Everyone acted at the same time. A raging, glacial blue fire encompassed Nero just as he threw out as many Snowflake's as he could. A tide of red sand encased Gabriel, leaving him looking more like a red snowman than a real person. At the same time, he moved to the side so that the effect of his Fair Weather card and Nero's wouldn't overlap.
They needed as much visibility as possible to deal with any other foes that might be hiding in the fog.
Thin, blue streaks of electricity started to dance all around Arter's body rapidly as he threw away his briefcases and drew his sword.
Maximilian's hair began to shine brightly, but it was his fingertip that suddenly shot out a beam of light so bright it forced everyone to close their eyes.Yet his foolproof attack, which had rendered every foe before this unconscious and at his mercy, failed - and for good reason.
The monstrosity that was inhabiting Jack no longer had eyes. Instead, it had two tentacles coming out of those holes. So as a result, his own teammates were the ones who suffered from the collateral consequences of his attack.
But, fortunately, he immediately realised that this would not work, while the others had seen him flash blinding light so many times that they were ready. Everyone closed their eyes the moment they detected the brightness from his hair rising, resulting in them missing the light shooting out of his fingers. They did, however, see that the light had no effect on the tentacle monster.
As it happened, the tentacle monster was actually the slowest to act. It was only after the beam of light struck it that it seemed to notice the presence of new targets. Once it did spot them, however, it wasted no time in attacking.
Instead of bringing Jack's body forward, the tentacles sprang out of his body like bullets from a gun, each with enough force to burst through their skin and enter their bodies. Their aim was also incredibly accurate, so instead of shooting out in random directions, each tentacle shot out towards a specific person.
Even though he was well protected by his flame, and had access to defensive cards as well, he did not need them. Despite the speed of the tentacles shooting out, with all the boosts he had to his body, as well as his manipulation of his internal aether, Nero easily cut through each of them.
Gabriel was not as fast, yet the tentacles proved unable to pierce through the thick layer of red sand surrounding his body. Instead, they suffered severe burns and tried to retreat into Jack's body, yet once they had touched the red sand it was not so easy to escape.
While they had not cut through the sand, they had created small bumps in them, and for each grain of sand they displaced, two grains of sand wrapped themselves around them. They were locked in the embrace of the red sand, which is why when the sand squeezed the burning tentacles, while the tentacles themselves tried to retreat, blood vessels all around their body burst.
Yet their red blood was not visible in the red sand.
Arter cut off its neck, just in time to watch a berserker break through the fog, followed by several more. In an instant, a swarm seemed to have surrounded them.
Yet Maximilian struck faster than any of them could attack. Compared to the rest, who had avoided the dangers of the tentacles on their own, he had to rely on his father's tricks, which greatly embarrassed him. Perhaps that's not what he should have been feeling in the midst of battle, but it was, so he was determined to redeem himself in his own eyes.
So he unleashed the full might of his newfound abilities.
In the span of a few seconds, from one, to ten, to dozens of berserkers and dark berserkers broke through the fog, yet it was all for naught. A beam of white light struck each and every one of them, dropping them to the ground like flies, ready to be killed based on the whims of others.
He did not miss even once, his aim perfectly striking their eyes every time. For all the resilience they boasted, the berserkers and dark berserkers were completely unable to resist his attacks.
Maximilian was so focused that he completely missed the wary look Nero gave him. Single handedly, in a matter of seconds, he had brought dozens of berserkers to their knees, and he did not seem like it had been a burden on his aether reserves.
Maximilian had transcended the realm of formidable Neophytes and become an absolute weapon. The nature of his ability was such that Nero even doubted he would be able to defeat him - after all, he'd have to fight with his eyes closed throughout to even have a chance.
Yet besides that wariness, Nero was also filled with great expectations.
As soon as they killed the last of the tentacles, which was actually a lot less daunting than they assumed, as well as killed the last of the berserkers, Nero approached Maximilian once more.
A part of him clearly kept an eye on the black briefcases, but he made no attempts to approach them himself.
"That was a close shave there," he said, patting Maximilian's back as if reassuring him. "I didn't know the Ayubi family sold their cards to Kolaris. I thought because of the feud, they would avoid doing that."
Nero didn't even pretend to wonder about the origin of the card that allowed Maximilian to teleport. Everyone knew that only the Ayubi family boasted innate abilities related to space. They were also the only ones who could create cards with space attributes.