Chapter 710 Strange Skulls

Another basketball dribbled on the gymnasium floor. Lee Seng stood at the corner, not peeking another look into the pitch-black darkness. Two basketballs were already in the hallway, stopped from the dribbler's attempt to capture Lee Seng's attention.

'Well, whoever this is got my attention.' Lee Seng thought. He listened to the basketball rhythmically bounce. Lee Seng took another peek, noticing the dark energy inside the gym. The ball flew out of the gym. It flew straight for Lee Seng's face like the player knew exactly where he was. Lee Seng didn't flinch as the ball stopped mere inches from his face. It spun for a while until it completely stopped. The basketball fell onto the floor, slowly bouncing away from Lee Seng and hitting a basketball as Lee Seng stepped out from behind the wall.

'Yup, that's magical darkness.' Lee Seng confirmed. Dark energy buzzed around as Lee Seng slowly neared the gymnasium's entrance. There was no more dribbling as Lee Seng came to a stop at the doorway. His ruby and sapphire eyes scanned the magical darkness. A purple flame ignited in the distance, drawing Lee Seng's attention.

One, two, four, eight. The purple flames ignited in succession until there were more than twenty floating around the magical darkness. A basketball quietly lifted into the air, snapping Lee Seng's attention. The next thing Lee Seng knew, he was hitting the floor as the basketball sailed past him from the hallway. The door slammed shut as the purple flames flew at Lee Seng.

A magical cosmic shield flew up, blocking the attacks. The shield quickly cracked as Lee Seng pushed himself onto his feet and ran. The purple flames continuously flew at him, taking a few pot shots at the shield. Lee Seng quickly reformed the shield and listened as he kicked a basketball, almost falling.

The purple flames all flew at him at once. Lee Seng threw his hands up, lighting the magical space in cosmic lights. The flames collided with the shield, instantly breaking it and sending a loud eruption of smoke in every direction.

"What was that?" Olivia asked over comms.

"I think it came from below us. Who's all below us, again?" Liz asked.

"Lee Seng and Evan. Are you two, okay?" Olivia asked. Lee Seng cursed as he lifted himself up. The purple flames licked at his thin wall of energy, pulling away.

'I know this trick.' Lee Seng thought. The leftover purple flames pulled away from the area around him as they rejoined in a single ball. A gust of hot wind pushed the smoke away, revealing a glimpse of a purple flame skull head.

"I'm fine. I-I think it came from Lee Seng's area." Evan answered. "Lee, what's going on?" Lee Seng smirked as he slowly reached for his necklace. The purple skull shrieked, vanishing into magical darkness as more purple flames shot themselves at Lee Seng. Lee Seng grunted and double-tapped his necklace, dodging the first set of flames.

"Monster at the gym! Be careful!" Lee Seng warned them. Basketballs bounced and fired at Lee Seng. Lee Seng quickly threw an arm up, blocking the flames as the basketballs came to an abrupt stop. Lee Seng fired the basketballs back into the darkness as more flames grew.

"Monsters?!? Here?!?" Olivia shouted. "Oh no, this isn't good!"

"We're coming to help! Evan, since you're close, try to get to him first!" Manny ordered.

"Y-yeah, uh, about that!" Evan nervously squealed. A beam of fire flew out from the darkness, hitting Lee Seng and sending him flying into the bleachers. Lee Seng groaned as the purple flames pulled off of him.

'It saps energy with the fire.' Lee Seng thought.

"Wo-whoa! What the hell is that?" Liz asked. "A flaming skull?!?"

'Is it purple?' Lee Seng thought.

"How'd you know?"

"Because I'm fighting one in magical darkness." Lee Seng pushed himself up and slowly looked around. The flames had suddenly died down and it had gone completely quiet. Lee Seng slowly turned his hands, palms facing outwards just in case anything were to come at him. He slowly descended the bleachers, landing quietly on the gymnasium floor.

"Oh my god! How the hell do I kill that?!?" Evan grunted. "I think it's sapping my energy!"

"Be careful! Fall back if you have to!" Manny shouted. "Lee Seng?!? Are you alright? Did something happen? Did you kill it?" Lee Seng's eyes flicked left and right as he slowly made his way to the exit.

"Argh!" Liz grunted. "Ahh, it burns like hell! Damn skulls!"

