Caleb knelt on one knee, clutching his stomach with one hand as he noticed a silver rod protruding from the back of the clone he had just killed. The rod was still stained with his blood.
His mind drifted back to the abilities Hakate had demonstrated during their battle.
'I completely forgot he could use that ability,' Caleb thought to himself, wincing at the bleeding hole in his stomach.
"Caleb! Are you alright?" Alice asked, panic evident in her voice.
She had remained by his side throughout the fight, choosing not to intervene as she focused on recovering the energy she had spent healing Naya.
Alice was genuinely surprised by the combat skill Caleb had displayed and the versatility of his ability. She didn't understand how he had acquired two abilities, but it didn't matter to her—he was handling the threat. However, seeing him wounded was concerning.
"Ahhh...ahhh," Caleb groaned, low sounds escaping him as the pain from his injury radiated through his body.
'I lost two clones to that attack. I can't even get close to him without risking another one of his skills,' Caleb thought, gritting his teeth, his hands still pressed against his stomach.
{Absolute Freeze!}
"Arrgh!" Caleb shouted in pain as he froze the injury.
"At least you're smart," Hakate taunted with dark laughter, sending a fla hurtling toward him. "Soon enough, you'll freeze your entire body in your own ice!"
Caleb reacted quickly, rolling out of the way and narrowly avoiding the ball of flas that grazed his coat.
He felt the heat of the scorching flas as they brushed against him, the sll of burnt leather filling the air.
'Shit,' Caleb groaned, distress coursing through him from the searing burn on his back.
"That's not the best thing to do; you need proper healing!" Alice warned, observing Caleb's actions.
"Keep quiet—"
"No, you keep quiet!" Alice snapped back, eting Hakate's gaze with unwavering confidence.
Hakate was taken aback by her audacity, but Alice appeared indifferent to his confusion.
While still lost in thought, trying to comprehend her daring spirit, Caleb seized the opportunity. He felt a chilling grip envelop his head, as if winter had focused its assault on one location.
Before he could react, spikes of ice shot out, but Caleb wasted no ti—he quickly activated his shadow disperse skill, vanishing just before they could reach him.
"Shit, that's another $100k gone!" Caleb thought as he reappeared next to Alice.
"Thanks for the distraction. I seriously need to know where you got your daring skills from," he said with a light laugh, quickly followed by a grunt of pain.
"You idiot, you blocked the blood flow in your gut. That will only slow you down," Alice replied, ignoring his comnt as she placed her gloved hands on his stomach.
Instantly, he felt a warm energy spreading from where her hands were. In no ti, the injury closed up as though it had never existed in the first place.
Just then, Caleb caught sight of flas being hurled at them. He was about to act again, but this ti Alice stopped him.
"You're my patient now. You owe an explanation for all of this after we get out of here," she told Caleb, her gaze unflinching as she stood in front of the incoming attack.
She shifted her gaze to Hakate, her voice dripping with disdain. "Your ti is up. Caleb, we have only one chance at this—use it well."
Caleb looked at her, confused. What was she talking about? But then he realized: the balls of flas had halted in the air, unmoving. No, it wasn't just the flas. Everything was completely paused.
Hakate stood there with a face of disgust—he clearly didn't see this coming. The other two clones from Caleb that were fighting Hakate's clones were also still, but no one moved. Not a muscle or even an eyelid shifted from its position. The only two who remained unaffected were Alice and Caleb.
"Stop looking around! We have only five minutes before everything is over!" Alice shouted through gritted teeth, falling to one knee.
Caleb didn't hesitate. He sprang into action. Six of Hakate's clones were left: two were fighting his own clones while the other four faced them. All he had to do was use "absolute freeze" on the original. Once the original was killed, all the others would disappear.
'It can't be those two… So it's between the four of them,' Caleb thought to himself as he disappeared from his spot.
"Three minutes left!" Alice shouted from the side.
'The ti is too short. I can't use absolute freeze on all four of them in this limited ti,' Caleb thought, feeling overwheld by the weight of the situation. But he didn't falter.
He got the first clone and quickly used absolute freeze on it, then did the sa with the second.
"One minute left!"
Caleb looked at the other two he had yet to freeze. It was all instinct at this point. He had no idea which one was the original, and any mistake would render Alice's sacrifices in vain.
He seized the two clones by the throat and used the skill.
"Ti's up!" Alice shouted, breaking down, desperately trying to drag in air.
Hakate regained his senses, feeling the cold touch on his neck. "You bastard!" he shouted, using flas to counter Caleb's chill.
Caleb could feel the searing heat trying to eat away at his flesh from both sides, but his eyes shone with determination. He gritted his teeth, his face reddening, sweat soaking his forehead.
{Absolute freeze!}
{Absolute freeze!}
{Absolute freeze!}
It was a fierce fight between fire and ice; the two forces collided at the center, making the temperature in the area unstable. But Caleb pressed on, watching his money drop rapidly as he continued to use the absolute freeze skill.
{-$10,000}
{-$10,000}
{-$10,000}
'I can't stop. Not now!' he thought confidently.
Hakate's flas began to falter. 'My mirror energy isn't sufficient,' he realized as he saw Caleb's ice overpowering his flas. The ice slowly began to creep up Hakate's neck, and his eyes filled with desperation.
"Don't do this! You're fighting a fight you'll never win! Caleb Monrrow! This is not your battle!"
Caleb's dark gaze t Hakate's like steel. "The mont you killed Julia Monrrow, it beca my fight!" His grip tightened, the crushing force wrapping around Hakate's neck.
CRACK!
Hakate's frozen neck couldn't withstand the pressure, but he forced out a choked voice. "You think I'll only take Julia from you? You're wrong!" Hakate yelled, his eyes glowing with nace as he stretched out a hand toward Naya, who had fainted. A silver rod shot out from his palm.
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