"Tell me!" Marcus blurted out ready to hear what Ashton had to say. It really did seem Zura was having fun playing with them like toys and the fight against it doesn't seem intense as they all got frozen in time once they advanced towards it.
"Spill it already!" Damien who was also listening to their conversation attentively yelled mildly at Ashton.
The suspense Ashton had triggered was really effective and one could strangle him if he failed to spill wherever he was thinking at that moment.
Ashton shot Damien an annoying glance and finally turned at Zura who was successfully deflecting Aurelia, Ulysses and Alden's attack causing sparks to fly around as their swords met with its sharp claws. Ashton turned back to face Marcus and began to say,
"I have learnt its weakness. Zura can only stop time for approximately twenty seconds."
"Is that supposed to be good news?" Damien sneered from where he was again as his grim eyes lowered against Ashton's eyes.
"Would you shut up and let me talk?" Ashton snapped back and his word jolted Damien for a bit.
Ashton was indeed growing balls against him already and it wasn't going to be nice if that continued. He is his senior and Ashton should show respect to him.
"We will talk about your attitude when we are done here!"
Ashton rolled his eyes and turned at Marcus again. "If Zura can stop time for approximately twenty seconds, we have a chance against it even though it might be a risky move that can cost us our lives but we have to gamble on this possibility."
"So, is that the only secret you've learnt? What are we supposed to do within that twenty seconds it would freeze the time for? Wait for our death?" Marcus asked as he was thinking strategically about why Ashton had brought up that conclusion.
What could they possibly do when they had been frozen in time?
"You just have to avoid eye contact with Zura. The moment it locks its gaze with yours, that is the moment he locks one in time." Ashton spilled the new theory he had found out about Zura again.
"Sounds true." Damien nodded in agreement to Ashton's words as he had a quick thought about when Zura had frozen him in time. They had always locked eyes before the time freeze happened.
"What is your plan?" Marcus finally asked and the moment he did, a small smile crept onto Ashton's lips, his eyes shining with little stars in it.
***~°~***
The three attackers were all getting weak as all their attacks on Zura had been faltering every single time. There were lots of beads of sweat on their foreheads as they all struggled to pierce through its skin.
"Do you not get trained in that damned academy of yours? Figures that is exactly why your other mates got killed in an instant." Zura rasped as it began to laugh again. It seemed to have casted all its care into the wind and was effortlessly deflecting their attacks.
Ulysses, getting really tired, already muscled all his strength together and jumped into the air in an attempt to attack Zura from behind.
The proximity of his sword was really too close to Zura's head and as he advanced towards it in the air, a smile crept on his face as he thought.
'I'm definitely bringing Zura down with this strike. It is busy deflecting Aurelia and Alden's attack and has failed to notice me!'
But the moment his thoughts had ended, the smile on his face began to falter as a hand that was never behind Zura began to sprout out.
''It can manipulate its body to grow extra parts as well?' were the last thought Ulysses said to himself before he got slammed against a wrecked vehicle.
"Argh!"
Zura, getting tired of the mild fight with the weakling that was coming at it in twos and threes, suddenly froze Aurelia and Alden in time.
No one seemed to notice Jamil who had not been attacked since he had not come out from his hiding place ever since the first attack against him.
Ashton and Damien were the first to get up from where they were and they both dashed towards Zura with a motion to take cover for Marcus before he finally joined them in the attack.
Zura had seen them advancing towards it but before they could reach where it was standing, it had stopped the time for them again making them stand still in their advancing positions.
Zura walked towards Ashton again and clicked its tongue in disappointment as it walked round him.
"I gave you a chance to go back home to your family but you missed that chance while running your mouth." Zura rasped as it shook its head. He finally stopped walking round Ashton and stood in front of him lowering its head to match Ashton's height.
Zura continued,
"I liked you the most, but look, I might have to kill you first."
A slight snicker escaped Ashton's lips as Zura had finished speaking to him. A look of surprise suddenly spread like wildfire across Zura's face as he heard Ashton make a sound while he was still frozen in time.
"How is this possible?!"
"I guess you should stop talking now," Ashton began to say. "your breath stinks…like rotten fish!"
"Now!" Damien shouted.
Zura stood properly as he saw Damien was also not frozen in time as he had thought.
The moment Marcus heard Damien's call signal, he snapped his finger and Zura got frozen in time the same way Marcus had stopped Ashton's in time when he had wanted to attack Ulysses.
When Ashton had confirmed Zura had been stalled in time, he pulled out his dagger which he had gotten from the weapon shop and with a single swing, he thrusted the dagger into the heart of Zura.
Zura couldn't screech or reel in pain as he was still frozen in time. Ashton didn't bother to be a friendly neighbor as he twisted his dagger the more into Zura's heart making it's blood flow out.
At first the blood that flowed out was crimson red then after about a minute, it began to change its color to white. The typical blood color for any mutant. Zura finally fell down flat to the surface of the earth– dead.
"How did my single attack work on it so well?" Ashton asked Marcus anyone who was willing to give an answer to his question first.
"Zura doesn't have any will power to deflect attacks as it has been stalled in time. Anyone could do that."
"Even without magic?"
"Absolutely!" Alden who had managed to get himself together as he dragged his feets towards them. He had several cuts on his body already and he seemed pretty weak already. His pale white skin had red bruises on it and as he walked closer to them, they could notice this.
"Can you just heal yourself up? You look like a mess!" Ashton teased but he soon noticed no one was laughing. "What's wrong?"
"Alden cannot heal himself with his magic yet." Ulysses announced promptly as he walked towards Alden to lend him a helping hand.
"Oh!"
"I guess we should head back to the academy now before night falls." Jamil, who had been missing since the fight began, suddenly walked towards them out of nowhere. "I have arranged the dead students in that building." He pointed.
"All alone? You're that strong?!" Aurelia exclaimed in surprise.
"Well…who knows how to drive?" Jamil asked, scratching his head. We might want to take them back to the academy.
Everyone began to look at the other hoping at least one person knows how to drive a vehicle but none of them seemed to know anything about driving a vehicle.
"No one?!"
*DING!*
[You have gained 50 points for surviving the raid for five minutes]
[You have received 40 points as a free reward]
[Hidden reward: You have gained 10 gem points]
[Congratulations, you have leveled up]