Before Lia's attack could land on the shadow, the shadow retreated abruptly, and Lia missed.
Liam and Lia found themselves in a tense standoff within the cave. The mysterious shadow continued to evade their senses, striking unpredictably and retreating before they could counterattack. The blinking beam of light disoriented them, making it difficult to focus.
Liam, frustrated but determined, decided to escalate the situation. He began weaving a complex Earth manipulation technique, one that required immense concentration and energy. Lia, sensing his resolve, positioned herself defensively, ready to intercept any incoming attacks.
Among the chaos in the cave, Liam and Lia had failed to take into account the inconspicuous drops of water that had entered Liam's mouth by simply falling from the ceiling of the cave.
Within a few determined moments, Liam had finally finished his preparation and was now ready to launch his most powerful attack. The earth around Liam started shaking, and bits of earth began hovering around him.
The immediate vicinity of Liam was filled with fist-sized stones that slowly started revolving around him, increasing in velocity with time. The stones revolving at rapid speed created a zone of death around him. The radius of the zone rapidly grew and moved outward.
Liam had planned to catch and kill whoever was employing these guerrilla tactics against him, and according to him, the best way to do that was to use a wide-scale, powerful attack to eliminate anyone and everyone in the vicinity.
But there was a major flaw in Liam's strategy: the cave was not a single-chambered construct but a combination of catacombs connected with each other, forming a sort of maze within. According to Liam, the culprit was the shadowy figure who was still eluding them and should be somewhere nearby.
What Liam failed to observe was the fact that the shadow attacking them belonged to Liam himself. Due to the constant light being thrown on his face, Liam was too annoyed to notice something so basic.
It was, in fact, a combination of things that had led to their present scenario, where two level-1 elementalists were being toyed with so easily. Had they stopped and analyzed their situation, they would have realized that up until this point, none of the shadowy figure's attacks or the light itself had been able to harm them in any way.
Lia had noticed the same in the very beginning, but they were constantly being put in strenuous situations where they couldn't rest for a moment. Even if they had subconsciously realised that none of the shadowy figure's attacks had actually worked, they couldn't lower their guard, as the very next attack could be lethal.
Moreover, their biggest annoyance was that Lia was unable to predict the shadow's location in any way—something that would have been impossible otherwise for someone like Lia.
Lia was a being full of mystery and had always prided herself on her instincts. She had always been able to detect any life presence or emotional fluctuations that living beings had.
Only with Lia's help had Liam been able to negotiate with the Crimsons and even avoid or kill creatures stronger than himself on the island. But today, Lia's instincts were completely betraying her.
Liam executed his move, his dome of rapidly revolving earthen bullets slowly growing. He was surprised to find that the culprit wasn't nearby, as otherwise, they would have definitely been caught in his attack.
So Liam decided to proceed with the final step. He stopped in a low crouching position and started accumulating energy within his stance. The speed of the revolving stones began slowing down; it seemed as if they would all come to a halt at any moment.
Liam pushed both fists out while maintaining his low, wide, knees-bent stance. The barrage of stones was forced outward like bullets leaving a pistol. All the stones collided with the cave walls, releasing a small dust cloud within the chamber.
To Liam's and Lia's surprise, they still couldn't see the culprit within the cave chamber. The only possible explanation was that the assailant was in a different chamber—something that seemed too wild to them. How fast was this shadowy figure to cover such a large distance within seconds?
If this were truly within their assailant's capabilities, why would they bother toying with Liam and Lia rather than confronting them directly?
The present scenario was too puzzling for Liam to form any reasonable explanation. But before he could continue, he suddenly felt extreme fatigue and fell to his knees.
"Looks like I used all of my elemental essence earlier. Lia, it's up to you now to protect us. I think we should retreat for now," said Liam in a dejected voice. Due to his fatigue, he forgot and spoke aloud (usually, Liam and Lia only communicated via telepathy through their shared mysterious connection).
Lia agreed with Liam's analysis and was glad he was reasonable enough to know when to step back.
But before Lia could communicate with Liam, from a narrow passage to the far north, a small human figure could be seen moving toward them.
'Looks like our prey was the one that gave us so much trouble,' said Lia, looking menacingly in the direction from which Axel was emerging.
Axel was finally ready to confront his would-be killer and get some answers. But the "how" remained in question, as before him stood two level-1 elementalists: Liam with his Earth element and Lia with her poison element and other mysterious abilities to boast.
The awaited confrontation was inevitable.