Astral Odyssey: Dying Ember

World 2.15: Alice

**Disclaimer: This chapter has violent/gruesome content .**

Lightning rained on everyone from the top, fire raged in random, and water slicers covered any remaining areas. 

The people lying in ambush either defended using their their own abilities or jumped and dodged to escape the attacks. Earth walls and stone pillars were raised, rocks flew, water barriers were raised, water slicers and bullets flew, plants raged and flower petals became as sharp as daggers, and many more. 

Explosions and sounds of traps getting activated also filled the air. The people who had to dodge attacks landed in areas that Alice had predicted. They ended up blown up or captured in spiked nets or pierced or maimed.

Alice witnessed all the chaos around her while she was carried by the water bubble. It flew her around the perimeter of the battlefield and skillfully dodged any stray attacks that flew towards her. 

She had been surprised when it first happened so suddenly but she quickly realised it was literally a bubble and she could breathe. She knew that she was likely being carried to where Ethan, Violet, and Stephan has been hiding.

The reason it was timed so well was because of Ethan. After the trio dodged the flurry of carelessly thrown attacks unscathed and hid in a different location, he noticed Alice moving slowly and intentionally. So he signaled for Stephan to not continue their attacks. Stephan had been irritated but knew that Ethan was better at strategising than him, so reluctantly listened to Ethan's call to hold his fire. When Ethan saw Alice relax, he knew that she was done with whatever she had been fiddling with and signaled the start of the attack while he kept Alice protected.

The flying bubble caught the attention of a three abilities user. He kept his eyes on the mysterious bubble and saw Alice being deposited. "West!!" A clear and commanding voice rang out loud and clear for everyone to hear. Everyone else quickly reacted. They threw attacks while advancing towards the group.

Ethan covered a large area of the ground with water and Stephan charged it up with his lightning. Stephan's attack was so strong that it sparks and bolts could jump up from the water. To be completely safe, their enemies would have to jump up to a considerable height. This was where Violet and Alice came in. They took care of the people who were airborne and unable to dodge.

They fought as a team and their understanding of each other helped them cover each other's weaknesses while building upon each other's strengths. Whereas their enemies fought as individuals. Even if they tried to fight as a whole, they did not have enough chemistry and ended up interfering with each other's attacks. Their enemies dropped like flies and their numbers dwindled quickly.

BaoBao began celebrating when the numbers dropped to 8. It should be an easy win now! He thought to himself.

However, his disconnection with Alice's thoughts resulted in him missing Alice's increasing wariness. These 8 people could still survive precisely because they are that good.

Instead of a quick win like BaoBao expected, they entered a stalemate. The group of four lost the initiative they had as time passed.

Alice and Ethan had the best battle sense of the group and fought with tricks. Coupled with their ability to alter the state of their water, they made it very hard for the 8 people to gain an advantage. Ethan forced them to have to constantly be on the move by covering the ground, while Alice predicted their path of evasion which often forced them to defend by attacking. Stephan and Violet used pure strength and power of their abilities to overwhelm their opponents. It was hard for anyone to change anything because even a split second of pause in their attack could be taken advantage of by another person.