Back inside the barrier, Eric, Noam and Zane had no time to stop Herris from swallowing the suspicious black pill in her hand. Before they could understand what was happening, a sudden burst of energy surrounded Herris and they were thrown backwards.
Fortunately, they managed to keep their balance, but the wind still blew so hard against the three of them that they had to hold their bodies with swords stuck in the ground to keep from being thrown again.
"What is it!" Noam asked desperately, trying to shield his face from the flying dust. Their vision was also limited, so they couldn't see what was happening.
A bad feeling started to come over Eric, "This is bad."
Feeling the atmosphere around them changing, the three of them began to feel alert, especially when they felt something surprising from Herris' place.
"His strength is increasing? What exactly did he swallow?" Zane said quite loudly so that his friends could hear him.
They honestly didn't know what pill Herris had taken. For a moment they were distracted by the explosion of energy at Nova's place. And the next minute, the same energy explosion happened to Herris.
Where Hana and Rose were hiding now, they were also affected by the strong winds created by Herris. Both of them were struggling to keep themselves and the baby in their arms from being swept away by the wind.
Fortunately, they had secured Emily's body, so they didn't have to worry about her being carried away by the wind.
"Be careful, Rose!" Hana warned her in a rather loud voice as she hugged Seth and Arion tightly.
"Focus on yourself! I can handle this!" Rose replied no less loudly as she tried to balance Kalyca and Fiona in her arms. She wasn't used to carrying two babies at once.
Arion gripped his sister's shirt tightly as the wind continued to blow against their bodies, 'What exactly is going on?'
To be honest, he couldn't even see anything as the dust continued to cloud his vision, let alone see what was happening in his brother's fight with the enemy.
Hana patted Arion's back to calm him down, "It's okay, Arion. Everything will be fine."
Hana don't know should be grateful or not, because Arion was awake from the beginning. He didn't look tired or close his eyes at all, unlike other babies. Hana was just afraid that all these sights would traumatize her brother in the future.
Arion bit his lip quietly, 'I'm afraid that's not the case.'
Back at Eric, Noam and Zane's side, they were still defending themselves against the wind. They couldn't see anything either.
But Eric could see suspicious movement behind the dust. He focused his gaze to see more clearly what it was.
When he could see it clearly, Eric's eyes widened in shock and disbelief.
"Dodge!"
With difficulty, he pulled his two friends aside so hard that all three of them fell. Something quickly passed them, and suddenly there was an explosion from the direction they had been standing.
Noam immediately got up and checked on Eric, who was moaning softly, "Eric! Are you okay?"
When Noam got a nod from Eric, he helped his friend to sit up. It seemed that Eric's landing had been more uneventful than the other two, as his fall had put a lot of weight on his right arm, which was now sore.
Zane knelt down beside Eric. He turned to the source of the explosion, "What was that?"
Fortunately, the dust that was obscuring their view began to dissipate. What they found was something they had never seen before today. Something that set off the emergency alarm in their heads.
"That's...steel?" Zane asked skeptically.
What they saw was a rather long steel beam, deeply embedded in the spot where they had been standing. What if Eric noticed it too late and they didn't have time to avoid it? It was possible that the steel was not deep in the ground, but in their bodies.
"What the hell!" Noam muttered in disbelief. Where did the steel come from? They didn't remember that there was an enemy who possessed steel magic.
Wait a minute. If they remembered correctly, the three intruders hadn't even used their magic. They had only used their weapons and physical abilities.
Their eyes widened in shock as they realized something. Perhaps...
The sound of loud laughter made the trio gasp in shock. Immediately, they rose to their feet and readied their swords. Even the throbbing in his arm had gone unnoticed by Eric. His premonition became more and more unsettling.
This allowed Eric, Noam, and Zane to see Herris' hands and feet, which had turned to steel. Even his height seemed to have increased, with muscles that looked twice as strong as before.
