Escape

Five elite acolytes in the front and ten in the back. It was actually quite shocking for the others, especially for those who personally knew Roran, to discover he had such support from so many elite acolytes.

The 5 meter high metal wall that spanned a hundred meter across the treeline should not be easy to break. Moreover, they would still need to take care of the five acolytes standing in their way.

At this kind of moment, the more time passed the more dangerous it would be for them, Julian as their leader needed to be decisive, lest all of them perished here. Hence, he swiftly let out an instruction, "Split up!"

Right as Julian's voice faded into the air, the 20 regular acolytes separated right away and went towards three different directions. Okoye and her teammates headed to the right, Dopa and several other acolytes dashed towards the left side, while the rest who were sure they could leap across the wall decided to do so.

The reason Julian chose to split the group was because it would be easier for them to escape. Although this would lower their combat prowess, it would also increase their movement adaptability regarding the situation. Moreover, with them scattered around, it also made the five elites in front of them split up.

Unfortunately, Emery's [Blink] spell couldn't take effect if he couldn't see the location he would blink into. Hence, he could only blink up and appear near the top of the wall instead of directly blinked near the elite acolytes.

When he arrived in mid-air, Emery immediately blinked once again to the top of the wall and appeared behind the elite acolyte who created the metal wall.

With his two swords brandished in his hands, Emery swiftly swung them towards the metal acolyte.

Clank! Clank!

Sounds of metal hitting hard surfaces were heard as Emery's swords struck the acolyte. Apparently, the metal acolyte had turned his whole body into silvery metal, thus he was able to block all of Emery's slashes with only his bare hands.

Even though his first attempt was a failure, Emery didn't become discouraged, as he quickly pulled his swords back and swung them once again, this time even faster.

Clank! Clank! Clank!

Continuous loud sounds resounded, as Emery repeatedly struck the metal acolyte as if he was on drugs. Although his effort looked futile, the purpose Emery wanted to achieve had been achieved.

The reason Emery kept attacking the metal acolyte wasn't to defeat the man, but to create an opening for his teammates.

"Go! Go! Go!"

One of the regular acolytes, who was a lightning acolyte, noticed the opportunity created by Emery and swiftly casted [Energize] before he sped up and leaped to the top of the stone wall.

Alas, there was still another acolyte out of the five who stayed in that place. This young acolyte held a large sword in his hand. The sword was so huge it almost beat him in height!

When he saw the lightning acolyte was on top of the wall and was about to strike his teammates, he casted a battle art skill and dashed forward. Flashing a faint smile, the acolyte swiftly swung his sword upwards in great speed, the poor regular acolyte was instantly split into half. The stunned expression which was still etched on his face showed the lightning acolyte wasn't even aware of how he died.

The shocking sight made the others who were on top of the wall stop in their tracks.

Meanwhile, Emery was having a hard time facing the metal acolyte, as he began to throw a flurry of punches using his bare hands. As Emery parried the acolyte's blows, he almost let go of his swords due to the extraordinary power contained in them.

Realizing he was in a predicament, Emery tried to counterattack by using the [Heroic Slash] skill. Faint luster materialized on Emery's blade as he swung his sword towards the elite acolyte. At the same time, the metal acolyte also used his own battle art skill and launched a straight onto Emery.

An explosive sound occured as the two strikes met each other. The clash was a draw, but it threw Emery down the wall. Before he crashed into the ground, Emery swiftly did another [Blink] in the air and landed smoothly. On the other hand, the stone acolyte stood firmly in his place, as if he didn't feel anything from their previous clash.

Right as the lightning acolyte died and his body dissipated into light particles, everyone still in the game received a notification from the symbol in their hand.

[100 participants remaining in the game]

[Survive until the last 50 to receive the 10.000 bonus points]

The arrival of the announcement was something Emery had expected. However, the situation they were in right now only made Emery and other regular acolytes more anxious.

The group of acolytes, who were held back by Julian's trap, had also begun to close in their distance from the back. Some of the elites in that group even threw multiple long-range spells upon them, while the other split up and went towards Dopa and Okoye's direction.

Julian, who was standing firm at the back of the group lifted his shield and positioned it in front of them. Immediately after, he casted his new ability he had always hidden from the other acolytes.

[Aegis Shield]

A shield battle art skill with a fire element prerequisite. When casted, it would create a flaming barrier that would obliterate any incoming spells and burn anyone who tried to cross it.

While Julian was doing his back holding the attacks from their back, Thrax and Chumo were fighting against the elite, who used the huge sword. Emery glanced at their direction. It appeared their fight was quite intense.

Seeing the huge blazing flame behind him, Emery knew Julian had casted one of his defensive trump cards. Therefore, he truly needed to think of something to deal with this mountain-like stone acolyte before Julian's barrier ran out.

Looking around, Emery located Klea, who stood not far from him. A hesitation appeared on Emery's face, but it was quickly replaced by determination. He then dashed toward Klea and quickly hugged her body, tight.

"Emery! W-What are yo..!"

Unfortunately, before Klea could say anything more, Emert cut her off, "Hang on tight!"

After he said that, Emery immendiately casted [Blink] and teleported both him and Klea right next to the metal acolyte on top of the wall.

"Klea run!!!"

While Klea was still confused by Emery's questionable words, the metal acolyte did not remain still as he immediately launched his fists towards them both. But, instead of blocking the incoming attacks or launching his own attacks, Emery did the unexpected as he dashed and tackled him.

Grabbing the metal acolyte's body real tight, Emery immediately casted [Blink] again and poof. In the blink of an eye, both Emery and the elite acolyte were now on the ground beneath the standing wall.

While the metal acolyte was still disoriented by the sudden blink, Emery quickly dashed away from the guy. There was no way he would waste his time defeating this troublesome, hard-to-kill acolyte.

"Run!!!" Emery shouted again, when he saw Klea just stood there watching.

Emery had no time to think of what Klea would do, whether to run away or not. But, with the fact that she was basically no longer in danger, Emery felt the weight on his shoulder became much lighter. He could also see Julian gave him a nod of approval, while his face was pale and his body was covered in sweats, the result of maintaining his skill.

Next, he needed to take care of the acolyte with the huge sword, as Emery could see Thrax and Chumo were having a difficult time against him. However, before he could blink over to help, another notification appeared from Emery's symbol, which really shocked him.

[90 participants left in the game]

"!!!"

The notification caused Emery to throw his gaze towards the direction of the other two groups, Dopa and Okoye who each took different paths. When his eyes projected the sight to his brain, Emery's face turned pale.

It was a bloodbath. Apparently, all the other elite acolytes decided to finish them all first. Alas, before Emery could tell the others, another notification came out at the same time.

[One hour till the game ended]

[Arena border will get smaller in 5 minutes]

This was another bad news for them. It also confirmed why most of the other elites went towards the other two sides. As the time mentioned in the contract had come, Emery could see the mark of the soul contract slowly disappeared, until it left nothing behind.

While Julian, who finally couldn't hold his skill anymore, saw Roran and his 30 acolytes walking towards their direction.