Juzo's bravado crumbled.

The man holding the dagger moved towards them, spinning his dagger and licking it.

"Come play with me, ladies. The harder you resist, the more exquisite the pleasure is," he said, licking his lower lip.

Magnolia and Azalea held each other's hands.

"Water Magic: Water Needles," they called out in unison, launching a lot of water in needle forms towards the enemies.

!!!

The water needles hit the enemies, but nothing happened.

Ha ha ha ha!!!

They laughed together.

"Was that supposed to intimidate us or kill us?" the man said as he continued moving.

"What a waste of mana."

Just as the man continued moving, Magnolia and Azalea called out in unison,

"Riverwind Secret Magic: Desiccare." They unleashed a burst of energy.

!!!

"Huh! I feel thirsty," the man thought as his skin and body became dry, along with his companions.

Within a few breaths, all of the men became so dehydrated that they couldn't even breathe and dried up to death.

"That's terrifying," Tyla thought.

When Magnolia and Tyla launched their first spell towards the man, it was a way to connect their mana with that of the enemies.

Their second attack was used because they had already established a link with the enemies, thus managing to dry them up to death.

Caizo analyzed the situation and how the sisters' spell worked.

"These women are dangerous," he thought.

"Good thing we're on the same team."

Caizo, now replenished, moved towards Magnolia.

"Here," he said, handing her a pill.

"I see that you are just a step away from breaking through. This will help if you hit a bottleneck."

Magnolia accepted the gift as they didn't waste any more time and started moving together towards the temple.

After some time of moving, they encountered a group.

"Woah, if it isn't Lady Magnolia," a young man spoke as he approached, accompanied by a bunch of people.

"Ah, Juzo, it's you," Magnolia answered.

Among the people accompanying Juzo were Jorin Shadowfen and many others from the Basil faction, along with a few from the Stormcaller family.

Lady Magnolia could identify most of them.

"Oh, Lady Azalea, I see you're doing well," Jorin called out to Azalea.

"Get straight to the point, Juzo," Magnolia said.

"You know how things are in Verdantia now. Since you know I like you, why don't you convince the Riverwind family to join us in overthrowing the Evergreen family?" Juzo spoke to Magnolia.

"So you're saying that you want me to betray the kingdom just like your family did? Even if my mother agrees, I won't," Magnolia said.

"Your loss, then. Do you think the other families will be able to resist us?" Juzo replied.

"Since you're not joining us, it means you're our enemies," he declared.

"It will be a huge contribution if we kill the young mistresses and masters of the Great Families."

Magnolia quickly became alert and took a defensive stance, instructing the rest to do the same as she knew Juzo's capabilities.

"Easy there, we're still talking," Juzo spoke with authority, clearly feeling in control.

"I see that young lady there," he pointed at Tyla.

"I remember her. She's from the Lumina family, and the senior there is from the Consano family."

"Magnolia, you know me better and what I'm capable of," he continued.

"Hand over your spiritual imprint, and we won't have to kill you."

Juzo's face suddenly became serious with malice, unleashing sinister energy.

"I'd rather die," Magnolia said. "Dare to try, Juzo!"

"No one is dying, at least for now," Zane said as he entered the scene.

"Zane!" Jorin exclaimed, noticing Oasis. "And him," he thought.

Oasis and his companions reached the scene and moved to Magnolia's side.

Ha ha ha ha!!!

"Another young master today. Must be a big day for me," Juzo said, laughing and holding his face with one hand.

"Huh! Oasis," Tyla thought. "Why does he look... older than when we came here? and ...messy"

"So this is the genius of Verdantial Academy," Azalea thought, looking at Oasis.

"I see young master Zane is here. I never liked your brother Zion one bit."

"He's nowhere to be found. I wonder how exquisite it will be to rip his little brother to shreds," Juzo said.

!!!

"Tyla, let's get going. It's noisy here," Oasis said to Tyla. "And your friends can join us."

Oasis spoke to Tyla, ignoring Juzo and his companions' threats.

Magnolia looked at Oasis, surprised, but since she knew how dangerous Juzo was, she hesitated at first but eventually did what Oasis suggested, and they started moving ahead.

"How dare you not show respect to this Master!" Juzo roared at Oasis.

!!!

Without a word, Oasis glared at Juzo, unleashing his mana and spiritual energy, oppressing Juzo and his companions.

Some behind Juzo were forced to their knees, and Juzo was left sweating.

The sheer force of Oasis's spiritual energy made the air crackle with tension.

The oppressive aura from oasis's mana radiated outwards, causing the ground to tremble slightly and creating an invisible hot barrier that seemed to suffocate those caught within its reach.

Juzo's bravado crumbled, his eyes wide with shock and fear, as he realized the immense power standing before him.

"I'm not afraid of any of you; I just don't have time to waste on the likes of you," Oasis spoke, turning his head away and continuing to move.

"Just you wait," Juzo thought, clenching his fist.

"This kid has become way stronger. I think he could even defeat me," Magnolia thought as she looked at Oasis.