"Now that I have conveyed everything that I want, and I can convey. If you still want to ask another question, you can ask me."
Kai and the others fell into silence.
"If…" Kai opened his mouth and hesitated for a few seconds. "If I… If I do nothing about this, will the other side continue opposing us?"
At first glance, there seemed to be only one path for him to follow, but since Rapakha told him to do whatever he deemed to be right, he needed to ask this question.
"It's a good question." Rapakha smiled before the next word disappointed them. "Unfortunately, I don't have the answer with me. Just like I can't predict your future path, I can't say anything about their actions as well."
"Then, I would like to ask Elder's opinion. If Elder is in their place, will Elder keep chasing me?"
"I will," Rapakha answered mysteriously. Even so, his sound filled with confidence, making Kai hesitate once again.
"Why?" Kai was confused.
"I don't know." Rapakha shook his head. "Even I don't know the answer. However, I can tell you that the answer you seek is the answer to their question."
Kai closed his eyes for a few seconds and asked. "Earth's crying voice…"
"Yes. I don't know what the answer is, but I am sure they won't stop until you give your answer." Rapakha's tone turned grim.
"Doesn't a question like this is a simple answer between yes or no?" Kai asked again before falling into deep thought. "I guess… It's not."
Rapakha didn't say anything. He simply stared at Kai, who slowly looked up.
"In that case, are they going to harm my family?"
"With any means necessary."
"Then it's fine if I consider them as my enemies, right?"
"Yes or no. Those who want to harm you are the enemies. If you let your anger go to those unrelated, you will need to fix the problems until the end of your life. Of course, only a fool will tell you that he/she is plotting against you. So, you can't drop your guard either. However, I can tell you that unless it's absolutely necessary, they won't do things like that."
Kai thought for a moment. "I understand."
"Then, I think it's time for us to go to the last thing I want to do." Rapakha nodded with a solemn expression while glancing at all people except Carissa.
The seven didn't know what he was thinking, so they became a bit tense when the gaze was on them. They were wondering what he wanted to do since Tasha seemed to be a part of this as well.
"What is it?" Kai furrowed his eyebrows, and his expression turned grim.
"I want all of you to fight me. Of course, the old lady there is not included." Rapakha laughed. "I want to see all of your power."
"…" They widened their eyes and blinked a few times. Kai was the first to ask. "Do you mean you want to fight me, Tasha, Michelle, Ayaka, Sofia, Evan, and Isabelle… Us seven? I think that is a bit…"
Kai hesitated to accept this. He wasn't going to say it was fair. In fact, it was very unfair. They had no doubt they would lose even if Rapakha attacked them alone. Hence, there was no need to take unnecessary risks.
Rapakha also understood his worry and assured him. "I will be fighting with a mud doll of mine, and I promise I only fight you with my Stone Creation Magic, not my Space Magic. How about it? Don't you want to see my strength and realize the gap between us? I think seven of you won't be depressed even if you lose. Instead, it will give you more motivation to improve yourself, so I am going to bully you."
"… I think the last sentence is unnecessary." Kai twitched his eyebrows. "Still, I need others' opinions first."
"I am fine with it. I also want to see the progress of my training." Michelle nodded with a serious expression.
"Since he is not going to use his Space Magic, I am going as well." Tasha agreed. "Besides, I am curious to see how a person fights without Space Magic. Even though my other magic is Lightning while his is Stone… I think I will learn a lot in this fight."
"I… I also want to fight him." Ayaka raised her hand. "Isn't this like how we first fought where I lost miserably? I wonder how much I can fare if I don't underestimate someone together with this gap."
"Well, I can only heal you, so I will probably not do anything in this fight." Evan shrugged.
"Fufu… Fighting someone with this fierce blaze, I am fired up." Sofia grinned. Not only would she get so much knowledge and experience from this person, which would benefit the EU Base, she could also satisfy her own curiosity.
