[Congratulations! You have defeated an elite acolyte]

[You received 5000 points!]

Emery laid there on the ground and took a moment to relax and compose himself, while looking at Lodos' body slowly disintegrating into motes of light particles resembling fireflies. Against all odds, he managed to win against the strongest elite acolyte.

His entire body ached and pulsed with pain due to his wounds, but his mind felt as sharp as ever. It appeared the reason why the fall killed Lodos, but not him, was due to him being at the bottom, when they fell and secondly because of his low battle power.

Indeed, Emery could not deny that Lodos was ridiculously powerful. The creepy guy was armed with extremely powerful spells, be it offensive or defensive, but behind the protection of those spells, his body was far too weak. He lost in a physical battle. At times like this, Emery was grateful he took the teachings of Lord Izta and boosted his battle power with foundations of physical training

Emery was still unable to believe he won. On one hand, he knew the achievement of beating the strongest elite acolyte was something truly worth celebrating, but, on the other hand, he still had enough of his wits to realize he wouldn't have made it if not for Silva and… Gerri's help.

The thought of Gerri prompted Emery to stop relaxing and muster whatever strength he had left at the moment. In this state, even one weakest attack would throw him out of the game.

Emery looked around and saw Silva looked even worse than him, while the red-haired Gerri still looks perfectly healthy.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Gerri clapped his hands and gave Emery a wide, kind smile.

"Congratulations for the win, Emery! I have to admit, that's the best fight I've ever seen in my life. Damn, it's so awe-inspiring."

Before Emery could ponder what he would do next, the question he had for the entire fight spilled from his mouth. "So, tell me now, why did you help us?"

"Me? Help? That was no biggie, I only did some little spells here and there."

"That doesn't answer the question."

"Aaah… Well, yes, I just thought it was such an interesting fight, and I'd hate to see you lose after you expended so much energy and effort. Also, about Lodos, I'm glad he's gone. Without that psycho, I'll have more acolytes to hunt."

Silva walked closer to Emery. She grimaced with every step, feeling the pain from the numerous stab wounds on her body. Emery quickly casted [Nature Blessing] for her and for himself and both of them sat in a meditative position to stabilize their own condition.

"So, what.. do you intend? you... going to... kill us now?" muttered Silva while still in pain

"Nope, of course not… I will let you live... Think of it as my present to congratulate both of you for your success, especially you, Emery. After seeing how you beated Nate and Lodos, I will have to call you Emery the Mad Acolyte now… What do you think? Haha! It's not as cool as Gerri the Violet Flame, but I personally think it suits you a lot."

Emery lacked the strength to retaliate or even feel bothered by what Gerri said. So he decided to close his eyes and continue casting healing spells on himself, using whatever remaining energy he had.

Gerri cleared his throat before continuing. "But me not harming you doesn't mean you're safe…"

Emery realized the same thing, too. For quite a while now. Both Emery and Gerri both gave a glance towards the woods.

Gerri then quickly said, "Anyway, before everything becomes even more complicated here, I'm going to take my leave first. Good luck, and… I hope to see you again."

As soon as he finished talking, Gerri channeled his fire element power and propelled himself up to the sky, flying away. His method of flying and the orange streak he left behind him, as he quickly flew like some sort of meteor through the sky.

Right as Gerri left, what Emery feared, finally came true. Half a dozen figures came out from behind the trees. Every single one of them was a regular acolytes like Emery. Some of them have been watching the fight for quite a while. The others have just arrived, surely attracted by the noises of their fight.

In a normal situation seeing this group would be a good thing, but now Emery was sitting here with Silva, an elite acolyte, and they were both heavily injured.

"This.. is another.. trouble.. damn.. your dumb luck.. affected me also.." Silva irritated

One of the acolytes seemed to recognize him "You're from class 77, aren't you?"

Emery gave them a nod.

"Wow, man. That previous fight was epic!"

"That acolyte you managed to defeat was Lodos, right? That's amazing! We are all really proud of you."

Emery eyed some of them and saw two of the acolytes had the mark attached to their wrists, symbolizing they were part of the alliance. However, he did not recognize the others at all.

The two acolytes with the mark approached him and said. "You're Emery, aren't you? We should go together and get to the appointed place as soon as possible."

Emery slowly turned his head and looked at Silva who was sitting next to him.

"As for the girl…" The acolyte was silent. They witnessed the girl helping Emery fight, and they are now unsure on how to deal with her.

One of the other acolytes decided to say something. "What do you even have to think about? You're looking at a free 5000 points sitting right there."

"I..dare.. you!!" Silva exclaimed while cough off blood

That acolyte was from another group. Unlike the one from the same alliance as him, all the other acolytes had zero reasons to let Silva survive this game.

Emery frowned and looked at Silva, and saw that her face was much paler than usual. However, her gaze clearly conveyed anger and disgust.

"Can you guys let her go? She has helped me before."

One of the acolytes laughed and said. "No need to take it too seriously, friend. This is just a virtual game, and I'm sure an elite acolyte like her has so much support and connection that will allow her to keep staying in the elite class. Meanwhile, for most of us, this is our only chance."

The other acolytes seem to have made an agreement, while those on Emery's alliance seemed to be conflicted on whose side to choose.

Seeing his words made an impact, the acolyte continued. "We should do it fast, before she recovers."

"But which one among us will get to do the honors? What do you two think? If none of you want the points, that's even better."

The other acolytes discussed amongst each other, as if Silva's fate had been decided. Meanwhile, Silva was too weak, too weak to even curse, let alone cast any spell. Remembering what she did, Emery grabbed Silva's hand, attempted to console her, and whispered. "Don't worry about it too much, I will protect you."

Upon hearing that, Silva's expression changed from rage to bewilderment. For a moment, Emery worried he had said something wrong, but he decided to continue. "Okay, stay close."

It was all a gamble. Emery had never done before what he was going to try now. He couldn't even be sure he would be able to pull his plan off. But, he grabbed Silva' s hand tighter and decided to take the chance. Silva looked at him and nodded.

That was his cue, he cast the [Black Smoke] spell, letting a dark mist cover the area around him. While the other acolytes were disoriented, Emery hugged Silva and casted [Blink]

"They ran away!" the scream of the acolytes could be heard, but this time he heard it from far away. The two of them now stood next to the lake. It was his first time using [Blink] with another person, but he succeeded. Emery casted another [black smoke] before hurling a huge rock into the water to misdirect the acolytes making them think they both jumped into the water. Once again, he casted [Blink] and the two of them reappeared near the closest treeline.

Just a few moments more. Emery gritted his teeth and forced all of his strength in order to use [Blink] one more time. After that, they both ran through the woods, with Emery carrying Silva still.

Emery felt his whole body and spirit start to turn chaotic again, but at this desperate situation, Emery can swear he saw a glimpse of a smile on Silva's face.

He then found a perfect spot to hide just underneath a rocky hill. He used [Soften Earth] and created a small opening. The two of them crawled inside and he closed it, leaving just a small gap as a light source.