Theo and the others still ran with no flag in sight.
Unfortunately for them, their journey was interrupted by a loud cry from the sky.
"Tch. As expected, it won't be that easy." Theo sighed and turned his head around, raising his vision to the sky.
Hengki was following them from the sky with a pair of wings.
"That wing… I'm afraid that is Indonesia's national symbol, Garuda." Ellen recognized the brown-colored wings and informed her teammates.
"Interesting. It mustn't be an ordinary one if such a person becomes their captain." Theo then stopped and turned back while saying, "You guys go ahead. I'm the best person to hunt a flying bird. The rest of you will catch up with Phyrill."
Ellen, Sihan, and Laust were not Magicians or had skills that were enough to hit him, so they understood Theo's resolve. However, Ellen's Skills should be able to handle him as well.
"Theo, do you need my help?" asked Ellen with a worried expression.
"You should worry about yourself first. There will be around seven to ten people that you need to fight later. This guy is just planning to hold us back." Theo smiled. "Go."
They exchanged looks and nodded to each other before increasing their pace, leaving Theo behind.
Hengki saw them moving and flew forward, trying to catch up with them. However, he soon lowered his vision and flew sideways when ten Magic Bullets almost pierced his body.
"You're not going anywhere." Theo smiled while running at a slower pace.
Hengki stopped for a second and looked at Theo. "As expected, you're indeed the most dangerous from Thersland Team. Since that's the case, let's see whether you have the ability to stop me or not."
He dove as his speed drastically increased.
When Hengki was right before him, Theo disappeared.
"What? He disappears!" Hengki widened his eyes because he couldn't see Theo's movement at all. It was either Theo's speed was far faster than him or… Hengki quickly turned around and saw Theo appearing above him, sending his fist forward. "Teleportation…"
Hengki raised both hands to the front and received Theo's punch, albeit he got struck down to the ground.
"You should use that spear instead of your fist." Hengki controlled his wing to catch Theo.
"Yes. I'm using it right now." Theo stopped both wings with his spear and raised his fist once again, planning to strike him.
Hengki became more serious as brown light began to cover his fist. 'Garuda Talon.'
Hengki gripped the ground as if he wanted to catch it with a talon before the ground turned into a crater, making both of them fall a few inches.
Due to their positions, Hengki reached the ground first and regained his balance before using both hands to support his body while sending a kick to Theo's abdomen.
The latter managed to catch that kick, but Hengki's power was far stronger than he imagined. That kick launched Theo to the sky.
Hengki rose from the ground, flapped his wing once, and flew to the sky, heading straight to Theo to confront him in his own "home".
'Cannon Blast.' Theo gathered his Magic Power in his spear and thrust that torrential energy to Hengki.
Seeing the swirl of energy, Hengki flapped his wings once more. Although it stopped his movement, the flap generated enough wind pressure to clash with Theo's Cannon Blast.
"You're better than I thought… Looking at your facial expression, you're only a First-Year student… That impresses me even more." Hengki smiled and flew in another direction before reaching Theo from the side. "However, I can't afford to lose to you in the air."
Theo saw Hengki doing a backflip along with a kick that aimed for his head.
He raised his spear to block that kick, but once again, he got blown away horizontally, launching him to his comrades. In other words, Hengki had been trying to fight him while catching up with Alea and the others by sending Theo their way.
'As expected from a team that is most likely to win the first round. Their strength is at Alea's level and their judgment is better than her.' Theo clicked his tongue and summoned his Magic Bullet and shot them not to Hengki but the air behind Theo.
The Magic Bullets then turned around and hit Theo's back, which of course, stopped by Theo's Elemental Shield.
The force generated from the Magic Bullets was enough to stop his momentum as he began to fall from the air.
"I see what you did there." Hengki smiled and said, "Your Teleportation. It seems you can't use it continuously and it will also carry your momentum, making it hurt even if you try to teleport yourself to the ground because you may hit a tree or something."
"…" Theo remained silent, but it was already enough to give the necessary information that Hengki wanted.
With Hengki starting to move to his teammates again, Theo spun his spear and gathered another form of energy to his spear and blasted a thin tree next to him.
Bam.
The tree began to fall, but Theo used that movement to aid his aim before kicking the trunk into the air.
With his current strength, he was strong enough to launch a small thin tree that seemed to weigh around 100 lbs to the air.
Hengki thought it was to stop him, but he soon realized that wasn't the case when Theo suddenly appeared on top of the tree, using the trunk as his stepping to get the height advantage.
The latter turned around and covered himself not with his arms but wings. "Steel Wing."
The brown-colored wings turned black as if they became metal.
Theo hit those metal wings that produced a clicking sound from their collision. However, the torrential energy in his spear wreaked havoc and blasted Hengki to the ground, creating a small crater from that fall alone.
Hengki waved his body left and right while looking at Theo in the air. Theo's expression made his body shudder for a split second as if telling him. "I have been training myself in order to surpass Alea. You're not an exception."