Seeing the two stop moving, I threatened them again, tightening my hold on Lily, my hostage, which forced them to slowly back away, just as intended, though from their stance, they were prepared to lunge right at me at a moment's notice.

"I don't know how you survived that explosion, but you don't want to do this; harm Lily, and I'll rip your guts out and feast upon your corpse." Said Simba solemnly as he glared at Alexander angrily while Marlin stood motionlessly beside him, though his eyes never once left Alexander's figure.

Despite his threatening words, which I could tell were truthful, I wasn't phased; I couldn't show fear before these people while Master was so vulnerable; I needed to do everything I could to keep her safe. With the two having backed away, I slowly moved in between them and Master; while I wanted to check up on her condition, I didn't have the freedom to do so, not when I was facing off against such powerful enemies when just a blink of my eyes was enough for me to end up dead.

Still, although I had managed to capture one of their friends and forced them to retreat from Master, I was stuck in a dilemma; I had no idea what to do. I couldn't kill Lily. Sure, that would make it a two vs. one instead of a three vs. two, but really, it wouldn't make a difference; they were so much stronger than me that even if there were only one of them, I would have no chances of winning. Right now, I'm merely prolonging the inevitable as I attempt to formulate a feasible plan.

'Dammit! If only I could've killed Marlin in that explosion; fuck, there is no point in thinking about Ifs. How do I beat them!?' Thought Alexander with cold eyes as he analyzed his situation, though all he managed to come up with were failures.

"A-A-Alexander-" Said Lavender weakly between her heavy breathing, her voice causing Alexander to look behind him, which was all Marlin needed.

"Ma-" Said Alexander worriedly, though he couldn't even finish half a word before he felt a tremendous pain on his face, flinging him back into the tree.

'F-Fuck, I-I can't feel my body again!' Thought Alexander, his neck having been twisted a full one-eighty degrees, though his condition was worse than previously, as he had lost sensation from his entire body.

Let alone move my mouth; I couldn't even breathe; I had lost function in my entire body; it felt like I was trapped within myself, and I didn't like it one bit. Thankfully, my body's healing capabilities worked faster than usual, and within seconds, I could feel the sensation of my body slowly return to me while my neck was getting set back into place, which caused me to see the scene of them grabbing Master, though weirdly enough Lily was running towards me.

"Alexander, listen to me, my name is Lily, we're Lav-" Stated Lily as she looked up at Alexander, astonished he was still alive, though before she could finish speaking, he had caught her off.

"S-SHUT UP! Don't talk to me. I don't know what you want with Master, but I will kill you three!" Yelled Alexander angrily as he looked at Lily while lightning emerged from his body and surrounded him, forming an ethereal blue aura.

I finished perfecting my new skill, [Lightning Cloak], yesterday, or more accurately, I should say that I perfected it enough to the point where the system considered it a skill; I had intended to display it during my spar with Master, hopefully, to catch her by surprise and finally win, though that doesn't look like that'll be happening anytime soon.

Lightning Cloak(Epic)–lvl1: [Significantly increases the user's strength, endurance, agility, and reflexes]

I was very surprised the system considered my skill an Epic ranked one, considering I had copied it from a show I watched in my past life, but either way, it was very powerful; with this skill, I could finally react fast enough to my enhanced perception. Grabbing the trunk of the tree I was embedded into, I lunged right past Lily, and without a shred of mercy, I sliced down at her with my greatswords, though even with my enhanced speed, she was still able to evade my attack, which caused me to frown, but I had expected that. The sheer difference in our stats was so significant that my skill wouldn't be enough to bridge the gap, and I knew it; still, it would help me better react to them, not to mention it also helped protect me from their attacks.

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Ignoring Lily, I dashed straight for Marlin and Simba, who were, much to my anger, manhandling Master, causing me to swing my greatswords, launching two [Void Slash]'s at them, which, despite their bodies being incredibly tough because of their high endurance, still forced them to dodge given the space elements unique properties.

"I'm done with you! I'm killing you!" Yelled Simba angrily with a roar as long claws showed themselves from his paw-like hands before he lunged at Alexander, who fearlessly confronted him.

