Chapter 76

Lock drew out his charge directed at the healer of the trio long enough so that Mia, Ino and Harald could engage Lily. The pretty woman would have likely interjected otherwise. Protecting the healer was after all something that every party prioritised.

However by the fumbling reprisals that started coming from the group of people that Lock had so unceremoniously attacked, this was by no means an adventurer party used to working together.Probably not even an adventurer party, he mused as he halted his charge, unwilling to run into the gleaming white barrier that the Curador had produced with a wave of his hand.Drawing a dagger, he hurled it against the magical shield. Only to have it bounce off. Next he tried killing intent, which made the man stagger.Good, Lock fought just before he had to do an inspired bridge backwards to dodge an amalgamation of black spikes, that would have otherwise turned his upper body into a pin-cushion. Suffice to say the concentration required to use killing intent dissipated. The bridge became a full on back-flip, albeit it an ungraceful one when the spikes split into two, aiming for the legs he'd left behind.Wary of whatever magic was being used Lock slowly side-stepped around the pool of blackness that the spikes sheathed themselves in after their assault. He was attempting to body-block the healers view on his teammates while identifying what had just attacked him.As the pool retreated back the Curador, he was able to do exactly that. It wasn't darkness, but a shadow. The Curador's shadow to be more exact.He sighed, throwing another dagger at the healer as the barrier lowered and a rope of green healing was hurled somewhere behind Lock. A shadow rose up and caught the dagger, before letting it fall onto the ground. Free from attack by the shadows however, Lock was able to channel killing intent again, thus interrupting the rope of healing, and therefore turning it into more of an arrow.The shadow did not come for him this time. An issue of range? Well, whatever it was, Lock and the healer were now in a stalemate. Lock couldn't do anything but intimidate the man and therefore disrupt his healing unless he wanted to get close and get skewered by shadows.So this is what it came down to after an engagement that only lasted 20 seconds. A self-deprecating grin spread onto his face as he began considering his options.-/-There were a lot of things that Keylen had thought would happen after the little tournament that they'd hosted. A celebration perhaps, they had won after all, albeit it not in a completely perfect manner. Being so brazenly attacked in the middle of the city however had not been something he'd foreseen.His pondering of the situation, which came in a really inopportune time some would say, was halted in its tracks by the veritable giant rushing at him.Not that he would be doing so for much longer Keylen assured himself. He'd been an adventurer for quite a few years and knew how to handle himself, thank you very much. Especially against brutes like these.Once the ruffian was in range, he released his strongest and most potent mind shock with a flick of his hand. The pale green energy, visible only to him travelled quickly from his fingers, to the approaching man's head, and sailed right through.'Fuck', was the second thought that ran through his mind. The first one was a simple activation of telekinesis that picked him up by his clothes and threw him aside like a cheap children's toy. A fate preferable over having his grey matter splattered all over the arena grounds. Which undoubtedly would have happened had the fist that shook the ground as it impacted it, had gone through his head beforehand.The giant quickly noticed that it's target wasn't where it was supposed to be. Turned his head around to face Keylen, who was scrambling to his feet, and charged again like the mindless beast he obviously was.Casting a mind sensor ping around himself the mind mage assessed the situation in general. Three minds, the competitors from before, were engaging Lily. One of the minds was almost as blank as that of his enemy, while another was being protected by ghosts. Switching with Lily wouldn't do anything then, just change the size and the number of the people trying to kill him.The knight who'd ran off towards Curador was a tempting target, that was until he started blasting out so much killing intent he could almost taste it despite not being the recipient. No use, while the Curador and his guardian would have been better suited to fight the particular opponent he was now facing, he himself wouldn't fare very well against someone with so much KI. The sheer intent radiating outwards would basically block out all attempts at tampering with the mind.A use of telekinesis hurled him out of the way of another punch, and he sighed at his situation while mid-air. He would have to face the situation as it was, with his rather limited range of non-mind-based combat magic.Reinforcements wouldn't be coming anytime soon either, considering the fact that nobody seemed to have stayed in the stands to bear witness, and the information channels were blocked.