Lightning rained on everyone from the top, fire raged in random, and water slicers covered any remaining areas.
The people lying in ambush either defended using their their own abilities or jumped and dodged to escape the attacks. Earth walls and stone pillars were raised, rocks flew, water barriers were raised, water slicers and bullets flew, plants raged and flower petals became as sharp as daggers, and many more.
Explosions and sounds of traps getting activated also filled the air. The people who had to dodge attacks landed in areas that Alice had predicted. They ended up blown up or captured in spiked nets or pierced or maimed.
Alice witnessed all the chaos around her while she was carried by the water bubble. It flew her around the perimeter of the battlefield and skillfully dodged any stray attacks that flew towards her.
She had been surprised when it first happened so suddenly but she quickly realised it was literally a bubble and she could breathe. She knew that she was likely being carried to where Ethan, Violet, and Stephan has been hiding.
The reason it was timed so well was because of Ethan. After the trio dodged the flurry of carelessly thrown attacks unscathed and hid in a different location, he noticed Alice moving slowly and intentionally. So he signaled for Stephan to not continue their attacks. Stephan had been irritated but knew that Ethan was better at strategising than him, so reluctantly listened to Ethan's call to hold his fire. When Ethan saw Alice relax, he knew that she was done with whatever she had been fiddling with and signaled the start of the attack while he kept Alice protected.
The flying bubble caught the attention of a Blessing. He kept his eyes on the mysterious bubble and saw Alice being deposited. "West!!" A clear and commanding voice rang out loud and clear for everyone to hear. Everyone else quickly reacted. They threw attacks while advancing towards the group.
Ethan covered a large area of the ground with water and Stephan charged it up with his lightning. Stephan's attack was so strong that it sparks and bolts could jump up from the water. To be completely safe, their enemies would have to jump up to a considerable height. This was where Violet and Alice came in. They took care of the people who were airborne and unable to dodge.
They fought as a team and their understanding of each other helped them cover each other's weaknesses while building upon each other's strengths. Whereas their enemies fought as individuals. Even if they tried to fight as a whole, they did not have enough chemistry and ended up interfering with each other's attacks. Their enemies dropped like flies and their numbers dwindled quickly.
BaoBao began celebrating when the numbers dropped to 8.
[It should be an easy win now!] He thought to himself.
However, his disconnection with Alice's thoughts resulted in him missing Alice's increasing wariness. /These 8 people could still survive precisely because they are that good./
Instead of a quick win like BaoBao expected, they entered a stalemate. The group of four lost the initiative they had as time passed.
Alice and Ethan had the best battle sense of the group and fought with tricks. Coupled with their ability to alter the state of their water, they made it very hard for the 8 people to gain an advantage. Ethan forced them to have to constantly be on the move by covering the ground, while Alice predicted their path of evasion which often forced them to defend by attacking. Stephan and Violet used pure strength and power of their abilities to overwhelm their opponents. It was hard for anyone to change anything because even a split second of pause in their attack could be taken advantage of by another person.
However, the group did not become impatient. They knew that Stephan was secretly accumulating negative charges above the 8 people to launch a powerful and strong attack. It was similar to what he did the last time they had a doubles match but it was stronger and more lethal this time. There was no need for any communication for everyone to understand it was soon time to pick their targets.
Just as BaoBao got ready to celebrate their impending victory with Alice, Alice finally found the chance to break her full concentration on the battle to communicate with BaoBao. /Find Rosalyn!/
Alice's stern and urgent order poured cold water all over his hype.
BaoBao wondered if Alice was simply being paranoid but obediently did as he was told. As he focused his attention back to his maximum range of surveillance, his heart went cold.
Rosalyn was found standing at the top of the highest tree in a spot just outside the chaos. Hidden from view thanks to the abundance of leaves but having a perfect view of the ongoing battle.
Her eyes were as calm as still water. Everything was as she expected. She was brought up and trained strictly by her parents to take over their positions either as a commander or strategist. She planned every detail but was never the one to execute it personally unless required.
She has been orchestrating little trifles for Stephan every time he disrespected her in school. However, the way he handled the breaking of engagement and his treatment of her family was intolerable to her. That was when she came up with this final act to draw the curtains close on their relationship.
She had predicted this level of prowess of Violet's group, which was the reason why she gathered as many people as she could to go against them while using Leah as a front.
She had gathered around 40 people who either found Violet an eyesore or has a personal grudge against her. Of the 6 Blessings in school, all the other 4 joined her. Of the 50 Talents in school, 25 joined her. She gathered as many Normals as possible to inflate the numbers but only managed to find around 10. Not everyone who has issues with Violet dared to go against her and her two guardian angels. It confirmed her belief that the lower the people were in ranks, the more wimpy and useless they were.
