The snow was dispersing intensely, the trees had large cuts, some had already fallen.
(Daren) Fall already! Daren made a horizontal attack from the left, he had a tired expression and some scratches.
I'm sorry, I won't do it! Lior jumped back at the attack, then swung his sword, a white magic with an arched shape shot out from the sword.
(Daren) Damn it_ Daren moved from his spot, approaching and swinging the greatsword.
Left, right, up, down, every attack he made, didn't cut through his target, eventually tiring him out. That was an advantage for Lior, who was fast and had good reflexes, unlike Daren, who had brute strength and good fighting judgment.
In short, Lior could hold on as long as he kept dodging, but he would lose if he was hit even once by the broadsword. He also couldn't attack Daren due to his defense.
"Hurry up!" Lior kept dodging the constant attacks while waiting for his teammates' response.
(Daren) Enough!_ He plunged the sword into the ground, where it was embedded, and with an upward motion, the earth split, simulating a small earthquake, which destabilized Lior.
_!!!_Lior, who didn't see it coming, was caught off guard by the action and tried to regain his composure, but Daren had already jumped on him while he was distracted. Balancing the greatsword vertically, Lior was unable to dodge.
¡CLANK! The place of impact where the ground sank using his own sword as a method of defense, anyone would have thought that the greatsword would have sliced through the sword, but when infused with mana, its durability increased enormously.
(Daren) What!... it doesn't matter. Daren increased his aura, which exerted more pressure on Lior, who was at his limit.
With a risky move, Lior tilted his sword, which was horizontal, causing the broadsword to slip to the ground. Jumping back, he retreated, but not before launching an attack; however, the outcome was clear.
(Daren) That won't work! Daren raised his sword and quickly approached Lior again.
_"at least I must keep attacking"_lior cast the same white magic again, ¡shhk! Unlike the previous attacks, the magic cut through Daren's defenses like butter and gave him a slight cut on his arm.
[Magical Focus] the wizards had the ability to add preferences to their spells, for example, if they cast a spell with multiple components, they could add destruction preferences instead of cutting, and if they cast a protection spell, they could change it to withstand more physical attacks than magical ones and viceversa.
_"now it makes sense"_since there was no other team member who mastered magic besides Gen, they would be an easy target for them.
But Lior came from one of the families of swordsmen who used their mana to perform attacks similar to magic.
Expressing a slight smile, Lior got ready.
(Daren) Tch! You already noticed_ Daren looked at Lior with a somber expression, swung his sword, and the snow rose from the ground.
Foshhh! The wind swept the snow into the air, blinding the surroundings.
_I can't see anything,!!!_ the greatsword appeared in front of Lior, Daren holding the greatsword with one hand, thrusting it forward while having an unsettling look.
Screch!_lior deflected the tip of the broadsword with the sword, the screech of both weapons scraping was horrible, like cutting polystyrene with a knife.
(Daren)…_with a quick and unnatural movement, the edge of the broadsword spun and struck Lior, Bam! Lior was thrown into a tree.
_¡ack!_ the impact was dull and dry, spitting blood, the beautiful white snow had turned red.
The blurry gaze, watching as Daren's silhouette slowly approached, all hope for Lior had vanished.
Boom! A big explosion had happened nearby.
(Daren) ¡¿?!_ Daren diverted his gaze from Lior to the great explosion behind him, Lior slowly got up and before falling again, raised his sword.
Shhk_ the sword ran without resistance but with a great edge, cutting Daren's back.
(Daren) "Ack!!" – spinning quickly, he swung the broadsword and split Lior in two; the tree and the ground were left with a huge stain.
(Daren) "Shit, did the protection magic disappear?" _ Daren saw Lior, his body was crystallizing until it shattered like glass and disappeared into the air_!ack¡.
Daren winced in pain as he walked towards where his companions were.
___ ___
I was among the trees, I had managed to distance myself from the explosion thanks to the pulse ability.
…That surprised me—everything had happened quickly.
I was facing Alex and Rion, I didn't have my sword, so I was at a clear disadvantage, but thanks to Elia shooting an arrow at Rion. When the arrow was intercepted because Rion used his sword to protect himself, I managed to hold the deflected arrow and used it to aim at Alex's backpack, which shone with intensity and moments later, the great explosion happened.
…"I'm not sure if they fell because of that or not"_ but in the elimination record, only two eliminations appeared, (Lior) and (Gen)
…"it seems that the leader was defeated by Daren, but I'm worried about those two"_ he observed the strong blizzard caused by the explosion.
