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Ouyang Feng glanced around at the walls of earth. They were so tall, only a small patch of sky was visible as if he had fallen into a well. “Are we in a pit?” the Martial Lord asked as he looked up, focusing on the bejeweled skeleton standing in the sky. Ouyang Feng snorted and bent his knees before jumping, launching himself towards the skeleton like a rocket.
The bejeweled skeleton pointed its staff downwards at the approaching Martial Lord. Its mouth moved as if it were chanting, but no sounds came out. A second later, a strong wind surged down from the sky against Ouyang Feng, causing the man’s face to contort and hair to flap as he was blown back towards the ground. The wind pinned the Martial Lord against the clearing, and he had to strain his muscles to fight against it to sit up.
The other lords raised their arms, shielding their faces from the unceasing gales. Ashley raised her head, and her eyes widened. The bejeweled skeleton grinned as it raised its left hand. A red flame appeared above its palm, and the skeleton seemed to cackle as it held the fireball out in the path of the wind. Like a tornado set aflame, fire traveled down from the sky, roaring like a dragon as it rushed towards the clearing trapped in the pit below.
Ashley’s root bracelet flashed amber, and a rifle with an extra-long barrel appeared in her hands. Without taking time to aim, she raised her weapon and pulled the trigger. A white speck flashed through the flames and struck the bejeweled skeleton’s head, knocking its skull off. However, the skull flew through the air in an arc, riding a wind current before landing back atop its neck. The skeleton didn’t even stop channeling the inferno towards the pit the lords were trapped in.
“I didn’t sign up for this!” Jasmine said as two miniature vortexes appeared around her shins and feet. Without looking back, she turned around and ran vertically up the earthen wall as if it were a flat piece of ground.
“You’re the Wind Lord!” Ouyang Feng shouted, keeping his eyes on the approaching flames. “Negate the skeleton’s wind!”
“Shut up!” Jasmine shouted back from half-way up the wall, her legs not stopping. “What do you know? It has the whole sky’s worth of wind to use, and all I have to work with is this crappy pit!”
“Magnus!” Ouyang Feng shouted. “Can you stop its flames?”
“I’m not fighting,” Magnus said as he leapt into the air. Flames shot out of his feet, palms, and butt, sending him soaring up and out of the pit. He had to wiggle his limbs a few times to stay on course, and despite passing through the skeleton’s fire on the way up, he wasn’t burned—the benefits of always wearing fireproof clothes.
“You were so confident in fighting me alone,” Lindyss said to Magnus. The cursed elf stood upright, the wind passing around her instead of pushing her down. “Why are you asking the other lords for help?” She turned towards the still-hesitating lords standing off to the side. “There are five seconds left before I begin attacking as well. If you’re still here when I’m done charging, I’ll assume you’re taking part in this fight.”
The cursed elf didn’t give anyone else a chance to speak as the tiny sparks of lightning dancing on her hands crackled and expanded, surrounding her whole body. With the inferno bearing down from the sky and the electrified elf who seemed more like a bomb than a woman, the lords didn’t have to exchange glances with one another make their decisions.
The Water Lord’s skin turned green as slime was secreted out of every inch of his body. Underneath the glazy layer of liquid, his body morphed and shifted, parts of him turning into those of a frog. He leapt towards the surrounding wall of earth, landing on it with his limbs outstretched. Instead of falling off, he stuck to it like a gecko and scurried up the wall. The slimy layer seemed to be fire resistant because he climbed through the bejeweled skeleton’s inferno without harm. Like the Water Lord, the other lords used various measures to escape from the pit.
Ouyang Feng turned his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. “The two of you aren’t running?”
The Lightning Lord glared up at the bejeweled skeleton and held his right arm out. His root bracelet flashed amber, and a massive, golden halberd appeared in his grasp. The wind surging from above forced the weapon down, part of its butt sinking into the ground. Zoose narrowed his eyes and used his right arm alone to lift his heavy halberd, propping its shaft up against his shoulder. “As long as there’s a chance of victory, no matter how small, I won’t run.”
“That’s what makes you an idiot,” the Shadow Lord said from his position behind the other two lords. His root bracelet flashed amber as a black rifle with golden etchings on it appeared in his hands. He took in a deep breath, and his shadow climbed up his body, causing him to disappear legs first.
“When was the last time the three of us fools fought together like this?” the Martial Lord asked with a laugh as he readied a combat stance towards the sky.
“Not counting yesterday?” the Lightning Lord asked. “Then, it’d be on the seventy-sixth floor, when we were surrounded by those elves.”
“And we’re in another elven grotto; this must be fate,” Ouyang Feng said and stomped his left foot down in front of his right. He bent his knees and leapt. Even though his body was faced towards the bejeweled skeleton in the sky, he flew in Lindyss’ direction and narrowed his eyes at the cursed elf. His right fist flew forward as he aimed a punch towards her throat. His fist passed straight through her neck, but instead of being covered in blood, lightning danced up his arm instead. A smile appeared on Lindyss’ face, causing the Martial Lord to shiver. His arm had gone through her neck, and her head was smiling at him from just above his forearm. Was she a ghost?
“World”—Lindyss held her arms out to the side, her voice barely audible over the crackling mana surrounding her body—”of Lightning.”
Ouyang Feng widened his eyes and raised his arm just in time to shield his eyes. The cursed elf exploded, her body transforming into thousands upon thousands of lightning bolts that turned the pit into a lake made of roaring lights. The inferno from the bejeweled skeleton’s attack didn’t clash with the lightning, filling in the gaps between the bolts instead.
The Frost Lord gulped as he looked behind himself at the place he had been just seconds before. He was the last lord to escape from the pit, barely getting out in the five-second time limit Lindyss had given. Were those three idiots still alive?