The first to arrive was logically Astolfo. The distance was not very far, about 20 meters, and was completed in seconds by the boy. The closest opponent was a female mage of diminutive stature.
By the time the boy was lowering his blade, the mage had just regained her sight. She had no time to cast an attack, her only option was to try and dodge backwards, but unfortunately for her, her body became paralyzed and a wave of pain radiated from her waist.
With the help of Kayden's spell, Astolfo managed to land a clean blow on his opponent's neck. If it weren't for the judge removing her from the arena, without a doubt the girl would have been beheaded.
At the same time this confrontation was taking place, Carlos had just gotten in front of his opponent. Unfortunately, because his speed was not as great as Astolfo's, his opponent already had his vision restored.
Thanks to the delay that Kayden provided when using the concentrated beam on this opponent as well, Carlos was able to get close enough to fight with his fists. The fire mage had time to conjure a fireball.
This was his only option to hold back Carlos' advance and try to gain some time. His spell came out at point blank range, there was no room for Carlos to turn around. At that moment, the boy felt the surreal heat close to his body.
He had only one decision if he wanted to secure the advantage for his team. Taking courage, the boy used the side of his body to meet the spell. The flames exploded, threatening to consume him whole.
This was the most painful thing he had ever faced in his life. The entire side of his body suffered second and third degree burns, but swallowing the pain, he continued his attack.
His first punch hit the wizard in the stomach, causing him to double over. The force of the impact was enough to bend an iron bar. Without mercy, the boy brought his hand down at high speed against the fallen opponent's head.
If that blow hit the mage, he would likely have his head blown into a bloody pulp. But again, thanks to the judge's intervention, the wizard was removed from the arena. From the way they defended themselves, it was obvious that they didn't have any support on the team. It looked like a team focused only on attack.
As soon as the other three recovered, they launched a barrage of fireballs at Astolfo. There were so many that the boy couldn't even see the attackers anymore. He retreated without even thinking twice.
" Ugh !" A groan of pain escaped as one of Astolfo's legs received a spell and began to burn. The boy continued running despite the pain towards Jean and Maria.
His leg was consumed by a whirlwind of air that eradicated the flames. Thanks to the adrenaline, he didn't feel the depth of the wound until he reached a relatively safe area close to his team.
His leg was bright red. Virtually all of his skin suffered first and second degree burns. Kayden watched from afar as he helped Carlos back up and wondered how the boy was standing.
"Maria!" Kayden shouted, beginning the second part of the plan with the multitude of small water stones that, at high speed, looked like concrete as they hit the flesh of their targets.
A bubble of fire was raised to protect the remaining three mages, but that was all they could do at the moment. The amount of water balls hitting the same spot was insane. This meant that they had to keep mana flowing into the bubble at all times.
"Two minutes." Maria gave the time limit that she could maintain that attack. In fact, it wasn't a spell that used up a lot of mana, it was just a multitude of water balls being conjured and launched.
In fact, it wasn't even a spell capable of causing much damage, well... if it weren't for Jean, a wind element circle was conjured in front of her and all the water balls passed through her and gained at least three times its initial speed.
"Carlos and Astolfo, situation." Kayden ordered quickly and received a standard response that they had already thought of.
"My right side is useless, I can't fight because of my balance." Carlos was the first to respond. It was clear that the boy was in the worst condition of the two, his wounds started at thigh level and only ended near his neck.
"I can fight at full capacity." Astolfo's sentence surprised Kayden, who could clearly see that one of his legs was practically destroyed, but the boy didn't think much about it, he trusted his friends.
With this information, Kayden put together a plan. Carlos was the first to raise objections, but was quickly silenced with some threats... advice from the rest of the team. The boy gave everyone 1 minute to rest.
"Let's go." With his command, Carlos was the first to start running towards the bubble. Maria expressed all her remaining mana and consolidated it into an attack with an intensity twice as strong as before.
CRASH!!
With a loud sound of breaking glass, the bubble simply began to crack everywhere, but it was still standing upright, at least for a few more seconds. That was the time Carlos needed to arrive at the location.
As soon as the bubble fell, Carlos' vision was the first thing they saw and they reacted automatically against him, releasing fireballs in his direction.
'Idiot.' One of the mages thought when he saw how far away his opponent was and how he wouldn't be able to dodge in time, but his feelings told him that this wasn't a good sign.
Carlos smiled, confirming the wizard's hunch.
"You owe me one." That was the last sentence Carlos spoke before being taken out of the arena looking like a ball of fire. While Carlos served as bait, Astolfo was already approaching from the opposite direction.
The three were focused on the first opponent that appeared in their vision and did not notice the boy's approach until it was too late. The spear came down mercilessly against one of the wizards.
There was nothing he could do. The distance was too close for him to have time to cast a spell or dodge without taking damage. His face became calm, making Astolfo's guard lower.
The spear that was descending towards the opponent's neck hit the wizard's shoulder as he closed the distance. His charge took Astolfo by surprise and his next action surprised him even more.
The boy began to burn suicidally, but it was a different flame, it was much more aggressive and, in the blink of an eye, it went from Astolfo's spear to the boy. With all his willpower, Astolfo withdrew the blade and aimed another blow.
Again his blow was received with open arms by his opponent and, because of the short distance, he was unable to find a fatal blow that would eliminate him at once. Meanwhile, the flames continued to burn in the two's bodies.
It wasn't a particularly strong flame, but it was constant and caused pain that couldn't be ignored.