The old man wasted no time, dashing over in the blink of an eye, though what happened next was difficult for Nolan to make out. An explosion of water obscured his vision as Avril's aura disappeared without warning. While he was worried over her fate, an incredibly strong gale swept him off his feet and sent him smashing into the steps at the base of the staircase. The impact was cold and ruthless, breaking a few of his ribs and dislocating his left shoulder. A large gash had also opened up on his forehead, which gave him a partial mask of warm blood.

Nyla had crashed into him, though he had used all of his strength to wrap his arms around her so that he could take the brunt of the collision. He held her tightly as she fumbled to seal his wound with spiritual energy.

"Are you okay?"

They simultaneously asked each other the same question, though neither had time to answer. An erratic scream filled the air, its force strong enough to draw light streams of blood from Nolan's ears.

"MAY! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?"

An alluring line of laughter drifted into the stairwell from just out of view. "Wouldn't you like to know?" A long leg stepped into frame, along with May Asten's beautiful body, which was a bit too tall for the tattered clothes that she wore. She turned back to stare at Nolan, a coy smile on her face. "Surprised?"

Nolan thought of what Avril had said after she’d 'helped' him pee.

There, now we're even.

His thoughts backtracked further to when this woman had been floating above him, when he'd seen all there was to see of her well-trimmed situation.

Uncle Grey, did you know about this?

Of course I did.

Why didn’t you say anything?

She doesn't harbour any ill will toward you, actually the opposite. I thought I'd sit back and have some fun watching whatever she was up to. If you keep using me as your eyes, he laughed, then one day you won’t be able to see things for yourself.

He answered May by remaining silent, wondering why she'd put so much effort into her performance just a few moments ago. He barely had time to get his bearings when he noticed that Elder Jameson had been driven back to the far end of the room, where a strong aura began to overlap with that of the tower's as it enveloped the area.

May, a supposed elder of the Falling Rain Sect, turned around and pointed a finger in his face. "You owe me for this. And you better believe that I always collect my debts."

She returned her attention to Elder Jameson, who began to draw an arrayment diagram in the air with withered fingers. She mimicked his movements, the skin of her brow scrunched up from immense concentration. Impressively, May finished her diagram first, and activated it a second before her opponent. A translucent barrier of blue light appeared before them and sealed off the staircase, slick as a sheet of glass.

A dozen spikes of dense energy shot across the room, though they were blocked by a huge wall of light that quickly crumbled away. Letting go of a dissipating talisman, May vanished in an instant and appeared in front of the old man amidst a relentless whirlwind that sent both of their uniforms thrashing around like a person in pain. Her kick met empty air, agitating the windstorm so that the entire room was filled with violent gales that whistled harshly in Nolan’s bloody ears from behind the barrier, like wind beyond a window.

Such a horrible storm from a simple kick? He ignored the pain of his injuries as he watched the scene unfold with wide eyes.

Elder Jameson had immediately appeared just above May and launched a series of heavy-handed strikes with his right hand, his left working on another diagram. The old man overreached, however, which provided May the opportunity to instantaneously pivot on the spot and grab hold of his outstretched arm. She spun three full circles in an instant, destroying the partially drawn arrayment diagram as she hurled him across the room in tandem with a gunshot-like sound of impact.

Solid as the tower was, Nolan was shocked as the stairs vibrated for a few moments, enough to move him and Nyla a few centimetres.

Elder Jameson had crashed into the opposing wall, which was completely unscathed, but caught himself in the air before he could fall to his feet. He flew to the side the second that he gained a semblance of stability, and only barely avoided a vibrating spear of sapphire light that May had just thrown at him, which was nearly ten metres long. While he managed to dodge this initial attack, the energy burst apart in a vicious explosion that sent him tumbling through the air at a breakneck pace. May appeared at his side and gave him an axe kick that was equally as powerful as her previous strikes, which mercilessly sent him crashing to the ground below with a light crunch. Off balance, he attempted to retreat, but she quickly caught up and pummelled him hard in the chest. The third strike sent the old man flying across the room, and she didn’t let up.

May gave a groan of exertion, as an impressive cloak of azure energy quickly moved to cover her body. A talisman appeared in her right hand and gave life to another giant spear, which found its mark with a flash of icy light. Elder Jameson was smashed into the wall before he could recover from the previous impact, but a shining light and a dissipating slip of paper quickly explained why he hadn't been harmed. Just as when Drasin had absorbed the full force of the Emerald Thorn Piercing Technique, his master had completely nullified May’s attack.

A brief lull took over the exchange, as the two combatants faced one another from opposite ends of the room. The windstorm brought on by their previous exchanges continued to wreak havoc on the space between them, but they stood firm, considering one another with cold eyes.

"Was it you who killed Drasin?" said Elder Jameson, oddly quiet. "Did you actually kill one of your own?”

"Nope," she said, pointing a slim finger in their direction. "They killed him. At least I think so. But I'll definitely be killing you!"

Ten talismans appeared before her in a straight line that was level with her well-endowed chest, which was partially exposed after she’d returned to her taller appearance. She threw her arms out with a strained grunt, and they activated simultaneously. It seemed that Elder Jameson wasn’t intent on waiting for her to complete her attack, as he dashed forward in order to interrupt her, but he was a fraction of a second too late. The first spear of light nearly ran him through the gut, but he managed to sidestep it by a hair. He immediately jumped backwards and then rose up into the air, as one of his ankles had been injured earlier on. He flew all around the room in frantic patterns, barely avoiding the successive spears with every fearful spurt of speed.

The room was too small, however, for Elder Jameson to escape the subsequent explosions that followed each spear’s detonation. Not one to waste an opportunity, May took out a sword that seemed as if it were made entirely of sapphire and then unleashed an attack at the most inconvenient time for her opponent. Her weapon was enveloped by a large layer of energy as she activated an unknown essence fusion effect and let out a severe strike, though the energy quickly compacted into a long, thin line that was almost impossible to see.

Blood fountained around the old man as his right arm was sliced from his body and flung around the room by the endless windstorm, leaking specks of blood all the while. He didn't lose his arm for nothing, however, as he flew right in front of May and activated an arrayment diagram that he'd drawn with his surviving hand. A large column of blue energy appeared around them both, though only May crashed to the ground. Seeing as how Elder Jameson seemed unaffected, it was as if her body weight had suddenly increased by thousands of times. She tried to avoid the coming attack, a martial skill that covered the man’s fist in solid blue energy, but only succeeded in saving her life.

The old man was rabid and enraged, and looking to kill her as cruelly as possible. He had struck her upper arm with enough strength to snap her humerus bone in a dozen places, and to further break a few of her ribs.

She cried out as a bracelet that she had been wearing suddenly shone with light. She flipped backwards and out of harm’s way, no longer affected by the strange pillar of energy that the old man had summoned.

Her left arm drooping in a stomach-turning manner, May recalled her sword that had somehow remained within her grasp and then waved her right arm. Dozens of talismans appeared before her, at which point she let out a pained yet exhilarated yell. "Looks like your life isn't cheap!"