The magical stones they gave us were incredible; when we made eye contact with the other team, the stone created a panel with the opposing team's information that we could interact with. The number of eliminations, people found, will be some of the features they gave us.
…It's a great advantage, but the problem is that with the points we have, we're dragging ourselves on the ground_ the magic stone started to tinkle and a voice message came through.
[A team member is in critical condition, help them if you don't want to be eliminated]_ the female voice coming from the magic stone repeated the same phrase again.
…"who could it be?" There were four of us, Elia and Liria, Daren was also there, but seeing how they were behaving, they must have confidence.
[Three team members are injured, help them if you don't want to be eliminated]…
…what is happening?_ I ran towards where Elia and Liria were, and the closer I got, the heavier the tension became, the air grew heavy.
…Could the mixture of potions have created this atmosphere?_ I kept running through the heavy air while covering my face with my arm, my vision was also obstructed.
I didn't expect it, but I tripped over something soft while running, it also made a bit of noise.
…what the hell_ I saw Daren lying in the snow, looking at me with tired eyes on the verge of losing themselves.
I carried him over my shoulder, he had a large cut on his back, his sword was nowhere to be found no matter how much I looked around.
…this is exhausting_ but I was glad that they hadn't expelled us yet, it must be because Elia and Liria are still fine, Liria knows how to use healing magic, which is very practical, but at this point, they should be fine already.
I observed the magic stone once more, [three team members are injured, help them if you don't want to be eliminated] the voice kept repeating the phrase, how serious are their injuries that they haven't recovered? The cold wind was constantly increasing, I continued walking until I reached the place where Elia and Liria were, but there was no sign that they were there.
…I must find a place to shelter Daren and look for the others, ¡!!_ a few meters from where I was, there was a crack in the rocky wall, big enough for an adult to fit through.
Inside, it was a bit larger than I thought, it was perfect for leaving Daren lying here. The hole was two meters long and high, oval-shaped. I looked around the place; it had some strange writings. Curiosity made me approach and touch it to learn more; it had unknown letters.
…they must be ancient letters, I cleared all the snow that covered the letters carved in the ice, at that very moment in the center of this small dome a type of magic began to accumulate.
It had a white and cold tone, the size of my palm, I decided to touch it, the first contact of my index finger, the small sphere was absorbed and a cold current passed through my entire body, almost like a shiver.
… Ugh_ I felt exhausted and decided to sit down for a while, I saw Daren who was unconscious.
I had a constant chill, I felt like I would crumble at any moment, I mentally prepared myself and ignored the fatigue.
…I must find the others_ I got up and left the cave, [three of your companions are injured, assist him if you don't want to be disqualified] I held the stone from where the voice was coming, the message also appeared on the panel.
…what the hell_ when I touched the warning message, the location of Elia, Liria, and Daren appeared.
_it would have saved me time_ but for some reason Elia and Liria were on opposite sides, but due to preferences, I decided to go for the mage, so the speed of our team's recovery will be faster.
Liria was to the East, about twenty meters away, the map only showed the distance, but that was enough.
I walked slowly, covering my face from the icy blizzard, the snow and wind blinded my vision, especially with the fatigue I had, but I didn't pay much attention and continued on my way.
___ ___
My face was asleep, I was unable to feel the cold, the palms of my hands were mysteriously warming up but I couldn't look at them, I could barely move a muscle in my body.
(Liria) This…is…detestable…_ Liria was sitting, leaning against a tree, the snow had accumulated on her clothes and feet, her body was pale, she didn't even shiver, from the cold.
I could barely see, but sleep overwhelmed me until I completely closed my eyes. I didn't know why, but in a moment of the countless darkness, I felt a warm sensation.
(Liria)…_opening her eyes, Liria saw that a person was carrying her in their arms.
(Liria) Noah?_with a light voice, I spoke to the person who was carrying her.
…you've woken up, don't move, I'll take you to a safe place_ I was tired and had a strong headache, I wanted to take Liria and leave her with Daren.
(Liria) Thank you_ Liria closed her eyes again, her hands were bloodied and a bit burned.
…"Had he taken a full blast?" She curled up in my arms and fell asleep.
I arrived where Daren was, who was still unconscious, next to him I left Liria, I cleaned his wounds with the medicinal herbs I had, bandaged his hands with my shirt, and left him resting.
…!_[A member is in a critical point, prioritize in assisting] this warning message was different from the others.
…what's happening with Elia? I got up and went to where Elia was, despite the strong snowstorm that was happening.