Why did Gravis say that this fight wouldn't be easy? Weren't they just three people one realm higher than him?
If Gravis didn't have so much experience in fighting, he wouldn't think like this. He would think that this would be pretty easy, actually. Yet, due to his experience, he realized an important point.
Group composition!
In this world, strong people always followed one sect. These sects were based on the elements, and different elements had different strengths and weaknesses. So, if Gravis were to be attacked by a group of strong people, chances were incredibly high that they all shared the same weaknesses.
Earth cultivators were slow. Wind cultivators lost their biggest strength since Gravis was faster, and fire cultivators were terrible at defending and so on. It was hard for their comrades to counteract those weaknesses if they, themselves, suffered from the same ones. Yet, all this was different if he fought people with different elements.
Right now, he stood before three people with three different elements. If Gravis tried to outspeed and outsmart the earth cultivator, the wind cultivator would cut him off with an attack. If Gravis tried to kill the wind cultivator first, the earth cultivator would block the attack. One also couldn't forget the darkness cultivator.
Back when Gravis still had his Elemental Synchronicity, the stealth of the darkness cultivators was useless against him. Yet, now he had no direct counter against that. Gravis had to keep one eye out for the darkness cultivator. If he didn't, he would be the target of a devastating assassination.
If they were at the same level, Gravis could quickly kill them, but the level suppression of their Heavenly Pressure made this problematic. His Will-Aura was barely able to fight the three Heavenly Pressures to a standstill, and that was already considering their weakened intensity due to them being spies and not fighters.
Gravis watched them with narrowed eyes, as they did the same. They had already taken out their weapons. The earth cultivator, just like back in the Earth Guild, had taken out his spear and long shield. The wind cultivator had retrieved a very long and thin longsword. Meanwhile, the darkness cultivator took out two daggers.
BANG WHOOSH!
The darkness cultivator took out some kind of metal ball and threw it towards the ground. The ball exploded and released a humongous amount of black smoke, which quickly gathered and darkened the surroundings.
BZZZ!
Gravis released some minor lightning into the surroundings, which destroyed a lot of the smoke, but it quickly regathered. The density had been slightly lowered, but in order to really destroy the smoke, he would probably need to waste around 50% of his lightning. Was that worth it?
If this were Gravis' only enemy, it would definitely be worth it, but he wasn't. On top of that, his enemy might feel more secure like this, which could create an opportunity for Gravis. It might be riskier, but risks came with rewards.
Gravis already lost track of his enemies. It seemed like this stuff was disrupting his Spirit. A bomb like this was probably incredibly expensive. Gravis guessed that probably no one, except the darkness cultivator, could see the surroundings. Though, the darkness cultivator could just tell them where Gravis was since he probably wasn't affected.
Gravis waited patiently, his weapon already reloaded. Normally, he always took the initiative, but not this time. Running blindly into the darkness could be an issue. Gravis slightly turned his head to keep the surroundings in his vision.
BANG!
Gravis immediately attacked to his left with his weapon. Two daggers blocked his attack, but the darkness cultivator got shot away from the impact. Ordinary cultivators wouldn't be able to see the slight, suspicious movement of the smoke, but Gravis could.
This had nothing to do with Gravis' experience, for once. This time, it was all thanks to his new eyes. Being able to focus on everything at once was a huge help. He had seen the minor movement of smoke and had acted immediately. Normally, Gravis would immediately follow up to gain the initiative, but this time was different.
SWISH!
A cutting wave of wind flew at Gravis, which he quickly evaded. Judging by the Energy it released, this was a released, ranged attack from a Spirit Weapon. If Gravis hadn't kept watch over his surroundings or followed the darkness cultivator, he would have been hit. His body wouldn't have been able to resist such an attack.
BOOM!
Gravis immediately used his body and lightning to accelerate with his maximum speed. He ran right into the direction of the wind. He knew that the earth cultivator would probably block him, but there was no other way right now.
BOOM CRRK!
Gravis released a full power kick to his front as he felt the Energy density increase. He wasn't able to be sure that the earth cultivator was in front of him, but he tried it anyway. His attack connected with something hard and felt the thing getting completely obliterated under his kick. Even though the earth cultivator had a higher realm than previously, his equipment was still the same. Yet, something else happened as well.
PUCHI!
Gravis' torso was impaled by the earth cultivator's mighty spear. They had already fought previously, so the earth cultivator knew that his shield would only be able to block Gravis' attack once before it crumbled into dust. Therefore, he had blocked with one hand while using the darkness to disguise his extended spear.
The earth cultivator flew for a long time, and his left arm even broke. Some fragments buried themselves into his body, but he was not as injured as back then. His realm had increased, after all. The earth cultivator had traded injury for injury.
The earth cultivator had also let go of his spear, which was still sticking out of Gravis, from both sides. Gravis didn't lose his cool and immediately jumped diagonally back.
SWOOOSH CLANK!
Another fully loaded attack from the wind cultivator's weapon barely missed Gravis' body. Yet, it didn't miss the spear. The attack landed on the side of the spear's shaft, worsening Gravis' injury as the force on the spear rotated his body. Gravis spat out a mouthful of blood since the spear had majorly injured his lungs.
Gravis barely managed to not fall over completely by catching his body with his right hand, which also carried his saber. If he tried to stick his saber into the ground to stop his fall, it would just cut into the ground. He had to stop his fall with his hand. If he didn't, he would be a sitting duck.
Puchi Puchi!
Two daggers cut into Gravis' back, one of them penetrating his heart. More blood flowed out of Gravis' mouth, yet his mouth only showed a smile. 'I was waiting for you!'
BOOOOOOM!
Gravis' whole body exploded with lightning, completely destroying the surrounding smoke and the attacking darkness cultivator. He had used 100% of his lightning, creating an absolutely devastating explosion. A violent thunder echoed throughout the surroundings, blowing the hair of the wind cultivator back.
As the surroundings cleared, everyone could see everyone else again. The darkness cultivator was nowhere to be seen. The only thing that remained were two daggers lying beside Gravis. The earth cultivator was running back to the battlefield, blood coming out of his chest, his left arm hanging loosely from his torso. The wind cultivator looked a little exhausted, but uninjured. He still had about 40% of his Energy and Spirit left.
Instead, it was Gravis who looked the worst. When Gravis let his body explode, the spear and the daggers left his body, yet blood was flowing out crazily from all over his body. He lay helpless on the floor, breathing quickly.
The other two looked at him and sighed in relief. His major organs had been destroyed, and the darkness Energy of the daggers had sapped his inherent Life Energy. His body was empty of Life Energy, making it impossible to regenerate in the short term. Gravis would die before his body was able to heal itself. On top of that, this violent explosion had probably used up all his Energy.
As Heavenborn, they knew the Heaven's Balance Cultivation Technique, and they knew that it didn't regenerate Energy. It only increased its density. Right now, in their eyes, Gravis had no Energy and no way to heal himself. They simply had to wait until Gravis succumbed to his injuries.
They had won.