Mike paid no attention to Terry's condition. His focus was entirely on the fierce battle unfolding across from him, where Henry was locked in a struggle with one of the blood angels and clearly losing ground. Though Henry had managed to wound his opponent, the injuries were minor, barely a threat to the towering figure before him. Exhaustion was setting in, and Henry's energy was draining fast—he could hardly keep up with the angel's speed, strength, and agility, all of which far surpassed his own.
Sneaking behind the blood angel, Mike relied on Joanna's fog to mask his approach. Their silent understanding was clear: Henry would bind the angel's movements, and Mike would deliver the killing blow. Hidden by the fog, Mike was invisible. Meanwhile, Henry faced immense difficulty, struggling to evade every blow from the angel. Each strike from the enemy was deadly enough to end his life in an instant. Using his powers alongside Joanna's, he could hold his ground and inflict minor injuries, but he faced a greater problem: his ability had a time limit, and once it expired, death was inevitable.
The blood angel surged forward with such force that the ground shattered beneath its steps. In the blink of an eye, it was upon Henry. Its massive sword came down with blinding speed, a blur the human eye could barely follow. As the blade descended, stopping mere centimeters from Henry's head, it froze in mid-air, as if time itself had halted. Dust particles hung motionless, suspended around them. The blood angel was utterly immobilized. Emerging from the mist behind his foe, Mike sprang into action, raising his arm to deliver a fatal strike to the angel's head. But at that exact moment, another blood angel appeared from nowhere, closing in from behind Mike.
This perfectly timed arrival revealed one chilling fact: the crazed mastermind behind it all had seen through their plan, waiting for this precise moment to deal a devastating blow to the entire team. Killing Mike would remove their strongest threat. Henry couldn't hold the blood angel immobilized indefinitely, and facing two at once would be his doom. Terry was already out of commission due to severe injuries, and Joanna's powers, dependent on allies, posed no significant threat alone. That would leave Alexander, the only one still able to face their enemies, and only if he succeeded in his own mission.
Realizing the stakes, Henry's aura exploded with raw, destructive power, shaking the ground around him. He looked like a war god, a fierce presence standing against insurmountable odds. Henry grasped the gravity of their enemy's strategy and its potential consequences, formulating his own response in a split second.
"Three chambers… prison of the abyss!" Henry shouted, his voice ringing with power. Blood streamed from his eyes as a crushing force blanketed everything within fifteen meters, including both blood angels. Under this relentless pressure, the ground cracked, the air trembled, and even the blood angels' formidable armor began to fracture. Seconds later, their heads shattered, and their armor disintegrated. As his enemies fell, so did Henry, collapsing unconscious to the ground.
Mike took a brief, steadying breath as he recovered from the residual pressure, which had only affected him slightly but had still dented his own armor. Without hesitation, he picked up Henry's unconscious body, then made his way to Terry, concealed in the fog and thus spared further attacks. With both of them on his shoulders, Mike looked off toward the path where Alexander had gone.
"It's all up to you now," he murmured under his breath, moving quickly to rejoin Joanna, avoiding every enemy along the way. His mission was now clear: ensure the safety of his friends and keep them alive.
Meanwhile, Alexander advanced in silence, weaving through the horde of monsters. Having drawn away the archers' attention and killed most of them, he began his infiltration, his focus fixed on his goal from the start. With the glowing orb on his shoulder, he observed the battle where Henry and the others fought against the blood angels. The outcome—three dead angels in exchange for severe injuries to two teammates—was acceptable. Alexander had witnessed Henry's strength and quick thinking, especially in that final moment when the angel appeared behind Mike. Henry's speed and resolve were impressive; a single hesitation could have cost them all their lives. Alexander himself couldn't have handled hundreds of enemies alone—there were limits even to his endurance. He had to admit that, in the same situation, he couldn't have performed better than Henry.
Now, with three blood angels down, Alexander became the predator. His senses sharpened, his muscles tensed, and he entered a state of heightened awareness he had never felt before. He was prepared to react within fractions of a second. He continued his silent approach, navigating through the stone monsters and archers, inching closer to his target.
When he reached a range of thirty meters, he could go no further. A strange energy mingled with the fog, saturating the air, and the two remaining blood angels stood like watchful guardians, ready to strike. Alexander had no intention of fighting them head-on; he aimed to assassinate their master. He sensed that if he tried a direct attack, the hanging man would use his spatial ability to escape, rendering their journey and battle useless.
"This is a problem. He's not foolish enough to leave his strongest guards out of reach. Even if I create more chaos, he won't draw them away," Alexander thought. "At this point, I'm certain he knows our plan and is waiting for me to strike, which means I need a way to either kill him instantly or prevent him from teleporting."
Crouched like a tiger ready to pounce on its prey, Alexander analyzed the scenario in his mind, running through countless possibilities, seeking the perfect plan.
"I could use Vlad, but there's a risk—if he has hidden defenses I'm unaware of, a single blow might not be enough to kill him. I can't risk using Apex Predator, either. My soul hasn't fully recovered yet, and the energy I need would be equal to or greater than what I used to create Vlad."