"What the hell does he look like?" Noam muttered in disbelief at what they were seeing. What kind of change was this? They couldn't even beat the normal version of him, let alone this enhanced version!
"Their hands and feet turned to steel?" Zane stared at Herris' shiny silver hands and feet. He looked very solid and strong. Even his enlarged size made him look even more intimidating.
Eric gritted his teeth in annoyance. Herris' endurance was already hard for them to break. If their entire bodies were made of steel, wouldn't their resistance be invincible?
Herris laughed out loud when he saw the expressions of the three, "How are the boys? Feeling scared yet?"
Herris stretched out his steel hand in amazement. It felt a little stiff, but he could still move it freely. The same went for his legs. He could still walk freely. He didn't even feel the weight of his legs and arms.
Noam snorted in annoyance, "So you had magic all along? Why are you using it now? Because we're pushing you around?" He finally mocked.
Herris chuckled amusedly, "Who said I had magic?"
He created the same long steel block as before before throwing it with all his might as if it were extremely light. His throw was so strong that the steel block quickly slid towards the three children.
"Get back!"
At the same time, the three of them jumped back to avoid the steel beam that was about to hit them. Another explosion occurred until the impact caused a strong gust of wind that nearly blew the three away.
"Isn't what you're using magic?" Zane asked seriously as he looked at the steel Herris had just thrown.
It really looked like an ordinary steel. There was nothing special about it. But seeing that Herris made it just like that, there must be something else about it. He couldn't know unless he examined it directly.
Herris grinned mockingly, "It's magic, but it's not."
Eventually Noam's patience ran out and he cried out in despair, "You can make steel! You can even turn your body into steel! If that's not magic, what is?"
Herris hummed amusedly, "Are you curious?"
He created three steel bars that immediately shot towards the trio. As if that was not enough, Herris struck the ground with such force that an explosion of earth quickly came towards them as well.
The three jumped aside, knowing that if they jumped back, the ground explosion would continue to hit them. But because of the speed of the attack, it caused a strong enough vibration that the three of them fell down while dodging two attacks at once.
Noam groaned in pain, "He's getting more aggressive."
Zane sighed tiredly, "And with those steels, he can now attack from a distance. And if we attack from close range, there's no way our swords can penetrate his steel body."
"But it's only his arms and legs that have turned to steel!" Noam protested in annoyance. Eric calmed himself so as not to be swayed by his rival's rising emotions.
"That doesn't mean he can't turn his whole body into steel!" Zane retorted, equally annoyed. Fatigue and thirst slowly took their toll on his composure. He could only exhale to calm himself.
The approaching heavy footsteps made the trio jump in alarm and nervousness. They brandished their swords again as Herris' silhouette came into view, approaching the trio.
"You want to know?" Herris asked in a mocking tone. His eyes widened madly with a wide grin as he clapped his steel fists together, making a clanging sound loud enough to make the three children take a few steps back.
Seeing the three of them not respond, the grin on Herris' lips widened even more, "If you can stand it, I'll give you some interesting information."
Herris again created a wider steel bar in his hand. He didn't stop there, suddenly an steel wall as high as himself appeared to the right, left and behind the three children, blocking their path of escape.
Suddenly, Noam shouted angrily, "Seriously!"
Herris chuckled as his hand prepared to throw the load, "Nothing is free in this world, kid."
Powerfully, Herris threw the large metal bar in his grasp, which flew high toward the three children.
With no way to dodge, they had no choice but to parry. Eric poured many sparks of his blue lightning onto his sword. Noam poured so much fire onto his sword that it caught fire. Zane poured his ice onto his sword until it looked frozen with an icy mist around it.
At the same time, the three attacked the steel, almost hitting all three of them. The collision of the attacks created a powerful gust of wind. Hana and Rose defended themselves even more as the gust of wind this time was stronger than before.
Not long after, an explosion occurred, throwing Eric, Noam, and Zane, who landed hard on the ground. Luckily, the steel did not hit them at all.