Seeing Simba lunge right for me, I absorbed one of my greatswords back into my body and tightly grasped Trina with both hands as I brought her above my head, causing her to emit a bright purplish glow before swinging her down.

'Divine Judgment!' Said Trina with a happy smile at the fact of Alexander finally using her strongest and only skill, [Divine Wrath].

Slashing down at the rapidly incoming Simba, Trina sucked up precisely fifty percent of my maximum mana before launching it towards Simba in the form of a large purplish sword wave that destroyed everything in its path, the ground, air, and even the very fabric of space wasn't spared from destruction.

"I-Is that Divinity?" Muttered Marlin with furrowed brows as he watched the large purple wave head straight for Simba, sensing minute traces of divinity in the attack.

As it was my first time using the skill, I had no idea how strong it actually was, but given the fact that it's on a Mythical artifact, it must be powerful, and my assumption was correct since when it collided with Simba, it erupted into a small explosion that was quite pathetic given how much mana it absorbed; however, despite the dense dust and smoke, I was able to see Simba. He was still alive, but there was a large bloody gash on his body; the attack was without a doubt powerful, but it or I should say I, wasn't powerful enough to finish the job.

'Dammit! He's still alive! Hopefully, he can't fight anymore, at least.' Thought Alexander as he summoned his other greatsword back and lunged toward Marlin, who was still busy looking for Simba.

Marlin was probably the most problematic one so far, and while I would've preferred to use [Divine Wrath] on him, he seemed much more cautious than Simba, so I doubted he would take the attack head-on.

However, while dashing toward Marlin, I sensed something coming from my right, and I was barely able to react in time by bringing one of my greatswords to my side, blocking a claw swipe from Simba, though the force still flung be a distance away.

"Now I know why they sent you; with an attack like that, you'd be able to actually kill her." Said Simba with a ferocious grin as he glared at Alexander while he profusely bled from the large gash on his body that extended from his left ankle to his left shoulder.

"Fool, that attack held small traces of divinity; next time, dodge. Also, don't kill him; we can get information out of him." Said Marlin as he looked at Simba's injury before glancing at an angry Alexander, who came dashing right towards the two.

"Be cautious; who knows whether he still has something else up his sleeve." Advised Marlin with a frown, though like usual, Simba ignored his words and lunged toward Alexander, causing him to sigh in annoyance.

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"Lavy, are you okay!?" Asked Lily as she got on her knees and placed her hands atop Lavender's abdomen, using one of her many healing skills, which helped to slowly lessen the pain.

"Urgh, I-I'm o-okay, h-how's A-Alexander?" Asked Lavender weakly as she opened her half-lidded eyes and looked at Lily.

"Umm, h-he's fine for now, but because of Simba jumping to conclusions, we've started off on the wrong foot, so please hurry and stop them." Stated Lily with an awkward smile as she looked behind her, only to see Simba and Marlin clawing, cutting, slicing, and stabbing Alexander, littering him with countless wounds, which were healing within a matter of a few seconds, allowing him to continue fighting despite the massive strength difference.

"I-I understand, haa, that fool; h-help me stand up. A-Alexander can take a b-beating, but he won't last a-against Simba." Said Lavender; some strength has returned to her body thanks to Lily's healing.

With Lily's assistance, I slowly managed to stand back onto my own two feet, though I was mostly leaning on her shoulder; thanks to my condition, my vision was blurry, but I was still able to make out Alexander fighting against Simba and Marlin. Granted, if it weren't for his skill [Rebirth], he'd have been defeated within a few seconds, but still, seeing him last that long against my old party members, even if they were considerably holding back, instilled me with a prideful feeling, though as I needed to stop this fight, I quickly took a deep breath, filling my lungs with air.

"STOP!!" Yelled Lavender loudly, her words causing the three men to instantly halt as they looked at her.

"Master!" Said Alexander in worry when he noticed Lily standing beside her.

"Leader! Lavender." Said Simba and Marlin, respectively, as they also looked at Lavender.

"Huh?" Remarked Alexander, Simba, and Marlin in confusion as the three glanced at each other.