"Keep running! Don't look back!"
Murphy shouted, leading the group through the ruins to escape the Fire Mages.
The heat still burned at their backs.
But as they ran forward, the air grew unnaturally cold.
Moisture in the air froze into white mist. The concrete ahead was covered in frost.
"Front! Watch out!" Klein shouted, his sharp eyes spotting the threat.
On top of a skeletal steel structure ahead... the Group of Ice Mages they had seen earlier stood waiting like reapers.
The leader of the Ice Mages smiled cruelly. He traced complex patterns in the air with both hands, his fingertips leaving trails of blue light.
"Glacial Rain."
Shimmer!
Dozens of blue magic circles lit up the sky.
Suddenly, hundreds of razor-sharp ice spears plummeted down like a storm of steel!
Whoosh!! Thud! Thud! Thud!
"Take cover!" Baron jumped to shield Jace and Ren.
The ice spears punched through abandoned cars like they were paper. Some pierced the thick concrete ground, sending stone chips and ice shards flying into their faces.
"Left! Go left into the alley!" Axel pointed to an escape route.
But just as they turned left...
The ground shook violently.
"Think you can escape the grasp of nature?"
A woman in a dark green robe stepped out from the shadows. She slammed a vine-wrapped staff into the ground.
Emerald green aura surged into the earth.
RUMBLE!!
Massive tree roots, thick as a man's thigh, burst from the concrete!
They twisted and lunged like giant serpents, encircling Murphy's group. The roots crushed the surrounding walls, cutting off all escape routes.
"We're finished... we're surrounded!" Jace cried out, struggling with his injured leg.
They were trapped.
Behind: The Fire and Earth Mages, closing in with vengeance.
Ahead: The Ice and Plant Mages, waiting to execute them.
Around: A tightening cage of crushing roots.
________________________
"We can't fight them all..." Axel ground his teeth, gripping his gunblade.
Murphy scanned the chaos. His brain worked overtime as death closed in.
He saw a giant fireball forming behind them... and a new volley of ice spears forming ahead.
"Philip... Axel..." Murphy whispered intensely. "See that gap in the roots?"
He pointed to the center point between the two enemy groups, where the roots hadn't fully interlocked.
"We bait them to fire at the same time... then we dive!"
"Are you crazy?! If we miss, we're paste!" Baron shouted.
"We're dead anyway! Get ready!" Murphy yelled.
At that moment...
The Fire Mages behind them finished their incantation. "Dragon of the Burning Hells!" A fireball shaped like a dragon's head roared toward them.
The Ice Mages ahead wouldn't be outdone. "Heaven-Shattering Ice Lance!" A massive pillar of ice shot down, aiming to crush the same target.
"NOW!!! DOWN!!!!"
Murphy screamed, shoving Philip and Jace to the ground.
Everyone dropped flat against the cold concrete in the final split second!
WHOOSH!!!
The destructive power of two opposing elements passed inches above their heads.
The Fire Dragon slammed head-on into the Ice Lance and the wall of roots!
KA-BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!
The explosion was deafening.
The collision of extreme heat and extreme cold caused an instant Thermal Shock.
A massive cloud of superheated steam exploded outward, covering the entire area in a thick, white fog.
Shards of ice and embers flew everywhere.
"ARGHHH!" Screams echoed from both sides.
The Ice Mages were blasted back by the steam explosion.
The Fire Mages were pelted by shrapnel and disoriented by the blast.
"GO! UP! RUN!!!"
Murphy was the first to rise amidst the blinding white steam.
Using pure instinct, he grabbed his teammates and dragged them through the gap in the roots, which had been burned and shattered by the blast.
They ran right through the center of the crossfire while both enemy factions were confused and injuring each other.
"This way! I'm tracking The Core's signal! It's clear!" Philip shouted, navigating through the fog.
They looped around a crumbled building, escaping the kill zone.
The sounds of explosions and fighting continued behind them... The two enemy groups had turned on each other, blaming the other side for the attack.
Murphy led the group into a quiet alley several blocks away.
Everyone collapsed, gasping for air, their clothes scorched, soaked with sweat and melted ice.
"Hah... Hah..." Axel laughed dryly, breathless. "You crazy bastard... how are we still alive?"
Murphy leaned against a wall, rubbing his chest where his heart pounded like a drum.
"Welcome to the Eden Tour... This is just the warm-up."
He looked ahead.
The spire of the Royal Palace loomed closer now.
But the path ahead... was certainly not going to be a walk in the park.