"Since everyone wants to do it, I don't mind." Isabelle agreed without saying anything more. It seemed she was pretty eager to do it.
Kai scratched his head and sighed. "There you have it."
"Boy, you haven't agreed…" Rapakha reminded him.
"Why are you saying it like you actually want to fight me the most?" Kai twitched his eyebrows and made a weird smile.
"Of course. I want to beat you up." Rapakha didn't bother to hide it.
"…" Kai didn't know how to answer this.
"It's simply my way to show my love. After all, I am a bit jealous of your hearing ability. Unlike you, they didn't put any particular interest in me. Only one protector seemed to notice my existence."
"I don't want this attention. You can take it." Kai let out a long sigh.
"Haha… That is not possible. Now your answer?"
"Yes. I agree with the fight." Kai scratched his head. "Anyway, it will be a good opportunity to learn many things before the big fight."
Kai glanced at Michelle, who smiled at him. She said, "Fair enough. S rank magical beast is not easy after all, especially one with poison."
"Hoo… Poison, eh?" Rapakha smirked. "Magical Beasts are supposed to have a hard body, and since this one also has a poison… It's going to be a troublesome opponent. How about this? We are going to add a condition. We can fight for a few rounds, but the moment you are hit, you are out."
"!!!" Kai widened his eyes, never expecting him to accommodate them this much. However, he saw the matter again and realized he just wanted to make it hard for them. The Protectors had a hard body along with powerful magic and strength like Rapakha even though they had different magic.
On the other hand, if he put another condition such as poison, the intensity would increase far higher.
Kai had no reason to refuse this offer even though he could already sense the pain. The others seemed to have agreed with this additional condition, so Kai said, "Thank you for your guidance."
Rapakha nodded. "You guys can have some preparations for an hour. Since the sun is about to set, we are going to fight when it's dark. Don't worry, the little girl should be able to light it up with her fire magic, right? And I think it will be advantageous to the Shadow Girl."
Ayaka and Michelle exchanged looks and nodded.
Rapakha then glanced at Carissa. "You can't watch our fight."
"Why?" Obviously, it was normal for Carissa to ask this question. However, she soon regretted it, especially when she saw a sly smile on his face. It was at this moment she realized she had been had. She slammed the table and rose from her seat. "I am leaving."
The condition for her to stay was to not ask any questions. And remembering how Rapakha said this fight to be the last event, it meant that the session had yet to be over. Since she asked a question, albeit unintentionally, she needed to pay the price as well.
Without saying anything, Carissa left the house and flew toward the base. Since she was flying, it took her only a few minutes before arriving at the base.
Meanwhile, Rapakha summoned a magic circle as the ground rose and slowly formed a human body.
'This must be the doll that will be fighting us.' Everyone thought. The doll itself looked like a middle-aged man with a perfect body. Its muscles told them it was a powerful fighter.
"This is me when I was thirty years old." Rapakha introduced the doll before he closed his eyes and magic power fluctuated. Soon, the doll gradually moved its body. Although it couldn't blink its eyes, it had no problem in moving its mouth and the rest of the body.
The stone statue then became standstill as if there was no life in there anymore. On the other hand, the clay doll walked outside the house and waved his hand, telling them to follow him.
However, when everyone left the house, Rapakha had found his arena and pointed his finger toward a certain plain, a bit farther from the house.
He then ran before a magic circle appeared on the ground. The moment he stepped on it, the ground rose and launched him to the sky.
"Don't mind me. I am stretching my body since I am a bit stiff with that stone." Rapakha laughed. When he was about to reach the destination, he created another magic circle on the ground, and a stone pole rose to match his height.
"Impossible. We are in the mountain, and with that speed, the stone might collapse or his body will get hurt." Kai widened his eyes before he saw something startling.
The stone pole suddenly became elastic and curved to the point its tip almost touched the ground. That way, Rapakha managed to land safely without suffering any damage.
He waved his hand again, telling them to come here. "This is our arena."