"Lee!" Manny shouted. "Shit!" As if on cue, a subtle warping noise grew from behind Lee Seng. Lee Seng whipped himself around, spotting the purple flaming skull. It smiled at him as fiery energy erupted from its mouth. Lee Seng threw his hand up, shooting a blast of cosmic energy at it. The two energies collided, rippling the magical darkness. Tears of magical darkness were replaced with regular darkness and Lee Seng could see part of the gymnasium.

Loud footsteps rushed from the left side of Lee Seng, away from the tear as if something was hiding from them. Lee seng lifted his hand and blasted another bolt of cosmic energy. The energy crashed into the rack of basketballs, exploding them into different directions as the footsteps continued to run.

'They're going for the exit!' Lee Seng thought. A crack of energy grew in Lee Seng's free hand as he held the beam of cosmic energy. 'Come on! Just give up!' Lee Seng whipped another beam of energy, pushing the purple flames back into the monster's face and exploding it to bits. Lee Seng turned, swiping in the air as reality shredded in front of him.

Whoever was running was trying to delay him from getting anywhere near him. A cosmic portal ripped open at the corner where Lee Seng had just been. The door flew open as footsteps rushed. The student glanced behind them as they dodged the basketballs. Lee Seng jumped out of the portal, letting it close as he rushed at the student, tackling them onto the ground.

"Ahh!" The student screamed. Lee Seng raised his fist, ready to swing when a set of children screamed.

"Run!" A teacher shouted. They were pushing small children out of the way as Lee Seng looked up. Three flaming skulls were trying to attack them as the teacher guarded the small children. The teacher grunted in pain as they continued forwards.

'They're not gonna make it.' Lee Seng thought. Before he knew it, he was off of the student and running towards the teacher. The flaming skulls opened their jaws and released another flurry of fireballs at the teacher and children. 'Shield times forty.' Forty thin layers appeared behind the teacher in an instant. Lee Seng watched three-fourths of the shield shatter in an instant.

"Over here!" Lee Seng shouted. He whipped his head around and noticed the student was already scrambling onto their feet and darting away. "Hey you!" The student ignored Lee Seng as they rounded the corner. The children screamed as they rushed over to Lee Seng. In seconds, he was swarmed with three children crying and a teacher who was about to pass out.

"W-who are you?" The teacher asked, panicked. Lee Seng grunted as he slammed his hands together. Gold, silver, black and purple energy pushed out of him. The end grew into a dark gray as Lee Seng flipped his hands around and pulled them upwards. A wall of pure Dark Matter energy flew up as the skulls slammed into them.

'Spikes.' Lee Seng thought. He pushed both hands outwards and listened to the crunch of the skulls. In a counterclockwise motion, he listened as the skulls shredded to bits, exploding. The cries of the children filled the space as Lee Seng's heartbeat loudly in his ears.

"I never thought I'd see another soul in this place!" The teacher huffed. Lee Seng drew his attention onto the woman. She wore a cardigan that looked burnt with a dress burnt in some areas. She was barefoot. The children clung onto Lee Seng as the teacher's eyes shook.

"What are those things?" Lee Seng asked.

"Don't know! They suddenly showed up!" The teacher answered. Her eyes went to the children. "Alright, everyone. It's safe now! Come here. Come here, it's alright." The teacher squatted down and wrapped the children in a hug.

"Spotted civs." Lee Seng spoke. The teacher looked at the strange teenager. He didn't look like anyone she knew. He raised his hand to the necklace and seemingly looked elsewhere like he was listening to something.

"How many?" Ritsuka asked. "These damn skulls are too much! I almost destroyed the school!"

"A teacher and three children. I found another one hiding in the gymnasium, but they ran away before I could secure them."

"Bring them to the meeting point!" Olivia huffed. "I'll meet you there. I think Evan needs help!" Lee Seng pulled his map up and noticed where he was. The next closest dot was halls away from him. He flicked the map and noticed two dots joining each other. It was probably Olivia and Liz.

"Are you with Liz?" Lee Seng asked.

"Yeah." Olivia sighed. "We'll meet you at the spot."

"Manny, Ritsuka, are you guys, okay?" Lee seng asked.

"I'm fine!" Ritsuka grunted. Lee Seng flicked his finger and noticed Ritsuka and Manny were far apart. There were five red dots on one side and six red dots on the right side.

"Manny's in trouble." Lee Seng whispered.

"I'll make my way to those two." Liz spoke. "You meet with Olivia!"