____
Back at the field.
The battle between the Twelfth Prince's group and the group from the Azure empire had slowly started taking a turn. Unlike the rough start they had, the group from the Azure empire was slowly gaining the upper hand now.
Boom!
Crash!
A human figure crashed through the field leveling the tall grasses in the process. After sliding across a distance of almost ten meters from where it crashed, the figure stopped.
Looking closer, the figure was Neil from the Twelfth Prince's group. After their initial sneak attack at the start of the battle, they only managed to hold the upper hand for about three minutes or so before the group from the Azure empire gradually started turning the tide of the battle. Currently, other than the youth injured at the start of the battle from the sneak attack, the others from the Azure empire were doing fine.
Neil was presently fighting against one of the two people in the Fourth stage of the Origin Plane in the group from the Azure empire.
Spit!
He spat out the bits of grass that got into his mouth during the crash. Placing one leg in front of him while the other was in a kneeling position, he raised his head to observe the ongoing battle, but seeing how things were going, he couldn't help but feel a little bitter inside.
He was barely hanging on against his opponent, while the Twelfth Prince was being suppressed by the young lady who was the other person in the Fourth stage, and as for the other youth from the Royal Academy who was in the Third stage, he too was also being suppressed by the Dual Elementalist in the Third stage from the Azure empire.
The only thing that gave him the confidence to continue hanging on was the battle of the other four, because of the youth from the Azure empire who was injured at the start of the battle, they were having a relatively easier time, especially the duo fighting against him.
Since his strength saw a decline, he wasn't as strong as he previously was, so fighting against two people was a little more than he could handle.
His companions who were fighting against a single opponent would occasionally lend him a helping hand when they were chanced. They knew if the youth were to die, then they might not be the ones doing the killing, rather, it would be the other way around. But their opponents also being aware of this was trying hard to ensure they don't get the chance to help him.
The Twelfth Prince's group knew if the injured youth could be taken out of the picture, then their chances of survival would increase exponentially. Because once the injured youth was dead, then the two who were fighting against him would join hands with the others to suppress their opponents. So, there was no way they'd allow the others to help him.
As things stand, taking out the injured youth was their best shot at survival, either that or maybe someone would come to their aid just like the last time they were stuck in such a situation.
"Heh! What are you looking at?" The tall youth asked mockingly while walking closer to Neil.
Neil wiped the side of his mouth while hurriedly standing on his feet, gazing ferociously at his opponent. He knew he wasn't his match, and escaping from his hands was quite difficult, but not impossible. But he had to tie him down so his companions could kill the injured youth.
Unlike the other battles, this was a battle between two Water Elementalists. But since the tall youth had the advantage of being a stage ahead of Neil, his attack power was stronger.
Neil's elemental grade was blue, but since he couldn't even fight the tall youth to a draw, it meant his elemental grade was also blue.
"You think they can kill him? Hehe, even if they can, you wouldn't live long enough to see it." The tall youth smirked and unleashed another attack.
Crack!
Neil created an ice wall to block the attack, but it shattered when the tall youth's attack landed on it.
Seeing his defense destroyed, he hastily sent out an attack towards the weakened strike coming his way.
Boom!
Both strikes collided sending out a chilling shockwave as both attackers used ice instead of water.
Being closer to the strike, the impact of the attacks pushed him back, he only managed to gain his footing after moving four meters backward. Looking behind him, a strange thought suddenly came into his head, if things continued in this manner, then he might get a chance to escape.
Since the battle started, the tall youth had blasted him a good distance away from their initial position, and he was presently only a hundred meters away from the forest. He wouldn't mind it if the tall youth continued blasting him in this direction, that way, in case things didn't work out with the duo, he would have a chance at escaping.
____
"Kekeke, to think you were hiding your strength previously." The young lady giggled coquettishly while battling with the Twelfth Prince.
Bam!
The wind blade of the Twelfth Prince was destroyed after coming a few meters close to her.
'Even after using almost ninety percent of my strength, I'm still no match for her.' The Twelfth Prince thought while dodging her attack.
During the first time he fought against this group, he concealed some of his strength in case things didn't work out for his group, he would be able to unleash his greatest movement technique and escape.
Being a Wind Elementalist, he naturally placed more emphasis on speed, so even though the situation doesn't look too good for him, he still had some confidence in escaping. He even had a secret technique that could raise his speed to a terrifying level that even those three stages ahead of him wouldn't be able to keep up with him.
It's just, because of the price he'd have to pay to use it, he would only use it as a last resort. Besides, given their luck so far since they entered the trial land, they had been able to pull through most of the challenges that came their way, so he was still hopeful that maybe things would turn for the better.
They even had a chance to do that now since if the duo could kill the injured youth, then they would be able to counter-kill their opponents.
The young lady fighting against the Twelfth Prince was a Fire Elementalist, seeing that the Twelfth Prince was dodging most of her attacks, her fiery temper soon started taking over.
"Hmph! Dodge this." She said coldly while unleashing a large-scale attack.
Unlike her previous attacks, this one covered a twenty meters radius around the Twelfth Prince.
'Damn it!' The Twelfth Prince cursed, not expecting his opponent to make use of this method just so she could strike him.
Being forced to defend, he created a tornado around himself, using it to fend off the fire coming his way. But doing that not only protected him but also gave his opponent a target to attack since he wasn't moving anymore.
Swoosh!
A large flaming sword sliced in the direction of the tornado, easily cutting through it from the top to the bottom, slicing apart the Twelfth Prince's protective cover.
The second the tornado was cut apart, the Twelfth Prince was revealed to the young lady who followed up the flaming sword with fire arrows heading straight at the Twelfth Prince.
'Why do I always get the troublesome opponents?' The Twelfth Prince complained while setting up a windshield to block the arrows coming his way.
Boom! Bam!
Multiple arrows struck the shield as well as the surrounding places where the shield didn't cover, causing a large area to be covered in smoke.
Of all the battles, the area where the Twelfth Prince's battle was going on was more glaring due to it losing more grasses. Although there were other Fire Elementalists in the two groups, none was as destructive as the young lady was.
The Twelfth Prince was currently caught in the middle of the smoke after managing to fend off the arrows coming his way. He covered himself with a wind sphere that slowly grew bigger and exploded sending airwaves in all directions thereby clearing the surrounding air of the smoke.
"Such a destructive element." The Twelfth Prince said looking at the once serene field that has been destroyed by the young lady's attack.
He had never liked fire, he didn't know why though. Even though it's among the strongest elements in terms of attack power, he still didn't like.
"I hate people who only evades. Fight properly!" The young lady yelled angrily with fire raging all around her.
"I'm a Wind Ele... Wait, why am I even bothering to explain to you?" The Twelfth Prince who was about to explain the reason for his fighting style paused and asked.
He truly wasn't obligated to explain the reason for the way he fights to her.
"Because you're afraid." The young lady laughed and continued her attack.
The Twelfth Prince quickly evaded the attack once again while also counter-attacking.