Zakai and the other three felt a colder and colder as they got closer to the gate. There were no sounds at all, it was as if the whole world stood still. ‘What the hell is going on here?’ Zakai thought to himself. The girls realized that it was magic that changed the temperature but none of them could have known the exact cause.

Zakai turned around and looked at the girls. They were trembling, whether it was the cold or what had happened Zakai did not ask… he would not get an answer, he thought.

“Zak, there is something wrong here… This is caused by magic and I don’t think it’s through a trap. There is someone out there making this all happen.” Jerilyn said when she noticed Zakai looking at them.

“This? Are you sure? Does it have something to do with the voice we heard earlier?”

“Well, duh. That is obvious, trash.” It was Liz who answered this time, her tone indifferent.

Zakai sighed and turned away from them to continue going towards the gate. Jerilyn reprimanded Liz for being like that for him. Liz did not even have a reason for how she acted, most likely it was learned from her parents as they both were somewhat respected mages in Balra.

“AAAAGH!”

Zakai and the others stopped in their tracks when they heard the scream.

“Do you think we should just stay away and hide?” Asked the last girl.

“That scream came from one of Adal’s friends… Something horrible is happening there, we should try to find Miss Elya first.” Jerilyn said coldly.

“Unless she is there already…” Liz glanced at Zakai who had not moved at all after the scream.

“Shut your trap, chickenhead!” Zakai woke up and yelled at Liz. Liz startled and almost fell down from the sudden outburst from Zakai. She had never seen him act like that before. It was scary, but nothing that could come even close to comparing how scary and crazy what was happening in the ruins right now.

-

Elya was there at the gate. She had used a movement type magic that allowed her to increase her speed multiple times. She knew how horrible the world was, and this just proved it again. There was a dark elf who had sliced Godo’s stomach open. His guts would have spilled on the half-frozen ground if he had not been frozen before his untimely death. The dark elf just licked his blade and moved on to the next target. He did not care whether he killed men, women or children. They all were the same for him.

A fireball the size of a human head flew towards the dark elf and sizzled as it hit the blueish swirls.

“Tch.” Elya clicked her tongue and prepared her next magic. The dark elf noticed her and licked his lips.

“Huhu, well, hello there beautiful! It seems like I can truly test out my new magic this time… someone of your caliber would not break so easily.” He laughed, and in a blink of an eye had moved next to Elya. She was caught by surprise as she had not expected for him to move so fast. The blade is whistled and stuck to her shoulder. The whole arm became numb, there was some sort of magic on the blade. Yes, it was the same as the swirls.

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There was nothing she could do. Was this despair? The dark elf looked at her eyes and said: “You were a lot weaker than I gave you credit for…” He was displeased, he thought he had found a toy to play with.

Elya could only glare at the dark elf as her whole body kept getting colder and colder. She could not use magic, something was blocking it off. It was as if she had no mana. ‘Is this how it feels to have no mana…?’ she asked herself. She could not give up now, and the mana in her flared up. It caught the dark elf off guard as he was thrown five meters away from her.

“YES, THIS IS IT!” The dark elf’s mood was completely different from the earlier, now one could see the joy in his eyes.

“You sick bastard…” Elya mumbled and made another fireball, this almost three times bigger than the earlier.

The fireball flew towards the dark elf, but this time it did not sizzle as the one earlier did. The difference in size and in power was huge.

The dark elf no longer had that shit-eating grin on his face, his face had changed into an even more serious expression than earlier.

Elya kept throwing the big fireballs at the dark elf, but either the dark elf dodged them or after hitting his magic they were easily cut through with his blade. Elya was starting to feel the pain in her shoulder, she had not been able to use her other hand after it had been struck.

“Well, I believe playtime is over.” The dark elf spoke out and again he had already moved next to Elya. This time… The blade stabbed her stomach, and she could only groan. She could not say anything, and after glancing at the dark elf again… she fell to the ground. Just a small thud was heard as she hit the ground.

“MOM!” A boy who had come running saw her mom lying on the ground next to the pointy eared man.

“Huhuhu… HUHUHU!” The dark elf’s laugh rang out as he watched the delicious sadness on the boy’s face.

“Welcome, prey. For this is the end of your life. Do not worry, prey. For I am merciful, and I will let you join your mother shortly. Huhuhu!” The dark elf said to the boy who could not stop his tears.

Zakai saw her mother on the ground, and he could not stop himself from crying. She was half-frozen and she had been struck twice. Once to the shoulder and the other to the stomach. Zakai could not control himself as he lunged towards the dark elf. He knew that the amount of training would do nothing against someone like him, someone who could defeat his mother without a scratch.

Even though in reality the dark elf had suffered quite a bit in his fight against Elya, after all, blocking those huge fireballs had taken a huge toll on him and he would not be able to stand much longer if he would have to keep using the magic. The movement ability he used was not magic, but entirely a physical talent he had noticed he had almost a century ago. This opponent had been the strongest he had ever fought. He tried his hardest to keep his cool under the situation where he was almost like a sitting duck, but then he realized that the boy had not used magic at all when he charged at him.

“No magic, prey? Are you mocking me?” The dark elf said in a mocking tone and slashed his blade towards Zakai. The blade hit the boy’s face as he could not find the time to dodge it, he ignored the pain and kicked the dark elf as hard as he could.

“How dare you harm me, prey!” The dark elf howled in pain as the kick had shattered his kneecap, the boy had definitely trained hard. As the dark elf grimaced, he could not keep up his magic anymore and he was completely exhausted, so he had no other choice but to flee for time being.

“Oh, I will find you, you little shit, and I will kill your whole family, just you wait for it!” The dark elf threw down a small bag in his hand, smoke bomb of sorts. The smoke filled the area. Zakai had lost consciousness after he had kicked the dark elf. He hoped it that it would have been just a nightmare…