-/-There was a certain edge to the fight that had previously not been present. The thought flitted through Harald's mind as he barely avoided decapitation. Thankfully the shades currently controlling his body were not only good at the offensive side of things, but also at the staying alive part. Being alive was sort of a prerequisite to being able to attack after all.After the neat dodge his body continued its assault. An assault that was being avoided much more gracefully and swiftly than it had been before. She'd still been holding back...Thankfully he wasn't alone now. A fact that reaffirmed itself for the sixth time in this particular fight as Mia appeared from a blind angle and almost managed to stab several needles into Lily's torso. It would have worked had the woman not shifted into smoke for a split second, letting the ninja pass harmlessly through her. A knife approached Mia's head from where the girl was trying to reorient herself after having passed face-first through what basically amounted to a smoke-bomb.The hand holding the knife suddenly halted and began vibrating. Lily scowled and quickly dropped the weapon. It flew out of sight at boggling speed. Seemingly stricken by indecision, should she chop down with an unarmed hand, or draw another dagger, the woman paused.Which gave Mia just enough time to get out of the way in an impromptu roll. Once that altercation was finished Harald continued attacking.If he'd thought that he would have an advantage simply because the woman had lost her knife, then he was to be clearly disappointed, as she simply drew another one. From somewhere. Out of her ass for all he knew. The blisteringly fast melee continued. Cuts beginning to gather up on Harald's arms in the periods where he wasn't being supported by his teammates.One thing that was odd about the fight was that Lily wasn't really using any offensive skills, which might have allowed her to end this entire thing faster. All she did now and again was shift into a cloud of smoke to prevent getting successfully sneak-attacked. One instance that stood out was that she'd once used the ability to dodge a green bolt of energy that had come from somewhere around where Lock should be having his fight. It hadn't helped. The bolt had struck her, illuminating her smoky form green for a second.They'd almost jubilated, however the entire display did no damage whatsoever. The opposite rather, she seemed more invigorated afterwards.There was one thing they'd learned though. Magic could still affect the smoky form, and ever since, Ino had been trying to nail her down with a spark of lightning whenever she was forced to shift.However now that the woman was on the lookout for it, she managed to dodge everything. Once she'd even deflected the magic with a knife.They'd reached a stalemate, one that would very likely end in their defeat. After all. Their opponent was higher levelled and likely had a higher stamina than them.-/-What a shit-fest, Lock thought to himself as he purveyed the battle-field. A luxury granted to him by the fact that he was outside of the shadow's effective attack range, and that he could keep emitting killing intent even while doing other things.Lemmings getting led around like an angry bull, occasionally pelted with whatever rocks the Legil could find on the ground during his incessant fleeing. That fight wouldn't be ending anytime soon.Oh, how he wished he could do something as brazen as tell Mia and Lemmings to switch targets. However with the way the three teenagers were barely keeping Lily pinned down, any distraction could lead to elimination. The only thing he could do was leave them to their fight. He'd tried to do something, naturally, however Lily and the Legil both seemed to be immune to his killing intent.Which made perfect sense of course. A mind mage and an assassin.The entire battle was in a highly precarious position. The first side that managed to win their individual fight would be able to go help their allies and break those stalemates as well. A chain-reaction so to say.Something that Lily had apparently not understood yet, seeing as how she was content to simply let her opponents tire themselves out.Lock needed to do something, before the woman pulled her head out of her arse and started the domino effect that would lead to all their deaths.Whoever took the initiative here would gain the upper hand. Just like how the person at the dinner table who picked up the first napkin, determined in which order everybody else would take theirs.He had a plan. A risky one, but at this particular stage a little risk was necessary to achieve victory.He wasn't one to shy away from hard choices. Not when it really mattered.Lock re-engaged the shadows. A flash-bang would have been really nice in this situation, he lamented.