Lucy's heart raced as the gravity of the situation sank in. She had heard about the ominous group from Lucas, and now they were here, clearly not bearing good intentions.

The woman's voice dripped with mockery as she continued, “We meet again, Lucas. You really should've learned not to meddle in our affairs.”

Lucas maintained a wary stance, his eyes darting between the shadowy figures. His voice carried a steely resolve as he addressed the mysterious woman, “Why are you here?”

The woman didn’t reply to him directly, instead gesturing to the people behind her. Her demeanor remained enigmatic.

Angered, Lucas clenched his fists, conjuring a swirling fireball in his right hand while his left gripped his jian sword. “Fireball!” he declared, the flames casting an eerie glow on his determined face.

“You really think you can take us on?” he taunted.

Before the woman could respond, Lucas hurled the fiery projectile at her. Her reflexes were impressive; she ducked and rolled, narrowly avoiding the fireball, which exploded against a nearby tree.

Seeing the woman evade the attack, Lucas whispered to Lucy, “What do we do, Lucy? I've exhausted most of my abilities for today. All I have left are fireballs.”

“I'm also running low on options, Lucas,” Lucy replied, her heart pounding. She held out her hand, fingers trembling with a mix of fear and resolve. Frost began to gather in her palm, forming into a hailstone. Her grip on her katana tightened.

“Hail.”

Lucy unleashed her skill, sending a barrage of hailstones toward the woman. They pelted the ground like a hailstorm, forcing the woman to retreat further behind cover. The precision of Lucy's control over the hail could mean the difference between success and failure.

As the woman scrambled to her feet, she fired her pistol, the deafening sound cutting through the night. The noise was followed by a hail of bullets, narrowly missing Lucas as he deftly swung his jian sword, deflecting the bullets with sparks of fire.

Bullets sprayed against the stone pillars, sending sparks flying. The hail of gunfire ceased as abruptly as it had begun, and the assailants remained hidden in the shadows.

Lucas gritted his teeth, his mind racing. “Lucy, we need to find a way out of this. We can't stay pinned down here.”

Lucy nodded in agreement as she glanced at the woman, they knew little about, except that she was associated with the gym Lucas had mentioned. The wind blew by, carrying the woman's voice clearly.

The woman shouted at him; her anger was palpable. “Don’t be a coward and come out to face me, you kid.”

“Who's to say I'm a coward when you have an army of people behind you?” Lucas retorted, his frustration evident in his voice. Still behind the pillar, he stalled to buy some time to think.

“Lucas, you killed two of my people and expect to live just fine?” The woman's voice dripped with anger.

Lucas, now unable to contain his anger, yelled back, “Your people ambushed us! Are you blind?

“So, what if we killed your people? You have no right to touch my people. A little kid like you should stick to playing house. Besides, you were the one who attacked us!”

Lucas's patience wore thin, his temper flaring. “No, woman. Your people were the ones who ambushed us. Are you that half-witted?”

Clearly frustrated by Lucas's words, the woman suddenly fired another bullet directly at the pillar they were behind.

“Kids, you're messing with the wrong people if you think you're going to be safe behind that pillar. I always found you rude, but this is clearly crossing the line,” she taunted.

Lucas wanted to argue back, but Lucy tugged at his sleeve.

“You old hag, you almost killed him before, and now you claim he ambushed you guys? I can't believe this. I cried in agony, waiting for him, scared and confused, and yet you people wanted to kill him?” Lucy's voice trembled with anger.

“Were you born wrong, grandma? Ask your people carefully, did they or he ambush first? If Lucas had told me about your terrible personality before, I might have gone to kill you alone.”

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Angered by Lucy's words, the woman screamed at them as she took one of the knives from her companion and swung it toward them.

“You think you're safe behind that pillar, kids? I don’t even know how such two rude kids survive this long. Clearly, from how skilled you were at handling those zombies, you were probably those gang kids that terrorize the neighborhood daily.”

Lucas surveyed their predicament, realizing they were at a disadvantage. The woman had cunningly exploited their exhaustion, gaining the upper hand while they struggled to recover. He couldn't help but express his frustration.

“Isn't it ironic?” Lucas exclaimed. “You accuse us of cowardice, yet you hide in the shadows, waiting for us to weaken, and then call yourselves brave? Truly laughable.”

The woman's agitation grew, and she barked orders to her companions. “Rosa, go after him!”

