"Karen! Shield!" Aren immediately yelled at the sight of the sword projection and fireballs.
Karen immediately cast [Mana Shield], protecting the whole party from getting swept by the explosion. Aren could feel the heat hitting his face despite the protection from the mana shield.
Gulian noticed the shield was wavering under the explosion. He activated his defensive shield, doubling their defense. The shield shook but the double shield worked well.
The explosion lasted for like thirty seconds before the flame died down completely. Aren was still holding the Magnifying Glass while his heartbeat was spiking up. This was their chance, he was hoping Tang Shaoyang did not die but was badly hurt.
As for Evan and his party, they should be exhausted after executing such a big skill. It would be easy for them to seize the target from Evan's hand for sure. He put the Magnifying Glass and directed it to the previous spot.
Sure enough, Evan fell on his knees while the mage used [Mana Shield] to protect them from the explosion.
"Hah… Hah… Hah…" Evan was out of breath, the skill was taking a great toll on his body. However, he never looked away from where he struck his sword down. He wanted to know if this was enough to kill the man.
"Oh man, you are taking all my prey!" A voice rang, and Evan had his eyes wide open in pure shock. The man was left unscathed even after the big skill he used on him.
Tang Shaoyang was covered in a lightning cloak, standing straight in front of him. His strongest skill could not even injure the man. But then the lightning cloak that covered the man's head disappeared, showing the face behind.
The man was not left unscathed, he could see blood flowing out from the corner of his mouth. But the skill was not enough to bring him down.
Nina, who was still standing, took a step forward. She stood in front of Evan, "I will buy you time, leave Evan!"
"None of you will leave," Tang Shaoyang used [Lightning Flash]. He flashed to the front of the mage and reached her neck. He without hesitation raised the woman to the air and slammed her down next to the man.
"Arghh!" Nina coughed up blood while Evan could only watch it happen before his eyes helplessly. He did not have any energy to move his body. After that, he saw the man move his scythe, slicing her neck apart.
Right after that, the man turned toward him. The scythe swept his neck and his vision blackened. Meanwhile, Aren watched the whole thing from afar. Tang Shaoyang was still standing even after the huge attack from Evan and Nina combined.
"Let's leave!" Aren without hesitation turned around and led his party to leave the battlefield. The target was out of their range, not something they could take on, let alone capturing him alive.
He was decisive and immediately left the burning forest. The trees were on fire because of the explosion, it changed from the green forest to the flame forest. The explosion was too big and destroyed everything within the radius explosion. If Someone did not take the initiative to put the fire down, the Orin Forest would be burned down.
Tang Shaoyang was surprised to hear another notification in his head from killing two people. Usually, it would take him ten to twenty adventurers for one level, but he gained one level after killing two people.
—That was so close! While Karan has a great destructive force, he lacks in the defensive department.
Zowen's relieved voice rang in his head. That was her honest about Karan, not joking around. In other words, she was telling Tang Shaoyang to get more defensive skills if he wanted to use Karan more on the battlefield.
Tang Shaoyang survived with light injuries from the big attack because of her [Advanced Lightning Creation]. He created a barrier and also a lightning cloak to defend against the attack.
"Everyone is dead, those two killed the other adventurers with their skill," Tang Shaoyang was irritated by this, his voice gave that out, "But there's a group left."
Aren and his party just came out from the flaming forest. Poli, the Master Scout swiftly brought them out of the battlefield. Karen the mage let out a sigh of relief after coming out of the battlefield.
"We can't let our guard down, we will be safe only after we enter the city. Let's pick up our pace!" Aren was not relieved in the slightest, not until they entered the city, of course.
"But that's too late, you should escape earlier and don't wait until I crushed them all," Gulian and Adrian immediately positioned themselves in the front. Meanwhile, Aren was scanning Tang Shaoyang.
He found Tang's skin had turned green, meaning he did not have his lightning power with him, 'But even without his lightning power, we still do not match for him. I have to avoid the fight until the reinforcement comes, the explosion should attract the city's force attention. Yes, I have to stall the time until they come."
"Who are you? Why do you block us?" Aren stepped forward and asked Tang calmly. He appeared to not know about Tang Shaoyang.
"Huhu, are you trying to fool me with your ignorant facade?" Tang Shaoyang grinned at Aren, "Didn't you enjoy the show I was slaughtering the other adventurers from afar? But if you are trying to stall the time, you have failed. Your effort causes you to lose your friend's life…"
Tang Shaoyang threw [Wild Axes] toward Aren. Gulian stepped forward and reinforced his shield with his mana and his defensive skill. Before the axes could hit the shield, Aren could feel a blow of wind hit his cheeks.
"Watch out!" Aren tried to warn his friends, but that was too late. When he turned around, he saw Tang's scythe was a few centimeters away from Coral's neck.
Slash!
As he finished his words, Coral's head flew into the air as blood sprayed. Anger possessed Aren when he saw his friend's neck was slashed with the scythe. He was about to draw his sword and fight back, but a lion-like roar escaped Tang's mouth.
Peng!
His head was hit by extreme dizziness as he lost his power to draw his sword. He tried to come back to his senses until a great shockwave hit him. His body was pushed back, and at the same time, he saw axes formed around Tang Shaoyang.
Karen and Poli were so close to the man, they were in danger. He had to help them, but his body would not listen to him. The four axes then revolved around the man, shredding the mage and the scout into pieces.
Aren could only watch helplessly his friends killed in front of him. He could not do anything to save them but just watched them killed brutally. But the worst had not come yet, the man flashed toward him.
When he thought he would die, the man killed his other two comrades, Gulian and Adrian died in the same fashion as Coral. They got their head sliced up by the scythe.
Tang Shaoyang pushed him back down to the ground and stepped on his chest. He saw the man raise the scythe, 'At least, Dan is safe,' that was his last thoughts until he heard a familiar voice.
"Wait! Please don't kill him!" Aren looked toward the voice and found his last party member, Selena the cleric.