*Boom!*

The explosion immediately engulfed Rapakha, scorching him inside an intense heat. Yet Kai could hear a distortion of the sound as if it was directed by something behind that fire and smoke.

"He is perfectly fine…" Kai shouted, realizing that Rapakha must have used something to block the explosion. That was why the sound was directed to the left and right instead of passing his body.

"What a hearing…" Rapakha smiled as his figure was revealed when the smoke was blown away by the wind. However, they found a half wall in which the other half had fallen to the ground. It might be due to the strong blast, but it was still surprising to see Rapakha's defense shattered like this.

'We still have a chance…' Kai thought as he commanded. "Attack him again!"

As soon as he uttered those words, Kai leaped toward him with both swords in his hand.

"Freezing Field!" Suddenly, Sofia released her magic, freezing the ground around them to surround Rapakha. However, she did this to stop Rapakha from using the ground as well since she thought he couldn't use his magic unless he touched the ground.

Little did she know that it was just her misunderstanding his magic. The moment Rapakha saw this, he raised his hands and punched the ground, shattering the ice before throwing another strike with his fist that had been covered with rock.

This time, the strength was far extraordinary and shattered the entire field of ice.

It was at this time, Kai arrived in front of him, waving his two swords.

Rapakha only smiled as another magic circle appeared on the ground in front of him, where Kai would step on it within a second.

"So fast!" Kai thought as he gritted his teeth and shifted his right foot a little bit to get a good footing, so he could stop his momentum and change direction.

Rapakha smirked as if his plan just succeeded and threw a punch toward Kai.

Having no balance himself, Kai parried that punch with his sword, but because he decided to stop earlier, he got blown away instead.

It was at this time Kai realized that Rapakha just made a fake move. The magic circle beneath his feet was nothing but a distraction. 'He believed I would stop and used that chance?'

"So, you have realized it, but it's too late." Rapakha grinned before he raised both hands to the side where Michelle and Ayaka appeared to follow up Kai's attack.

"Shadow Slash."

"Fire Thrust."

Michelle's Shadow Slash was no longer a surprising move. However, Ayaka seemed to have mastered new magic.

The magic circle appeared on her spear's tip before it shot out a torrential flame. She simply used the same concept of her 'Flares' to create a torrential fire to increase its penetrating power, but this one had more speed and precision.

Rapakha covered his two hands with stones and stopped the two attacks with a single grab that shattered both attacks.

"!!!" He also felt another two incoming attacks from two different directions. He raised one hand toward Isabelle's original location while raising his off hand to grab Tasha's arrow in another direction.

However, due to Ayaka's and Michelle's previous attacks, he got himself in an awkward position. As a result…

*Bam!*

He managed to fend off Tasha's attack, but his other arm was getting pushed back by the bullet coming from Isabelle. When he glanced at the bullet, he realized it was not a normal attack like the previous one. Instead, it was a full-fledged magic attack.

Because of that, Rapakha had his balance thrown.

Kai used this chance to make his move.

Rapakha glanced at him and thought. 'I can still regain my balance before he arr—!'

He was dumbstruck when he saw a magic circle in Kai's right foot.

"Sound Blast!" Kai stepped on it, and the magic circle launched him to Rapakha. Using this chance, Kai struck Rapakha.

Although his balance was off, Rapakha still managed to react and protected his body with that stone arm.

*Clang!*

Just like before, the stone was very hard to the point it looked like metal. However, Kai saw a glimmer of hope that radiated from the fact that his sword managed to cut half of the stone that covered his arm. Using this chance, he pushed the sword even further with his strength.

Rapakha glanced on his right and summoned another giant arm, punching Kai with this.

However, Kai also created a magic circle before bending his body a little. His eyes watched how the stone arm almost hit him on the face, but luckily, it passed above him.

"As expected… The arm might be powerful and hard to stop from head-on, but it seems it's not strong against redirecting. Even my Sound Blast could redirect it a bit." Kai smiled before trying to complete his swing.

"Yes. That is if you don't underestimate me, but you are still even now." Rapakha smirked.

