At the same time as the giant arrows were fired from the ballistae, two black lights flew out of the city, leaving the ballista arrows behind and speeding toward the target. One of them looked like a black shadow, while the other looked like a black lightning bolt.

  These two black lights appeared next to Jack at the same time. Kevin and Kai quickly grabbed Jack under his arms before he passed out. The ballista arrows continued to come at them quickly.

  Kai looked at the arrows with a terrified look and let go of Jack for a moment. There was a frightened sizzle in his eyes as he pulled Sirius off his back. But the sizzle disappeared in an instant, replaced by absolute concentration. The ballista arrows were definitely powerful enough to slow down the Cannibal King.

  "Raindrop Sutra!!!"

  The first arrow went straight into Kai's face, but then a black sword that came out of nowhere sliced the arrow in two. At the tip was a raindrop. And it looked like it could cut through anything in its path.

  Kai threw his sword and cut the second arrow into pieces, then jumped up and dodged the third arrow. This arrow tore his clothes a bit. But Kai still caught the arrow and tore it to pieces with terrifying physical strength. Then he held out his hand and Sirius returned it, smashing the last arrow into pieces.

  Kai fell to his feet and looked menacingly at the people on the wall. Then he and Kevin took Jack's arm. With one glance he could feel Jack's deadly wounds.

  "Kevin..."

  "I understand."

  At the same moment, seeds of love rose from Kai's and Kevin's bodies. Slowly, these seeds moved into Jack's body and began to heal him. But not much. It just kept him alive.

  At that moment, another light appeared in front of them. It was Lena. Her eyes widened at the sudden appearance of Jack in front of her. She hadn't expected anything like this. Those wounds.... They were extremely deadly. It didn't even make sense that he had lived so long. Jack's life energy couldn't have been that low. How many days was Jack missing?

  "Lena!"

  "O-Okay!"

  With a quick warning from Kai, Lena came to her senses and put her hands on Jack's chest as a white light appeared in her hands. After closing her eyes for a few seconds, she had a very ugly look on her face.

  "I have to take him away. He's in a serious condition! The only reason he has lived so long is because he miraculously made it to Half Step 2!"

  Lena grabbed Jack in her arms and unlike Kai and Kevin, a light came out of her hands and began to hold Jack in the air. With this light, the possibility of Jack suffering further damage from a wrong move was gone. His wounds were severe and the bite marks were festering. It was hard to tell how many days he had been walking around with these wounds. If it wasn't for a healer like Lena. Jack's chances of survival would have been nil. Even now the chances were no more than 50%.

  "How do we tell Milah about this?"

  Milah was still in Red Lightning City. She would come with one of the other expeditions. Jace would be the leader of this expedition. He was expected to become Half Step soon.

  "That's... We can think about it later."

  Kevin and Kai clenched their fists as they stared in horror at the departing Lena. They both turned to look at the forest behind them.

  "How dare you?"

  “How could you...”

  "How dare you hurt our friend?!"

  Of course, their ridiculous and arrogant attitude meant nothing. The hunters were the enemy. Even if they killed Jack, what could they say?

  Lightning flashed in Kai and Kevin's eyes as the killing intent radiated from their bodies and spread through the forest.

  "They must be tired of living..."

  Kevin and Kai were about to head into the forest when two people suddenly appeared on either side of them. They were Alain and Emma. On Emma's arms stood Little Tiger with his teeth clenched.

  "You can't do that now, Kai, Kevin. The city is still too weak and there are only two half-step developers. If one of them leaves, we are too weak. Lena is only a healer."

  Alain's words were usually frivolous and joking, but he didn't want Kai to leave. It was dangerous. What if that man came back? There was a fear in Alain's eyes that would last a lifetime. But neither Kai nor Kevin noticed.

  Kai and Kevin still clenched their fists. Jack was a brother to them. More than a brother. Wouldn't Jack have done the same if this had happened to them? How could they let someone hurt their brother like that? Every second the man lived was an hour of their time in hell.

  The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  "Maybe it's the right thing, Kai. You can't open the door to the future with your fists alone. Control your anger sometimes. There are things you can do and things you can't."

  Emma spoke and Little Tiger jumped from Emma's arms into Kevin's lap.

  "What about you, Kevin? Didn't that guy say a few days ago that he was only ranked 13th? Are you willing to take such a big loss even against him? Could you have killed him, Kai, if he hadn't let his guard down? How long would it have taken for the whole city to be destroyed?"

  Emma's words were cruel, and instead of telling them directly that they were powerless, she rubbed it in their faces in a more painful way. Involuntarily, they regretted it for a moment. Especially Kai. Even though he knew that he had been inconsiderate from the beginning, his anger did not go away easily.

  "Please Kai, just listen to me and let's go back. Let's wait a few months at least. There are still stragglers and you have to protect the city."

  Emma took Kai's hand and held it. She looked into his eyes. The red glow and the lightning in Kai's eyes disappeared. What remained was an ocean blue glow. These eyes had changed so many colors. Kai almost forgot their true color.

