_____

Grey and the others had all picked a protector.

Alice would hold one back, Klaus and Reynolds would hold one back, and Grey would unsurprisingly hold one back.

When the other three Third stage Origin Plane Elementalist saw Grey was going to battle one of the protectors on his own, they all sneered in contempt.

“A fool who’s overestimating his ability.” The blue-clothed youth said.

“Tch! I don’t think he would last more than a minute against the protector.” Another one said.

Even they weren’t confident they could hold one back, yet, a First stage Origin Plane Elementalist dared to face one alone. If that wasn’t seeking death, what is?

They weren’t the only ones who felt scorn towards Grey’s decision to fight against the protector alone, the companions of the Darkness Elementalist and even the crowd all felt Grey was overestimating his abilities.

‘He will most likely die within one minute. At that time, he wouldn’t have a chance to regret his foolish decision.’

This was what everyone thought. They all tagged him dead.

Other than Grey’s friends, the only ones who didn’t feel anything wrong with Grey’s move was the Darkness Elementalist since he had traded blows with Grey, he knew how terrifying the power of his blue flame was and also how powerful his body. And those who were present when Grey and the Darkness Elementalist fought previously.

“Now!” The Darkness Elementalist gave the order to attack.

Boom! Bam! Bang!

Every single member of the party attacked at the same time. The sounds of attacks clashing against each other rang out in the surrounding.

_____

As the battle started, the entire crowd stared at a single individual, Grey.

They all wanted to see how he would die due to his stupidity. Some of them even felt a little sense of satisfaction from the thought of Grey dying, especially those in the Second stage of the Origin Plane. They all felt indignant that they were not the ones chosen to be part of the party.

But the next scene stunned them.

“Blue fire.” Everyone muttered under their breath.

Some even forgot to breathe the moment they saw Grey using his blue flames. The shocking thing about the flame was the explosive power it contained.

‘Even if you have blue flames, why is the attack power this strong?’

They all felt like crying, especially those who were feeling wronged some moments ago. They could still accept the fact that he had blue flames hence he was stronger than his stage, but when they noticed the strength of the flame, they all felt that life was unfair.

Where the God’s blind?! How could they bless him alone?

“The power of his flames can rival the attack of a Fourth stage Origin Plane Elementalist. This… this shouldn’t be possible, right?” A youth asked with a shaky tone.

“Is he still human?”

The entire crowd was thrown into a state of disbelief. They felt the Darkness Elementalist was talented, and Grey was nothing. They didn’t even put him in their eyes even when he went forward with Klaus and the rest. Not only that, but they just took him as an extra in the battle.

If Grey was an extra, then what were the three Third stage Origin Plane Elementalists then?

Grey’s attack power was a notch better than even the normal attack of the Darkness Elementalist.

If the Darkness Elementalist was talented, then what was Grey?

______

“Fuck! Since when did that bastard possess the fire element, and it’s even blue flame.” Klaus stared at Grey like he was a monster.

“It looks like he will be the one with the biggest gain in this trip,” Reynolds added.

Grey was originally a Dual Elementalist, to their knowledge. Now, with the addition of the fire element, he had become a rare Multi Elementalist. This had greatly improved his strength.

Alice was shocked when Grey displayed the flame. But thinking about his behavior when they were about to pass through the door, she felt maybe Grey had inherited the legacy the expert spoke of.

The companions of the Darkness Elementalist lost their composure because of the shock, and they were pushed back by the protectors they were fighting.

Even the three other Third stage Origin Plane Elementalists staggered when they saw it, but they were able to quickly regain their composure. But because two protectors were free, they merged their strength with the others, and soon, they forced back the fighters.

“What happened?” The Darkness Elementalist asked coldly.

“We’re sorry, it was our mistake.” His companions apologized quickly for their mistake.

“Hmph! You’ve made everyone waste their energies. This shouldn’t repeat itself.” He snorted coldly and once again prepared to attack.

Since they had already made the mistake, they shouldn’t brood over it for too long, instead, they should continue attacking once again.

“You have a lot of explaining to do young man,” Klaus spoke with an elderly tone while also putting on an elderly expression making his friends burst into laughter.

“But seriously, you do,” Reynolds added after laughing a little.

“That would be later in the day. But for now, our focus is those drops.” Grey changed the topic to what was more important currently.

The others nodded.

“But how do we share it?” Reynolds scratched his head.

They were four, and they would only receive three drops. It wasn’t enough for them.

