Evasion

With great difficulty, Velint blocked an opponent's slash with her greatsword, then drew her longsword to counterattack.

She was panting heavily because her opponent was so powerful that she had to expend all her strength to defend against each attack, leaving her no chance to catch her breath.

Beside her were two Spirit Realm Traveler, but they were now lying on the ground with several wounds on their bodies.

Her opponent was no ordinary soldier Fran had encountered before; his robes had a large red stone embedded in them, indicating that he was of higher status than the guards.

Luka was the captain of the guard. After drinking the Divine Water, he gained power surpassing that of the other guards, and thus was granted the title of captain of the guard by the priests.

He didn't rush to knock the people down and arrest them all like the guards did.

This was his personal hobby; he enjoyed toying with his prey. After the other two Spirit Realm Traveler fell, Velint had lost the ability to pose a threat to him.

He was not in a hurry to arrest all these outsiders and take them back, but waited for Velint to run out of energy.

Whenever his target collapsed from exhaustion while he slowly made his way forward, an irrepressible sense of joy would rise within him.

These were the symptoms he experienced after drinking the Divine Water. He sought answers from the priests, who simply said it was the price he paid for gaining power and that he shouldn't be restrained, but rather allowed himself to vent.

Therefore, he was not in a hurry to complete the task that the priests had set out long ago—to arrest any outsiders who appeared and imprison them, regardless of whether they resisted.

With great difficulty, Velint deflected Luka's horizontal slash with her sword. She knew her strength was waning, so she had to launch a decisive attack.

Taking advantage of Luka's moment when he was about to launch another slash, she released her grip on the sword hilt with one hand and pointed it at Luka.

"Lightning Impact!"

A bolt of lightning flashed in her palm and struck Luka's chest, but what happened next was beyond her expectations.

The Lightning Impact did cause damage, but its effect was limited. It blasted a large hole in Luka's cloth armor, and some fragments of the embedded red stone were also chipped away.

However, the exposed skin was completely undamaged, as if no attack had hit it.

Luka frowned. He hadn't expected these outsiders to use such tricks. Fortunately, his body had become incredibly tough after drinking the Divine Water, but ordinary guards wouldn't have his level of defense.

His interest was dampened by Velint's attack, and the duties assigned by the priests once again took over his mind.

He twirled the sword in his hand, turning him sideways. He decided to unleash his full power in his next attack, making it impossible for his opponent to resist, and then dragged all three of them into the cell.

But just then, he suddenly felt the sound of a flying object cutting through the air behind him, accompanied by a surge of heat.

By the time he realized what was happening, it was too late. There was nothing they could do; the Divine Water couldn't significantly enhance their reaction abilities, so they had to rely on their defenses to withstand attacks.

He turned his head slightly and heard a 'boom' sound. A fireball exploded behind him, burning hot and turning his skin red. The cloth on his back was burned and torn, revealing his back with some scars.

This caused him to experience pain he had never felt since drinking the Divine Water.

He turned his head, but couldn't find where the attack had come from, so he turned around and faced away from Velint.

The person behind him Velint, is unlikely to harm him, while the one he hasn't found yet hasn't appeared, but whose fireballs can burn his skin. Therefore, defending against the one who hasn't appeared yet is the right choice.

"Should we take these two people with us?" Fran asked.

The voice came from behind, startling Luka and sending a chill down his spine. He had no idea how the other person had gotten behind him, and he felt nothing at all.

He quickly turned his head to the side, assuming a defensive stance.

Velint looked at Fran with some surprise. She had clearly seen Fran's actions just now: Fran had cast Fireball on the rooftop next to them and then jumped down.

Fran seemed to glide through the air, flying directly above and to the side of Luka, and then, as she flew over Luca's head, she suddenly plummeted downwards, landing right beside her with almost no sound.

The person seemed completely unaffected by the inertia in the air, regaining balance very quickly after landing.

Faced with this action that defied the norms of sports, she suppressed her thoughts for the time being and answered Fran's question first.

"No need, let's just go. I just happened to run into them."

She wasn't wrong about that. The three of them were only working together to face Luka, a formidable enemy. Now that Fran had arrived, she would naturally go with her true teammates.

Furthermore, the two men lying on the ground were already unable to stand up. If they wanted to take them with them, they would most likely have to defeat Luka on the other side.

Although she was confident she could defeat Luka with the arrival of Fran, whom she considered a very powerful companion, there was no need for it.

Wouldn't it be better for those two to just run away? Leaving these two behind would cover their retreat.

Remember, the goal of passing the Spirit Realm Trial is to save this city. Don't fight recklessly without any information; gather information first.

"Alright, let's find a quiet place to discuss our strategy."

Fran conjured a fireball in her hand and threw it directly at Luka, who was about to turn around.

Luka was helpless. Although the Divine Water granted them immense strength and defense that made them difficult to harm with swords, it did not give them extremely fast reflexes or agile bodies.

The fireball exploded in front of him. He endured the pain, and after the flames disappeared, he only saw the backs of two people fleeing. Judging from their speed, he knew he couldn't catch up with them.

Luka looked at the two people still lying on the ground. They crawled a short distance to try and escape, but Luka's attack seemed to have broken their bones, leaving them almost powerless and unable to crawl very far.

"Slow down..." Velint gasped for breath, barely keeping up with Fran's pace, as if she were about to collapse to the ground at any moment.

She had just fought a formidable enemy, Luka, and then immediately fled, so her stamina hadn't recovered yet.

"Alright, let's rest for a bit," Fran suggested, seeing Velint's condition and the fact that they had run into a deserted alley.

The last bit of energy that Velint had been holding onto vanished. She leaned against the wall, hands on her knees, panting heavily.

After Velint had calmed down for a while, Fran asked.

What do we do now?

She hadn't participated in many Trial herself and was now unsure of what to do, so she asked Velint, who might know more about the subject.

After catching her breath, Velint said:

"Lai, I know why that ' Gray Dragon's' son is participating in this Trial. He came specifically for this Trial."