  In that moment, Kai realized how long he had made Emma wait. In fact, Kai seemed to have forgotten her. Today, he had gone out of town to a nice place, but he hadn't taken Emma with him. Even though he knew that she was in town. How could he think of her as a lover and a friend?

  "I'm sorry... For everything."

  Emma knew from Kai's look what he meant, but she just smiled and rested her head on his shoulder, looking out into the forest.

  "It's okay. I know you feel a lot of pressure, don't worry, I'll always be there for you."

  Eventually Alain came up with some ridiculous reasons and with Kai's help they convinced Kevin. But Kevin still didn't stay there any longer and went straight to the hospital where Jack was being held and where Lena was healing him. Kai would soon follow.

  But just then someone else appeared next to them. Unexpectedly, this person had a worried look on his face, his hair blowing in the wind. What she had just seen in Jack had only added to her already worried state.

  "Elena, are you okay?"

  Elena was someone who didn't stand out much in the city. Even though she made it to the top 16 in the District 1 Tournament, the District 1 Tournament was a mistake compared to the World Tournament. And in the current situation, the greatest geniuses were gathered. Generally speaking, Elena had little to say in this city. There were many others like her who had awakened their potential.

  Of course, her beauty was unique in the city.

  Still, with the Red Lightning Academy behind her, who could bully her? From the shadows, an aura of terrifying power radiated whenever anyone tried to approach her. Even though Elena was a naive person, she was a beloved person in Red Lightning City.

  When Kai saw Elena's worried expression, he knew that something else was wrong.

  "What happened to Elena?"

  Alain also only partially knew Elena. Even though they weren't very close, Alain was closer to Elena than other people. They had met after he had made fun of Clara at the party.

  "Quentin is still not back."

  "How long has it been?"

  "He left the night before Zaheer died. It's been over 3 months."

  The trio in particular frowned. Since the start of the World Tournament, Quentin would go on missions. And he would be gone for a long time. The longest he was gone was 6 months and the shortest was 2 weeks. But even when he did show up, he would quickly move on to a new mission. Kai had hardly seen him since he joined the World Tournament. Only the night of the camp, the last time he spoke to Zaheer, Quentin was there. But at the same time it was as if he wasn't there.

  Quentin's development base was unknown, but Kai suspected it. Quentin must have reached a high level. He controlled his sense of peace. If he disappeared so often, he had to be somewhere to find peace.

  "I wouldn't worry about his well-being, but in the current situation it's too dangerous for him to be out there, even for him. If the hunters find him.... Worse than him getting hurt like Jack, like Zaheer.... I'm just worried about him. I can't ask you to find him. But if you find him, tell him to stop what he's doing and stop worrying me! He just went to look for a cow. It's been 3 months..."

  Kai nodded and turned his head back to the forest. After the hunters and everything that had happened, it would be the worst thing if someone disappeared.

  "Where are you Quentin? "

  ***

  Sky Island was huge, and to reach the mainland you only had to fly or cross the Bermuda Triangle. Still, it was not unreasonable to approach the coast of this island and go underwater to the bottom of the island. It must be remembered that this island used to fly. And what was the reason for that?

  Even though Quentin didn't have as much knowledge as Kai, he had read a book. Many treasures had to communicate with certain elements before they could be used. But what if it didn't? Then the energy would spread around, creating a barrier around the treasure.

  When Quentin had this thought, he had noticed the treasures of Sky Island. Couldn't this land with so many treasures and so many dead kings be a treasure? What if the Sky Island was emitting an energy barrier due to the element it was not in contact with, and that was why these sky lands were flying?

  Now there would be a logical reason why it would not fly. Because this island had already made contact with the element it was supposed to make contact with.

  Water!

  Across an ocean, water had just allowed this island treasure to open.

  This island protected the art of double finger world crossing. It was an ancient technique. But this island was just protecting it. This island's own treasure was not this art. Quentin had traveled all over the island during his missions. He traveled for months just to find this treasure. Sometimes he feared that it would be taken away, but he knew that it would not be taken away that easily.

  He was scared when Kai showed up and unleashed his Black Thunderbolts. Because he realized that the treasure of this island was 90% likely to be an elemental treasure. This treasure should have water properties.

  But he was relieved to learn that Kai had this power because of his sword. And that made him even more excited. Elements with black attributes were a myth. And he suspected that there might be Black Ice or Dark Water on this island. It would be very impressive. He was excited to see the Black Lightning and realize that it was real.

  He didn't care if John became the King of Ice, he would definitely get this treasure.

  He hadn't spent much time with his friends. He had only seen them on the day they went camping. But his mind was always elsewhere.

  Now, underneath Sky Island and in the core of this island, a young boy stood in front of a flaming black crystal. He closed his eyes and meditated. A gray layer spread around his body.

  He was at Half Step 2.

  His hair was down to his waist and there was dust in some places. But he was unaffected and with a smile on his face he reached out and touched the crystal. There were pieces around his body as if he was shedding skin,

  "You and I will be one. The Laws of the Black Flame.... What can I do to be worthy of you, to understand you? Or..... Are you but harbingers of the coming war, harbingers of destruction? "