Liam, seeing this, was suddenly filled with rage
"Get away from her!" Liam roared, accelerating with furious determination toward Sarah.
He simply couldn't bear to watch Sarah punch her again, not for another second.
His speed was undoubtedly unmatched, but what good could mere 5554c do against the destructive power of fire? Anyway, they would soon find out.
"Liam, save me!" Amy managed to call out, her voice a strained gasp, even with all the air having been brutally punched out of her lungs.
"Oh, look! Here comes the knight in shining armor," Sarah quipped mockingly, a hint of amusement in her voice despite the intense situation.
Sarah then unceremoniously dropped Amy to the floor, leaving her gasping for air and whimpering in excruciating pain.
The hits she had endured were unequivocally no joke; they were severe and debilitating.
The moment Liam reached Sarah, a blinding flash of flames erupted directly in front of him.
He barely managed to dodge, the intense heat scorching his skin even at a distance.
Yet, with his incredible speed, he darted to the side and lunged at Sarah.
But before he could land a strike, she pivoted swiftly, surrounding herself with a swirling inferno of flames that blurred his vision and violently threw him off balance.
"What are you doing?" Sarah inquired, a subtle hint of amusement at Liam's rather chaotic and ineffective onslaught.
But Liam, fueled by pure adrenaline, would not back down.
He zipped around Sarah, attempting to strike her from multiple angles.
However, every single time he managed to come close, flames would either mysteriously appear from nowhere or violently erupt, forming impenetrable barriers that defended against his every maneuver.
Another furious burst of steam erupted into the air as Amy, still reeling in pain, desperately conjured a huge ball of water and hurled it with all her might at Sarah. Even though she was in agony, she was still determined to help.
She was certain of one thing: Sarah was undeniably stronger than her, but if she could somehow assist Liam from the side, perhaps they could collectively stand a chance.
She instinctively pulled together water from the nearby maze walls, her determination fierce despite her physical distress.
But Sarah was more than ready.
Her flames flickered with renewed intensity, creating an impervious barrier against Amy's frantic attempts.
Each elemental clash ignited more steam and significantly brightened the surroundings, while the confusion among the trio heightened.
"Is that all you've got?!" Sarah taunted, her stance unwavering and strong as she unleashed a powerful counterattack of fire, easily overwhelming the tempest of water they had tried to conjure.
Liam then made one last, desperate dash toward Sarah. Yet, she stood completely unwavering, an unyielding force of nature he simply could not touch.
As the water and fire battled fiercely, the steam swirled ominously around them, casting eerie, distorted shapes through the encroaching darkness.
In one decisive moment, Sarah drew up her flames toward Liam and unleashed a torrent of fiery energy, forcing him violently back.
"Enough! You can't keep fighting when you've already lost!" Sarah shouted, her fiery aura pulsing powerfully as the confrontation approached its inevitable climax.
With a final scream of frustration and utter defeat, Claire and Amy were forcefully pushed back, completely unable to maintain their elemental balance as they dropped to the ground in utter defeat.
Liam, panting heavily, felt the immense weight of their collective failure pressing down upon him.
In that crushing moment, he finally realized they had severely underestimated their surroundings, and more critically, the formidable power held by someone they had foolishly assumed was prey.
The trio lay sprawled on the ground, breathless and bewildered, as Sarah straightened, surveying her hard-won victory with quiet satisfaction.
As the last flickers of flames settled into glowing embers, Sarah stood tall and resolute, surveying the aftermath of the intense confrontation.
The trio of newcomers had definitively backed down, their earlier bravado replaced by a palpable sense of uncertainty as the remnants of the battle hung heavy in the air. She could sense that the immediate tension among them had dissipated, but their journey, and indeed hers, was far from over.
With a sigh of genuine relief, Sarah took a moment to compose herself, allowing her flames to dance around her fingers playfully as she transformed them into a small, warm fire—a comforting, familiar glow.
"Now, hand over the coins and get away," Sarah commanded, her voice firm and unequivocal. And she didn't need to utter the command twice.
Immediately, Claire, with a visible tremor, pushed forward four golden coins onto the floor. While Liam and Amy, though visibly reluctant, also pushed forward their own coins.
"No, you can keep those," Sarah said, a surprising note of generosity in her tone. "I already have more than enough. Only the ones you took from them will suffice." With that, she bent down gracefully to pick up the four coins from the floor.
She was not even remotely scared of being attacked now that her back was turned to them.
Either she was simply too powerful to care, or she possessed an unshakeable trust that they wouldn't dare attempt another assault.
But regardless of the reason, she was not attacked.
They remained motionless, utterly astonished by her words.
The fact that she only needed the four coins from Johnson meant that they had been fighting a completely losing battle, one they could have easily avoided from the very beginning.
And all of this unnecessary conflict was due to one person's misplaced greed.
Yet, even if one person possessed enough for their own qualification, it didn't inherently mean that they shouldn't seek more or carry additional coins with them.
********
Thanks a lot for the vote
sheikh ,
Anna Grace .
And thanks for reading so far
I appreciate all the support you guys have been giving the novel .
Trust me , It's all the motivation I need
J ~Kings