Legacy World 2.15 Trump Cards

Sky blue lightning rained on everyone. Fire raged all over. Water slicers covered any remaining area. The opponents defended once more. 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 filled the air, along with the snaps of traps getting activated. 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 got carried by the water bubble. It flew her around the perimeter of the battlefield and skillfully dodged any stray attacks that flew towards her. By then, she realised that she was not caught in a water ball but a literal bubble, with air inside. She could breathe. There was only one person who would do this to her.

After the trio had dodged the flurry of carelessly thrown attacks unscathed and hid in a different location, Ethan noticed Alice's movements. From the way she moved slowly and intentionally, he knew that she was up to something. So, he signaled for Stephan to pause their attacks. Stephan was irritated by the sudden need to put a hold on their attack, but he recognised that Ethan was better at strategising than him, so he listened to Ethan albeit with great reluctance. As soon as Alice relaxed, Ethan knew that she was done with whatever she had been fiddling with, thus he signaled the start of the attack while he kept Alice protected.

The flying bubble eventually caught the attention of a Blessing. He kept his eyes on the mysterious bubble and paid attention to where Alice was deposited. "WEST!" A clear commanding voice echoed loud and clear. 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 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 eight. 

[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 eight 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 eight people to gain an advantage. Ethan forced them 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.

Knowing that Stephan still had his trump card, the group stayed patient and firmly held their ground. Negative charges built up above the eight people. It was similar to what he did to Alice during their doubles match, except this time it was stronger and more lethal. 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 had orchestrated little trifles for Stephan for each time he disrespected her. However, the way he handled the breaking of engagement and his treatment of her family was intolerable and unorgivable. That was her final straw. She had to make him pay. So, she came up with this final act to draw the curtains close on their relationship.

Having predicted that Violet's group would at least be this powerful, she gathered as many people as she could to go against them, while she used Leah as a front.

She managed to find plenty of people who either found Violet an eyesore or had a personal grudge against her. Most of the Blessings in school joined her. Talents made up most of the rest of the group. Normals who had an issue with Violet had no guts to do anything about it. Only a few were available to inflate the group's numbers. This confirmed her belief that the lower the people were in ranks, the more wimpy and useless they were. Even then, outnumbering them would not be enough. They needed the surprise element to make their large numbers work.

Everyone had been obedient. They played their part well and cooperated with Leah, who was their key informant. On the other hand, Leah was failing at her only job.

Like Ethan, Rosalyn had used her wind ability to keep track of everyone ever since they waited to board the carriages. So, she heard the open conversation Leah had with Alice. That was when she calculated a high probability of the plan failing. Moreover, while Leah communicated with the others through notes like she was instructed to, her body contact was too obvious and she failed to make decoys. 

/Normals are really useless. Wimpy, can't do their job well, and dies first. I have to report my observations 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 the time for her to intervene approached. 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 the negative charges gathering high up in the sky.

Just as BaoBao found Rosalyn, a deafening crack resounded throughout the entire area. Ethan, Violet, and Alice simultaneously dealt their final attacks. Before their attacks could come to fruition, a giant ice pillar shot up from beneath Alice. It tossed her high up and away from the group. At the same time, a barrage of icicles flew towards Violet. Ethan's body instinctively flew to cover and defend Violet, together with Stephan. In the end, only Stephan's attack landed and burnt three enemies into a crisp.

Ethan's heart dropped to his stomach and got filled with dread. /Alice!!/

As Alice had always been on guard for Rosalyn's sneak attack, she could react swiftly. She fought to regain control over her airborne body and quickly formed a water slide to direct her body along with the momentum.

BaoBao knew at this moment that he had 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 blow and easily broke. Nonetheless, Alice was fortunate enough to slide out of the way with only a scratch to the side of her forehead.

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 could impale her anytime.

Alice panted heavily. Sweat covered her from head to toe. She slowly looked up from the spears to daringly hold Rosalyn's impressed gaze. Rosalyn stood there in a relaxed state as if she had been waiting for Alice's arrival. "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?" Rosalyn leisurely questioned Alice.

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 three 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.