Aerchon finally entered the battle. Arondite in his hand shone brightly, resonating with the magic he channeled into it, amplifying the magic.
Julius-Ozynk was unaware of Aerchon's presence, moving so rapidly that he ended up right beside him. Aerchon swung Arondite with all his might.
Julius-Ozynk saw a flash of silver light coming from his side at high speed and cursed inwardly.
Arondite's blade sliced through something, sending it flying into the air after being severed. However, it wasn't part of Julius-Ozynk's body, as he had hoped, but merely a piece of his shadow.
Meanwhile, Julius-Ozynk reappeared several meters behind his original position, right above his own shadow that he had prepared there for an escape plan.
Aurdis and Saeldir looked at Aerchon in surprise at his sudden appearance.
"(Don't just look at me. We can't waste time!)" Aerchon said, emphasizing his words, and he dashed towards Julius-Ozynk with the same speed as when he had arrived. So, Aurdis and Saeldir immediately followed him because they knew what Aerchon had said was true; they couldn't waste time.
Aurdis and Saeldir knew that Aerchon must have realized something during his rest. He couldn't have just sat idly by, waiting for his magic to recover. Now was the time for him to manifest what he had seen since earlier to change the course of this battle.
While the Elves confronted Julius-Ozynk directly, Adrien and Billy had finished taking care of the two soldiers whom Julius-Ozynk had transformed into his minions.
The two soldiers now lay on the ground with black-red energy surrounding their bodies. Adrien and Billy had merely incapacitated them by hitting them until they could no longer rise. Perhaps it was because Julius-Ozynk could no longer supply them with his magic, as he was busy with the Elves.
Billy looked at Adrien. "Do you think we can join them, Captain?"
Adrien turned to look at the ongoing battle. Their movements were fast, but with their magic-enhanced eyes, Adrien and Billy could keep up. Flashes of light clashed with Julius-Ozynk's black-red energy.
"I don't think we can join, Brook," Adrien replied. "Even Conrad feels inadequate."
Conrad stood not far from the battle. He was stiff and observant, but he didn't make any further moves. He sensed something similar to what Adrien described.
Adrien and Billy decided to approach Conrad. When they were near him, Adrien asked, "What do you think?"
There was an audible sigh from Conrad. Then he said, "We can't join the fight with them."
A sense of disappointment washed over them as they watched the three Elves battling the creature from the Chaos Realm. They all fell silent, realizing their helplessness.
The rumbling of the dark clouds spinning above grew more intense and loud. Their sense of impending dread became increasingly palpable.
Explosion after an explosion occurred. Flashes of light filled almost the entire area within a radius of several kilometers. A trail of destruction followed as the silver light and black-red energy clashed against each other.
Suddenly, a larger flash of light than before occurred. Aurdis was thrown into the air and fell several meters from her original position.
She could hear Saeldir's cries, but they no longer reached her ears as Saeldir was busy dealing with his own battle.
Aurdis winced in pain. There was a deep gash on her abdomen from the strike of Julius-Ozynk's black-red energy.
Aurdis felt a growing anxiety. She immediately examined her wound because an attack from a creature from the Chaos Realm could have fatal effects on her. Even worse, they didn't yet know the actual effects of the wounds they inflicted due to the lack of information.
Adrien, Billy, and Conrad quickly approached Aurdis.
"How are you feeling?" Adrien asked.
"A bit sore," Aurdis replied briefly, examining her wound. After taking a good look at it, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. "It's not that bad."
They all sighed in relief.
"Are you still able to fight?" Adrien asked.
Aurdis shifted her gaze back to the battle, where the destruction now seemed even greater. Aurdis knew that even with Aerchon and Saeldir, they weren't enough to match Julius-Ozynk.
"I have to join the fight," Aurdis began channeling her magic into her wound. "But for now, I need to focus on healing my injury."
"Alright. The three of us will try our best to protect you until you're finished," Adrien said, then turned to Billy and Conrad. "You know what to do. Let's do our best to keep her safe."
