at a disadvantaged position and give us the upper hand".
Mabel suggested.
"And how do we do that? We're not in a tube or some sort of enclosed area where we can fill up".
Maryann replied.
"I've been working on a certain technique I saw my elder brother perform once.
While training just outside our house, he mistakenly used a spear to thrust the water tank so hard.
It burst open and the water was heading towards the front door of the house which was not closed.
He knew it was going to make a mess if the water got in, so he immediately gathered chi in his hands and tried to stop the water by bending it away from the house entrance. The result was a water wall forged from the water, which stood against the rushing water in a form like an arc.
I don't know how he did it but after seeing that scene, I have practiced everyday to try to improve on it.
I want to make that arc a complete circle.
If we can forge that wall, we can pull off our attack".
Mabel replied.
"Sounds good.
It's worth a shot. Let's give it a try.
We're not really having much options at the moment"
Maryann said.
"Alright.
Stand back".
Mabel said .
Maryann moved aside, two or three meters away to give Mabel space.
Mabel spread out her two arms and began to infuse chi through the length of her two arms.
She closed her eyes.
Suddenly water began to rise again from the valley below, moving at a high speed.
A large mass of water soon appeared from beneath the mountain and she flooded the area with it, intentionally directing the current flow to strike the enemy.
Their allies stepped back and it struck the two figures, tossing them away from the position they stood, to the ground.
Mabel began to bend the water.
She moved and swung her arms gracefully, also making rhythmic body movements.
Suddenly the water began to rise from the ground and moved all around the mountain forming a tube-like wall standing about 14 feets tall and enclosing everyone standing on the mountain including the enemy.
Immediately, Maryann and Mabel transformed into their upgraded state.
Thier gills appeared, their arms grew longer and the scales were seen on their arms and legs.
"Water waves technique!"
Maryann said in a loud voice.
Water rose again from the valley with great speed and poured right in the midst of them filling the chi-generated water tube.