Grey looked ahead of him and his eyes instantly turned cold. Two boys were walking in his direction from the alley. He recognized one of them from the competition, and from that, he already guessed their identities.

Students from the Starlight Academy

Do you know how long we had to follow you before finally getting this chance?

One of the boys said as they walked closer towards Grey. They saw Grey heading out of the Jade Water Paradise and decided to follow him and teach him a lesson he would never forget.

No, and I dont really care

Grey answered before preparing to leave the alley the same path he used in walking in. The student he recognized was a Water Elementalist in the Eighth stage of the Arcane Plane and was strong. Although he could battle with him, that was if they were alone. The addition of the other student will make things very difficult for him.

You think you can leave

The boy said with a sneer

Grey turned around only to see two figures coming from the direction he planned on using, now he was trapped in the middle of both sets of boys. At least if he was left with the previous two, he had a good chance of escaping, he wasnt even thinking about fighting since it was a lost battle. But now, with the addition of the other two boys, his chances were almost zero.

What are you trying to do?

Grey asked in a cold voice.

What does it seem like?

The boys laughed as they got closer, they knew the city too well. They couldnt believe their luck when Grey took this path which had almost no guards in the vicinity.

The place around the alley was a lonely environment, to begin with, so it would be hard for people to come here since it was already so late in the night.

The girl who wanted to assassinate Grey stuck to the shadows without making any moves. She looked on with interest and if an opportunity presented itself to her, shell take it without a shadow of a doubt. None of the people present knew of her presence.

Grey looked at the boys with angry eyes, he knew the students from the Starlight Academy were scums, but he didnt expect them to follow him from the Jade Water Paradise. He had already figured they followed him when he left the Jade Water Paradise.

Two minutes later

Bang!

Greys body slammed into the wall by the side.

Fuck! Theres no way I can fight with them, I need to think of a plan to escape.

This was a battle he knew he wasnt going to win, he was not a God, he cant battle with this number of opponents who were on the same stage as him or higher. If they were two, although his chances wouldnt be too good, at least he was confident he could escape safely.

Now he was blocked on both sides and his opponents clearly have no plans of letting him off.

Damn, doesnt the city guard patrol this area? How come none of them have been attracted here by the noise?

Grey was already starting to feel helpless. This was a situation he had never been in before, all his battles have either been one on one or one on two, even when he battled with the mercenaries it was one on three, but those were people who ate weaker compared to these students in the same stage.

Although he was stronger than the students personally, the difference wasnt too large and with numbers on their side, the result was clear for all to see. The Water Elementalist he recognized seems to be the leader of the group, and he was also the strongest among them.

Now Grey understood why Reynolds hated them so much, this was not a situation anyone wanted to be caught in.

Why are they even doing this? It was their student who refused to give up.

Grey complained as the battle went on

Grey managed to send one flying, but before he could capitalize on the space created by the missing man, he was sent flying again.

Shit! Theyre not even giving me a breather. I need to deal a fatal strike.

He couldnt help but curse in his mind

The chances of his escape were getting smaller and smaller with the increased injuries he was sustaining.

Lightning rain

Grey called in his heart and a sea of lightning struck at his unsuspecting opponents. He had not used this technique during the competition, so they knew nothing about it.

The group scurried to block the lightning bolts, but they were still struck, the guy Grey sent flying in particular had it worse and was hit with momentary paralysis. This was the special trait of the lightning element, paralyzing ones opponent. Although it doesnt always happen, it has a twenty percent chance of occurring.

Grey went for the kill by sending a rock the size of a fist towards the paralyzed youths head. The leader of the group saw this and quickly made a water shield that helped reduce the impact of the attack, but the youth was still sent flying and hit the walls which immediately knocked him out cold.

One down, three to go

His surprise attack had helped him reduce the number of attackers, but it didnt change the overall situation of the battle, he was being beaten badly.

The battle had already gone on for over fifteen minutes with Grey getting the short end of the stick.

He had already coughed up multiple mouths full of blood that he even started wondering if he had any blood left in his body. There were different injuries on his body which were bleeding although not strongly, the loss of blood is already starting to take its toll on him.

His opponents werent without any injuries with some getting multiple burns from his lightning attacks.

Why does it take so long?

Grey asked in frustration. Currently, his only bet was inscription, but with him not being able to create the symbol immediately, and the constant distraction from the battle, it wasnt easy to concentrate on it.

He planned to make three symbols and hopefully use them to strike at his opponent simultaneously. With his increased training, the attack power had gone to the level of his normal attack power, so he was certain that even if his opponents dont die from the attack, they would be fatally injured, and he might get a chance to escape, or even go for the kill.

This was the first time Grey wanted to kill someone so badly, the injuries he incurred from this battle might most likely stop him from participating in the upcoming battles. Luckily he had already qualified for the special training else he would have been in a tough position.

Grey sent out a ball of lightning which exploded as it got close to his opponents and also raised a wall to block the attack of one of the students. He was currently trying to buy as much time as he could, so he could complete the inscription.

Just after he had completed the third symbol and was prepared to use them to attack, he was hit by a wind blade which not only sent him flying again, but it also cut open a new wound on his back.

Being surrounded by walls on his left and right, he hit a wall again. After landing, he coughed up another mouth full of blood.

Seems like I still have some more

Grey thought jokingly, even in a desperate time like this, he still had the energy to make fun of himself.

Unknown to Grey, he landed within a few meters from where the shadow hid.

There was no better opportunity to strike other than now. The girl who already had her dagger in hand sprang out of her hiding place behind Grey and immediately aimed for his heart.

The distance was too close and Grey didnt expect someone to sneak attack him even when he was already in such a tough battle.

Before he realized what was happening, it was already too late as the dagger was about to plunge straight at his chest. He could almost see death staring at him, despair almost washed his entire being.

His adrenaline shot through the roof, and he was able to shift to the side, the dagger missed its target and plunged straight into his shoulder. Blood splattered from his back, but Grey didnt have time to think, he sent out attacks from the three symbols in the air, with two targeting the two strongest members of the group and the last one attacking the shadow who almost killed him.

Everything happened so fast that before the girl or the students from the Starlight Academy could react, they were already struck by the inscription and one of the students lost an arm that completely detached from his body. The girl also wasnt lucky as a huge injury appeared on her back.

Although all this took some time to explain, it only happened within the space of five seconds.

Grey didnt think of any other thing and immediately used both his lightning and wind element to escape from the place before the last student who wasnt attacked could recover from the shock of what just took place. He was already on his last legs and there was no way he could battle with anyone currently.

Even keeping his consciousness was already starting to get difficult.

He managed to get to the residence albeit barely, only after the instructor who was keeping guard of the place appeared did he finally lose consciousness.