Billy and Conrad nodded without saying much. Conrad felt like he was now part of the unit led by Adrien and was ready to follow his orders.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Aerchon and Saeldir were fighting shoulder-to-shoulder to suppress Julius-Ozynk. Aerchon swung his sword with speed and strength far beyond the average human in this world, but he hadn't unleashed all his power due to being suppressed in this otherworldly realm. This frustrated him.
Saeldir wasn't in a significantly different situation. He, too, found himself unable to tap into all of his power. With what they had at the moment, they tried to defeat this Chaos Realm creature.
Suddenly, Julius-Ozynk's movements slowed down. Aerchon and Saeldir, seizing the opportunity, immediately used it to deliver their strongest blows.
Arondite's blade shone brightly, while Saeldir had a lightning bolt and a blazing fire in his hands, both made of silvery light.
They struck their attacks at Julius-Ozynk with all their might. An explosion accompanied by a shockwave spread throughout the surroundings and the sky, reaching the vortex of dark clouds and nearly tearing it apart.
"Did they do it?" Billy asked, his eyes filled with hope.
Adrien, Aurdis, and Conrad couldn't provide an immediate answer. They wanted to believe that Aerchon and Saeldir had succeeded in defeating him, but they still felt uncertain. The feeling of dread lingered in their heart.
When the light vanished, Julius-Ozynk shot through the air and crashed into a building. Aerchon and Saeldir fell to the ground on their feet, but their expressions revealed they were struggling just to stay standing.
"(He's strong. We need to be more cautious)," Saeldir said.
Aerchon didn't respond immediately. He gazed towards the demolished building where Julius-Ozynk had landed. "(We must finish him quickly. Let's move now!)"
Saeldir turned to Aerchon with a disbelieving look. "We still need to recover. He's already wounded."
"No!" Aerchon snapped. "We can't let him pose another threat."
Aerchon immediately darted toward the fallen Julius-Ozynk. At first, Saeldir didn't quite understand, but when he heard the rumbling from above and glanced upward, Saeldir finally understood why they needed to act swiftly and followed Aerchon.
They arrived at the spot where Julius-Ozynk had fallen. He was lying on the ground amidst the rubble of the destroyed building. They rushed towards him, ready to deliver their attacks.
However, pillars of red-black energy descended from the dark clouds towards Julius-Ozynk. A shockwave pushed both of them backward. Julius-Ozynk appeared to rise again, in an even more terrifying state.
His body was covered in wounds, but the black-red energy merely patched up the injuries rather than healing them. His eyes glowed with rage. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of Aerchon and Saeldir, who were stumbling due to the earlier shockwave.
The two Elves felt a tightening grip around their throats, choking their breath. Subsequently, tendrils of black-red Magic slithered over their bodies, binding their limbs like solid ropes.
Julius-Ozynk approached them, his speech filled with gnashing teeth, making his voice sound like a growl. "You think you've defeated me? There's nothing you can do to defeat me in this world. Look around you! You'll only die in this foreign world. In my own hands!"
Aerchon and Saeldir couldn't respond to his words. They were even struggling to breathe, let alone reply.
Aurdis, Adrien, Billy, and Conrad realized the predicament that Aerchon and Saeldir were in. Aurdis was standing, despite her injuries.
"You better stay here, Aurdis," Billy said. "Your condition doesn't allow you to fight anymore."
Aurdis shook her head. "I have to help them, or they'll die."
Before Billy could finish what he wanted to say, shadows crept from where Julius-Ozynk was towards them. Then, from those shadows emerged seven creatures shrouded in black-red aura - personal bodyguards who had turned into Julius-Ozynk's minions.
The seven immediately charged toward Aurdis, Adrien, Billy, and Conrad, effectively thwarting their intentions to assist Aerchon and Saeldir.
Aurdis, despite her injuries, was determined. With fierce determination, she raised her hands and conjured a barrier of shimmering light just in time to block the frenzied attacks of the minions. The impact of the clash sent shockwaves through the vicinity, cracking the pavement and shattering the windows of buildings that still managed to stand.
After Aurdis created an emergency barrier to block the seven minions, Conrad sprang into action, creating a sword of light and joining the battle.
Adrien and Billy also moved into action, but they didn't stray too far from Aurdis since she was still injured.