“We’ll think about that when the time comes.” Grey replied.

Soon, they once again started fighting with the protectors.

______

‘Void, are we close enough yet?’ Grey asked Void who was nowhere to be seen while fighting with the protector.

‘No, try going a little closer.’ replied Void.

‘Shit! This isn’t going to be easy.’ Grey said before focusing his attention on the protector once again.

When they were still waiting for the seal on the wall to open up, Grey discovered he could transmit his thoughts to Void just like how Void was doing. This way, he didn’t need to speak out, all he had to do was transmit whatever he wanted to say and Void would hear it clearly in his head. It was quite a mythical thing.

Void was currently hiding in his spatial ring. Their current plan was simple, steal all the drops of Great Earth Essence Liquid in front of everyone while they were still fighting.

Since Void couldn’t teleport far, they had to think of a way to get close to the pond without the others finding out. Who knew lady luck was on their side and the Darkness Elementalist would invite them to join the party?

Grey refrained from using his physical strength in this battle. He had already shown one of his trump cards which happened to be his blue flame, he was not foolish enough to show it all. He didn’t even use any other element and just stuck with the fire element. That way, other than his friends, no one would be aware of his other elements.

‘Shit! He’s almost done destroying his protector.’ Grey complained internally after he took a peek at the battle between the Darkness Elementalist and his protector.

Cracks could already be seen all over the protector the Darkness Elementalist was fighting against. It was clear that it would be destroyed in a matter of a few seconds.

‘Void aren’t we close yet?’ Grey asked Void once again after pushing back the protector.

‘Almost. If I move now, I wouldn’t appear close to the pond, so there’s a high chance I would be seen by the others.’ Void replied.

“Fuck!” Grey cursed out in annoyance.

Now, he was in a race against time. He had to push the protector closer to the pond without destroying it before the Darkness Elementalist destroys his opponent.

It’s not like he couldn’t destroy the protector, but he didn’t want to display his full strength for all to see.

“Ah!” Roaring, he sent out a flaming hammer that struck the protector fiercely.

It pushed the protector back a couple of meters closer to the pond. And Grey quickly closed the distance between him and the protector.

‘Now!’ Grey and Void said simultaneously.

____

Just as Void left the storage ring…

Bang!

The protector the Darkness Elementalist exploded into bits of flames which converged into a ball and flew into the ancient palace.

The moment the first protector exploded, the strength of the other eight dropped significantly. And the protectors that had been giving the others a tough time were destroyed one by one in a matter of a minute with all of them turning into balls of flames and flying into the palace.

“Hahaha, we’ve finally destroyed the protectors. Now, the Great Earth Essence Liquid will be ours.” The blue-clothed youth laughed in exhilaration.

Once he gets his share, he would instantly leave this place and refine it.

Just as the others were still laughing excitedly.

Roar!

A terrifying roar was heard from inside the palace. The roar shook everywhere and those with weaker strength collapsed to the ground with a ‘thud!’.

____

“Run!” Grey yelled at his friends and quickly dashed towards the opening they used in entering this place.

Trusting Grey, and being scared almost senseless, the group followed behind him without delay. They couldn’t be bothered with their share of the treasure, their life mattered most.

Some people in the crowd instinctively chose to also retreat from the place.

_____

“Damn! Grab the treasure!”

Because the place descended into chaos and the fact that Grey and his group had run away. Some people who couldn’t contain their greed dashed towards the pond. They wanted to take at least a drop of the Great Earth Essence Liquid before escaping.

The Darkness Elementalist was the first to get there though. His expression took a turn when he discovered that the drops of Great Earth Essence Liquid were missing.

“What!” He roared angrily, but he was replied by a terrifying roar from inside the palace.

His heart tightened, and he quickly made a run for it. He wouldn’t stay here and die because of something that wasn’t here. He was sure the treasure had been stolen by someone because he clearly felt the treasure previously.

His current plan was to be the first one to leave this place and search everyone.

Because of the manner of his escape, the others felt maybe he was scared by the roar. Some of them actually forgot the fact that he went close to the pond.

Just as the Darkness Elementalist and his companions were passing through the passageway, they started hearing shrieks from the field. Looking behind them, they saw a terrifying twelve meters long giant beast with three eyes massacring the youths who were consumed by greed.

Their backs were instantly covered in sweat from fright.

Over half of the people who came here had died. Of the four Third stage Origin Plane Elementalists, only the Darkness Elementalist and the blue-clothed youth escaped on time.