A woman with braided hair rushed out, but Lucas didn't care; he immediately took his jian and readied himself.

Seeing the woman with braided hair coming near, Lucas immediately ran toward her to distract her from Lucy.

“Everly, get the girl!”

As if knowing his plan, another shadow also moved out, another woman with long straight hair. He now understood that each of the women was meant to target one of them.

Trying to distract the other woman from Lucy, Lucas shouted at her.

“You are a coward, woman. To chase and try to kill young girls. Did your mother raise you wrong? Oh wait, did she even exist?” Lucas taunted, hoping the other woman would come to him instead, but his words proved futile.

“Focus on me, kids,” the woman he was running toward said with a smile, her hand holding a sharp knife.

The woman facing Lucas, known as Rosa, seized the opportunity when she noticed his distraction. Swiftly, she hurled her knife towards Lucas, sending him sprawling backward. His jian clattered to the ground, but Lucas swiftly regained his composure, summoning another fireball.

However, the fireball missed its target entirely, scorching the wall instead. In the midst of this chaos, a pair of deafening gunshots rang out.

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

Bullets whizzed perilously close, cutting through the air like a butter knife. The woman, who appeared to be their leader, continued to fire at Lucas while her companion advanced, brandishing her knife.

Lucas extended his hand, launching another fireball into the night, this time aimed at the leader herself. However, the fireball missed its mark again, crashing into a nearby tree and igniting a brief blaze that momentarily illuminated the area.

The woman who Lucas was facing, Rosa, was clearly disoriented by the sudden change in visibility, her balance shaking.

Meanwhile, Lucy found herself locked in a high-speed dance of katana and ice with the woman their leader had referred to as Everly. With swift, calculated movements, Lucy skillfully parried Everly's relentless sword strikes, creating a dazzling display of sparks and freezing air as their weapons clashed.

Amidst this intense duel, the leader of the women remained unyielding. She aimed her pistol at Lucy, her finger tightening on the trigger. However, before she could fire a shot, Lucy swiftly conjured a hailstone, creating a shimmering barrier that intercepted the oncoming bullets. With a determined focus, Lucy then unleashed a hailstorm upon the leader, who desperately raised her arms in a futile attempt to shield herself from the pelting ice.

“Julia!!” the woman Lucas confronted shouted desperately.

Seizing the opportunity, Lucas summoned another fireball and hurled it with precision at Rosa, who was momentarily distracted by the chaos unfolding around her. The fiery projectile struck her square in the chest, eliciting a sharp cry of agony as she collapsed to the ground.

“AHHH!”

Witnessing the fall of her comrades, Everly realized it was time to beat a hasty retreat. She disengaged from her battle with Lucy, her steps quick and determined as she sprinted to Julia's side.

Julia, the leader, struggled to her feet, her clothes smoldering from the fireball's impact. She clenched her jaw, a mix of anger and frustration in her eyes as she assessed the situation. Rosa, on the other hand, lay on the ground, writhing in pain from the fiery assault.

The other shadow near the woman also emerged as they went to their leader, Julia. There seemed to be two girls and one boy, but that didn't matter.

Lucas seized the opportunity, darting toward Julia with his jian sword at the ready. He swung it in a graceful arc, aiming for her midsection. Julia, caught off guard by the sudden attack, barely managed to sidestep the strike. The sword grazed her, leaving a shallow cut on her arm, but she swiftly retreated to put some distance between them.

The other shadow near her also did the same. The night was dark, and yet every time his fireball flew past them, Lucas could somewhat see bits and pieces of their features. However, one person attracted his attention.

A man he had seen before, the man who almost killed him but escaped. Lucas's anger rose; if he hadn't let that guy escape, maybe they wouldn't have to fight today.

Lucy, having momentarily repelled by the gunfire, joined Lucas in their pursuit of Julia. Not knowing about the guy with an injured hand that Lucas noticed and recognized. Her katana gleamed in the moonlight as she lunged at Julia, who parried the attack with a quick, precise movement of her knife.

Despite her injuries, Rosa attempted to stand, determined to rejoin the fray. However, a sudden barrage of hailstones from Lucy sent her back to the ground, crying out in pain. The relentless ice assault left her incapacitated.

Everly, realizing that their mission had taken a disastrous turn, made a desperate decision. She sprinted to Rosa's side and, with considerable effort, managed to drag her away from the fight.

“Rosa! Come here quick!”