Even then, she knew that outnumbering them would not be enough. The main advantage they would have to make their large numbers work is the surprise element.
Everyone has been obedient and playing their part well of being willing to listen to Leah. Their key informant. On the the hand, Leah was failing her only job that was assigned to her in more than one way.
Rosalyn has been using her wind ability to keep track of everyone since they were boarding the carriages. So she heard the open conversation Leah had with Alice. That was when she knew that there was a high probability of the plan failing.
Moreover, Leah may have communicated with everyone involved by writing on a note as was instructed, but she made such obvious body contact and failed to make decoys.
/Normals are really useless. Wimpy, can't do their job well, and dies first. I have to report my reflections back to my parents and use them more appropriately in the future./ She took a mental note while she monitored the progress of the battle.
Rosalyn prepared herself as she saw the time for her to intervene approach. Having a bird's eye view of the battle, she could clearly see the group's dynamics and found their weak link. She also knew the timing to attack as she was aware of what was gathering high up in the sky.
At the same instant of BaoBao realising that Rosalyn has been in the vicinity watching everything, a deafening crack resounded throughout the entire area and the other three carried out their motions to deal their final attacks.
However, an unexpected attack interrupted their focus and attack. Only Stephan's attack fired since it was already only waiting to be released. While a huge bolt of lightning came down on 3 of their enemies, burning them to a crisp, a giant ice pillar shot up from below Alice. It tossed her high up and away from the group. There was also a barrage of icicles flying towards Violet.
Ethan saw everything and his body instinctively flew to cover and defend Violet, together with Stephan. His heart instantly dropped to his stomach as it filled with dread. /Alice!!/
Alice had been prepared to finish off the person she was meant to deal with while the lightning fired down. However, she felt a sudden great force from below her then a loss of control over her body. She fought to regain control while airborne and was able to quickly form a water slide to direct her body along with the momentum. Her ability to react swiftly was thanks to being constantly on guard for Rosalyn's attack from the beginning.
BaoBao knew at this moment that he has made a fatal mistake but he dared not break Alice's concentration now. He silently cried and berated himself.
A barrage of icicles rained down on Alice in the midst of sliding down to the ground. She created an ice wall to block the attack but it could not withstand the attack and easily broke. Alice was fortunate and barely escaped as her barrier did buy her some time to slide out of the way. However, the side of her forehead was still scratched while she was dodging.
In the next moment, Alice realised that the barrage of icicles were simply a distraction. She was inches away from the ice spikes waiting for her where she would land. Her reflexes kicked in and she jumped off the water slide after gathering her spiritual energy into her legs but the spikes grew towards her and grazed her legs.
She tumbled roughly onto the ground and rolled a few times. Alice jumped up the moment she stopped rolling but found herself surrounded with ice spears just below her chest. The spears had its tips digging into her skin enough to cause her to bleed. They were waiting to impale her.
Alice slowly looked up from the spears to daringly hold Rosalyn's impressed gaze. She stood there in a relaxed state as if she had been waiting for Alice to come.
Rosalyn questioned Alice leisurely. "How interesting. According to my knowledge, you're a Normal but I saw how your water ability changed to ice to block my icicles. How did you do that?"
Alice simply looked coldly at her.
"It's commendable that you're not scared. Is it because you're confident about getting saved? Look at them. How can they?"
Alice did not bother to look. She knew that even though 3 people died, they were likely caught in a stalemate again. The ratio may seem better than earlier, but it was evened out with the increased wariness of the opponents coupled with the loss of a trump card.
"Hey hey, please tell me at least one of you two have some trump I don't know of!" Stephan whispered through gritted teeth. He had his hands full trying to occupy the Blessings as much as he could while Ethan and Violet would bring down the remaining Talents. However, it was much easier said than done.
Violet was agitated which made her slip up more than once. The trio now have bruises and cuts at various parts of their bodies due to flying stones each time they narrowly dodged an attack that Violet was supposed to have countered.
Ethan's attention was also split so that he could monitor what was going on at Alice's end. He felt ready to risk his life rushing to her if required however an unknown force seemed to keep him rooted on this side. It caused him great distress.
"We have to figure out something quick! Alice needs us!" Violet cried. She could see that Alice has started fighting on her end.
Ethan remained silent, his lips drawn into a firm line, and his mind going into overdrive to come up with a move on the spot.