"!!!" Kai suddenly heard a loud voice coming from the opposite direction and found another arm coming toward him.

"Shadow Slash."

"Fire Thrust."

Michelle and Ayaka appeared again, stopping the hand with their magic.

"Freezing Field." Sofia didn't want to lose and freeze the ground again, separating him from the ground.

Kai's eyes flashed, knowing this would be the first chance for them to cut down his arm.

"That's why I am saying you are still underestimating me." Rapakha mysteriously grinned as he swiftly moved his other hand to strike Kai.

Kai glanced at it and summoned another Sound Blast, coupled with a full swing from his other hand. The moment it struck the hand, Kai felt that the hand was stopped, but before he realized it, he suddenly felt a sharp pain coming from his abdomen and flew away.

"What?!" The others dropped their jaws to the ground, not expecting that to happen. Kai was the strongest out of them physically. He should be able to stop that attack, especially with the help of his Sound Blast. And yet, it pushed him like it was nothing.

"No. I shouldn't say you are underestimating me… Because I am misleading you to underestimating me." Rapakha smiled evilly.

"!!!" Kai widened his eyes as he recalled every scene of their battle. "You… You have been acting this whole time?"

"Ah! I was just making you think I was serious before I suddenly got pushed back by you guys, so you thought you had a chance to win. Unfortunately, you shouldn't believe what you saw and content with what you achieved. Keep your eyes peeled on every occasion." Rapakha grinned.

Kai's body shook as he thought. 'To think he would do something like that… No, he is going to train us, so he wants us to be a little bit of not honest? Wait… Doesn't it feel like I think I can win and lead me to underestimate him and leave my back open?'

Kai was stunned as soon as he realized Rapakha's plan. "I would be dead if Elder didn't hold back earlier…"

"Hehe. I really liked that brain of yours… Unfortunately, it can be your weakness as well as you tend to overthink a simple matter. That's why sometimes you might end up misunderstanding something yourself.

"Just think it like this, it's not you or I who are stronger. Instead, the winner of the battle is stronger. That way, you won't underestimate your opponent and will keep preparing for the worst case. I am sure your body can react to solve that problem." Rapakha nodded with a smile.

"Thank you for your advice." Kai slightly bowed his head before charging at him again.

Rapakha looked at his stone hand that had been recovered.

Michelle, Ayaka, and Sofia had retreated after knowing their plan failed. Michelle hid within the darkness again, trying to search for his weakness.

Sofia also did the same as she stepped back to ensure their distance. Meanwhile, Ayaka decided to switch positions with Michelle and became the vanguard.

Rapakha sensed another incoming attack from two different directions, which came from Tasha and Isabelle, so he stopped their attacks again with his stone arms.

Kai, on the other hand, charged from head-on and struck his hand with his left sword.

Obviously, Rapakha didn't let this slip. He had understood how powerful Kai's cut was because the stone earlier had been strengthened. The hardness could be comparable to those hard shells that those Protectors had.

Even Kai's Vibration Sword couldn't cut it open in a single slash. Hence, he deflected the sword with the back of his hand.

Kai smiled at this point. He also understood what Rapakha just learned. By using his main offensive to be the bait, Kai let his other sword strike his foot instead. The foot had yet to be strengthened by the stone, so he should be able to attack it.

Just like him, Rapakha also read that he would read this move and created a magic circle right on the back of his hand that he used to deflect Kai's sword. With this angle and his focus, Kai wouldn't have enough time to react.

"Stone Creation Magic."

Rapakha summoned a rock that would push Kai and pin him on the ground.

Isabelle, on top of the hill, surely wouldn't let this and shot the stone.

*Bang!*

The stone was shattered by the bullet and blew it away with the momentum.

Kai listened to his surroundings and created a Sound Blast to launch him away from that position.

The previous times, Tasha would attack Rapakha together with Isabelle. And she still did it even on this one. It was just she directed her arrow elsewhere, specifically the sky.

A purple magic circle appeared as a purple bolt of lightning was charged and released toward Rapakha.

"Lightning Storm."